Faerie Lore and Legends

Wandjini or Wandjina

For the People of the Land Down Under in Kimberley, the Wandjina are their representation of the “Supreme Creator”. They are also known as “The Sky Beings” or “cloud spirits”. They are the symbol to use for “fertility” and “rain”. Images of the Wandjina are painted in rock art throughout Western Kimberley and are not found anywhere else in Australia.

The Wandjina’s area is about 200,000 square kilometers of lands, water, sea, and islands in the Kimberley region of north-western Australia, dating back at least 60,000 years B.P. or older. The three Wandjina tribal groups are the Worora, Ngarinyin, and Wunumbul people. They are also called “Gwion Gwion” or “Gyorn Gyorn”.

They are amongst the most sacred of figures and extremely spiritual images to the Mowanjum peoples who comprise up the three language groups – the Worrorra, Ngarinyin, and Wunumbal. They are sometimes depicted in threes. The Wandjinias have large eyes on a face with no mouth. Legend states they have no mouths because that would make them too powerful. They have been said to have control over nature. One has been claimed to be the origin of the Milky Way. They have been known for their role in creating the world and universe. 

They sometimes are depicted with elaborate headdresses and each of these can symbolize a different kind of storm. Their eyes also represent weather storms. Their elegant elongated bodies featured in the Gyorn Gyorn images represent their long-ago ancestors before the Wandjinas who brought the laws of the land and can date upwards of 20,000 years B.C.E. These images can be found with Wandjinas over-painted on them with other imagery. When this occurs, they are sometimes called “Bradshaws”.

According to Aboriginal law, only Aboriginal people who went through the law are allowed to use Wandjinas and their representation. Only after years of initiation, ceremonies, and the tribal council can an Aboriginal artist win the right to depict Wandjinas in their art. Throughout Australia, modern art depicting the Wandjina can be found that is considered inappropriate art work.

It is especially inappropriate for a non-Indigenous person to depict Wandjinas without permission. Doing so is seen as mockery and denigration of the spiritual beliefs of the Worrorra people. Another inappropriate depiction of Wandjina was done in Perth around 2007 varying from stencil-work to spray painting of Wandjina driving a pink car. There were even Flickr blogs of people engaged in “Wandjina watching” documenting such graffiti found. The Wandering Wandjina really angered traditional indigenous people and a film called “Who Paintin’ Dis Wandjina” covers the Aboriginal reaction.

They are often seen as cloud and rain spirits as well. They were known to have created the landscape and its inhabitants of the Dreamtime, continually influencing both. When the spirits found the place for their death bed, they painted their images on cave walls and entered a nearby waterhole. These paintings were then to be refreshed by Aborigines as a method to regenerate one’s life force. Those who break the law of the land could see punishment from the Wandjina in the forms of floods, lightning, and cyclones.

The artistic style of Wandjina rock art appears from 3800-4000 B.C.E. It is said to have occurred after a millennium-long drought that gave way to a much damper and wet climate demonstrating more frequent monsoons. The depictions are often in black, red, or yellow and usually almost always on a white background. The Wandjina spirits are often depicted either alone or in a group, commonly of three, vertically or horizontally depending on the dimension of the rock being painted on, and sometimes found with figures or objects like yams or Rainbow Serpents.

Most of the time it shows large upper bodies and heads showing eyes and noses, without mouths. This is explained that they are so powerful they do not require speech and if they had mouths, the rains would never cease. The heads are often made of lines or blocks of colors with lighting depicted as coming out of transparent helmets. Each year, the paintings are repainted in December or January to insure the arrival of monsoon rains and some paintings at various sites can be seen as being over 40 layers deep. Newer images appear stockier and some even are painted with eyelashes.

Some modern theories and mythology claim that the Wandjina were ancient astronauts or aliens from outer space. They believe that extraterrestrial beings visited the Earth tens of thousands of years ago, had contact with the peoples living then, and some even believe they had a direct role in the creation of humans and the Earth. Some of these theories place Wandjina’s roles in the Dreamtime stories as proof.

