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 […]
A-Z Blog
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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 […]
According to oral tradition in southern France, a matagot is a cat who can bring evil or riches to its owner. If you stumble across a matagot, offer it a chicken to lure it to your home. Carry it home without ever looking back. Then give the cat the first bite of every meal and keep it well-fed and happy. In return, the cat will bring you riches. Failure to meet these requirements will have the opposite effect and if you should […]
It’s Monday and what better way to start the workweek than to remind you how much worse things could be. If you lived in Mexico in the fifteenth century, you had about a 1 in 5 chance of winding up as a human sacrifice. Your horrible job may be killing you, but at least it will do it slowly over twenty or thirty years. So you’ve got that going for you. The Aztecs were a fun loving group who enjoyed […]
The word gargoyle comes from the French word gargouille which means gullet or to gargle. In architecture, gargoyles are grotesque ornaments, which serve as waterspouts. The term gargoyle in architecture refers to any such device—no matter what it depicts. Strictly speaking, the term grotesque in architecture refers to ornaments, which do not serve as water spouts. Gargoyles are supposed to protect the building from evil spirits. In a legend dating back to the 7th century, a nasty dragon named La Gargouille lived […]
A two-fer Day with stories from Celtic and Native America (Iroquois) cultures. Fairy Dogs The Scottish Cu’ Sith—Fairy Dogs– are harbingers of death. They usually remain silent but sometimes bay three times so loudly they can be heard for miles. They are the size of bull calves with paws as big as a man’s hand. They may steal nursing mothers away and take them to the fairy mound or they may transport souls of the dead to the afterlife—whether they […]