The age old art of black magic always comes alive in
the month of October. So I have decided to write a series of essays
on black magic, paranormal, and supernatural characters of the
Halloween season.
This week I will explore the black art of Séance. A séance
is a meeting of 3 or more people at which a spiritualist attempts
to receive communication from the spirits of the dead. Here’s
how it works
Assemble the participants. Gather the people who will participate.
Some say the number of participants must be divisible by three.
But this does not seem to be an absolute rule. No fewer than three
people should attempt a séance.
Choose a medium. You might want to choose a medium among the
participants. This could be a person who has had experience with
séances or someone who tends to have psychic abilities.
Use a round or oval table. This helps create the symbolic circle
believed necessary for the ritual.
Set the table. In the center of the table, place some kind of
simple, natural aromatic food, such as bread or soup. This is
believed to help attract the spirits who still seek physical nourishment.
Light candles. Also in the center of the table, place no fewer
than three candles (or a number divisible by three) lit candles;
the more candles, the better. Spirits still seek warmth and light.
Create some atmosphere. Dim the lights and eliminate any distractions,
such as music and television. Join hands. Seated around the table,
the participants must all join hands in a circle.
Summon the spirit. The participants must speak these words together:
"Our beloved [name of spirit], we bring you gifts from life
into death. Commune with us, (name of spirit), and move among
us." Then wait for a response If none comes, repeat the chant
until the spirit responds.
Communicate. If and when the spirit responds -- either by rapping
or some other means, or through the medium - ask your questions.
Maintain control. If the séance seems to be getting out
of hand, end the séance by breaking the circle of hands,
extinguishing the candles and turning on the lights.
End the séance. When you're done with your questioning,
thank the spirit for joining you and tell them to go in peace.
Break the circle of hands and extinguish the candles.
Don’t allow participants who you don’t think could
handle a séance psychologically. Children, for example
must never be allowed to participate.
Let me know if any of you attempt a séance, and let me
know if you made contact.
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Moon Beer
Tobacco and Rum has cure a many of sailors
PERUWELZ, Belgium (Reuters) – Full moons are
often associated with tides, insanity and creatures like werewolves,
but it turns out they're also good for brewing beer.
In Peruwelz, a small, sleepy town in southern Belgium, a family-owned
brewery has produced its first batch of specialist beer brewed
by the light of a full autumnal moon.
It isn't so much a nod to mythology as a recognition of nature's
impact on the science of brewing.
"We made several tests and noticed that the fermentation
was more vigorous, more active," explained Roger Caulier,
the owner of Brewery Caulier, which began in the 1930s when his
grandfather started selling homemade beer from a handcart.
"The end product was completely different, stronger, with
a taste lasting longer in the mouth," he said.
The full moon speeds up the fermentation process, shortening
it to five days from seven, which adds extra punch to the beer
without making it harsh, according to connoisseurs.
The finely balanced, gold-colored beer is 10 percent alcohol
by volume, extremely strong by most European or U.S. standards
but not uncommon in Belgium, where traditional monk-brewed beers
frequently hit 10 or 12 percent.
"It goes down very well, no problem at all," said Joseph
Francois, a journalist and beer expert who has tasted the brew.
Brewery Caulier, which uses methods dating from the 1840s and
is well-known for its artisanal beers, plans to produce about
12,000 bottles of its full moon beer, called Paix-Dieu (Peace-God),
which go on sale on October 31.
The idea came to Caulier after he visited a friend in Alsace,
a winemaking region of eastern France, who told him about how
he planned his entire production schedule according to the lunar
calendar.
Caulier began experimenting and eventually came up with a nine-step
process that includes using two types of hops and involves a two-week
secondary fermentation process inside the bottle, not unlike the
technique used to produce Champagne.
"It gives the product greater fame, a bit like for great
vintage wines," he said.
"It could lead to collectors checking the differences between
one vintage and another because there could very well be differences
between every batch."
Being from a three-generation brewing family, Caulier is fascinated
by the science behind the process. But he doesn't discount the
mythical aspects of full moon beer either.
"Many farmers are convinced that the moon influences the
quality of some of their products," he said.
"You can feel agitated on full moons, you have births, you
get many myths around the full moon and I think there is some
truth behind them."
Either way, he's hoping that Paix-Dieu proves a hit and is even
in talks to distribute it in the U.S. and Japan.
LONDON (Reuters) – In the days when Britannia
ruled the waves, Royal Navy doctors revived drowning men with
tobacco smoke, treated scorpion stings with rum and advised sailors
to gargle with sulphuric acid to combat scurvy.
The often eccentric medical methods used at sea
in the 18th and 19th centuries are exposed in hundreds of naval
surgeons' notebooks released by Britain's National Archives on
Thursday.
They paint a gruesome picture of life on board overcrowded
ships, with sailors bitten by sharks and spiders, struck by lightning
and laid low by venereal disease.
In one incident in 1802, surgeon Ben Lara, sailing
the English Channel on HMS Princess Royal, was called to help
a man who had fallen overboard and been under water for 12 minutes.
The sailor was stripped, wrapped in hot water bottles
and "tobacco smoke was conveyed to his lungs" to revive
him. After an hour, the doctor found a pulse and declared it a
success.
However, a later journal says the patient fell ill
again and was taken to hospital suffering from pneumonia.
PERILS OF 'GROG'
Rum emerges as the cause -- and supposed cure --
for many illnesses and injuries at sea.
One surgeon noted that "drunkenness nowadays
in the navy kills more men than the sword" and that with
most problems "you may trace grog as the principal cause."
A journal from a doctor on board HMS Arab in 1799-1800,
making its way from Europe to the West Indies, records a lightning
strike that killed three sailors.
"Our main top mast was splintered to pieces,
every man on deck knocked down, many of whom cried out their leg
or arm were broke from the violence of the shock," he wrote.
"The most astonishing of all was that a man who was up at
the main top gallant mast head remained untouched."
On the same voyage, a scorpion sting nearly paralyzed
a sailor. He was revived by "application of rum to the part."
Another man bitten by a tarantula received some "rum and
oil."
Others were told to gargle with diluted sulphuric
acid, or elixir of vitriol, in a vain attempt to beat scurvy.
One shocking entry tells of a young girl afflicted
by worms on a ship carrying Irish emigrants to Quebec in 1825.
Surgeon P Power, on board the Elizabeth, said 12-year-old
Ellen McCarthy had complained of stomach pain and had a "tongue
foul, pulse quick, skin hot, great thirst."
Her mother later brought the doctor a worm a full
87 inches long, which the child had vomited.
Bruno Pappalardo, naval records specialist at the
National Archives in London, said the handwritten notes, dating
from 1793 to 1880, were an important source of medical history.
"The journals are probably the most significant
collection of records for the study of health and medicine at
sea for the 19th century," he said.