The artistic depictions of aliens today and the Wandjina certainly have great similarities. The questions of why the Wandjinas were depicted with white skin instead of the Aboriginal black skin, why the eyes were dis-apportioned to the rest of the face with no mouth, and them being “sky beings” was another confusion that led to alien theories.

The “sky beings” or “spirits from the clouds” who came down from the Milky Way during Dreamtime and created the Earth and all of its inhabitants is certainly suspicious. The Wandjinas supposedly looked upon the inhabitants of Earth and realized the enormity of the task at hand so had to return home to bring more Wandjinas, with the aid of the Dreamtime snake, they descended and spent their Dreamtime creating, teaching, and being Gods to the Aboriginals whom they created.

They then disappeared, descended into the Earth, and have lived at the bottom of the water source associated with each of the paintings producing new “child-seeds” which are regarded as the source of all human life. Some returned to the skies and can be seen at night as lights moving high above the earth.

As a side note/observation, I once had a vision during a ritual of a group of white-robed white beings who only had eyes and noses (no mouths) (but they were normal human eyes and noses) who came and spoke to me about things … I could hear them like as if talking face-to-face to another human, but I heard them in my mind as they had no mouths. Curious if this could have been the wandjina?

References and Bibliography:

• Ancient Origins n.d. “Mysterious Aboriginal Rock Art Wandjinas – Extraterrestrial or not?” Web site referenced 7/5/18 at https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-folklore/mysterious-aboriginal-rock-art-wandjinas-extraterrestrial-or-not-00701
• Creative Spirits n.d. “What Are Wandjinas”. Web site referenced 7/5/18 at http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/arts/what-are-wandjinas
• Poleshift n.d. “Wandjina Rock Art in Kimberley Australia”. Web site referenced 7/5/18 at http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/wandjina-rock-art-kimberley-au
• Walia, Arjun 2019 “A 5000-year-old Aboriginal Cave Painting of the Wandjina Known as Sky Beings”. Web site referenced 3/18/2021: https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/12/30/a-5000-year-old-aboriginal-cave-painting-of-the-wandjina-the-sky-beings/
• Wikipedia n.d. “Wandjina”. Web site referenced 7/5/18 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandjina
• Youtube n.d. “Wandjinas”. Web site referenced 7/5/18 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBUd_WIjN9g

Roswell’s Alien Craze

That Crazy Alien City – Roswell
~ Roswell, New Mexico ~

My family moved to Roswell, New Mexico in 1973-1974 from New Rochelle, New York. I began school at El Capitan Elementary School then progressed to Sierra Middle School, and on to Goddard High School before moving off in 1986 to Florida to attend college at Florida State University. That whole period of 1973-1986, there was no hype about the rumored UFO crash, alien autopsies, or space visitors. The city was a progressive agriculture town, with a former military Cold War base and silos towards exits outside of each direction of the city. It was known as an “All American City”. There were legends and tales about the UFO crash but that was about it.

One of my dad’s friends, Mr. Bentley spoke about his abduction and proudly showed scars the aliens left on his stomach. He was a crazed inventor that my dad invested with. As a kid, I was obsessed with the belief in Faeries, UFO’s, Ancient Egypt, and magic. I had a blue scrapbook I made of UFO sightings, crashes, and strange phenomena. There was very little in that book about Roswell. “The Incident” wasn’t talked about much. I remember even trying alternative science experiments for the science fair at El Capitan was severely frowned upon. So I moved on and advanced with real science.

It is all based on an event on June 14, 1947, where an un-identified object crash landed outside of Roswell. The rancher who owned the land W.W. “Mac” Brazel and his son Vernon called it “a large area of bright wreckage made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, and rather tough paper, and sticks.” They brought the wreckage into town to the local sheriff George Wilcox. Insiders claimed it was a UFO with alien bodies.

