[The fairy lore of the British Isles may be the liveliest such tradition recorded. Some of its numberless, colorful supernatural beings are portrayed as solitary. Others live in communities, even kingdoms. Some are one-offs, famous enough to be named, while some are mere figures of a type. Some dwell in nature or in ancient constructions […]
For Sir Thomas Sean Connery (August 25, 1930-October 31, 2020) Every age needs its signature hero. It’s often hard to say who invents the style. It’s not always the one who makes it popular. But I can’t think of any direct prototypes for Sean Connery’s 007. Born in Edinburgh, Thomas Sean Connery was […]
I was going through some old files recently and came across a report about The Roycroft Inn in East Aurora that I have never published. An example of a type of random phenomena that seem so common at the Inn, this one came from the period (1970s-1980s) of Kitty Turgeon’s (1933-2014) ownership. The essence of it […]
[Folklorists are accustomed to the idea that supernatural legend – and even contemporary paranormal experience –surrounds the ancient monuments of Europe. Stonehenge. Silbury Hill. Carnac. The Rollrights. So common is it that one may presume every little stone-circle or barrow (burial mound) comes with some local legend. It’s an unfortunate surprise to too many Americans to hear […]
Most rock/pop acts seem to me to settle into a sound, develop an image, find a following, and keep it all rolling as long as they can. They may even have long followup careers as nostalgia acts, doing the old stuff as long as anyone will listen. Expanding as artists…. maybe not so much. […]
When I’m anywhere near a major sacred site, a “place of ancient sanctity” in the words of John Michell, I try to get into it by myself with a journal and spend a bit of reflective time. It’s a balm for the interior self even if no revelations come. The megaliths of Europe and the […]
My heart is heavy tonight for my artist-friend – we joke, “my Leo brother” – Patricio Gustavo Calderon. His mother left us last night for the world of Spirit. At least he was in Equador with her. The moment may affect me so because I remember my feelings at losses of my own. People rise to […]
I don’t believe in ghosts, although I’ve seen my share.Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen One of the unforgettable memories of my teaching career is of sitting in on the English class of Nichols School legend William F. Kimberly (1929-2011), to me the model of a man who knew where he […]
[I think more people than you would expect have a supernatural story or two like this one floating around in family tradition. A recent book, The Rose Witch (2018), published by Western New York Wares, is a collection of mostly family ghost-and-supernatural stories from Western New York’s ethnic communities. You can get one from […]
“One who looks outside, dreams. One who looks inside, awakens.”C. G. Jung 1This experience we are going through together – the anxiety and quarantine of the Corona Virus pandemic – can be seen as a deprivation. It can also be taken as a sort of life-timeout that grants us opportunity. We are being driven out of […]