The School System: Useless? Or Important for Other Reasons?

      I attended both Catholic school and Public school growing up. I have experienced both educational systems and discovered that once I graduated Catholic School and attended Public High School that I was smarter than half the kids there. I shouldn't say smarter because I had a terrible time with math (I failed it a few times except in the case of money). Yet I still received higher grades than most of my classmates. Upon more research and observation, I discovered that children who were home schooled had a higher grade point average than children who attended public school with other children. What's the difference? Why are United States' public schools ranked lowest in not only the country but in the world? Several factors could be: our lack of commitment to giving schools funds, our religious leanings, etc. Yet I would also point out that children who attend Public School are more likely to be social and have a larger circle of friends than children who are Home Schooled.

      Here's my opinion: Public Schools when it comes to Academia are useless when it comes to book education, Yet they are highly valued in their use for teaching social skills and the how to behave in public. Interacting with people outside the family allows for children to try and form healthy, sometimes romantic, and platonic relationships, or forming families not bound by blood when one's blood-related family is a disappointment. We learn that there's a social hierarchy (Jocks, Cheerleaders, Geeks, Goths, etc.) and how we can either grow out of that or stay within the broken system.

      When children are home schooled, they don't have the daily distractions of "Who's popular and how can I be in their click?" or "Does he/she like me?" or "What can I do to be noticed?". Instead, these children are concerned with 5x8 and who George Washington was. Without the interaction of other children their age, children form close bonds with family that can seem co-dependent, making it harder for the children to socialize successfully with others once they reach an age of adulthood.

       Some have argued that because we are in a digital social age where one can meet someone via Face Book & Twitter, but that is small consolation for how a home schooled child can withstand or protect themselves from scam artists. With social inter action, like in high school if someone steals from you or if some one hurts you, you would know how to handle it or how to avoid confrontation. Someone home schooled may trust too easily and result in either a broken nose or an empty wallet, or both.

      A public high school is a jungle where only the tough and strong may survive, not without a few scrapes and bruises but that hardens them for the road ahead. Home Schooled children may get higher marks in the class room but poor ones on the playground. Children need social interaction. Humans are social creatures by nature like the Serengeti Lion, whose life is as precarious and full of pit falls as our human society, where the bigger fish eats the little fish.

Grimm & Once Upon A Time: Our Love of Storytelling

     When NBC announced it's premiere of Grimm, I thought it was a "hitch your wagon to a star" moment after ABC's Once Upon A Time became so successful. In reality, TV shows are chosen by some stations way before public opinion can be measured (Grimm was probably set to air after Once Upon A Time before the stats came out). Both shows have been successful: Once Upon A Time and Grimm are set to premiere their 3rd seasons. Yet I'm not going to analyze the shows too much, I'm going to analyze what makes them popular: Our love of story. Since Man discovered that He can create, He has been sitting around the camp fire entrancing everyone with epic tales of heroes slaying monsters and evil witches and princesses locked away by some curse. You can imagine that there wasn't much to do in the very old days since there was no TV or InTouch Magazine and dying young was an everyday reality. Storytelling was and still is a form of entertainment whatever the medium.

      The concept of Once Upon A Time is the Evil Queen (Regina) curses the kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest to come to our modern world where there are NO happy endings (pretty pessimistic). Yet Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, Emma, escapes this curse and is the key to breaking the curse. Excellent writing and imaginative spins on the stories of our childhood (making them darker and more complex) giving them a more adult and relatable content. The characters have more layers and they make decisions with a deeper conscience yet sometimes they do so without thought of consequence. The Evil Queen didn't start out evil; she just had some mommy issues and lost her true love.

      Some mythologies have made it into the TV show Once Upon A Time. Such as: the story of King Midas (which is a Greek story about greed) and the Legend of King Arthur (Sir Lancelot makes a "cameo" appearance). The Little Mermaid is expected to make an appearance soon. Even stories from our favorite classic novels: Frankenstein, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland (a tv series spin-off set to premiere with it's counterpart Once Upon A Time) all modern storytellers have weaved their way into the web of the ABC series.