This theory was quickly leaked to the Press and published. Others, including the military, later claimed it was a high altitude weather balloon that fell from the sky. Ex-military representatives however cried otherwise, leading to many conspiracy theories. The Sheriff contacted Colonel “Butch” Blanchard, commander of the Roswell Army Airfield’s 509th Composite Group. The Colonel was stymied and contacted his superior General Roger W. Ramey, commander of the 8th Air Force in Fort Worth, Texas. Intelligence officer Major Jesse Marcel was sent to investigate and collected all of the wreckage, trying to figure out what the materials were, and Marcel made a public statement claiming that it was a Flying Saucer.

The local newspaper sensationalized it letting the public know that “The intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment Group at Roswell Army Air Field announced at noon today, that the field has come into the possession of a Flying Saucer.” It was after-all at the close of World War II and sensationalist about anything was popular news. The U.S. at this time had sent V2 rockets with payloads of corn seeds and fruit flies into outer space, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists had the “Doomsday Clock” ticking, and UFO’s were the rage in popular culture.

The military said it was a Mogul Experimental weather balloon that crashed. The 1948 government report “The Roswell Incident” was published and utilized by the Variety reporter Frank Scully who wrote “Behind the Flying Saucers” – a book that detailed alien encounters from the Pacific Northwest, Aztec – Farmington – and Roswell, New Mexico, and how aliens were now said to be landing their aircraft in people’s backyards. World enthusiasm about the phenomena was global and widespread. Some claimed the Air Force propagated the lies to distract people from monitoring its nuclear weapons development, while others claimed the government was covering up the fact they had spacecraft and aliens in their possession.

Project Mogul was a secretive project, out of Washington DC being operated at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico launching high-altitude balloons in the area – these balloons would reach high altitudes and were 657 feet long from tip to tail, 102 feet taller than the Washington Monument and twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty – they would enter the upper jet stream toward Russia with a long tail equipped with different types of sensing and listening devices trailing behind it. This is the government’s explanation of the wreckage.

There was the radio broadcast “War of the Worlds” that shook America. Hollywood produced many movies and television shows taking advantage of the enthusiasm, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., and Star Wars. Everyone wanted to “believe” we were not alone. Rumors exploded across the countryside, every U.S. military base that had a cloak of secrecy over it (and even some that didn’t) was suspected of housing crashed space ships and aliens. Enter in “Area 51” – a secret airstrip in Nevada that rumors were created stating the aliens recovered in Roswell were kept there with their ship. The U.S. Government didn’t help dismiss the rumors, as they just placed large “No Trespassing” and “Use of Deadly Force Authorized” outside the areas.

By the 1990s there was a notable industry built up around the belief in aliens, UFOs, and extra-terrestrial existence. With this came books, movies, films, broadcasts, memorabilia, gadgets, toys, posters, and stuffed alien dolls. It was around this time that the International UFO Museum and Research Center decided to make its home in Roswell. I left in 1986 upon graduation, it was soon after they arrived.

Years later the craze infected the city and the old downtown city theater we used to go see Rocky Horror Picture Show was sold and altered into a UFO museum. It was strange to see such a historical landmark as that theater disappear into space. Then I hear UFO festivals brought millions in tourism to the town, every other fading downtown storefront turned into a UFO and alien gift shop, maze, or themed eatery. The city’s lamp posts were topped with alien heads.

Every store eventually had their own alien statue sitting out in front of it or had alien heads somewhere on their signs, glass windows, or billboards. The local McDonalds built their play area to be shaped like a giant spaceship. Even the local Walmart added aliens to their frontage. It was nuts. North of the city off Highway 285, the crash site was identified, and a large sign erected to identify its location.

New Mexico State University conducted an excavation there to investigate what happened and if any evidence still remained. The crash site now is unmarked with the sign removed, some say “no trespassing” signs exist on site, although my June 2018 visit to the site just had an un-marked skeletal frame that once listed the incident location. Oddly the Roswell UFO Crash Site is just 1/4 mile south of one of the Roswell Missile Silos.

