Here's a strange and bizarre idea (okay, maybe not for me but I'm a little strange and bizarre anyway), how about a Voodoo doll for Christmas? Or perhaps it would be better for celebrating the Yuletide season... I'm told Jesus and Voodoo dolls don't get along. Anyway, the Mystic Voodoo has the largest selection of authentic handcrafted Voodoo dolls on the internet. Now this is one scary looking Voodoo doll! Granted, this guy probably won't win you any brownie points with anyone (unless they know who he is and what wonderful things he can do for you). Maybe a cute little handcrafted fairy would be better...or not.
This Voodoo doll is Ogun, the Father of Technology. Among a slew of other things, he brings work to the unemployed.
Perhaps a little more palatable is the adorable moss fairy. He is supposed to bring good fortune to whomever owns him.
So there you have it in a very small nutshell. To see many more or to find out more about who these guys are, check out the Mystic Voodoo. There's a spectacular Yuletide sale going on right now, so all you proud pagans go on over there and see what kind of gifts you can conjure up.
Gris Gris bags - the ultimate in good luck charms. Did you know that there are gris gris bags for every occasion? Since the beginning of time, people have used objects they were drawn to or items with special meaning to influence the outcome of specific events. These pocket size gris gris bags combine the magickal powers of colors, herbs, stones, essential oils, and other magickal items and come complete with instructions. (via The Mystic Voodoo)
This is not just a slogan, folks...we're not just "working our voodoo magic" or "casting a spell" on someone by wearing someone's idea of Voodoo couture. No, this is the real thing. This is hip hoodoo voodoo conjure wear. Check it out at the Ju Ju Shoppe.
Pictured is Koz of Studio Voodoo wearing a Baron Samedi t-shirt.
After walking thousands of miles to Egypt from their home countries, hundreds of Africans seek refuge in Israel after feeling disenchanted by their treatment in Egypt.
I need your help to finish graduate school! Please take a moment to view my entries to the Brickfish Show Me your Art 2 and Photography Blowout contests, and if you like what you see, vote for me. I really appreciate it as I need to win to pay for my tuition! Thank you!
Laxmi was born to a poor family in a village in Araria district in India's eastern Bihar city. The illiterate villagers first considered her as an incarnation of Hindu Goddess Laxmi but after some time they realized that she was not well and needed medical help. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, some people tried to make money from the child, and her parents had to hide the girl after a circus tried to buy her.
The 2-year-old girl is joined to what's called a parasitic twin that stopped developing in the mother's womb. Parasitic twins (also known as an asymmetrical or unequal conjoined twin) occur when a twin embryo begins developing in utero, but the pair does not fully separate, and one embryo maintains dominant development at the expense of the other. Unlike conjoined twins, one ceases development during gestation and is vestigial to a mostly fully-formed, otherwise healthy individual twin. The undeveloped twin is defined as parasitic, rather than conjoined, because it is incompletely formed or wholly dependent on the body functions of the complete fetus.
Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune, love, beauty, and fertility. She is closely associated with the lotus flower She is the consort of Vishnu and married his incarnations Rama (in her incarnation as Sita), Krishna (as Rukmini or Radha) and Venkateshwara (as Alamelu).In Vaishnava traditions, She is believed to be the Mother Goddess and the Shakti of Narayan.In astrology Venus represents Lakshmi. In Voodoo, she could be likened to Erzulie Freda. Physically, goddess Lakshmi is described as a fair lady, with four arms, seated on a lotus, dressed in fine garments and precious jewels. Her expression is always calm and loving.
Patzcuaro, MEXICO - An old Mexican pilgrim stayed all night long next to the tomb of her relatives in a mexican cemetery during the Day of the Dead in Pastcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico.
Port-Au-Prince, HAITI - A sculpture made of gas tank at Jean Herard Celeur's workshop off Grand Rue (Main Street) in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday, September 28, 2007. Celeur is slowly gaining world renown for his mixed media Vodou-related pieces made of found objects ranging from rusted auto parts to dessicated rat bodies and doll heads.
Port-Au-Prince, HAITI - A sculpture of Osama Bin Laden, wearing a hubcap hat and carrying a muffler machine gun, in a corner of Andre Eugene's workshop off Grand Rue (Main Street) in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday, September 28, 2007.
