ghosts

The Monsters of "Supernatural," Season 2, Episodes 7-9

What is a banshee? How can you make a deal with the Devil like Robert Johnson? Hellhounds (black dogs), Roanoke, goofer dust and death omens all get covered in this roundup.

An illustration from The English Dance of Death, drawn by William Combe. I’d say a skeleton lounging in front of your fireplace is a pretty strong death omen

S2E7: “The Usual Suspects”

Monster: Death omen

Where it’s from: All over the world

Description: This particular figure is pale, with dark red eyes and a slit throat. In his typically eloquent fashion, Dean describes the death omen as “Casper the Bloodthirsty Ghost.”

La Belle Dame Sans Merci, or The Banshee by Henry Meynell Rheam, 1901

In Irish folklore, a banshee is a female spirit, and when people hear her horrific wail (one tradition holds that it can actually break glass), they know someone will soon die.

What it does: Like the banshee, death omens foretell that someone will perish in the near future.

I love black cats…but some cultures believe them to be harbingers of death — especially if one meows at midnight

Death Omens

In this episode, the printer keeps repeating the name Dana Schulps. That’s creepy, but here’s a shortened list of some famous death omens, according to Superstition Dictionary:

  • A black cat meowing at midnight

  • Bees swarming a rotten tree (there will be a death in the family owning or living on the property within a year)

  • A bird entering the bedroom of a sick person and landing on the bedpost

  • A pigeon flying against the window

  • A sparrow attacking another swallow and throwing it from its nest near a home (a son will be born and a daughter will die)

  • An owl hooting in a tree right above your head (a relative or friend of yours will die within a year)

  • A dog persistently howling under your window

  • A mouse running over your foot

  • A white rabbit crossing your path

  • A cow giving birth to twin calves

  • A cedar tree you have planted dying in your yard

  • A peach tree blooming early

  • A clock striking 13

  • A portrait falling off the wall

  • A rainbow over a house (sounds more gay than scary, to be honest)

  • Seeing your shadow without a head on New Year’s Eve

How to defeat it: At first the boys think this is a vengeful spirit. In true Winchester Brothers fashion, Sam says, “We have to salt and burn her bones. It’s the only way to put her spirit to rest.” To which guest star Linda Blair, famous for her head-turning performance in The Exorcist, replies, “Of course it is.”

Thing is, why would a vengeful spirit lead Blair to her remains? Turns out it’s not a vengeful spirit after all. As a death omen, she wants to warn people, and she’s finally at rest once the murderer is killed.

You certainly don’t want to be a victim of a hellhound attack

S2E8: “Crossroad Blues”

Monster: Black dog or hellhound

Where it’s from: England and Scotland

The Black Dog of Newgate has haunted the prison for 400 years, appearing before executions

Description: They’re larger than your average pooch and are covered in shaggy black fur, though some reports say they can have white, spotted or brown fur as well. Glowing red eyes, long fangs and saliva reeking of sulfur complete the look.

Sam describes them as “demonic pitbulls.”

“I bet they could hump the crap out of your leg,” Dean adds

What it does: Hellhounds collect souls that are due in payment for deals made with the Devil. One man wanted to be an overnight musical success. This calls to mind Robert Johnson, who is said to have made just such a deal. He supposedly came across Satan at a crossroads and offered to sell his soul in return for becoming an amazing bluesman. He went on to write and perform some popular songs, including “Cross Roads Blues,” “Me and the Devil Blues” and “Hellhound on My Trail.” But he died mysteriously, choking on his own blood, at age 27 (like Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and others) in 1938.

The blues musician Robert Johnson is one of the most famous people (Faust aside) to sell his soul to the Devil

With another person they’re investigating, Dean wants to know why the man made a pact with a demon: “What’d you ask for anyway, Evan? Never need Viagra? Bowl a perfect game?”

“My wife,’ Evan says.

“Gettin’ the girl,” Dean nods. “Well, that’s worth a trip to Hell for."

You can supposedly get your heart’s desire if you make a pact with the Devil — but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea

How to Sell Your Soul to the Devil

If you’d like to make a deal with the Devil (and we really can’t recommend doing so), here’s how to do so.

Plant yarrow flowers in the corners of a crossroads to summon the Big Guy.

Get a tin box and fill with the bones of a black cat, graveyard dirt and a picture of yourself.

“That’s Deep South hoodoo stuff,” Dean says.

How to defeat it: Sam and Dean think one of the people they visit has grabbed the wrong shaker (those boys are completely obsessed with salt). But the man made no mistake. He’s keeping away demons with another hoodoo trick: goofer dust.

“Be warned that the goofer dust will affect anyone who steps onto it. Victims will develop a chronic illness that may result in death.”


Goofer Dust Recipe

  • Sulfur

  • Salt

  • Skin or head of a venomous snake, dried and ground

  • Black pepper

  • Graveyard dirt

Optional ingredients:

  • Red pepper

  • Ground bones

  • Ground insects

  • Sage

  • Mullein

  • Anvil dust

 

Here’s another version:

  • Graveyard dirt

  • Black salt

  • Ground sulfur

  • Snake skin

  • Magnetic sand

Optional ingredients:

  • Dried pigeon feces

  • Ground insects

  • Powdered bones

  • Black pepper

Sounds like there’s some leeway with the recipe. Mix what ingredients you can find together. But be sure not to touch the powder after you’ve made it.

