The guide on how to exterminate witches also translates to “Hammer of Witches“, was written by a Catholic clergyman, Heinrich Kramer and published under his Latin name, Henricus Institoris, in Speyer, Germany, 1487. Kramer’s book was the #1 best seller – second to the Bible.
Kramer’s suggested legal procedures of the Inquisition were immediately rejected and so the inquisitor was censured himself, just a few years after publication. Secular courts, not inquisitorial courts, resorted to the Malleus Maleficarum.
Institoris is a very rare surname, few people in Slovakia have the family name and might have arised from Slovakia. Around 373 people have been found who wears Institoris as their family name. Institoris is used widely across the globe. – Namelist
THE FIRST PART
THE FIRST PART TREATING OF THE THREE NECESSARY
CONCOMITANTS OF WITCHCRAFT, WHICH ARE THE DEVIL, A WITCH,
AND THE PERMISSION OF ALMIGHTY GOD
Question I Whether the Belief that there are such Beings as Witches is so Essential a Part
of the Catholic Faith that Obstinacy to maintain the Opposite Opinion manifestly savours of Heresy.
Question II If it be in Accordance with the Catholic Faith to maintain that in Order to bring about some Effect of Magic, the Devil must intimately co-operate with the Witch,
or whether one without the other, that is to say, the Devil without the Witch, or
conversely, could produce such an Effect.
Question III Whether Children can be Generated by Incubi and Succubi.
Question IV By which Devils are the Operations of Incubus and Succubus Practised?
Question V What is the Source of the Increase of Works of Witchcraft? Whence comes it that the Practice of Witchcraft hath so notably increased?
Question VI Concerning Witches who copulate with Devils. Why is it that Women are chiefly addicted to Evil superstitions?
Question VII Whether Witches can Sway the Minds of Men to Love or Hatred.
Question VIII Whether Witches can Hebetate the Powers of Generation or Obstruct the
Venereal Act.
Question IX Whether Witches may work some Prestidigatory Illusion so that the Male Organ appears to be entirely removed and separate from the Body.
Question X Whether Witches can by some Glamour Change Men into Beasts.
Question XI That Witches who are Midwives in Various Ways Kill the Child Conceived in the Womb, and Procure an Abortion; or if they do not this Offer New-born Children
to Devils.
Question XII Whether the Permission of Almighty God is an Accompaniment of Witchcraft.
Question XIII Herein is set forth the Question, concerning the Two Divine Permissions which God justly allows, namely, that the Devil, the Author or all Evil, should Sin, and
that our First Parents should Fall, from which Origins the Works of Witches are
justly suffered to take place.
Solutions of the Arguments.
Question XIV The Enormity of Witches is Considered, and it is shown that the Whole Matter should be rightly Set Forth and Declared.
Question XV It is Shown that, on Account of the Sins of Witches, the Innocent are often
Bewitched, yea, Sometimes even for their Own Sins.
Question XVI The Foregoing Truths are Set out in Particular, this by a Comparison of the
Works of Witches with Other Baleful Superstitions.
Question XVII A Comparison of their Crimes under Fourteen Heads, with the Sins of the Devils of all and every Kind.
Question XVIII Here follows the Method of Preaching against and Controverting Five
Arguments of Laymen and Lewd Folk, which seem to be Variously Approved,
that God does not Allow so Great Power to the Devil and Witches as is involved
in the Performance of such Mighty Works of Witchcraft.
You are most likely familiar with “The Shining” and the infamous room #237 of the Overlook Hotel. People shine, too… from Denver, Colorado, to as far away as St. Catherines, Ontario.
At #237 Church Street, apartment #1, a young boy Peter, was the centre of a ‘house phenomena’ – poltergeist with 2 members of clergy and 5 police officers whom witnessed the occurrences.