Port-Au-Prince, HAITI - A sculpture made of bicycle parts and plastic bottles at Frantz Jacques Guillodo's workshop off Grand Rue (Main Street) in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday, September 28, 2007. Guillodo is slowly gaining world renown for his mixed media Vodou-related pieces made of found objects.
Port-Au-Prince, HAITI - A sculpture made of a baby doll's head pins and other objects by Frantz Jacues Guillodo in his workshop off Grand Rue (Main Street) in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday, September 28, 2007. Guillodo is slowly gaining world renown for his mixed media Vodou-related pieces...
Port-Au-Prince, HAITI - A sculpture made of a skull and a hat at Frantz Jacques Guillodo's workshop off Grand Rue (Main Street) in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday, September 28, 2007. Guillodo is slowly gaining world renown for his mixed media Vodou-related pieces made of found objects.
Port-Au-Prince, HAITI - Frantz Jean Jacques Guillodo stand in front of his workshop off Grand Rue (Main Street) in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday, September 28, 2007. Guillodo's is slowly gaining world renown for his mixed media Vodou-related pieces made of found objects ranging from rust...
(New York) J.K. Rowling has outed one of the main characters from the Harry Potter series. At a book signing in Manhattan, Rowling said Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft And Wizardry is gay.
If you haven't seen this, you have to take 2 minutes and watch it...especially if you are a mom. :)
"The Mom" song, sung to the William Tell Overture, by Anita Renfroe. What a mom says in 24 hours, condensed into 2 minutes and 55 seconds! Hilarious and talented!
Lyrics for "The Mom Song" is given below.
"The Mom Song"
Get up now Get up now Get up out of bed Wash your face Brush your teeth Comb your sleepyhead Here's your clothes and your shoes Hear the words I said Get up now! Get up and make your bed Are you hot? Are you cold? Are you wearing that? Where's your books and your lunch and your homework at? Grab your coat and gloves and your scarf and hat Don't forget! You gotta feed the cat Eat your breakfast, the experts tell us it's the most important meal of all Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at 3 today Don't forget your piano lesson is this afternoon so you must play Don't shovel Chew slowly But hurry The bus is here Be careful Come back here Did you wash behind your ears? Play outside, don't play rough, will you just play fair? Be polite, make a friend, don't forget to share Work it out, wait your turn, never take a dare Get along! Don't make me come down there Clean your room, fold your clothes, put your stuff away Make your bed, do it now, do we have all day? Were you born in a barn? Would you like some hay? Can you even hear a word I say? Answer the phone! Get off the phone! Don't sit so close, turn it down, no texting at the table No more computer time tonight! Your iPod's my iPod if you don't listen up Where are you going and with whom and what time do you think you're coming home? Saying thank you, please, excuse me makes you welcome everywhere you roam You'll appreciate my wisdom someday when you're older and you're grown Can't wait till you have a couple little children of your own You'll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly But right now I thank you not to roll your eyes at me Close your mouth when you chew, would appreciate Take a bite maybe two of the stuff you hate Use your fork, do not burp or I'll set you straight Eat the food I put upon your plate Get an A, get the door, don't get smart with me Get a grip, get in here, I'll count to three Get a job, get a life, get a PHD Get a dose of, "I don't care who started it! You're grounded until you're 36" Get your story straight and tell the truth for once, for heaven's sake And if all your friends jumped off a cliff would you jump, too? If I've said it once, I've said at least a thousand times before That you're too old to act this way It must be your father's DNA Look at me when I am talking Stand up straighter when you walk A place for everything and everything must be in place Stop crying or I'll give you something real to cry about Oh! Brush your teeth, wash your face, put your PJs on Get in bed, get up here, say a prayer with mom Don't forget, I love you And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom's work never ends You don't need the reason why Because, because, because, because I said so, I said so, I said so, I said so I'm the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom!! Ta da!!! (more) (less)
June 25, 1893, Wednesday The New York Times Archives
WORSHIPPERS OF THE VOODOO; HOW SOUTHERN NEGROES PROPITIATE THE SPIRIT OF EVIL. Sacrifices Annually Made on the Night of the 24th of June -- Great Mystery Surrounding the Bites and Ceremonies -- The Voodoo Queen and Her Wonderful Powers -- Snakes "Conjured" by a Plantation Hand -- Some Wonderful Cures Described -- What Black Ben Did.
NEW-ORLEANS, La., June 24 -- Saint John's Day, the day held sacred by the Masonic fraternity all over the world, is also the great yearly period to another class of people very different from the brethren of the mystic tie. It is the one day held moan sacred by the believers in the mysteries of the voodoo, in the United States, in Cuba, Haiti, San Domingo, and wherever the voodoo rites exist. Read the full story here.