Sprinkle it in a place where you know your target will definitely walk onto it. Be warned that the goofer dust will affect anyone who steps onto it. Victims will develop a chronic illness that may result in death.

 

If you regret having made a satanic pact, use a Devil’s Trap to ensnare the demon or devil and strike a deal by threatening to exorcise it.

 

S2E9: “Croatoan”

Monster: Demonic virus

Where it’s from: the United States

Description: There’s a telltale sulfuric residue in the virus.

What it does: Those infected turn murderous. They’re also fond of spreading the love: The virus is passed by by blood to blood contact. The infected like to cut themselves and then slice open their victim so they can drip blood into the wound.

The boys find a reference to the Lost Colony of Roanoke (it was also a theme in American Horror Story: Roanoke). The colony was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585 in what is now North Carolina. Five years later, all 115 or so settlers had vanished mysteriously — the only clue being the word “Croatoan” carved into a fencepost. The Croatoan were an Indian tribe, though Daddy Winchester had a theory that it’s the name of a demon also known as Deva, or Resheph, associated with pestilence.

That’s Resheph off to the right, the personification of plague. He’s hanging out with his friends Min (the fertility god with the big boner) and Qetesh (the goddess of fertility and sexual ecstacy)

How to defeat it: You’ve got to kill those infected. Guns work. And Molotov cocktails would do the trick, too, one imagines, as the Winchester boys were planning.

It also helps to be immune, like Sam. –Wally

“I bet they could hump the crap out of your leg.”
— Dean Winchester

The Monsters of “Supernatural,” Season 1, Episodes 17-19

Meditation creates a golem-like tulpa from Tibet. A shtriga, a vampire witch from Albania, sucks out the souls of children. And a real-life haunted painting, The Hands Resist Him, leads to mysterious deaths. 

 

Christians, Muslims and Jews pray to God. Wiccans cast spells. Many people practice the power of positive thinking.

Personally, I believe that, for the most part, you get what you put out into the universe. That’s why I try to be as upbeat as possible and why I distance myself from too much negativity.

Is it possible that our thoughts could be so powerful that they become tangible objects? Some Tibetans think so. And if enough people believe that, could it make it actually happen? Will this cycle of belief and creation go on forever?!

Hopefully your brain doesn’t hurt as much as mine. Let’s just dive right into some Supernatural eps.

 

Perhaps these are tulpas, thought forms that have taken on a physical reality

S1E17: “Hell House”

Monster: Tulpa, a malevolent spirit

Where it’s from: Tibet

Description: It’s a thought that takes on a physical form.

What it does: “Once the tulpa is endowed with enough vitality to be capable of playing the part of a real being, it tends to free itself from its maker’s control,” Alexandra David-Néel writes in Magic and Mystery in Tibet, published in 1932. “This, say Tibetan occultists, happens nearly mechanically, just as a child, when his body is completed and able to live apart, leaves its mother’s womb. Sometimes the phantom becomes a rebellious son, and one hears of uncanny struggles that have taken place between magicians and their creatures, the former being severely hurt or even killed by the latter.”

Upon completing its task, instead of returning to the magician who constructed it, a tulpa sometimes pursues its own whims as a “half-conscious, dangerously mischievous puppet,” she writes.

The Tibetan explorer Alexandra David-Néel with her adopted son, Lama Aphur Yongden. David-Néel wrote about her creation of a tulpa that became more and more evil

Incidentally, David-Néel supposedly created a tulpa, in the form of a diminutive Friar Tuck-like monk that started out as jolly. Over time, it became thinner and took on a sinister demeanor. She eventually decided it had to be destroyed.

In this episode of Supernatural, the tulpa is created unintentionally — enough people believe the tales on a blog of a haunted house that they will the ghost into existence.

“The belief is not unlike more popular concepts of today like The Secret — belief in something gives it energy, which in turn helps to manifest it,” argues Psychic Universe. Some people bring about love; others, evil murderous ghosts.  

How to defeat it: Meditation is the place to begin when you have decided to destroy a tulpa, advises Psychic Universe. Sit in a quiet place with soft or dim lighting and go into a meditative state. You need to summon your tulpa to you by calling it in your mind. Depending on how strong it has become and how much of a mind of its own it has developed, this could prove difficult and may take a few attempts. Keep doing it though; remember, no matter how strong it gets, you’re still the creator and you’re still in charge.

Envision your tulpa surrounded by a force field of sorts — a field of white light. This light will protect you from its attempts to stop you. You can envision this light breaking down and reabsorbing the energy of the tulpa, which you can then absorb back into your own spiritual aura. Again, this can take a few sessions, but you’ll see your tulpa readily weakening.

Once you’ve dispersed and reabsorbed the energy, cleanse yourself to transform it into something more positive and get rid of the negative. Avoid thinking of your tulpa any further so you don’t accidentally re-create it; remember to keep your thoughts positive.

David-Néel said it took her six months of hard work to destroy her tulpa.
 

This vampiric witch from Albania, known as a shtriga, especially loves to feast upon the life essences of sleeping children

S1E18: “Something Wicked”

Monster: Shtriga

Where’s it’s from: Albania

Description: The witch in this episode looks like Emperor Palpatine — a dark-hooded figure with a pale, withered face. According to legend, shtrigas appear as old women during the day but have the power to morph into a bee, moth or fly. Some shtriga are also able to turn into owls.