The hype definitely brings tourism to Roswell. Residents love and hate this. For a brief moment of time, there was an anti-alien organization camped out in a storefront across the street from the Roswell UFO Museum. They promoted their mission with stickers of alien heads with the “no” symbol crossed over it. They were responsible for much of the vandalism of the crash site sign, as they left the stickers with their damage on location. They no longer exist at least on Main street. If they are still in operation today I have no idea.

The landing of the UFO enthusiasts certainly changed the city. For the good or the bad, no one really knows – but certainly has placed Roswell as a popular tourist destination and hot spot. Of course, the hype is not constrained to “Roswell” alone … According to the Public Policy Polling Survey around 12 million people in the United States believe that interstellar lizards in people suits rule our country. Around 66 million Americans believe that aliens landed at Roswell, New Mexico; and around 22 million people believe that the government faked the moon landing.

~ Article by Leaf McGowan/Thomas Baurley, Technogypsie Productions ~

If you would like to contact the author about this review, need a revision or update, would like to advertise on this page, or have information to add, please contact us at [email protected].

 

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Hotel California, Around San Francisco, California.

The Hotel California, Fact myth or legend?

Review by Leaf McGowan/Thomas Baurley, Technogypsie Productions ~

“The Hotel California” ~
A fictional place, but full of urban myths and legends.

The “California Hotel” photo above, is NOT of course the place of the legend from the Song, nor was it the headquarters for Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan. I’m actually not sure of the history of the actual hotel in this photo, but it called to mind my memories about this urban legend. (The photo above MIGHT be the California Hotel of historic landmarks, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Hotel as it was in Oakland.

The California Hotel historic is an important cultural center for the African-American community of San Francisco’s East ay during the ’40s-’60s, it experienced severe economic difficulties and turned into subsidized housing in the 80s.

I first came across the urban legend in 1990 at the Starwood festival when I was hanging out with a Satanist from the Church of Satan who first told me the tale … “one of the members of the Eagles was at this bar and got drunk with Anton LaVey’s daughter, she brought him home that night to her hotel room (at the Hotel California where supposedly the headquarters of the Church of Satan resided), they became lovers.

Apparently, he was so tied up in the affair with her that he disregarded showing up to band practice or responsibilities, and in a sense “never could leave” the hotel. When He snapped out of it, he apparently wrote the song about the experience hanging with the Church of Satan.

A similar tale was told to me by my mentor Isaac Bonewits, founder of ADF (Ar nDraoicht Fein – A Druid Fellowship) who briefly joined the Church in his youth, but was so rambunctious and a trouble maker, the Church of Satan actually kicked him out of their group. (I do know that to be true as I’ve seen historic film reels of him in their ranks. Apparently, he was recruited after creating a parodic devil’s throne upon which he proselytized at UoC Berkeley to harass the local bible thumper on campus. They ran across him, were impressed, and asked him to join. )

I digress, back to the original legend. Some claim that Larry Salter, the Eagle’s manager admitted in the Waco Tribune-Herald (Feb. 28, 1982) that the Eagles were involved with the Church of Satan. Oddly the Church of Satan was first legally registered as “Hotel California” (legal entity name). But the Eagles claim far and wide, they were not associated with the Church and it was a leap that people jumped to. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_California)

The Eagles claim that the “Hotel California” is an allegory about hedonism and greed in Southern California in the 1970s. As they first experienced California at that time, they were impressioned that California was about money, drugs, women, and fame – true hedonism, and they were disquieted by it all pushing that un-ease into their lyrics to warn others about the dark underside of such adulation – “a loss of innocence”, corruption of the artist in California imprisoned in a gilded prison that the artist freely enters that he cannot leave. It is not actually a place, but a metaphor of the west’s music industry and its effect on musicians ensnared by it. (http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/hotel.asp)

To make matters worse, many conspiracy theorists have marked that “Anton LaVey” (leader of the Church of Satan, San Francisco) can be seen in the balcony window as depicted on the album cover for the record “Hotel California”.