      With Grimm, it's purely about the bloody, violent yet engaging tales of German folklore. Most of the Wesen species are classified by German words: Fuchsbau (Fuchs means fox), Löwe (German for lion), and Hexenbiest (Hexe is German for witch). The group known as The Royals, are the nameless kings, queens, princesses, and charming princes that in reality were not so benevolent and forgiving, but more wrathful and autocratic. The hunters of Wesen are known as Grimms who can see the Wesen in their true forms. The show's popularity can be attributed for creative darker spins on the old fairytales and excellent writing. The tagline: "Story time is over" was a perfect set up and described the show's concept perfectly. Nick Burkhardt is one of the few remaining Grimms but unlike his ancestors, Nick is not the type of guy who goes around chopping off the head of Wesen for any reason. This fact allows us to cheer for Nick like we would for any hero in a fairytale. Why? Because we like to hope that times can change and that we can become more civilized. Nick being a cop probably attributes to his sense of justice and only going after the guilty, giving people the benefit of the doubt.

     From the time we were children, we've been told the stories of Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. All of these, perhaps more than the Bible, have ignited our imagination of true love conquering all, a girl can go from rags to riches, the outcast can slay the monster and become the hero. These stories also tell us that if we're bad, then bad things will happen to us. And when we are good, then great things will happen to us. In Bill Maher's Religulous, he asked a Christian woman that if she had grown up with the Grimm Fairytales or stories by Hans Christian Anderson instead of the Bible, would she notice the difference. Of course the woman took offense to this valid question so I'll answer in an unbiased way (I was raised Roman Catholic): no; you wouldn't notice. The purpose of the Old Testament stories (which are just as bloody and full of rape and incest as the Grimm fairytales) as it is of the stories of our childhood, is to teach us lessons about life and how Karma can be a bitch.

Why NOLA Is Perfect for The Originals!

The Originals Promo Poster

        Before Julie Plec announced the idea for a The Vampire Diaries spin-off that centered on The Original Family, I bet there were all sorts of ideas swimming around in her head on where to place the setting. Mystic Falls is a small town in Virginia that is devoid of culture, small-minded, and seems to live in a bubble. Caroline (the lovely Candice Accola) once said to Klaus (the handsome and sexy Brit) in Dangerous Liaisons, Season 3, "I've never been anywhere." Klaus told Caroline, "A small town boy and a small town life; it won't be enough for you." Of course not! There are many better choices for a 1,000 year old vampire to settle down in: New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, hell! even Los Angeles! All have rich history and culture that would provide so much material for any show. However, there was perhaps one city that outshone them all: New Orleans.

          New Orleans started out as mucky swamp, rife with misquotes and the weather was unbearable; it was damp and freezing in the winter and humid and hot in the summer. The ground was so soft and damp that every time they dug a grave, it filled with water. Later on, middle class to upper class families would have above-ground tombs of beauty and elegant design. Yet the American mind-set has always been: "when life gives you a hundred sour lemons, just add water and tons of sugar to make that sweet lemonade". The new town was populated by voyeugers and men seeking fortune and women of "low character" as they would say to describe prostitutes. These women were given a choice between incarceration in a sanitarium or a new life as a wife and mother. Being that prisons and asylums were merciless and given little to no oversight, the women chose the second choice; however, that didn't really stop them from continuing their profession. A priest in the new settlement complained to the governor that every woman who is of debased, lewd character should be forced to leave. The governor retorted: "If I sent away every woman of lewd mind then I would have to banish ALL women in this town." As it stands, the looseness of the women in New Orleans would be one of its defining characteristics on where to go for a good time.

        

        Although New Olreans was named after the French Dukedom of Orleans, the whole Louisiana territory was divided between the French and the Spanish. The Spanish for a time, ruled New Orleans. The buildings of the city in old parts are Spanish, but the over-all culture is predominately French. The Fleur-di-Lys, a symbol for French Royalty, is New Orleans' city symbol. If you ever go to New Orleans, you may notice that there are NO streets named after Abraham Lincoln. You'd think that a city populated by mostly African Americans that they would have street named after the Great Emancipator. Well it's still the South and as we all learned in grade school, the South did not appreciate Lincoln. Also you'll find that a street named for Martin Luther King Jr., doesn't really say Martin Luther King Jr. Instead it's a combination of King's name and the name of a muse, the Muse of Memory. It's not that the citizens don't like Martin Luther King, it's just that they didn't want to screw up the symmetry of the 8 other streets that are named for the 9 Muses. As a home to artists, the art of symmetry is very important. Even more so than honoring martyrs for civil rights!

Funeral Traditions

    The typical New Orleans is interesting. As seen in newly released scenes (that were leaked on youtube by the producers) Marcel and Klaus are marching down Bourbon Street to an up-beat jazz tune. This was a funeral procession. When someone in New Orleans dies the procession to the cemetery is solemn and melancholy. Yet on the way back, the music changes into an upbeat celebration. 