What it does: The shtriga is a vampiric creature — she feeds off of the spiritus vitae (breath of life) or blood, particularly favoring children while they sleep.

How to defeat it: “A shtriga always vomits the blood she has sucked,” writes M. Edith Durham in High Albania and Its Customs in 1908. “You must secretly track a woman you suspect to be a shtriga when she goes out to vomit the blood. You must scrape some of it up on a silver coin and wear it, and then no shtriga can harm you.”

If you have been drained by a shtriga, the only cure is to have her spit into your mouth. Sounds pretty disgusting, but hey, if it works… Not sure how you’ll convince her to do this, though. Maybe French kissing would be enough?

If you happen to have a shtriga in a church, and it happens to be Easter Sunday, make a cross out of pig bones and hang it over the threshold. The shtriga will be unable to leave — and you’ve got one hell of an excuse not to go to church!

Dean and Sam discover that you can only defeat a shtriga if you catch her while she’s having a snack — that is, sucking the lifeforce out of someone. Fire her full of consecrated iron rounds. Just make sure you’ve got good aim.

 


S1E19: “Provenance”

Monster: Haunted painting

Description: This looks like a typical work of art — but suddenly you’ll notice one of the people in the painting have disappeared.

What it does: The spirit leaves the painting and commits murder.

The Hands Resist Him, a haunted painting tied to at least two deaths

It’s not the only haunted painting out there. There’s an infamous one titled The Hands Resist Him, painted by Bill Stoneham in 1974.

The owner of the gallery where the painting was first displayed and the art critic who reviewed the show died within a year of seeing the painting. And one seller on eBay wrote in the product description: “One morning our 4 1/2-year-old daughter claimed that the children in the picture were fighting and coming into the room during the night.”

Perception Gallery in Grand Rapids, Michigan bought The Hands Resist Him for $1,025. It now sits in storage.

How to defeat it: Pure iron has a long history of bringing about good luck and repelling evil. But in this case it’s not enough to banish the spirit of the haunted painting for good.

The Winchester boys use one of their go-to methods of destroying baddies: “Burn the bones,” as they like to say. Trouble is, that doesn’t work for them this time. That is, until they realize it’s not the father’s spirit committing the murders — it’s that of the little girl.

To kill the spirit, Sam and Dean had to destroy the doll that was made in the girl’s image because it had some of her hair. It was pretty creepy-looking anyway. –Wally

The Monsters of “Supernatural,” Season 1, Episodes 13-16

Want to develop your telekinesis powers? Stuck battling a Zoroastrian demon? Is that ghost truck a big ol’ racist? This post is for you!

Zoroastrianism, a little-known religion still practiced today, originated in Iran and focuses on opposites

Zoroastrianism gets a bum rap, in my opinion. It’s one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world, having started about 3,500 years ago in ancient Persia (what’s now Iran). But do you ever hear about Zoroastrianism? Nope. It’s all Christianity, Judaism and Islam all the time.

Sure, it’s a mouthful to say. But I bet most people don’t even know that people still practice Zoroastrianism — if they’ve even heard of it in the first place.

I had never met a Zoroastrian before my coworker Alma (who helped out with a post on what it’s like to visit Iran). They don’t have official places of worship, choosing instead to say their prayers at home or in the open air — always facing a source of light.

It’s high time we start spreading the word about this religion, which has a cool concept of dualism. For every good, there’s an evil. For every light, there’s a corresponding darkness. We’ll touch upon one of the religion’s personifications of shadow in this month’s Supernatural roundup.

“Telekinetics are known as “spoon benders.” They can do neat tricks like having knives hover in the air millimeters from someone’s eyeball.”

It’s bad enough having a phantom truck try to run you down, but it might turn out to be racist, too!

S1E13: “Route 666”

Monster: Phantom truck

Where it's from: United States

Description: This vehicle moves on its own, without a driver.

What it does: Dean and Sam Winchester reference the Flying Dutchman, which refers to a legendary ghost ship and/or its captain. He was a stubborn drunkard, who refused to heed his crew’s pleas and rounded the Cape of Good Hope during a terrible storm.

The crew mutinied, and the captain shot and killed its leader. He then tossed the corpse overboard. When the body hit the water, a shadowy figure appeared on deck.

The feisty captain shot at it — but the gun exploded in his hand.

The spectral figured cursed the Flying Dutchman to sail the seas as a ghost ship with a crew of skeletons, and any who catch sight of it are doomed to die.

The Flying Dutchman, as seen in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies

The cursed vessel has been spotted periodically since then, including by a German sub in World War II.

This particular ghost truck happens to be racist. Yes, the phantom truck is racist. What a jerk. (That reveal has led some to include this episode on a list of the worst Supernaturals ever.)

How to defeat it: Lure it onto hallowed ground — and the ghost truck should vanish.


S1E14: “Nightmare”

A rare moment of telekinesis caught on film!

Monster: Telekinesis

Where it’s from: People all over the world could have this power.

Description: Two Greek words combine to mean “distant movement” — telekinesis is the ability to move objects with your mind. Think of one of Stephen King’s most famous characters, the traumatized Carrie, whose telekinetic powers get out of control.

There’s not a lot of scientific evidence to back up the existence of telekinesis, though a researcher from Duke University named J.B. Rhine thought he could prove the power of the mind — and especially the idea that many people could collectively influence outcomes solely through the power of thought.

Later researchers have been unable to duplicate his results and have found errors in his methods.