A giant, fiberglass statue of Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of the dead floats down the Thames in London Monday. But just who is this big dog, you might ask?
Anubis is the Greek name for the ancient jackal-headed god of the dead in Egyptian mythology. Prayers to Anubis, found carved on the most ancient tombs in Egypt, indicate he is associated with the Eye of Horus. He serves as both a guide of the recently departed and a guardian of the dead. It was Anubis who took newly departed souls to the Underworld and protected them on their journey.One of the reasons that the ancient Egyptians took such care to preserve their dead with sweet-smelling herbs was that it was believed Anubis would check each person with his keen canine nose. Only if they smelled pure would he allow them to enter the Kingdom of the Dead.
Now, Anubis floats merrily down the stream in England, where he is helping to promote an upcoming exhibit of Egyptian treasures.
Sounds like headlines from the National Enquirer I know, but it is from CBS. Some think Tom Cruise is spending more than 10 million dollars to build a bunker below his home for the express purpose of protecting he and his family from an impending alien attack.
A rare and controversial Chinese sculpture is likely to stir patriotic feelings when it goes to auction. The expected price for this bronze horse head? About 10 million dollars.
A rare two-headed turtle has arrived at a reptile center in the US. Not that unusual they say, but this turtle is special because it actually has two full heads at opposite ends of the body. Check out the pictures in the story below.
Ahh, the nuances of culture. We like French fries, they like worms. Fresh worms, chili worms, lemon worms, roasted worms, worms in bottles of Mezcal, which is a liquor similar in taste and function as tequila. I've been told that the worm is the best part of the drink! Wouldn't know personally, but hey, whatever floats your boat.
No News is Good News... Geez, try to find weird news on a daily basis - it's not the easiest thing to do. Sure, there is news...but the story on cow dung power is already a couple of weeks old. Today, Halo 3 fans cheer the arrival of the final installment of the successful trilogy of games for Xbox; but, that's hardly weird. And then we have our good ole boy prez implementing sanctions against the military dictatorship in Burma. Important, yes, weird, no (though it is a little humorous to hear him trying to pronounce yet another challenging word). Okay, here is one: a woman with Downs Syndrome swims Lake Tahoe to raise awareness about Downs Syndrome. Strange or bizarre? Nah, but it is quite amazing. Maybe this one qualifies as a spotlight on this blog today...woman designers in Kenya trying to put Paris and Milan off the map as fashion centers of the world. Well, another interesting one, but...
Much to my dismay at the lack of odd headlines today, I have decided to give the grand prize for weird news to...(drumroll)...Anorexic Model Appears in Billboard Advertisement. I am truly sorry, it was the best I could do!
Last month, the Virgin Mary was seen on a garage door in Pennsylvania. Then, she was morphing with Bin Laden into Jesus. Now, a Watauga Bar Owner in Dallas sees the Virgin Mary in a lemon. Where will she appear next?
There are only a few surviving Zar performers in Egypt who practice a musical form that originated in Africa and is rooted in mysticism and spirituality. Zār custom involves the possession of an individual (usually female) by a spirit. Zār practitioners maintain certain vestiges of animism found in western and southern Africa and in African Diaspora communities in the western hemisphere.
Homosexual and effeminate male priests of a healing cult known as Zaar were described in 1977 by Pamela Constantinides. The Zaar cult served as a refuge for women and effeminate men in conservative, Muslim-dominated Sudan.
One a religious ceremony, Zar performances are now a dying art form. The following media clip describes the decline of this healing ritual performed by women for women.
Reference
Natvig, R. (1988). Liminal Rites and Female Symbolism in the Egyptian Zar Possession Cult. Numen, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 57-68
Illumination and miniature paintings are an important part of Iran's cultural heritage. In fact, the Iranian Cultural Continent is home to one of the richest art heritages in world history and encompasses many disciplines including architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and stone masonry. The image is an example of an Iranian miniature painting of the Qajari style (also referred to as "Coffee House painting"). Paintings of this style are a blend of European influences and Safavid miniature schools of painting. Image: Mollahs in the presence of a Safavi King, Iran. Artist is unknown.