Congo Square

         Few of the things that make New Orleans famous is its parties, music, and any kind of celebration. Back in the early days of New Orleans' development, there were Spanish and French Plantations in the surrounding area. The owners were so afraid of their slaves starting a rebellion that they limited them to little to no social interaction with other slaves or free people of color. The slaves would work from early to dusk. A visitor described the scene of the beaten, cowled slaves as a pitiful sight to behold as the over-seers kept sharp vigilance as they herded the slaves like cattle to their quarters. 

         Yet the mayor and governor decided that this strict conduct would deeply ferment rebellion and so decided to give the slaves and free mullattos and quadroons a time to socialize together. They chose a clearing, which would be known forever as Congo Square, which the slaves gathered (supervised mind you by the police) with food and play drums with tribal rhythms that entranced anyone watching. Later the gathering would be limited to only Sundays because the neighbors complained of the noise. The slaves were only allowed to attend if they had permission from their masters and they had to be back by curfew. Some slaves blew curfew. One visitor to New Orleans looked down on this weekly celebration; seeing it as disruptive and would lead to chaos, but the locals didn't really mind and the party goers didn't really cause chaos. The police were there to control any situation. There were never any problems. This whole arrangement stopped during the Civil War with the Confederate Occupation of New Orleans. 

       Now Congo Square is where you'll find many musicians and street performers.

Voodoo

      New Orleans just wouldn't be New Orleans without Voodoo. In 1782, the fear of Voodoo was so hot that Governor Bernardo de Gálvez stopped the trading of slaves from the coast of Guinea, Santo Domingo, Martinique, and Guadeloupe because these were hot spots for Voodoo worshippers. This ban lifted after a few years by the Baron de Carondelet (governor 1792-97) and Voodoo flourished around 1806 and 1810. 

Modern Day Voodoo Ritual

      Superstitious white housewives and even a few middle class gentlemen were gullible and bought into the pageantry of Voodoo hook, line and sinker. Voodoo hierarchy consisted of Voodoo Queens and Voodoo Doctors. These two were very different in their practice of the art. Yet the Voodoo Queen was seen as the head. She resided over the rituals and celebrations and had final say as to where these would take place and even changing the practices (as Marie Laveau did during her reign). The Voodoo priests took a more unconventional approach, by that I mean they practiced orgies. On one occasion, police raided a Doctor Don Pedro's residence in the middle of one of these orgiastic displays. They found 9 white women in chairs as 9 black men were at their feet and all of them were physically amusing themselves. Doctor Don Pedro protested that they were doing a ritual for a woman's daughter who suffered from some ailment. They were all promptly arrested. The husband of one of the white women committed suicide the next day.

Voodoo Priest

Jane Anne Devereux casts a spell on "The Originals"

        Voodoo queens were thought to have a vast knowledge of strange and subtle poisons (that these queens also could dispense with great abandon). These poisons defied detection and could cause the victim to waste away and die of exhaustion. The famous "gris-gris", not only the most feared but also the most expensive charm of voodoo, was used as a hex. When someone found it on their door step, they promptly went to a voodoo queen or priest to help counteract it. Surprisingly a voodoo priest or queen an over power another. "Gris-gris" was nothing more than a cotton or leather pouch filled with powdered brick, yellow ochre, and cayenne pepper, with the occasional addition of nail clippings, hair, and bits of reptile skin. 

Voodoo Queen

       If you've seen movies or read any fiction books, you'll discover that the voodoo ritual incorporates the snake, a symbol of the Mother Goddess; that much is true from eye-witness accounts. A recorded account by a plantation owner details the typical voodoo ritual. His maid took him to one when he was a boy in 1825. He described the event in great detail but I'll give you the spark notes. He describes the ritual taking place in an old abandoned slave cabin. There were half a dozen white men and just 2 white women among the many slaves. Each man and woman had tied a white band around their heads. There was an altar with stuffed cats. There was a black doll in the center of the room surrounded by Cabalistic signs and emblems and a necklace of snake vertebrae around her neck, which depended an alligator's fang encased in silver. The women danced seductively like snakes writhing in dirt to a tantric sound of drums and the chorus of voices. The Voodoo Queen sat between a few other black women in watch of the whole ritual. The boy was so frightened and hot from the ritual that he ran out of the shed. 