As reported by Rob McConnell – The ‘X’ Zone Radio & TV Show and The ‘X’ Chronicles Newspaper
According to retired Niagara Regional Police Officer Bob Crawford, when he responded to a domestic dispute at 237 Church Street, Apartment 1, in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada’s “Garden City” on February 6, 1970, the last thing that was on his mind was a poltergeist.
The poltergeist was carried by the media within the Niagara Peninsula, as well as national and international media, including CBC, CTV, CHML, The St. Catharines Standard, The Canadian Press, The Hamilton Spectator, The Toronto Telegram, The Toronto Daily News, and the Buffalo Evening News, just to name a few.
On Monday, October 2, 1995, in a home in St. Catharines, I interviewed Mr. Bob Crawford, Mr. Bill Weir and Mr. Mike McMenanin ,all retired members of the Niagara Regional Police Force stationed in St. Catharines.
Mr. Crawford recalled how on February 6, 1970, as he was leaving 237 Church Street, Apartment 1 where he had been dispatched to investigate a domestic dispute, a female who identified herself as a resident from another apartment in the building asked the officer for his help in their apartment.
Crawford followed the citizen into their apartment which was in total disarray.
The complainant told the officer their story of how objects and furniture were moving around their apartment by unseen forces. Crawford was shown a chest of drawers laying on its side in the kitchen. Crawford was told that objects and furniture started moving around on their own in their small church street apartment about 10 days prior to February 6, 1970.
Living in the apartment with the female complainant were her husband and two sons.
After listening to the complainant and the events surrounding the present state of the apartment, Mr. Crawford claimed that his first thought was to call a member of the clergy, when a priest from a local Roman Catholic Church arrived at the apartment. Crawford stated that the priest was well aware of the events within the Church Street apartment and had been there previously and witnessed a bed moving away from a wall on its own. The priest then pushed the bed back to the wall but when he turned his head, again the bed moved away from the wall by unseen forces.
Crawford requested that everyone try to remain calm and instructed them to go into the living room.
Since Crawford was the last person to leave the kitchen, he claimed to have moved a chair out of his way and placed the chair in a normal position against the kitchen table before entering the living room.
While trying to calm down the complainant both Crawford and the priest head the sound of footsteps moving across the living room and into the kitchen.
Crawford claimed that he and the priest went into the kitchen and stated that the chair that he had moved against the kitchen table was in the middle of the kitchen several feet away from the kitchen table.
The priest told Crawford that this was the type of occurrence that had been happening for the past 10 days.
It was about this time that Constables Weir arrived. Constable Bill Weir who thought he was backing up Crawford on a domestic call was in for a “rude awakening.”
After being briefed by Crawford, Weir, who was the officer assigned to this incident claimed that he had responded to this address earlier that year.
Weir said that he first responded to the address on January 15, 1970, and was made aware of strange occurrences which had been reported by the tenants of a different apartment. There had been reports of loud noises and strange occurrences. Since his first visit, Weir claimed to have contacted the Engineering Department of St. Catharines who inspected the building and found no structural damage with the apartment building.
The gas company was also called with the entire heating and water system inspected and everything was working fine and in good condition all well within normal operating specifications.
The police officers even bled the hot water radiators but still the noises persisted and so did the strange events of objects moving by unseen forces in Apartment 1.
Weir stated that while he was backing Crawford on the “domestic dispute” call on February 6, 1970, while in Apartment 1, he witnessed several bowling trophies being tossed off a wooden board over a radiator, being tossed off, one after the other, onto the floor. He also reported that he observed the kitchen wall clock unplug itself landing on the floor without making a sound.
The police officers who were at the scene that February 6 1970 evening claim that the “agent” or “host” of the described poltergeist activity was the 11-year-old son of the complainant. Crawford stated that when the 11-year-old walked through the apartment, pictures on the wall, “swayed in the same manner as a dog wags its tail when it is happy to see its master.”
The officers all state that the invisible force pushed the young boy against the wall on several occasions and they also claim that as the boy was sitting in a large and heavy chair. the chair flipped over on its own pinning the child to the floor. The chair was so heavy that it took two officers to lift the chair.
