skeleton - In Pure Spirit

Did fishermen really find a dragon skeleton in the Chinese Sea?

December 27, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

According to the Japanese news site Byoukan Sunday there is debate as to whether this is a strange discovery or a hoax.

The find is dated March 2013 and was apparently made by a Chinese fisherman. As the Japanese newspaper points out the bones are rather perfect for a washed up skeleton, though. Could they have been hand carved?

As a hoax it is still a remarkable piece of art.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? Is this a hoax or do you think the Chinese really have their hands on a skeleton that belongs to a creature we’ve never seen before?

Or is there a third option? Is this a partial skeleton of a more common creature? A whale, for example.

Medieval witch to be given Christian funeral after decapitation 700 years ago

March 3, 2009 by Andrew Leave a Comment

: Image by KiltBear via Flickr

The remains of a teenage witch who was sentenced to death and her head removed for being a witch more than 700 years ago are to be given both a Christian funeral and burial.

Decapitation was used as a method to prevent eternal life in the dark ages. When the remains of the body were discovered two years ago, in unconsecreated ground near Hoo Saint Werburgh church, experts suggested that the teenage girl had been executed for being a witch.

Rev Andy Hardy, the vicar of Hoo, requested that the remains be given a Christian burial after he heard the story. It is also possible that the girl killed herself and killed up to die.

The Daily Mail has quotes from Harding;

‘We don’t know exactly what happened to her but what we do know is that her life came to an horrific end and even in death she was treated appallingly.

‘When I found out about it, I thought it was a tragic story and I felt a need to give her what had clearly been denied to her all those years ago, and that is a proper burial.

‘We want to put her back where she should have been when she first died, and we will be placing her with her head on her shoulders as it should be.

‘There was a belief in those days that you were buried facing east so that you were facing the resurrected Christ but in this case her head was removed to prevent her from eternal life.

‘Execution in those days would have been for such things as witchcraft, so if they had gone so far as to take her head off, she would have had to have committed a mortal sin.’

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? Is Andy Hardy doing the right thing by giving the remains a Christian burial?

Monster washes up on Croyde beach

February 2, 2009 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Mysterious animal washes up on Croyde beach

Could the corpse of a sea lion be responsible for a mysterious skeleton discovered on a beach in Croyde, North Devon in the UK?
This Is North Devon describes how a member of the public contacted Brauton police after she discovered the strange beast. Described as being the size of a calf but with canine teeth one of the initial suggestions was that this was nothing less than the remains of the Beast of Exmoor.

The first police officer on the scene, a PC Tucker, radioed in the discovery back to headquarters after it became apparant the discovery was not a simple hoax.

PC Tucker is quoted as saying, “It’s a good five feet long, and it’s got black fur. It certainly looks quite beastlike with those teeth.”

Sgt Pearce said: “It almost definitely looks like it could be a beast of Exmoor.”

He added: “It’s only about five miles away to Exmoor by sea, it could easily have floated down.”

The Environmental Health department and the RSPCA havebeen alerted. The public has been asked not to venture down to the Croyde shores due to the extreme weather conditions and dangerous icy rocks.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? Could the skull belong to a sea lion or are we looking at the remains of some other creature?

Picture credit: This Is North Devon

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