       Later on, these secret Voodoo rituals became a public spectacle for the citizens as well as for the tourists. They became more "friendly" and less outrageous. 

Famous Figures & Living Ghost Stories

    New Orleans is home to some pretty colorful characters. Some of these characters have been deified by participants of Voodoo. One Voodoo queen, Marie Laveau, still struck terror into children's hearts even after her death (and she lived to a well ripe age of 80).

            A.) Annie Christmas: A famous Madame who owned a floating brothel. She was 250 lbs, 6'8", walked in bare feet, and was known as the strongest woman on the River to Dixie; she could carry a barrel of flour under each arm and a third balanced on her head. Annie once sported a mustache and dressed in men's clothes and worked as a super-stevedore; pulling sweeps or hauling heavy nets. Annie eventually abandoned her breeches and put on a skirt to run a brothel. The stories about Annie and her scarlet women of the river are unprintable, but one fact is known that Annie had a contest with a keg of whiskey as an award for the woman who can satisfy the most men in a given time; of course the winner was always Annie. Annie had a violent history of killing many men. Legend has it that she collected their ears as trophies and wore them as a necklace (said to be a mile long!) that she wore at her death. After Annie's death, she made her way into the Negro folklore of Voodoo, but instead of being white, she was coal-black with 12 coal-black sons, all 6 feet tall and born in one birth. Instead of being killed in a saloon while gambling (which is the most likely), Voodoo folklore has it that Annie died for love and that her 12 sons (all dressed in black) carried her to a long black boat that disappeared down the river.

           B.) Bras Coupe´: a.k.a. Squier and the Brigand of the Swamp. He was a gigantic slave owned by General William de Buys. The General was known as a kind and indulgent master who doted on Bras Coupe and spoiled him. The General taught Bras Coupe how to shoot and let him carry a gun (it's because of the gun, Bras Coupe had his arm blown off). Whenever he ran away (which was often), Bras Coupe would be captured and returned to the General who would only give him light punishments. After his arm was amputated, Bras Coupe escaped into the swamp. For three years, Bras Coupe was the most feared outlaw of New Orleans, leading a band of thieves and murderers, both black and white, on raids. Nurses and mothers would frighten their children with stories about the dreaded Bras Coupe who was thought to possess supernatural abilities because he seemed invulnerable to bullets and could heal quickly. Bras Coupe was murdered by his friend (what a friend!), a Spaniard named Francisco Garcia in the Bayou St. John. Garcia took the body to the mayor's office and asked for the reward. In Voodoo folklore, Bras Coupe is counted as Annie Christmas's superior.

Art rendition of Marie Laveau

Marie Laveau's Tomb

           C.) Marie Laveau: was one of the most powerful and influential Voodoo Queens of her time. She was a hairdresser and sometimes acted as a procurer of quadroon and mulatto women for rich white men. Also she acted as a go-between for lovers. Marie was a free mulatto woman and a born Roman Catholic. She incorporated the worship of the cult of the Virgin Mary and the Catholic Saints, turning Voodoo into a mixture of West Indian fetish-worship and perverted Catholicism. No one objected to this given Marie's strong personality. Many wondrous events are associated with Marie Laveau but the one that made her famous involved the son of a rich merchant who was falsely accused of a crime. On the day of his trial, Marie placed 3 Guinea peppers in her mouth, went to the Cathedral, where she knelt before the rail for more than an hour. Then she quickly went to the courtroom and deposited the 3 peppers under the judge's bench. The case was presented to the judge and although it was convincing, the young man was found not guilty. The wealthy merchant was so impressed with Marie Laveau's power that not only did he pay money but also gave her a cottage on St. Ann Street between Rampart and Burgundy, not far from Congo Square. Her descendants lived there until it was torn down in 1904. After she was asked to step down as Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau continued to work for the Catholic Church. She would give comfort for prisoners set to be executed.

        D.) Dr. John: One of the early recorded Voodoo priests of New Orleans. He had a tattooed face and carried charmed pebbles that were soaked in snake and lizard juices and carried in a pouch in his hair. One of his clients was the slave girl, Pauline, an attractive woman with charms all her own, but she enlisted the help of Dr. John to seduce her master, Peter Redeck. Pauline became Redeck's mistress, but when he went away, Pauline held his wife and 3 children (7, 4, and 2) hostage. She would beat Mrs. Redeck and starve her while flaunting her affair with Mr. Redeck. A servant tipped off the police about what was going on and Pauline was arrested. Since she was pregnant, Pauline's sentence was commuted to after she had her baby. 