The officers also stated that a chesterfield, holding four people, levitated about eighteen inches off the floor. One of the ladies who was sitting on the chesterfield fainted when she realized that she was sitting on a levitating piece of furniture.
Weir claimed that the child was sitting on the knee of a police officer when an unseen entity tried to remove the child. It took the strength of two officers to keep the child on the knee where he sat.
The officers also witnessed the child’s bed levitating from the bedroom floor and watched as the frightened child jumped off the bed. The bed slowly then returned to the floor. They turned their attention to the frightened child and when they turned back to where the bed was, the bed was about two feet off the ground being supported by two chairs.
Dolls and pictures fell from the walls.
A table lamp in the bedroom fell over.
A large heavy chest of drawers moved away from the wall and back again.
A chair in the opposite corner of the room rose into the air and slammed down onto the floor.
The only two items that remained in the apartment which were not affected by the unseen forces of the poltergeist were a crucifix and a picture of the Virgin Mary with a palm leaf over the frame.
The police officers requested that the child’s father make arrangements for the children to spend the night elsewhere. As the children started getting dressed to leave the apartment, a bookcase fell over.
According to one report, on February 11, 1970, police officers and detectives, including a police photographer with a 35mm camera, movie camera and tape recorder entered Apartment 1, 237 Church Street. Along with the police were two doctors, a lawyer, family members, members of the clergy, and the 11-year-old boy.
The police officers that their had been a leak and members of the media had been alerted turning the immediate area of 237 Church Street into a media circus. According to the officers, the family members could not leave their apartment building without reporters “badgering” them.
It was reported that a reporter for the National Enquirer tried disguising herself as a Nun hoping to get access to the family and the 11-year-old boy. The members of the family and the building owner hired a local lawyer who acted as liaison between the family and the media. The instructions from the family – NO INTERVIEWS.
Weir recalled that he personally advised the reporters that if they did not “back off” that they would be arrested and charged.
According to Weir, Crawford and McMenanin, the poltergeist activity stopped at the apartment when the 11-year-old boy left it and went to his grandmothers – or did it? There were unsubstantiated reports that the poltergeist activity continued at his grandmothers.
During the course of the investigation into this case, it was discovered that the “agent” or “host” of the poltergeist is now a successful business professional. I did contact the “agent” or “host” but he declined to be interviewed.
I understand and appreciate that paranormal experiences can be very traumatic, and that different people react in different ways. In the majority of cases, the “host” or “agent” have no recall of the poltergeist events. Others simply do not wish to remember, burying the memories deep within their conscious and sub consciousness.
I respected his wishes not to be interviewed and have therefore left the identity of the family out of this article.
I was able to contact one of the members of the clergy in this case, Father Stevens who was in Welland, Ontario, and he too, declined to my interview.
Based on the information given by the three distinguished members of the Niagara Regional Police Force that I interviewed, Bob Crawford, Bill Weir and Mike McMenanin, who have a combined total of more than 75 years police experience, that it this a very rare case of a highly documented poltergeist.
Paranormal researchers, a poltergeist is usually associated with a spirit, usually mischievous and sometimes malevolent, which manifests by making noises, moving objects, and assaulting people and animals.
“Poltergeist” comes from the German “poltern” (to knock) and “geist” (spirit).
Some cases of poltergeist are unexplained and may involve actual spirits.
In other cases the phenomena seems to be caused by subconscious psycho kinesis (PK) on the part of one individual.
Most common poltergeist phenomena are :
– rains of stones, dirt and other small objects;
– throwing and moving of objects, including large pieces of furniture;
– loud noises and shrieks, strange lights, apparitions and vile smells.
In this case, based on the evidence supplied by Crawford, Weir and McMenian,and the subsequent police reports from the Niagara Regional Police Force, there were no vile smells, no drastic temperature changes, no raining of small objects, no strange lights and no apparitions.