What it does: Telekinetics are known as “spoon benders.” They can do neat tricks like having knives hover in the air millimeters from someone’s eyeball.

How to defeat it: Try giving a telepath a taste of his or her own medicine!

 

The horror flick Carrie demonstrates that you never want to piss off a telepath

Telekinesis 101

Hold the top of a necklace between your thumb and forefinger. Make sure the pendant is still.

Shut out all outside thoughts and focus. Imagine energy flowing through your arm and hand and then through the necklace. Picture the pendant swinging in little circles, speeding up as the energy flows. You should see tiny swinging movements.

Concentrate as hard as you can, all the while keeping the image in your mind. Try to imagine what it would look like in real life, starting slow and speeding up.

You’ve still got a long way before you’ve got Carrie-type powers, but you’ve gotta start somewhere!

 

Telekinesis 201

The first method of telekinesis training is becoming one with an object.

To do so, light a candle and stare at the flame. Focus on the inner flame — not just the flame you see.

Close your eyes and keep the inner flame in your mind, visualizing it growing, shortening, waving, dancing. Practice five to 10 minutes a day.

The second method of telekinesis training is using energy.

Start small. Blow up a balloon. Put it on a floor with little friction (apparently something like linoleum works best). Sit down in a comfortable position and try to do some breathing exercises to clear your mind. Then create a ball of energy and mentally push it into the balloon, making it move without touching it.

The final step of telekinesis training is bending.

You can use any utensil — though, let’s face it, it’s more poetic to use a spoon. Hold it in a way that’s comfortable to you. Sit in a relaxed position and do breathing exercises to clear your mind.

Focus on the utensil. Close your eyes and slowly rub the spoon to get the feeling of it. Feel the energy, the molecules and the atoms of it become one with you.

With years of practice, you’ll be bending spoons in no time!

 

S1E15: “The Benders”

Monster: Humans who hunt people for sport

Man, these guys are worse than that racist phantom truck! But we’re sticking to monsters. So, ’nuff said.

Good battles evil in many Zoroastrian myths

S1E16: “Shadow”

Monster: Daeva, Zoroastrian demon

Where it’s from: Zoroastrianism was one of the first monotheistic religions and dealt a lot with the battle between good and evil, darkness and light. It developed in ancient Persia, in what is now Iran.

The prophet Zoroaster battles two daevas

Description: As Sam Winchester says, “They’re Zoroastrian demons, and they’re savage. They’re animalistic. You know, nasty attitudes, kinda like, uh, demonic pitbulls.”

Daevas “are the counterparts and mirror opposites of the amesha spentas,” Rosemary Ellen Guiley writes in The Encyclopedia of Demons & Demonology. “They personify all diseases, sins and distresses suffered by humanity. Most daevas are male.”

The daevas were created from the evil thoughts of Ah-Riman, the Destructive Spirit of the Zoroastrian religion, “for the purpose of waging war against goodness and humanity. Though spirits, they can appear in human form,” she continues.

They hide beneath the earth, lurking about, waiting for someone vulnerable to attack. “They are attracted to unclean places and like to spend time in locations where corpses are exposed,” according to Guiley.

What it does: These are some powerful mofos. On the show, the daeva’s victims are shredded to death by its claws. Dean and Sam get their faces sliced up by the shadowy demon. (But fear not! Their pretty faces will heal with nary a scar.)

How to defeat it: Find and destroy the altar where it’s worshipped.

If a deava is attacking you, shine light upon it — as personifications of darkness, they cannot stand brightness. That includes flares, if you’ve got some handy. –Wally

The Monsters of “Supernatural,” Season 1, Episodes 10-12

Learn witchcraft spells to protect yourself from ghosts, pagan gods demanding human sacrifice and Death itself.

It really is kind of effed-up what English teachers sic upon impressionable young minds. I read Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” when I was 15, and it has stuck with me ever since. I was intrigued by the idea of a modern town ritually sacrificing one of its members, based on a pagan tradition so far in the past they’ve simply ceased to question it. And the final scene, where even the poor woman’s own son is given pebbles to help stone his mother to death, shook me to the core.

There’s a similar type situation in this roundup of Supernatural monsters. And we’ll also meet Death himself.

“Symptoms of ghostly possession can include oily skin, rashes, feeling like your eyes are being pulled inside, migraines, the sensation of being strangled, loss of appetite (or increased appetite), tics and miscarriages.”

There were only two people posing for this pic!

Apparently, ghostly possession is way more common than we think

S1 E10: “Asylum”

Monster: Ghost

Where it’s from: All over the world. About 30% of the world’s population is possessed by ghosts, according to the Spiritual Science Research Foundation, which I’m sure is totally legit.

Description: This particular spirit possesses people and feeds off their rage.

Encountering a ghost? Don’t panic — we’ve got you covered

What it does: Symptoms of ghostly possession can include oily skin, rashes, feeling like your eyes are being pulled inside, migraines, the sensation of being strangled, loss of appetite (or increased appetite), tics and miscarriages. In this particular case, those possessed turn murderous and then suicidal.

How to defeat it: A rifle loaded with rock salt can repel the ghost. Salt has a long history of protective properties.

To fully destroy the ghost and restore those who are possessed to themselves, Dean and Sam Winchester have to find the original corpse and burn it.