         E.) Madame Larualie: She was a living embodiment of cruelty and evil. To the wealthy and privileged, Madame Larualie was polite and a wonderful hostess. Yet to her servants and slaves, she was the very devil. She had a footman, an unnamed mulatto who came with her everywhere and some questioned her relationship with him. He would go to the attic with her where he would whip her slaves as she watched in ecstasy. Larualie's character dominated her weak husband, Dr. Larualie (her 3rd husband) and her two daughters (one of whom was crippled). On one occasion a neighbor heard Madame Larualie screaming. He looked out the window, hearing a little girl scream. Madame Larualie was chasing a frightened Negro girl with a whip. The girl ran back into the house with Larualie close behind. The neighbor suddenly heard the lashing and the girl's agonizing screams. The girl escaped to the roof where she fell to her death. People tried to help the abused by taking them away but Larualie's family members bought them back and they were returned to her. However, what really whipped the whole of New Orleans into a roar was when Larualie's house was set ablaze. Police came and found that many slaves were naked and chained to the wall; they were broken in body and spirit. After the slaves were rescued and the fire was out, Larualie went back to her routine and directed where the furniture should go. The public was getting restless. Why was she not arrested? Larualie's faithful mulatto quickly shut the doors and once the riot started and they charged on the door, blasting through like a bat out of hell, a black carriage with Madame Larualie veiled in black running down the street. Her husband had a boat waiting for her. Her mulatto footman was killed on his way back by an angry mob. The Larualie's tried to settle in New York but were chased out once their identities were discovered. Madame Larualie was killed during a boar hunt in France. Some say that Larualie's house is haunted by the slave girl who fell off the roof and by Larualie herself. Her house has been converted many times into a house of charity.

The French Quarter

       The French Quarter is not the only Quarter in New Orleans. There's an Irish Quarter and even an American Quarter. Yet the French Quarter is the most famous because of New Orleans' ties. The set of The Originals is to set here and they couldn't have picked a more perfect setting. The French Quarter was infamous as one of the many Underworlds where gambling, sex, and murder ran rampant. There was a murder almost everyday, with a new body thrown into the river. If a man wasn't careful he was robbed and left dead in the street. Gamblers would gamble away their money. A man who got carelessly drunk was quickly dispatched in the dark alley. The women of the Quarter were loose and clever in getting their patrons to give them all of their money. 

         Prostitution was around every corner, given the small space and convenience. New Orleans was famous for its prostitutes and bordellos. Before the Civil War, there was a system that women of color were bought by European men (mostly French) and taken as a mistress for life. The children of these unions were not legitimate heirs and the union between the parents was never a true marriage, but sometimes these unions were very happy ones and the man would spend more time with his mulatto family more than he would at home. 

      In the French Quarter you'll find a Voodoo shop every few steps. Owners of these shops are not just black but also white and all swear to have a remedy that can cure what ails you or will help you in love or get that promotion you've been angling for. There are also cafes and bars that serve whatever you like from Cajun delights to French delicacies. 

There's still so much history surrounding New Orleans but unfortunately it would take longer to write down. Still I highly recommend the books The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld by Herbert Asbury, The World that Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette, and Very New Orleans by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler which have all helped me write this blog and are available on Amazon.com. 

      The Originals looks like it's going to be epic! A story set on who will run the criminal underworld; who will be the King of the Quarter and who will be put to bed in a tomb. The series premiere has been set to air a week earlier, which only ignites my excitement! In closing, there is no other city in the United States that is better suited for The Original Family to build a kingdom and bring a dynasty to last 1,000 years than New Orleans; a city where as the tour guide said, "the living are lost and the dead come out to play."

Vampires vs Werewolves: Which Do We Prefer?

        Vampires or Werewolves? A question horror fans are faced with. In shows like The Vampire Diaries and the up-and-coming spin-off The Originals and films such as Underworld, there's a battle going on between the 2 supernatural species. In my earlier blog "The Fang Fetish" I discussed our obsession with vampires. In this blog I'm going to explore the other obsession: the supernatural war between the two species. 

Both vampires and werewolves are seen in pop-culture as sexy monsters. In folklore both species were seen as monstrous representations of man's inner beast and evils. Both are creatures of the night (a time when it's dark; a human's worst fear) that hide in the shadows and lust for blood.