The research of William Roll, project director of the Physical Research Foundation in Durham, North Carolina, has supported the psychological dysfunction theory pertaining to poltergeist activity.
Beginning in the 1960s’, Roll studied written reports of 116 poltergeist cases spanning four centuries and more than one hundred countries. Roll identified patterns of what he called “recurrent spontaneous psycho kinesis” (RPK) which are inexplicable, spontaneous effects. He found that the most common “agent” was a child or teenager whose unwitting PK was a way of expressing hostility without fear of punishment. The individual was usually unaware of being the cause of the disturbances, but was secretly or openly pleased with their occurrence.
Other researchers have found that “agents” are often in poor mental or physical health and thus are vulnerable to stress. Patients with unresolved emotional tensions have been associated with houses where poltergeist activity took place.
In studying the personalities of “agents”, psychologists have found anxiety reactions, conversion hysteria, phobias, mania, obsessions, dissociative reactions, and schizophrenia.
In some cases, psychotherapy eliminates the poltergeist phenomena.
The psychological dysfunction theory has been disputed by other researchers, including Gauld and Cornell, who said that the psychological tests used were invalid. Psychiatrist Dr Ian Stevenson has proposed that spirits of the dead may account for more poltergeist cases than realized. In studying a number of cases attributed to living “agents” and to spirits of the dead, Stevenson noted significant differences.
The phenomena in living “agent” cases was without purpose and often violent, while cases involving spirits of the dead featured intelligent communication, purposeful movement of objects, and little violence.
According to Bill Weir, the poltergeist of 237 Church Street, Apartment 1, in St. Catharines, Ontario lasted 28 days – one complete lunar cycle.
For The ‘X’ Zone Radio & TV Show and The ‘X’ Chronicles Newspaper, I am, Rob McConnell. – Source.
‘And what an example of the power of dress young Oliver Twist was! Wrapped in the blanket which had hitherto formed his only covering, he might have been the child of a nobleman or a beggar;—it would have been hard for the haughtiest stranger to have fixed his station in society. But now he was enveloped in the old calico robes, that had grown yellow in the same service; he was badged and ticketed, and fell into his place at once—a parish child—the orphan of a workhouse—the humble, half-starved drudge—to be cuffed and buffeted through the world, despised by all, and pitied by none.’
– Charles Dickens
During the difficult times of this 75-year stretch between the years of 1854 and 1929, American and new immigrant parents found it financially difficult to care for their children. This resulted in many parents abandoning their offspring; left on the streets of (mainly) New York to fend for themselves. Now subjected to disease and other dangers of living on the streets, children were left to beg, steal and in search of safe shelter for the night.
Thousands of children became part of The Orphan Train Movement, (also known as Mercy Trains) and were shipped to the Mid-Western states where they became ‘house children’, or ‘workhouse children’. Some were sent to good, loving homes and were cared for adequately, while many others found themselves in the most dreadful of homes where they endured many forms of abuse.
“Our Gang”, which became known later as “The Little Rascals” was a comedy television show created between 1922 and 1944 by Hal Roach, depicting what life was like for poor, neighbourhood children in lighthearted fashion.
Between 1854 and 1929, nearly a quarter of a million orphaned children were resettled under what came to be known as the Orphan Train Movement.
It is estimated that between six and ten thousand children were settled in Iowa, with many Midwestern states taking similar amounts.
In 1849, New York’s chief of police decided to bring attention to the street children as the city simply did not have the infrastructure and services to deal with thousands of homeless children.
In 1853, Charles Loring Brace founded the Children’s Aid Society and the first Orphan Train left New York in 1854 with a goal of placing children in homes.
People who wanted a child could request specific attributes of the children they wanted to adopt.
Since many families did not want to take more than one child, some brothers and sisters riding on the Orphan Trains during the late 1800s and early 1900s had to be separated.
After being placed in six different homes, 3 brothers were placed with a family in Texas who raised them.