 

That scarecrow could come to life with the murderous spirit of a pagan god

That scarecrow could come to life with the murderous spirit of a pagan god

S1 E11: “Scarecrow”

Monster: Vanir, a pagan Norse god

Where it’s from: Northern Germany and Scandinavia

Freya is the goddess of beauty (and a bit of a slut, turns out)

Freya is also the goddess of war and death

Description: This branch of the Norse gods holds in its ranks Freya, goddess of love, beauty, sex, gold, war and death (busy gal), accused by Loki of having slept with all the elves and gods, including her brothers.

Pagans would offer sacrifices to Freyr, the Norse god of fertility

Freyr’s power over fertility is symbolized by his giant phallus, as depicted in this idol

Speaking of which, her brother Freyr, god of fertility, was a popular guy. People’s well-being and prosperity depended upon him, including bountiful harvests. This was apparently symbolized by his “enormous, erect phallus.”

What it does: Freyr was a frequent recipient of sacrifices, including the celebration of a harvest. Instead of offering up the traditional sacrifice of his favored animal, the boar, the townsfolk in the episode lured one male and one female to their deaths. With the sacrifice, the town assures a good harvest and general happiness.

The personification of this Vanir takes on the form of a living scarecrow, which actually has more of a connection to the Celts and their wicker man.

Julius Caesar wrote about the Gallic practice of burning humans alive in a giant wicker man

This sick ritual was described by none other than Julius Caesar in Book Six of The Gallic War:

“The whole Gallic race is addicted to religious ritual; consequently those suffering from serious maladies or subject to the perils of battle sacrifice human victims. … Some weave huge figures of wicker and fill their limbs with humans, who are then burned to death when the figures are set afire. They suppose that the gods prefer this execution to be applied to thieves, robbers and other malefactors taken in the act, but in default of such they resort to the execution of the innocent.”

How to defeat it: In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the mythical tree that connects the nine worlds, which include Asgard, where Thor and his relations live, and Midgard, their term for Earth.

In Norse mythology, the sacred tree Yggdrasil connects the nine worlds

In this episode, there’s a sacred tree that’s tied to the Vanir. Once the Winchester Brothers chopped it down, the god — and his blessings — abandon the village.

Our personification of death as the Grim Reaper began in Ancient Greece


S1 E12: "Faith"

Monster: Reaper

Where it’s from: All over the world, especially the United States and Europe

An old tarot Death card from Germany depicts a reaper

An old tarot Death card from Germany depicts a reaper

The reaper uses its scythe to chop up bodies

Description: The Grim Reaper is the personification of death. He’s most often depicted as a skeletal figure wearing a black hooded robe and carrying a large scythe. In some parts of Europe, his robe is white.

Ancient Greeks worshiped Thanatos, or Death, who was portrayed as an attractive, bearded man with wings and an extinguished flame (what vivid symbolism!). Departed souls had to pay the ferryman Charon to get across the River Styx into the underworld. Some sources described Charon as a skeletal figure much like today’s Grim Reaper.

What it does: On the show, reapers can stop time — and only their victims can see them coming for them.

How to defeat it: As the altar Sam discovers attests, you can gain control over a reaper with a binding spell.

 

Poppet Binding Spell

This spell is best worked on a waning or dark moon.

Cut two layers of black cloth in the rough shape of the person or creature you wish to bind and sew together to create a small poppet. Leave part of the head unstitched.

Fill the poppet with earth, a smoky quartz and an amethyst. Also include hair or nail clippings, or a photograph or sample of handwriting of the person you wish to bind.

Create a sacred circle, then take an altar candle and a black candle. Hold the poppet out in front of you and say:

Creature of cloth thou art,
Now creature of flesh and blood you be.
I name you [name of the person or creature you are binding].
No more shall you do me harm,
No more shall you spread false tales,
No more shall you interfere in my life,
Nor in the lives of my loved ones.
By the power of the gods and by my will,
So mote it be.

Draw an invoking pentagram over the poppet.

Now take some black ribbon or wool and begin to wrap the poppet like a mummy, leaving no space unwrapped and say:

I bind your feet from bringing you to harm me.
I bind your hands from reaching out to harm me.
I bind your mouth from spreading tales to harm me.
I bind your mind from sending energy to harm me.
If you continue to do so, let all negative energy be cast directly back at you!

Tie off the ribbon and hold the poppet in front of you. Visualize all the negative energy this person has sent you being cast back at them.

Wrap the poppet in a piece of black cloth and tie with a black ribbon. Say:

Great Mother, I have bound this person
From harming me and my loved ones.
By the powers of three times three,
By Earth and Fire, Air and Sea,
I fix this spell, then set it free,
’Twill give no harm to return on me,
As I will, so mote it be!

Let the candle burn out while the poppet sits at its base.

Then take the poppet and the remains of the candle and bury them in the ground or toss them in the ocean. Walk away without looking back.

 

Now, it’s not always possible to get nail clippings and the like from your enemy (does Death even have fingernails?!), so this spell from Free Witchcraft Spells might work better. It takes some time; so hopefully you can avoid the reaper in the meantime!

 

Black Candle Binding Spell

Anoint a black candle with sandalwood oil while you concentrate on the person or creature you want to get out of your life.

Wrap a piece of black thread around the candle until you use the whole length, then tie it tightly.

Repeat this, with a piece of black yarn. Then, on top of that, wind around a piece of rough twine of the same length. The exact lengths of the cords don’t matter — just use the same for all three. About 18 inches works well.