First a little about werewolves: in European folklore werewolves change on the night of the full moon; when bitten or scratched by another werewolf, you turn into one; wolfsbane and silver (a metal thought to be 100% pure) can hurt a werewolf (a silver bullet can kill them); and in some cases, wearing the skin of a dead criminal gives the person the power to shape-shift into a werewolf. The only cure is death. In some stories killing the wolf that made you will break your curse. The werewolf (or lycanthrope) can be seen as man's inner-self; his wild-side. The full moon part of the legend is said to drive anyone mad ("lunatic") and police and hospitals will tell you that 911 calls increase during the night of the full moon. Although there is no scientific evidence to support the theories of the moon driving one crazy, it could be that because we believe it does that we do sometimes go off the rails. Our love of wolves in the United States alone can cause us to take a deeper look into our love of the werewolf legends. Around the time of 2007-2008, the wolf population in the Mid-West bounced back with a vengeance, taking the wolf off the endangered species list. Wolves hunt in packs and have a sense of family and duty, which we humans admire and look for in a community. We call someone a "lone wolf" because they seem to prefer solitude. Wolves can also be seen as sexual symbols that represent man's virility or that he likes to sleep around. During World War II, soldiers who liked to sleep around with a lot of loose women were called "wolves". In the Grimm Fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood, a girl walking through the woods alone is met by a stranger (a wolf), which could be interpreted as a young woman meeting a sexual predator (also the girl is wearing red, a color of passion and lust). In France, when a girl "saw the wolf" it's a euphemism for a girl losing her virginity (also if a girl didn't see the wolf, she was still a virgin). The St. Valentine's Day tradition was once a celebration that centered around the worship of the wolf; villagers would sacrifice a goat, dip a thong made from the goat's hide in dog blood, then give the young women a good "thwack" on the backside in hopes of transferring virility and fertility upon the woman. The festival was meant to appease the wolves and stop them from eating too much of their livestock and ask for their protection. This holiday took place on February 15th but the Catholic Church moved it to a day earlier.

Back to the topic: Vamps or Wolves? Both have an animal aspect (Werewolves are more obvious) but both species take a stab at our fascination in letting loose; giving into our "wild-sides" and throwing off our puritanical shackles. Vampires and Werewolves are sexual symbols. They are both symbols of power and represent the darkest parts of ourselves. 

In films, television, and books, the war between werewolves and vampires is one fought because they not only hate each other but they feel like they were born to be enemies. In the film franchise Underworld, the vampires are blue bloods who consider themselves above human laws and who should be feared and respected as they enslave the lycans (werewolves) who they view as no better than human dogs. Vampires are immortal and werewolves are mortal (except in Underworld and shows like Lost Girl where they are immortal). 

On the whole, vampires and werewolves will always be at odds. This genre is so embedded in our human psyche that any story without it seems bland and unrealistic. In the CW's new series spin-off of The Vampire Diaries, The Originals will explore the vampire vs witch genre, which in my opinion is a nice genre to explore. The character Klaus, is half vampire and half were-wolf; a creature that combines our love of both species and allows for a realm of new possibilities that lay in the hundreds. Klaus is also able to procreate, which yes, sounds "Twilight" but the mythology fits as Klaus is half-werewolf and so not entirely impossible. I will absolutely say that a vampire-werewolf hybrid, is the perfect merging of the two top monsters in the world of horror and the supernatural.

Psychics - A Look At Clairvoyance

     Also called Seers, Prophets, Oracles, Mediums, Clairvoyants, and/or Fortune-Tellers. We are more familiar with the idea of psychics who can fore tell the future from Greek Myths. 

The Greek Oracles were virgin women set up in temples and kept behind a screen or a wall with a hole in it so that she can speak to visitors who ask her questions. In the Temple of Delphi (Apollo's sacred and most famous temple) the oracle would be on an altar near a crack in the floor where volcanic vapor would rise up; this put the oracle into an hallucinated state of mind, which caused her to babble some cryptic messages that could be interpreted into anything.

Nostradamus is a controversial figure in clairvoyant history. He lived during the Renaissance and wrote a book of prophecies; some happened to come true. Yet Nostradamus was also a schizophrenic so his prophecies are subject to doubt. 

