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The Blood Countess Elizabeth Bathory
When you think of serial killers most would automatically think of Bundy, Gacey, or even Jack the Ripper. Would you believe that a woman with a supposed body count of up to 650 young woman would be one of those at the top of that list? But was she really a murderess or simply the victim of a conspiracy for power? Little is known about her early life because most of those records have been destroyed. What we do know is that Elizabeth (Erzsebet) Báthory was born on a family estate in Nyírbátor, Hungary, in 1560-1561, and she spent most of her childhood at Ecsed Castle. Her father was George…
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Native American Death Beliefs
Native Americans had many different beliefs when it came to death. They did however share the belief that they should focus on helping the deceased be comfortable and protect them in the afterlife. I will give a few examples below on what a few of the Native American nations did to honor their dead. Death rituals include placing food, weapons, jewelry, tools, or pots within the burial site for the use of the deceased in his afterlife. The Nez Perce Native American’s would even sacrifice the deceased’s horse, wives, or his slaves so they could be buried together. Other common Native American death rituals include: The medicine man or spiritual…
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Zugarramurdi – The Town of Witches
In northern Spain lies the town of Zugarramurdi, home to just under 250 people. This small town, situated next to the border of France and Spain, and nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees, is famous for being a major part of the Basque Witch Trials of the 17th century, the biggest witch hunt ever undertaken by the Spanish Inquisition. It began in the year 1609 and by the end around 7000 suspected cases of witchcraft had been examined. Basque witches, or priestesses also known as Sorginak, are the assistants of the Goddess Mari in Basque Mythology. Before the arrival of Christianity, the indigenous people of the area that is…
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Hauntings, Part 2: Anne Boleyn
In Part 1 (http://www.historynaked.com/hauntings-part-1/ ) I state that most hauntings are the result of boredom on behalf of a young ghost, but there are other types of hauntings as well. One of the most common is a residual haunting. I have theories about why this happens and, since I am not the kind of guy to throw around words like “psychic” or phrases like “extra-sensory perception” I have to bring it back to a quasi-scientific standpoint. If you want to skip the bad science to the conclusion, count down to the third paragraph and go from there. 😀 Our bodies are made up of infinitesimal pieces that bond together to make…
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The History of the Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope (from the Greek lykánthropos, lykos, “wolf”, and anthrōpos, “man”), is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shape shift into a wolf or a hybrid wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (e.g. via a bite or scratch from another werewolf). The concept of a man being changed into a wolf has been found mentioned in early Ancient Greek Literature, for example the myth of Lycaon, who was a king of Arcadia who tested Zeus by serving him the roasted flesh of a guest from Epirus in order to see whether Zeus was truly omniscient.…