Eventually she was surrendered by her mother, allowing the Sisters of Charity to arrange for her travel to her new home on what was known as a Mercy Train.
It is estimated that there are now over two million descendants of Orphan Train riders.
May yours be a Joyful Christmas | Victorian-era greeting card
The first Christmas robin myth tells us of a fire which had been lit in the stable near baby Jesus’ manger, keeping the infant warm. While Mary had stepped away for a few moments, the flames flared violently, threatening His safety. A brown robin had been watching over the babe and in the act of protection, the robin placed itself between the fire and the infant Jesus’ face by rousing its feathers, thus blocking the flames. With a chest scorched red and the infant safe, the bird went on to genetically pass the colouring onto the following generations.
Wishing you all the Pleasure of the Season | Victorian-era greeting card
The second myth tells of a robin which had been present at Christ’s crucifixion. Trying to remove a thorn from the crown-of-thorns on Christ’s head, the robin’s chest had been pierced causing blood to stain its chest. Other variations of this (the second) myth state the blood which stained the robin’s chest belonged to Christ.
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Although other myths tell us robins are known to visit the sick and may foretell death, the robin is also a symbol of courage, re-birth (Spring) and resurrection and is commonly considered a good Omen. If you should happen to spot [living] robins, it is said you may be in the company of very special guests – a visitation from family or friends on the ‘other side’. Like the corvids (ravens, crows and rooks), the robin has deep connections to death, funerals and the afterlife. You can find a good handful of poems, stories and nursery rhymes singing the bird’s praises.
How Dare The Robins Sing
How dare the robins sing,
When men and women hear
Who since they went to their account
Have settled with the year!—
Paid all that life had earned
In one consummate bill,
And now, what life or death can do
Is immaterial.
Insulting is the sun
To him whose mortal light
Beguiled of immortality
Bequeaths him to the night.
Extinct be every hum
In deference to him
Whose garden wrestles with the dew,
At daybreak overcome!
La Befana is known throughout history as a wise and magical woman who arrives flying on a broom or sometimes even on a donkey bringing gifts to the children, leaving figs, dates, nuts, and candy on the eve of the Epiphany.
Her principal function is that of reaffirming the bond between family and
the ancestors through the exchange of gifts.
A popular belief is that her/the name Befana derives from the Feast of Epiphany or in Italian, “La Festa dell’Epifania (Epiphany in English) is a Latin word with Greek origins. Epiphany means either the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) or ‘manifestation (of the divinity). – Wikipedia
There is evidence to suggest that Befana is descended from the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strina. In the book Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs, Discoverable in Modern Italy and Sicily by Rev. John J. Blunt (John Murray, 1823), the author says:
“This Befana appears to be heir at law of a certain heathen goddess called Strenia/Strenua/Strenae, who presided over the new-year’s gifts, “Strenae’, from which, indeed, she derived her name. Her presents were of the same description as those of the Befana. Moreover her solemnities were vigorously opposed by the Christians on account of their noisy, riotous, and licentious character“.
Judika Illes wrote, “Befana may predate Christianity and may originally be a goddess of ancestral sprits, forest, and the passage of time.” Some identify this wandering, nocturnal crone with Hekate.
Again, some scholars believe “Strenua” is the original Goddess now known as Befana today, and the Befana tradition is derived by the Strenua cult.
In Roman mythology: Strenua, Strenia, Strenae was a Sabine Goddess.
She was the Goddess of the New Year, Purification, Well-being and Strength. Her themes are children, family and protection.
Her symbols: Verbena, Bay Laurel, Palm, Honey, Figs, Leaves, Money and Gold Coins. Strenua had a shrine and grove at the top of the Via Sacra and there within her grove grew Verbena, which was considered to be sacred.