Light the candle, and let it burn out completely. Try to do this spell in the evening, letting the candle burn down overnight. Keep it somewhere safe and flameproof because the strings might catch fire as the candle burns down. I’ll burn candles in a small cauldron for my peace of mind.

You can try, but there really is no escaping death


Give it a go, but let’s face it: If your time has come, Death will find you. Have the Final Destination movies taught us nothing? –Wally

The Monsters of “Supernatural,” Season 1, Episodes 7-9

What’s a poltergeist, what are the urban legends about the Hook Man, and how do you break Indian curses?

Get away from the TV, Carol Anne! The poltergeist is gonna get you!

The movie Poltergeist scared (and scarred) countless kids of my generation. The image of doomed little Carol Anne putting her hands on the static-buzzing TV and creepily uttering, “They’re heeeeerrrre” is ingrained in our brains. It cemented our fear of clowns. And we’ll never forgive that strange little lady falsely proclaiming, “The house is clean.”

My family saw the movie on vacation at our time share on Lake Chelan, Washington. At the time, I had a stuffed monkey that I hid in the downstairs closet ’cause I was sure he’d try to strangle me with his tail while I slept.

“The Hook Man acts as a sort of morality police, punishing (and killing) young couples who naughtily engage in sex.”

Now a new generation has made acquaintance with a poltergeist in the form of Peeves, the ghostly prankster roaming Hogwarts Castle in the Harry Potter novels. Peeves has his dark side, though he’s more mischievous than menacing.

 

S1E7: “HOOK MAN”

The killer from I Know What You Did Last Summer plays upon our collective fear of the Hook Man

Monster: The Hook Man of urban legend

Where it’s from: The United States

Description: A teenage couple pulls into a lover’s lane and starts to make out. But upon hearing an announcer on the radio warning that a convicted murderer with a hook for a hand has escaped the local insane asylum, the girl insists on leaving. The boy keeps trying to score, but the girl rebuffs his advances. Frustrated, the boy guns the engine and drives her home in a huff. As the girl gets out of the car, she starts screaming. The boy runs over and sees what she’s freaking out about: Hanging from the car door is a bloody hook.

What it does: The Hook Man acts as a sort of morality police, punishing (and killing) young couples who naughtily engage in sex.

How to defeat it: There’s a powerful spirit deterrent you’ve already got in your kitchen cabinet: salt. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, salt was used to consecrate items and to seal covenants. Buddhists believe salt repels evil spirits. Even sumo wrestlers cleanse their matches by throwing a handful of salt into the center of the ring — a Shinto practice.


S1E8: “Bugs”

Is this a natural swarm of insects — or the result of a Native American curse?

Monster: Murderous insects

Where it’s from: The United States

Description: The bugs are driven to kill because of a Native American curse upon the land, proclaiming that nature will rise up against the white man. There are numerous places around the country that are said to suffer Indian curses.

It’s never a good idea to build your home on Indian burial grounds

What it does: Native American tribes didn’t tend to be very fond of insects, seeing them as swarming, biting and crop-destroying harbingers of disease, black magic and bad luck. So it’s not surprising that in this case, bugs burrow into a construction worker’s brain and spiders bite a realtor to death.

How to defeat it: Dean and Sam don’t break the curse; they just survive the plague of insects. But a helpful fellow on Facebook recommends the following prayer to cleanse the land from curses:

“Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the power of His shed blood, by that name and by that authority, I remit the sins that have been committed here as many generations back as needs be: to the very first thoughts, words, deeds or gestures.

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I break the covenant of death. I command that it be finished from this time forth: no more death, no more rape and no more murder in this place.

We dedicate this land back to the Lord Jesus Christ, that every person entering this place from this time forth to do any kind of oath, covenant, curse, fetish or agreement with the unfruitful works of darkness will come face-to-face with the power of the shed blood, and they will have no alternative but to fall down and repent of their wickedness, or they will turn and flee from here, never to return to come back again for this purpose, in Jesus’ name.”

Let us know how it works out!

 

S1E9: “Home”

Looks like this woman has a serious poltergeist on her hands

Monster: Poltergeist

Where it’s from: While its name is derived from the German for “knocking spirit” (often translated as “noisy ghost”), poltergeists can be found all over the world.

Description: They’re incorporeal and cannot be seen. They’re not considered spirits but rather psychic manifestations brought about by anxiety or stress.

What it does: Poltergeist activity can start out with strange odors, electrical disturbances or objects moving by themselves but often escalates to more violent physical attacks upon those in the home (a coffee pot might fly at your head, for instance).

How to defeat it: Try this:

 

House Purification Ritual

Make a mixture of:

  • Angelica root (a member of the parsley family used as protection from evil spirits and to break hexes)

  • Van Van oil (a lemongrass-based hoodoo formula popular in New Orleans to drive away evil and provide protection)

  • Crossroads dirt

Put this mixture in the north, south, east and west corners of the home on every floor — and the house should be clean.

 

But be warned: That’s what the psychic in Poltergeist promised, too. –Wally

The Monsters of “Supernatural,” Season 1, Episodes 4-6

The origins of — and how to defeat — demons, doppelgängers and the ghost of urban legend, Bloody Mary.

 

I went through a ghost phase during junior high. My best friend, Kevin, had a little sister, Michelle, and the two of us would sneak out in the middle of the night to try various techniques to summon ghosts. One of those spells shows up in this roundup of Supernatural baddies: Bloody Mary.

