In Pure Spirit

For open minds

Who knew Christmas could be so freaky creepy?

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Yep, it’s marketing, but it’s interesting! Doors Online (who sell real doors) have put together a list of unusual Christmas traditions worldwide.

Weird Christmas in Poland

Weird Christmas in Poland

According to Polish folklore, any kid born over the twelve days of Christmas could be a werewolf or other half-human, half-demon hybrid. If this occurs, the only available treatment is to collect blood from the infant’s brow.

Weird Christmas in America

Weird Christmas in America

According to an old Appalachian belief, an unwed lady who goes to a hog enclosure at midnight on Christmas Eve and hears an elderly hog grunting will marry an older man. But if a young hog grunts first, she might expect a young and gorgeous husband.

Weird Christmas in Greece

Weird Christmas in Greece

You probably don’t picture burning shoes when you think of the aromas associated with Christmas. However, in Greece, it is a Christmastime tradition to burn one’s old shoes, and locals believe the terrible odour will scare away Christmas ghosts called Kallikantzaroi.

Evidently, footwear is a big deal in Greece during the holiday season. They also think it’s unwise to give someone a pair of shoes for the holidays for fear that they might one day abandon you.

Weird Christmas in Latvia

Weird Christmas in Latvia

Traditional Latvian Christmas celebrations include carrying the Yule log around the home, an act thought to ward off evil spirits.

In honour of Mithras, the sun god, a Yule log is cut down, dragged through the woods to your house, and finally burned inside your home. Hopefully, the sun will have returned the following year, and the dark days will have vanished thanks to this.

Weird Christmas in Czechia

Weird Christmas in Czechia

Whereas many people in Western Europe like to have beef or poultry as the main course at Christmas dinner, carp is more typically served in Eastern Europe.

It is common practise in the Czech Republic for hosts to lay a single fish scale under their guests’ plates as a symbol of good fortune and a reminder of the season’s plenty.

Weird Christmas in the Philippines

Weird Christmas in the Philippines

There is a significant Christian community in the Philippines, and celebrations start on September 1st for many people. As a result, many age-old customs and beliefs about the holiday season have been passed down.

One such belief among Filipinos is that bathing on Christmas Day is bad luck. Some say that if you do, the gifts of Jesus’ birthday will be lost, and you may develop a mysterious illness.

Weird Christmas in Serbia

Weird Christmas in Serbia

The twelve days leading up to Christmas in Serbia are known as the “unbaptized days,” They were traditionally viewed as a time when demonic forces of all kinds would be more active and dangerous than usual.

These demons, known as karakondula, are most active between midnight and dawn, and if they come across an unsuspecting human, they will hop on their back and demand to be carried wherever they choose.

As a result, the victim wouldn’t be freed until the devil heard a cockerel crowing at sunrise.

Weird Christmas in England

Weird Christmas in England

You might have been expected to help make the Christmas pudding if you dropped in on an English family on the last Sunday of Advent in the past.

But superstition demands a specific procedure. You need to get up and move from east to west like the Magi did on their way to see Jesus. By doing so, you’ll be granted a wish for the future year and bestowed with good fortune.

Weird Christmas in Portugal

Weird Christmas in Portugal

In Portuguese culture, family is extremely important year-round, especially during the holiday season. That’s why it’s common practise in Portugal to arrange an extra seat at the table during the traditional Christmas feast for loved ones who have passed on.

It is a way to honour ancestors who have passed away while bringing good fortune and financial success to the home in the following year.

Weird Christmas in Ukraine

Weird Christmas in Ukraine

Have you ever been curious about tinsel’s genesis? We may ask, but why do we use this sparkly, fluffy-looking substance to adorn our Christmas trees? It seems this weird Ukrainian ritual could be to blame.

If a spider’s web is discovered in the Christmas tree on the morning of the 25th, it is said to bring prosperity to the home and its inhabitants. Small spider tree ornaments, complete with webs, have become a tradition in Ukraine, where they are said to bring prosperity.

Weird Christmas in Guatemala

Weird Christmas in Guatemala

It’s lovely to have a spotless home before the holidays anywhere, but in Guatemala, cleanliness truly is next to Godliness. The locals have a superstitious fear of the dark and think evil spirits reside there.

One of the most labour-intensive Christmas traditions occurs on December 7th, when Guatemalans go on a massive cleaning frenzy, piling up trash and undesired goods they’ve collected over the year outside the front door.

An effigy of the devil is burned at the end of the year in a ritual known as La Quema del Diablo (or “Burning of the Devil”) to clear away any negativity from the previous year and make way for a fresh start that the new year brings.

Weird Christmas in Spain

Weird Christmas in Spain

This Christmas superstition could help you if you’re buying a present for someone you don’t particularly care about. If you’re shopping for a loved one, it’s advisable to steer clear of anything pointy.

A superstition in Spain says if you give your friends and family sharp objects like blades or scissors for the holidays, your bond with them will inevitably become strained. Please don’t give them anything wrapped in yellow, as that will bring them nothing but misfortune forever.