Her cultus was introduced by Titus Tatius who ruled as co-chieftan with Romulus. King Tatius who was the first to reckon the holy branches (verbenae) of a fertile tree (arbor felix) in Strenia’s grove as the auspicious signs of the new year. It is said that Strenia is associated with New Year’ Day, she presides over words of encouragement, as well as gifts of good scented omens in the form of branches of Verbena. – Wikipedia
Strenia states that A symbolic gift each receives, are the twigs of Laurel sometimes wound with red yarn. Each twig should hold seven leaves; they are then burned as incense for Strenia with prayers for good health. – mimifroufrou.com/scented salamander
Strenia is comparable to Greek, Hygenia and to Latin, Salus. St. Augustine says that Strenia was a goddess who made a person Strenuus, “vigorous, strong. During the Principate, these Strenae often took the form of money. – Wikipedia
Strenia and Befana share many similarities.
The mythical traditions of the Befana arriving on a broom or even a donkey testifies to her association with plants and animals which in ancient times had a scared value. In mythology the branch is home to the spirit of the ancestor, which is why it has assumed the magical function of flight and could have a role of evocation as well as distancing from the spirit. These actions were conceived as a voyage, a flight from a far-away kingdom.
Besides the link, with the cult of the hearth, the Befana personifies a close link to fire itself, whether astral (brought from the stars, appearing as a meteor) or earthly, (for example: on the eve of Befana holiday bonfires are lit to burn her efigy). This action is not meant so much as to exorcise a negative entity, as to re-accompany at the end of the big holiday the spirit of the ancestors to the kingdom beyond the tomb through the symbolics of the ascending fire.
The name “Befana” derives from the word “epifania”, this being the Italian name for their religious festival. The Epiphany holiday includes purifying rites and benedictions with water. The water being prepared on the eve of Epiphany has a sacred and warding -off-evil-spirits value and used in moments of family-crisis. In Abruzzo, Italy, it is called “Water of the Boffe”.
Figures of the Kings Magi, in the historical tradition, were priests of sacred fire. The Magi symbolized the three worlds: earthly gold, celestial incense, (frankincense) and myrrh from beyond the grave. The three substances can be linked to each, of the three-sacred fires of Vedica: India, Avestica, Persia. This making it possible through fire and gifts to establish a connection between the Magi and the Befana in the expectation of the holiday of January 6th.
In anthropology the Epiphany, the last festivity of the Christmas period, is considered a celebration of renewal, announcing the coming of the new season. In the peasant culture that was the moment when forecasts and predictions on the future were drawn, and people used to sit around the fireplace telling fantastic tales. On that magical night our great- grandparents used to look into the future interprating natural phenomena.
The Befana is also related to the mysterious Rites of the Celtic peoples who once inhabeted the whole of Pianura Padana and part of the Alps – when wicker puppets were set on fire in honor of ancient gods. The witch, the woman magician (the priestess of the ancient Celtic culture that knew the secrets of nature) took form of the Befana. The “coal” that she would leave to the nasty children was actually also a symbol of fertility tied to the scared bonfires and the “ceppo”.
The other, almost universal symbol accompanying the lady – the broom, that clearly resembles a magic wand, is also connected to the tree and the nature rituals of Celts in their forests. In the pre-Christian calendar solstice rites used to celebrate the cycle of the sun, and were slowly merged with the cycle of the life of man and the generations, following one another. This eternal cycle was represented by symbols to exorcise anxiety.
In many cultures the relations between grown-ups and children is based on the observance of rules achieved through the fear of punishments and expectations of reward.
To this family of figures belong the ogre and witch, transformed into the more positive and pedagogical figures of Santa Claus and the Befana.
The Befana best known as the “the giver of gifts”, the good witch who arrives on a broom bringing gifts to children has been around throughout history. However connected to Biblical times with King Herod, in mythology, among the Italians, Celtics or Pagans. In Norway, Palestine, Italy or in Russia known as the Babushka.
Whether she be known as a fairy, a goddess, a priestess and many other entities or names, or of places near or far, you can find there is an abundance of interesting resources to research La Befana.