For the record, while we sure freaked ourselves out, sneaking into the bathroom at midnight with a candle, chanting, “Bloody Mary,” we never did end up summoning a freaky wraith, alas.

“She’s said to scratch out your eyes upon appearing. Or she might just scream at you, strangle you or steal your soul.”

S1E4: “Phantom Traveler”

Monster: Demon

Where it’s from: All over the world

Description: Demons come in all sorts of shapes and sizes — but they’re almost always horrifying distortions of nature. Beelzebub, for instance, is depicted as a giant fly, while another demon, Asmodeus, has the torso of a man, the leg of a rooster, the tail of a serpent and three heads (those of a sheep, a bull and a man spewing fire).

What it does: A demon’s favorite pastime seems to be possession. They like to take control of unsuspecting humans, causing them to act bizarrely. This can mean everything from being more aggressive, laughing maniacally or speaking in tongues to having supernatural knowledge or strength.

How to defeat it: In the Bible, Jesus spent a lot of time casting demons out of people. Since that’s not an option nowadays, it’s time to call in the exorcist. Entering a church or coming into contact with holy water really seem to piss off demons. Matthew 17: 21 says, “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting,” so that might be a good idea for spiritual preparation. You really just have to be forceful with the suckers and be persistent in commanding them to leave. It’s a battle of willpower.

 

Chant “Bloody Mary” into a bathroom mirror, and the ghost of Queen Mary I just might appear

S1E5: “Bloody Mary”

Monster: Bloody Mary

Where it’s from: United States

Description: Light a candle, enter a bathroom, stare into the mirror and chant her name three (or 13) times. Legend has it, Bloody Mary will appear, but don’t expect a delicious brunch beverage. A ghostly woman is said to materialize, sometimes reported to be covered in blood. Some say she’s Queen Mary I, known as Bloody Mary for her propensity to burn Protestants at the stake. Others insist she’s a woman named Mary Worth, who died in a car crash.

If you really want to stir the pot, add this chant: “I killed your baby!” This is probably an allusion to Queen Mary’s “ghost baby.” She supposedly exhibited all the signs of pregnancy — she stopped menstruating, gained weight in her belly and felt nauseous in the mornings. But she never gave birth, and eventually her stomach shrank. (Historians think her intense desire for an heir resulted in a bizarre medical phenomenon called a “false pregnancy.”)

What it does: I’m not sure why anyone would summon Bloody Mary, except as a way to prove your bravery at slumber parties, as she’s said to scratch out your eyes upon appearing. Or she might just scream at you, strangle you or steal your soul.

How to defeat it: There doesn’t seem to be much about killing Mary once you’ve summoned her, but Dean and Sam wisely decide to destroy her connection to this world: the mirror she traveled through. Sounds like it’s probably worth risking seven years of bad luck.

 

How They Met Themselves, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, c. 1860-1864. A couple comes upon their doppelgängers glowing in the woods. The woman faints, while the man draws his sword

S1E6: “Skin”

Monster: Shapeshifter / Doppelgänger

Where it’s from: Doppelgänger is a German word literally meaning “double walker.”

Description: Shapeshifters show up in legends from all around the world, the most common being werewolves. The baddie in “Skin” is the ultimate evil twin and only shifts into other human forms.

What it does: Seeing a dopplegänger is an omen of severe illness or death. The doppelgänger morphs into an exact replica of another human being, which it then kills and assumes its place. One clue that’s it’s not who you think it is: These creatures supposedly don’t cast a shadow.

How to defeat it: Kill it…before it kills you. –Wally

24 Vintage Halloween Cards That Are Nostalgic — But a Bit Creepy, Too

Halloween greetings from the past featured common Halloween symbols: the witch, black cat, jack-o’-lantern, ghost, devil — and one that has been forgotten.

A pumpkin-headed boy and an owl decorate this vintage Halloween card

There's something charming and yet disturbing about vintage Halloween cards. They're loaded with the symbols that are still associated with All Hallow’s E’en: witches, black cats, devils, jack-o’-lanterns and ghosts.

But one once-common symbol seems to have fallen by the wayside: the owl. Maybe the creepier, blood-sucking bat won out.

Owls were associated with Halloween back when the Celts would build bonfires at Samhain, their autumn festival. The light attracted insects, which in turn drew bats and owls to feast upon them.

From the time Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, had an owl as her symbol, the birds have been thought of as wise (though I've read that they're not too intelligent actually).

Mirror magic was common on October 31, as seen in this vintage Halloween card

At Halloween, when the veil between our world and the spirit realm is at its thinnest, we have the power to learn hidden knowledge. And witches took owls as well as cats as their familiars. So perhaps it makes sense that owls were once popular icons of the holiday.

You'll see some owls, along with the other, more lasting, symbols of Halloween in the selection of vintage cards below. –Wally

The Strange History of Halloween

Ever wondered why we carve pumpkins, dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating? Learn the pagan origins of Samhain, when spirits roam the Earth and we can see into the future.

Halloween is the best time to cast divination spells

Halloween: You love it or you hate it.

Our office manager dreads Halloween. She’s religious and sees it as an evil night, when devils and witches and demons and ghouls literally roam the streets.

That, of course, is why many of us love it. It’s a chance to become someone else for a night. To embrace our dark (or sexy) sides.

To the pre-Christian Celts of Western Europe, it was referred to as Samhain (actually pronounced “sow-en”) — a term still used by Wiccans. It’s the one day of the year when the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest.