This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years. From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Molla2.jpg
Well, why not? After all the hell that sexual predators put their victims and families through, maybe we should cut off their balls and put them in a cauldron. This Squidoo lens gives both practical and metaphysical means for dealing with every child and parent's worst nightmare: child sexual abuse, exploitation, and abduction. Read more...
Now this is a Voodoo doll I bet you've never seen before...straight from the Louisiana swamps! Called "Swamp Granny Hoodoo Gator", this Voodoo doll is a completely original creation. Read more here.
Museums across the United States have denied Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old skeleton, a spot on their floor, worrying that it could be too fragile. I guess they don't want dem bones to break...
Let me ask, would that piss you off? To see an artist's rendering of the Virgin Mary as a Voodoo doll, or the Pope as Adolf Hitler? Well, apparently it is pissing off a religious group in southwestern Ontario. The Art of Resistance is a documentary that features Argentenian artists who deliver powerful social commentary via artistic expression. It is going to be part of the Guelph International Film Festival which runs from November 3rd to the 5th. The religious group view the art as disrespectful to Christ and Catholicism. Can we please stop the madness?!
Here's a free service that will help any blogger generate more traffic and readers for their blog using RSS technology and some other secret technology known only to the developers.
BlogRush promises to help bloggers receive “mass distribution” for their content across the Internet without spamming or abusing the internet or gaming Google.
It’s a completely FREE service. All you have to do is create your account, add your blog, create your widget, and post it on your blog. Then the viral process starts. Every time a page loads with your widget, the widget refreshes with 5 blog post titles, a link to the full post and blog. These blog links will be from related blogs across the BlogRush Network. Links are set to open in a new window so visitors are not taken away from your site.
According to developer John Reese: "This ‘process’ provides incredible LEVERAGE. You can have a blog that gets just 1 visitor a week, but if that next visitor happens to be someone with a blog that gets 25,000 visits a day, and they click your widget and sign up, you’ll start having your blog posts promoted over 25,000 TIMES A DAY. And that doesn’t even count all the potential “viral growth” that can then occur from that blog referring other blogs. It’s very, very powerful."
So what are you waiting for? Go over to BlogRush and get in on the action!
Sri Lankan police on Thursday appealed to the public to donate their pet dogs to help the fight against terrorism and crime on the war-torn island. I wonder how many people in the United States would donate their dogs for such a cause? Maybe this is the answer to the all the homeless dogs in the pet shelters...or maybe not.
REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - People think Silvio Barile is crazy, and Barile knows this. It's not just that his Italian restaurant has become a museum for the crude, hulking concrete statues he labors over year round. Or that he freely airs disdain for America, which he also claims to love. Or that...
Zoo Atlanta is hoping primate picassos can charm crowds by painting with computers. The goal? To raise awareness of the orangutans diminishing population.
Hundreds of visitors gathered at the tomb of Mother Teresa in eastern India on Wednesday to pay tribute on the 10th anniversary of her death, with many hoping the nun will be granted sainthood.
Forty-three percent of Danes believe in angels, according to a poll conducted by market research group Zapera and published in the Christian daily Kristeligt Dagblad on Saturday.
Wasps are being used as an ingredient to spice up traditional cookies in a remote village in Japan. Wasps had always been a traditional staple for the inhabitants of Omachi in central Japan but usually only added to rice. The wasps apparently are valued for their protein content.
For the first time in three years, Osama Bin Laden shares his solution to world conflict - convert to Islam and all will be fine! Oh, that's all we have to do? Excuse me, but now's the time for everyone to get out their Voodoo dolls and perform their best banishing and binding rituals...
Ripley's Believe It or Not! is a franchise started in 1918 as a newspaper cartoon panel featuring unusual and startling facts from around the world. Ripley first displayed his collection to the public at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933. He called it Ripley’s Odditorium and it attracted over two million visitors during the run of the fair. As of August 2006, there are 29 Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditoriums around the world.
Firewalking...the act of walking barefoot over a bed of hot embers or stones...has a long history in many cultures as a serious ritual and test of faith. For example, firewalking is practiced by Eastern Orthodox Christians in parts of Greece. Firewalking is also practiced by African-born Hindus, by the !Kung Bushmen of the African Kalahari desert, by Japanese Taoists and Buddhists, by Polynesian tribes, by fakirs, and by Western motivational speakers such as Anthony Robbins and Andy Harrington. Firewalking has a religious or spiritual purpose, and is practiced for healing, in religious ceremonies, religious feasts, in rites of purification, and transcendence.