A “lover’s eye” miniature is a painted miniature of the giver’s eye, presented to a loved one. The notion accompanying this very short lived fad (c.1790 through 1820) was that the eye would be recognizable only to the recipient and could therefore be worn publicly keeping the lover’s identity a secret. In contradiction however, portraits from the period rarely show the sitter overtly wearing or holding an eye miniature thereby perhaps indicating that the wearers concealed these intimate portraits from view to further guard their secrecy. – Antique Jewelry University
Only 1000 of the eloquent pieces are known to exist today.
An English Georgian 18 karat gold and porcelain enamel Lover’s Eye pendant necklace with half pearls. The pendant necklace has 47 half pearls approximately 3 mm. in size surrounding the pendant. This unique pendant is composed of symbolic elements of memorial jewelry. In this piece, the pearl frame signifies tears, white–a traditional memorial color–is used heavily, and a bucolic garden–yet another symbol of memorials–is featured prominently. The flaming heart and the lover’s eye denote a passionate love that had ended. As Ginny Dawes notes, “In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there was a fashion in love jewelry, for Memento Mori or ‘vanitas’ pieces which meant, literally, ‘remember you must die’,” and to memorialize the love that has departed. Circa 1800’s. Discussed in Georgian Jewelery 1714-1830 by Ginny Redington Dawes with Olivia Collings, Antique Collectors’ Club,2007, pages 132-168.
Georgian era, blue guillioche enamel, male Lover’s Eye pendant with diamonds.
Princess Charlotte’s right eye, with blue iris, brown eyebrow and several brown curls painted in miniature and set in a gold serpentine bracelet clasp with six chains of gold links. An eye of Princess Charlotte of Wales by Charlotte Jones (1768-1847) is in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.(PGL 1279).
Provenance
First recorded in the Royal Collection during the reign of George V. Possibly once mounted as a brooch worn by Queen Victoria.
Oval gold Lover’s Eye ring with white, blue and pink enamel, ca. 1795.
[Source: Collection of Dr. and Mrs. David Skier]
Salvador Dali’s brooch ‘The Eye of Time’, was designed by the artist himself and made famous by jewelers Alemany & Ertman in New York, as a gift for Dali’s wife in 1949. With Dali’s permission, the company made several copies from his original designs.
An Italian man in the 1950’s had purchased a Dali piece which had been passed down through his family. The artist hadn’t designed many pieces of jewelery – perhaps 20 in all. The piece went up for sale at auctioneers Dreweatts of Newbury, Berkshire, and had been expected to sell for £12,000.
Light blue man’s miniature eye, hand painted on ivory, set in a yellow
gold, round pendant mounting, surrounded by wire-strung seed pearls.
Shows signs of an old repair on back. Suspended by chains from an added
rectangular hair brooch, which is also surrounded by split seed pearls. The
hair pin has some separation in the metal on back. ‘O’ rings have been
added to the hair pin so it can be worn as a pendant, ca. 1820.
[Source: imageevent.com]
Georgian Eye Miniature | An eye miniature brooch, circa 1800, set in gold and
silver and surrounded by diamonds. The water-colour on ivory miniature depicts
an eye in clouds and beneath it is a most unusual motto and poignant motto : il ne voit et ne veira que toi [he sees only you and he’ll have eyes for you only].
Georgian era, gold seed pearl, enamel navette-shaped Lover’s Eye brooch.
[Source: eBay]
The most famous story of Lovers’ Eyes is this:
In 1784, the Prince of Wales (later to be King George III) fell in love with a commoner and widow, Maria Fitzherbert. Her Catholic faith and the Royal Council would never consent to the union, but the Prince literally couldn’t live without her. After a suicide attempt by the future King, Maria consented to marriage, but fled to Europe instead of setting a date. Some say it was to quell his affections, some say she did it for the sake of her country. No one knows for sure.