• Mirrors on the ceiling,

• The pink champagne on ice

• And she said ‘We are all just prisoners here, of our own device’

• And in the master’s chambers,

• They gathered for the feast

• They stab it with their steely knives,

• But they just can’t kill the beast

• Last thing I remember, I was

• Running for the door

• I had to find the passage back

• To the place, I was before

• ‘Relax,’ said the night man,

• ‘We are programmed to receive.

• You can check-out any time you like,

But you can never leave!’

The urban myth has odd facts and twisted thoughts behind it, and whether or not those with the inside knowledge are telling the truth and the Eagles are covering it up to save their reputation, or it is quite a bit of hog-wash and conjecture, we’ll never know. Frey and Henley claim that as much as people want to know what the song was about, they really don’t know themselves. It was an attempt at a “twilight zone” influence and many beliefs are abound. (http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35347075)

Of course, the fundamentalist Christian organizations still claim it is a Satanic song, the band was gifted their success by dealing with the Devil (dueling banjos) at the crossroads giving their lives for their success. They won’t let go of this urban legend regardless. (https://ministryofrock.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/is-hotel-california-satanic/, http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Wicca%20&%20Witchcraft/anton_lavey2.htm, https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-song-meaning-of-Hotel-California, https://stewartstaffordblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/does-satan-reside-at-the-hotel-california/)

And Cracked hosts a good explanation of it all here: http://www.cracked.com/article_19454_5-famous-hidden-song-meanings-that-are-total-b.s..html

If you would like to contact the author about this review, need a re-review, would like to advertise on this page, or have information to add, please contact us at [email protected].

Hotel California, Around San Francisco, California.  

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Cross-posted from http://www.boredpanda.com/feral-children-wild-animals-photos-julia-fullerton-batten for reference and research.

Victor (The Wild Boy of Aveyron), France, 1797

This is a historical but surprisingly well-documented case of a feral child, as he was very much researched at the time to attempt to find the derivation of language. Victor was seen at the end of the 18th century in the woods of Saint Sernin sur Rance, in the south of France and captured but somehow escaped. In January 8, 1800 he was caught again. He was about 12 years old, his body covered in scars and unable to speak a word. Once the news of his capture spread, many came forward wanting to examine him.Little is known about the background of his time as a feral child, but it is believed that he spent 7 years in the wild. A biology professor examined Victor’s resistance to cold by sending him naked outside in the snow. Victor showed no effect of the cold temperature on him whatsoever.Others tried to teach him to speak and behave ‘normally’, but made no progress. He was probably able to talk and hear earlier in his life, but he was never able to do so after returning from the wild. Eventually he was taken to an institution in Paris and died at the age of 40.

Cross-posted from http://www.boredpanda.com/feral-children-wild-animals-photos-julia-fullerton-batten for reference and research.

John Ssebunya (The Monkey Boy), Uganda, 1991

John ran away from home in 1988 when he was three years old after seeing his father murder his mother. He fled into the jungle where he lived with monkeys. He was captured in 1991, now about six years old, and placed in an orphanage.When he was cleaned up it was found that his entire body was covered in hair. His diet had consisted mainly of roots, nuts, sweet potatoes and cassava and he had developed a severe case of intestinal worms, found to be over half a metre long. He had calluses on his knees from walking like a monkey.John has learned to speak and human ways. He was found to have a fine singing voice and is famous for singing and touring in the UK with the 20-strong Pearl of Africa children’s choir.

Cross-posted from http://www.boredpanda.com/feral-children-wild-animals-photos-julia-fullerton-batten for reference and research.