Halloween has its dark side — but it can also be a time of good luck

That means it’s the ideal opportunity to try to glimpse into the future. Divination spells work best on All Hallow’s E’en.

Young women would try to glimpse their future lover’s face in the mirror on Halloween night

Witchy Ways

If you want to get into the Samhain spirit, try these spells: 

Contact a Deceased Loved One
See a Vision of Your True Love

Witches, black cats and jack-o’-lanterns have become associated with Halloween

But it also means that ghosts and other unpleasant wraiths have the opportunity to invade the world of the living once darkness falls. People felt they had to protect themselves.

How did these origins lead to our traditions of carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, dressing up in costumes and asking for candy with thinly veiled threats of mischief? What’s the history of Halloween, our strangest holiday?

Here’s an infographic I wrote (and the talented Kevin LeVick designed) for a website that’s sadly now defunct. –Wally

 

The Monsters of "Supernatural" Season 1, Episodes 1-3

Now you’ll know what to do if you ever come upon La Llorona, the weeping Woman in White, a cannibalistic wendigo or a vengeful ghost.

 

I've been mad for monsters for as far back as I can remember. From my early love of Greek myths to my hours spent playing D&D, I've always had a fascination for folklore, and in particular the various monsters and legendary creatures around the globe and through the centuries. 

So perhaps it's a bit odd that I never got into Supernatural until recently. As I've been watching the show on Netflix, I decided to start a series of blog posts that delves into the assorted boogeymen Dean and Sam encounter.  

“Parents warn that the woman in white looks for children who are out after dark and drags them into the water. ”
The woman in white, known in Mexico as La Llorona, comes back from the dead to mourn the children she has killed

The woman in white, known in Mexico as La Llorona, comes back from the dead to mourn the children she has killed

 

S1E1: "Pilot"

Monster: Woman in white (or La Llorona, the Weeping Woman)

Where it's from: Mexico

Description: A woman named Maria drowned her kids to exact revenge upon her husband, who left her for a younger woman (much like Medea in The Odyssey). When she realized what she had done, she committed suicide by drowning herself in the river as well. Other tales say she stopped eating and went mad, looking for her lost sons. 

What it does: Tall, slender, dark-haired and beautiful, La Llorona wails along riverbanks — ¡Ay, mis hijos! ("Oh, my children!") — causing misfortune to those who hear her. Parents warn that she looks for children who are out after dark and drags them into the water. 

How to defeat it: Unknown 

 

The wendigo is what becomes of those depraved enough to resort to cannibalism

The wendigo is what becomes of those depraved enough to resort to cannibalism

S1E2: "Wendigo"

Monster: Wendigo (Its name translates to "the evil spirit that devours mankind.")

Where it's from: North America, especially in the colder regions along the East Coast and Great Lakes

Description: These emaciated humanoid giants can reach 15 feet tall. They've got glowing eyes, yellow fangs and long tongues. Their skin is sallow and decaying, with patches of matted fur. Some depictions show the creature with antlers atop its head. 

What it does: Wendigos have an insatiable hunger for human flesh. In fact, when a person resorts to cannibalism, he or she becomes possessed by an evil spirit and transforms into a wendigo. 

How to defeat it: The original human is frozen inside the wendigo, where its heart would be. In most cases, when you kill the wendigo, the person trapped inside also perishes. 

 

This yurei, a vengeful ghost from Japan, seeks revenge for a wrongful death

This yurei, a vengeful ghost from Japan, seeks revenge for a wrongful death

S1E3: "Dead in the Water"

Monster: Vengeful spirit, or vengeful ghost

Where it's from: All over the world

Description: These undead spirits return from the dead to exact revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death — or because they weren't given a proper burial. There seem to be more female vengeful spirits than male. 

What it does: It wanders the Earth, with the ability to kill, until it has appeased its appetite for revenge. 

How to defeat it: Find the corpse and the instrument of death, if possible. Pour salt over them, then set them on fire. If the person wasn't given a proper burial, doing so might do the trick. –Wally

Haint Blue Porch Paint

My parents painted the ceiling of their front porch haint blue, a tradition in the Lowcountry

My parents painted the ceiling of their front porch haint blue, a tradition in the Lowcountry

Tired of evil spirits raiding your home? Victim of vengeful ghosts? Try haint blue! 

No one wants to share their home with angry, vengeful spirits. And that's exactly what haints are.

These ghosts are trapped somewhere between the worlds of the living and the dead. Needless to say, that makes them grumpy.

“Gullahs paint the ceilings of their porches a pale blue to keep away pesky poltergeists.”

Gullahs, the descendants of African slaves who worked the plantations of Georgia and South Carolina, found a clever way to exploit the spirits' one weakness: They cannot cross water.

Rather than digging a moat around every one of their homes, they decided to trick the haints. 

By taking lime, milk and some odd pigments, and mixing them up in a pit, the Gullahs ended up with a pale blue color. They used to this to paint the ceilings of their porches to keep away the pesky poltergeists.

Sure enough, it fooled the haints, who believed they couldn't cross the threshold and found another home to haunt. 

As a bonus, wasps, too, get tricked, local superstition has it. They supposedly mistake haint blue for the sky and build their nests elsewhere.

The tradition lives on today in the South. My mother has painted the ceiling of her front porch and sunroom a lovely haint blue.

As for sinister spirits of the dead? Haint no spirits here! –Wally