In Pure Spirit

Are there any odd Christmas traditions that you, friends or family have?

These are the most alien-obsessed European countries

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Psychic World looked at data on how often people research aliens to work out which countries are the most obsessed about aliens.

The marketing effort is designed to help promote the site and the cost-per-minute phone lines it enables, but, hey, it worked to grab my attention here.

The top twenty European countries for alien searches

Psychic World and their marketing agency looked at only people searching for the word alien to get this data. They noticed that this year there had been more searches than last year, a lot more, 89% more.

The top twenty European countries for alien searches

The UK tops the poll with 624,000 searches every year. That’s about 1,700 people every day turning to Google just to type in [aliens] and see what happens.

France, which has roughly the same number of people as the UK, had 35% fewer searches, about 408,000. But it’s possible, likely even, they were using the word “alien” again rather than “étranger”.

That might be a flaw in the approach.

The site also discovered common questions people had about aliens.

The five top questions people ask about aliens

  1. What would an alien look like? (13,200 searches a year)
  2. How do aliens contact (12,000 searches a year)
  3. What are aliens (8,4000 searches a year)
  4. Where are the aliens (6,000 searches a year)
  5. Why would aliens come to earth (3,000 searches a year)

Interesting? I thought so, but remember many people who understand the tarot or believe themselves to have psychic powers will offer their time for free.

In Pure Spirit

Do you believe that there might be intelligent extraterrestrial life out there?

Steve Alten interview: Where is Megalodon hiding?

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Steve Alten is the author of the hugely popular Meg series. The fictional series starts when Navy deep-sea submersible pilot Jonas Taylor encounters a Carcharodon megalodon while exploring the infamous Mariana trench. He barely survives the encounter but then has to warn a sceptical world that the 70-foot shark is real.

The latest book in the series, Meg: Nightstalkers, deals with the nightmare scenario of escaped megalodons and other ancient monsters making their way free.

In Pure Spirit is really lucky. Steve’s made time to answer some of our Carcharodon megalodon questions. Buckle up and read on!

Q. Some folk like to hope that Carcharodon megalodon survives as a species. Why do you think that is? Isn’t a strange thing to hope for?

Not at all. Just as visitors would come to a Jurassic World, they’d love to witness the most vicious predator ever to have lived … albeit from a safe distance.

Q. Do you think the Mariana trench has any real surprises left for us?

It’s all new. This is a 40 mile wide, 1550 mile long unexplored realm. The latest exploration found hydrothermal vents (as I predicted 20 years ago) and an albino “ghost shark!”

Q. You must have been subjected to dozens of survival theories from fans since you started writing Meg. Which have been the most memorable ones?

I favor the rise of Orca as the most likely theory which resulted in the Megs disappearance. An orca is no match for a Meg, but killer whales hunt in pods, and a pack could easily kill a lone Meg. Orca hunt along shorelines and would have decimated Megalodon nurseries. The only escape for adults would have been to inhabit deeper waters where the whales could not access. Could Megalodon still be alive without us knowing it? Absolutely. We’ve only explored 5% of the oceans and less than 1% of the deep…

Q. How do you keep up with science and the real world mysteries of the deep oceans?

I research every novel thoroughly to flesh out the story. Plus I answer every email personally, which introduces me to experts far smarter than myself.

Q. Which other deep water stories are you tempted to explore?

The LOCH takes on Loch Ness, VOSTOK explores the subglacial lakes in Antarctica, and The OMEGA PROJECT takes us to our planet 12 million years in the future…so I’ve  been tempted and went there! Check it out at www.SteveAlten.com.

Should these neighbours worry you?

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An annoymous Imgur user shared this picture along with the headline “Just moved in next to me…”

protected by

Uh? Okay… effective sign but should they be worried about the neighbours?

There’s a few angles here. Firstly, the neighbours might think this is a joke, and it is kinda funny. It’s bold. It’s brash. It’s certainly been noticed!

Another angle is that the new neighbours really are Satanists and really believe they’ve invoked unholy protection on their property. If that’s the case then they’re being rather nice to warn people of the risks of breaking in. Do Satanists care about property?

goblin-cross
The Etsy store Wytchen Wood sells this Winter Queen Blackthorn Goblin’s Cross. Some people will use such crosses for the protection of their homes.

 

In Pure Spirit

How do you get on with your neighbours? Do you think you’re a good neighbour?

Spellbook ring!

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magic-ring
You buy this book of magic ring from Think Geek.

Isn’t this pewter with brass inlay ring clever? As you can see it actually opens and there’s a little stud clasp. It’s sold in various sizes too.

In Pure Spirit

Would you ever wear a ring like this?

32 superstition origins that may surprise you

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Do you know why you belief in some superstitions and not others? Do you even know where some of these superstitions came from? A lot, of course, are due to old religions.

We’ve got four-leaf clovers, Friday the 3th (fear of Friday the 13th is called Friggatriskaidekaphobia), lucky 7, 666 the number of the beast, throwing salt over your left shoulder, walking under a ladder and a host more.

In Pure Spirit

Are you superstitious? Which superstitions do you pay the most attention to?