Marie Angelique Memmie Le Blanc (The Wild Girl of Champagne), France, 1731

Apart from her childhood, Memmie’s story from the 18th century is surprisingly well-documented. For ten years, she walked thousands of miles alone through the forests of France. She ate birds, frogs and fish, leaves, branches and roots. Armed with a club, she fought off wild animals, especially wolves. She was captured, aged 19, black-skinned, hairy and with claws. When Memmie knelt down to drink water she made repeated sideways glances, the result of being in a state of constant alertness. She couldn’t speak and communicated only with shrieks and squeaks. She skinned rabbits and birds and ate them raw. For years she did not eat cooked food. Her thumbs were malformed as she used them to dig out roots and swing from tree to tree like a monkey. In 1737, the Queen of Poland, mother to the French queen, and on a journey to France, took Memmie hunting with her, where she still ran fast enough to catch and kill rabbits. Memmie’s recovery from her decade long experiences in the wild were remarkable. She had a series of rich patrons, learned to read, write and speak French fluently. In 1747 she became a nun for a while, but was hit by a falling window and her patron died soon thereafter. She became ill and destitute but again found a rich patron. In 1755 a Madam Hecquet published her biography. Memmie died financially well-off rich in Paris in 1775, aged 63.

Cross-posted from http://www.boredpanda.com/feral-children-wild-animals-photos-julia-fullerton-batten for reference and research.

Ivan Mishukov, Russia, 1998

Ivan was abused by his family and ran away when only 4 years old. He lived on the streets begging. He developed a relationship with a pack of wild dogs, and shared the food he begged with the dogs. The dogs grew to trust him and eventually he became something of a pack leader. He lived for two years in this way, but he was finally caught and placed in a children’s home. Ivan benefited from his existing language skills that he maintained through begging. This and the fact that he was feral for only a short time aided his recovery. He now lives a normal life.

Cross-posted from http://www.boredpanda.com/feral-children-wild-animals-photos-julia-fullerton-batten for reference and research.

Kamala and Amala, India, 1920

Kamala, 8 years old, and Amala, 12, were found in 1920 in a wolves’ den. It is one of the most famous cases of feral children. Pre-advised, they were found by a Reverend, Joseph Singh, who hid in a tree above the cave where they had been seen. When the wolves left the cave he saw two figures look out of the cave. The girls were hideous looking, ran on all fours and didn’t look human. He soon captured the girls. When first caught, the girls slept curled up together, growled, tore off their clothing, ate nothing but raw meat, and howled. Physically deformed, their tendons and the joints in their arms and legs were shortened. They had no interest in interacting with humans. But, their hearing, sight and sense of smell was exceptional. Amala died the following year after their capture. Kamala eventually learned to walk upright and say a few words, but died in 1929 of kidney failure, 17 years old.

Cross-posted from http://www.boredpanda.com/feral-children-wild-animals-photos-julia-fullerton-batten for reference and research.

Sujit Kumar Chicken Boy, Fiji, 1978

Sujit exhibited dysfunctional behaviour as a child. His parents locked him in a chicken coop. His mother committed suicide and his father was murdered. His grandfather took responsibility for him but still kept him confined in the chicken coop. He was eight years old when he was found in the middle of a road, clucking and flapping. He pecked at his food, crouched on a chair as if roosting, and would make rapid clicking noises with his tongue. His fingers were turned inward. He was taken to an old people’s home by care workers, but there, because he was so aggressive, he was tied with bed sheets to his bed for over 20 years. Now he is over 30 years old and is cared for by Elizabeth Clayton, who rescued him from the home.

Cross-posted from http://www.boredpanda.com/feral-children-wild-animals-photos-julia-fullerton-batten for reference and research.

The Leopard Boy, India, 1912

The boy child was two years old when he was taken by a leopardess in 1912. Three years later a hunter killed the leopardess and found three cubs, one of which was the now five year old boy. He was returned to his family in the small village in India. When first caught he would only squat and ran on all fours as fast as an adult man could do upright. His knees were covered with hard callouses, his toes were bent upright almost at right angles to his instep, and his palms, toe- and thumb-pads were covered with a tough, horny skin. He bit and fought with everyone who approached him, and caught and ate the village fowl raw. He could not speak, uttering only grunts and growls.
Later he had learned to speak and walked more upright. Sadly he became gradually blind from cataracts. However, this was not caused by his experiences in the jungle, but was an illness common in the family.