I love ThisOldHouse.com during October. They have the best articles! The following articles I am linking to are favorites of mine:
Ghost Busting your home:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20539548,00.html
Zombie Proofing your home:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20487392,00.html
13 Murder Houses:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20151524,00.html
Award Winning Pumpkin Carving:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20314743,00.html
Enjoy!
After reading some of the True Tales on About.com’s Paranormal Phenomena section, I got the idea to write something about omens.
The word’s etymology is from the Old Latin word “osmen” and came into common use in the 1580s.
While the word itself has neither negative nor positive meaning, there has usually been a negative bent with such words as ominous.
A famous example of the same omen having different meanings for different people would be the appearance of Halley’s Comet in 1066 over England on the eve of the battle that would forever change English history. For King Harold, the comet’s appearance was a bad omen; for William the Conqueror, it was a good omen.
Since we’re in the season of Halloween, I am going to list some omens cultures believe in which signify death.
Animals usually bear signs of pending death, the most common omen being birds. They usually involve one or more of the following:
Some of the types of birds associated with these omens include: cocks, crows, bitterns, pigeons, goose, eagle, jackdaw, pagpie, vulture.
Other signs of impending death:
Some cultures even believe that an apparition of a living person is a sign that that person will soon die. In Irish folklore, a banshee’s presence signals a person’s death. In other areas of the UK, the black shuck or black dog is a sign of death. This particular omen was a feature of the Harry Potter series when his godfather – Sirius Black – made an appearance in his life, he was told of the dog’s meaning in divination.
In most cases logical explanations can be found for the seemingly unexplained, but all omens and the folklore surrounding them have roots in a time when people didn’t think about alternative explanations.
This is an interesting blog of 18 freaky facts about Halloween by Len Penzo that I encountered on msn.com…and the very first fact he shared got me hooked:
“Kit Kat lovers have a 37% better chance of scoring their favorite treat at a ranch-style home.”
Ha! I love it! I live in a ranch house, and Kit Kats are among the treats I give out every year! I hope you enjoy that fact and the others that Mr. Penzo assembled for all of us!
http://money.msn.com/shopping-deals/article.aspx?post=2885cf08-40b2-4b08-8a3b-42d17dff01ec
I’ve always been curious how other cultures celebrate my favoritest holiday….and now This Old House has an article on their site (linked below) that gives the run down! Hope you enjoy!!!
The following link takes us to such a great write up of real-life creepy places to pay a visit to during the Halloween season, I had to pass it along! I am taking the next excerpt straight from the Tripwolf blog’s e-mail notification itself, as an introduction to their post:
Like Halloween, but don’t like all this fake blood and guts stuff? Experience real ghost stories, stories so potent they were immortalized in popular literature. Discover the truth underlying the writings of Washington Irving, Arthur Miller and Edgar Allen Poe.
Plan a different sort of Halloween, one filled with real-life gruesome tales ~ Visit the grave of the headless horseman, or stand under the tree where 19 witches were sentenced to hang in Salem, Mass.
http://www.tripwolf.com/en/blog/2011/10/06/real-ghost-stories/