5 ways you can use hypnosis to expand your consciousness

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hypnosis-75615_1280You are hypnotized every day! I know, it sounds unbelievable. But it isn’t. We just think so because we are not aware of what hypnosis actually is. Most of us think it’s a guy on stage making a fool of people.

But what hypnosis is, is a tool that we can use to communicate directly with our subconscious mind, without our conscious, critical mind interfering.

Our subconscious mind is the one that does all the “thinking” and the one that makes decisions for us. Think of the subconscious like this: When you are walking, you don’t think of every single step you are going to make. You just walk. The thinking process behind walking, or breathing for that matter, is in our subconscious, and we are usually not aware of it.

On the other hand, our conscious mind tends to filter out information from entering our subconscious mind, as the subconscious has no way of knowing where the information or a thought came from – from us or from the outside. Our consciousness does it like this – do you remember the colors of the last ten cars that passed you by? Likely not. The conscious mind has filtered out that information, as if it didn’t, you’d just get overwhelmed.

Most of us have some beliefs that are holding us back, and as we are used to them, our conscious mind often rejects a thought that would counter those beliefs. That is where hypnosis comes in – it can be useful to bypass the conscious mind, and to speak directly to the subconscious, thus allowing us to make suggestions to ourselves (or let a hypnotist do it) that, when repeated enough, would become our “default” thoughts.

We can use hypnosis to work on our problems, on our motivation to do something, or to expand our awareness. Here are a few ways hypnosis can be used for the latter:

  1. You can literally make suggestions to yourself that will help you pay more attention to details around you. Watch the changes within in the following weeks.
  2. You can help yourself change your mind about how lucky, how happy or how enthusiastic you are about your life. A neat trick in my book.
  3. You can have an easier time of aligning your thoughts with your beliefs, and thus allowing yourself to be better and faster with manifesting things that you desire, if the law of attraction is your kink.
  4. You can get yourself to study harder or work more productively, by carefully planting suggestions that will help you in the long run.
  5. You can slowly change your mindset to mimic the mindset most successful people have. Finally, a tool that will help you to just let go of those negative thoughts that seem to linger on.

This is all cool, but I never told you – how is it that you get hypnotized every day? Simple. Hypnosis is simply an altered state of mind during which you are more aware than normal, but usually you are focused on only one thing.

So, whenever you find yourself taking a long walk during which you are not thinking of anything, you are experiencing a mild form of hypnosis. Whenever you find yourself with eyes glued to the TV while watching your favorite show, eagerly awaiting to see what happens next, you are experiencing a mild trance state (or a hypnotic state). During those times you are more susceptible to suggestions, and that is why TV commercials or banners on websites worked great, until they got over-saturated. They still work well, though, but not nearly as well as they had before.

No matter what you want to use hypnosis for, it can be of great benefit. We have prepared a way for you to experience hypnosis for free, from the comfort of your own home. Head on to NaturalHypnosis free downloads page and give any of the three free hypnosis mp3s a try. Wish you all the best!

In Pure Spirit

What are your thoughts on the art and science of hypnotism? Let us know in the comments below.

About the Author

Igor Tomić is a inbound marketing specialist who enjoys exploring various ways to expand his consciousness. Hypnosis has been one of the most helpful tools for him.

A look inside Black Rose Enchantments: Tarot readings and charms

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Black Rose Enchantments is a new age shop on Etsy with tarot readings, charms and creations that caters for wiccan, pagan, zodiac and steampunk tastes. At the start of the month we visited White Rose Witches and so, to balance things up, let’s visit Black Rose Enchantments today.

Enchanted Dark Angel Bracelet

dark-angel-brace

I want this.

Black Rose uses amethyst, blue stonestone, silver toned metal charms and lead free pewtwe angels on this bracelet. It is one of the most significant items in the store.

Amethyst Pentacle Necklace

ame-pent

For my collection.

At the time of writing there’s only one of these handmade pentacle necklaces left. In addition to the amethyst, they’re made with quartz and a silver toned metal charm.

Traditional Tarot: 10 Card Spread Reading

tarot-read

Seek Black Rose visions.

In addition to buying items from Black Rose you can also invest in insight and wisdom. This reading using the traditional Celtic Cross spread and will address any situation or question you wish to put, according to Black Rose.

In Pure Spirit

Have you had any experience in giving or taking Tarot readings over Etsy? It would be a blessing if you would share your thoughts in the comments below.

Weird 3D woodland animal spirit

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3d-animal

This interesting animation is popular on Tumblr. I can’t trace it further than that. It shows a woodland spirit, some sort of monster, or perhaps a fairy from the night court and uses a flickering motion to give a 3D effect.

In Pure Spirit

Looking for art and inspiration? Try Art.com or Art Republic.

Do you have any favourite animated gifs? Any pictures that make you think of the spirit and creatures we should remember? Share the images and links in the comments below!

Disclosure

This blog discusses ideas and causes. Urban myth, science and faith combine here. So do editorials and technology; In Pure Spirit uses affiliate marketing and some links might earn us money. You can read more about that here.

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