On November 3rd 1785, the Prince of Wales wrote to Maria Fitzherbert proposing marriage a second time. In his letter, he included a ring with a portrait of his eye painted by the miniaturist Richard Cosway (the superstar portrait painter of the day). The Prince added a post script which reads, “ P.S., I send you a Parcel…and I send you at the same time an Eye, if you have not totally forgotten the whole countenance. I think the likeness will strike you.” It is unknown if it was the letter or the ring that tugged at Maria’s heart strings, but she did return to England and married the Prince in a secret ceremony on Dec 15, 1785. Shortly after the ceremony, she commissioned Richard Cosway to paint a portrait of her own eye that she then presented to the future King. As all with all secret things in England, then and now, it was of course, common knowledge.
Dr. Swift took advantage of the age of hysteria – ‘are you depressed, irritable, suffering from the usual female ailments?’ – so travelling the US making house-calls, he did go. One area in which Dr. Swift hung his hat was Cerro Gordo, California – a mining site which sat above Owens Valley, during the 1800’s where men flocked to mine precious metals.
The ratio of women to men was greater in Cerro Gordo, which kept Dr. Swift fairly busy. Surely not all patients were suffering from hysteria or other conditions listed and we can also be quite sure Dr. Swift was more a gigalo than a physician and much enjoyed the company of his female patients who ‘rang-up-a-rub’ when feeling – ‘lonely, melancholy? It is said his patients were loyal and had him return often, without a doubt. One can only hope Dr. Swift practiced proper hand-washing and kept his nails clean and neatly trimmed.
Ahem… Mrs. Swift?
Google book screen capture
Some question if the good doctor existed or if the man is a myth, but according to authors, the handy doctor did live – “giving further proof to their reliability as authentic documents from the year 1837”.
Google book screen capture
Cerro Gordo, is now a ghost town and is privately owned by Michael Patterson, who has one goal – to keep the town in a state of “arrested decay” and to finish its first chapel, all dedicated to his late wife, Jody Stewart Patterson.
Some say ghosts walk the dusty streets of this abandoned silver-mining town.
With a murder a week in the 1860s and ’70s, bloodshed permeates its history.
– Los Angeles Times
Enjoy Bradbury’s 1962 dark fantasy novel for children – and children at heart – in audio format. It may skip a chapter here and there, (a YouTube user seems to have issues with chapters 3, 8, 10 and 12), but what do you expect for free? Don’t bother searching for the 1983 screenplay produced by Disney – you’ll pull false flicks.
Fact: Bradbury chose the title of his novel from: Act IV of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “By the pricking of my thumbs / Something wicked this way comes.”
‘Boy, ‘ he said. ‘What’s your name?’
And the first boy, with hair as blond-white as milk thistle, shut up one eye, tilted his head, and looked at the salesman with a single eye as open, bright and clear as a drop of summer rain.
‘Will,’ he said. ‘William Halloway.’
The storm gentleman turned. ‘And you?’
The second boy did not move, but lay stomach down on the autumn grass, debating as if he might make up a name. His hair was wild, thick, and the glossy colour of waxed chestnuts. His eyes, fixed to some distant point within himself, were mint rock-crystal green. At last he put a blade of dry grass in his casual mouth.
‘Jim Nightshade,’ he said.
The storm salesman nodded as if he had known it all along.
‘Nightshade. That’s quite a name.’
‘And only fitting,’ said Will Halloway. ‘I was born one minute before midnight, October thirtieth, Jim was born one minute after midnight, which makes it October thirty-first.’
‘Hallowe’en,’ said Jim.
By their voices, the boys had told the tale all their lives, proud of their mothers, living house next to house, running for the hospital together, bringing sons into the world seconds apart; one light, one dark. There was a history of mutual celebration behind them. Each year Will lit the candles on a single cake at one minute to midnight. Jim, at one minute after, with the last day of the month begun, blew them out.
This clip might give hint to what happened to the missing chapters beginning at 1:57.
Georgian era, English Lover’s Eye brooch.
Hystoria 