During the 19th century, Modern Spiritualism became prominent. It was the belief that spirits wandered around and could be contacted through mediums. Mediums would hold seances to contact spirits, which would possess their bodies and speak through them. About 98% of these so called "spiritualists" were frauds; some exposed by the famous escape artist, Harry Houdini. Yet there were few who had the gift of spiritualism. One woman holding a seance was photographed and a glowing mist called "ectoplasm" was seen floating out of her mouth. 

As technology progressed so did the idea of prooving and testing psychic abilities. Photographs captured things that the naked eye could not, such as ectoplasm. ESP or extrasensory perception is explored in facilities around the world where they test the limits of the human brain. This gave way to the many other psychic abilities that we believe humans are capable of:

1.) Psychography - (a.k.a. Automatic Writing) spirit writing

2.) Psychometer - one purporting to divine the future by touching objects

3.) Xenoglossia - knowledge of languages never learned

4.) Clairaudience - hearing the paranormal

5.) Telekinesis - (a.k.a. psychokinesis) ability to move objects with only the use of thoughts

6.) Retropsychokinesis - the changing of particulars of the past

7.) Pyrokinesis - starting fires using mental powers

8.) Cryokineses - transforming water into ice using mental powers

9.) Aerokinesis - manipulating wind 

10.) Human Luminosity - a person who glows but there is no heat and the source of light is unknown. Usually people who are ill or very religious exhibit a glow.

11.) Human Electricity - the ability to give off an electrical pulse; enough to light a lightbulb through touch.

12.) Human Magnetism - the ability to manipulate metal or detect metal.

13.) Hypnosis - the ability to hypnotize others and put them under suggestion through a trance, making them do anything but once put out of the trance they have no memory of being under hypnosis (this is more of a skill through the power of suggestion but psychologists find it useful in helping patients unlock suppressed memories). 

14.) Empathy - the capacity to recognize feelings that are being experienced by another sentient being. Sometimes confused with sympathy. Empathy is more or less a normal human ability that is displayed more in young children and new mothers.  

15.) Bilocation - (a.k.a. multi-location) the ability to be in 2 places at once or in multiple places at once.

16.) Remote Viewing - gathering information at a distance.

17.) Precognition - (a.k.a. premonition, clairvoyance) perception of events before they happen.

18.) Aura Reading - perception of energy fields surrounding people, places, and objects.

19.) Dowsing - the ability to find objects

20.) Astral Projection - an out-of-body experience

21.) Divination - gaining insight into a situation via a ritual

22.) Telepathy - transfer of thoughts or emotions through one's thoughts

23.) Retrocognition - perception of past events ( the opposite of Precognition).

24.) Transvection - bodily levitation or flying

Modern examples of psychic abilities are Natalia Demkina from Saransk, Russia who can, at will, switch her vision from normal sight to what she calls "medical" vision and clinically look inside her own body. Looking inside a person, Natalia can accurately diagnose a person. Another example is Rafael Batyrov from Southeast Russia, the province of Bashkiria and is called "Laser Boy". He, like Natalia Demkina, has the gift to diagnose people by looking at their reflection in the mirror; yet he can not see inside his own body through his reflection. Edgar Cayce (1877- 1945) was a psychic who did readings about Atlantis while in hypnotic trances.

      I don't know if any of this is true, but we don't that much about our brains, using only a small percentage of it. Even our own DNA is mostly a complete mystery (there's about 90-95% we can't figure out). Perhaps this is a next step into our evolution. We've made leaps into scientific discovery in such a short amount of time. It's only a question of "when" we will discover it.

The Apocalypse: It's Already Happened... Multiple Times!

   If you're Catholic or Christian you've probably learned in Sunday school how the world was going to end. Although every religion has it's own version how the world is going to end (cultures that were once polytheistic - excluding India where they practice Hinduism - all have a version of fire and an end to all things), but the Revelations of the Christian Bible is the one most talked about as it is possibly the most violent. The Norsemen or the Vikings' version of Revelations is known as Ragnarok and it has the same tones of violent destruction with the sky turning to flames and the world entering a new ice age, which is one of the reasons they made an easy transition to Christianity. Every new generation says that it's the end of days; but so far their predictions of the world being destroyed by hail storms of fire and devastation have yielded little result. In fact, NONE AT ALL!
    My theory is: the Apocalypse has happened multiple times. Now, I've only seen the "spark-notes" version of Revelations: severe climate change, horrible disease, devastating wars, and an anti-christ to wrap all these things in a pretty bow and bring an end to mankind. If you look at history way back then, you may find some similarities between history's biggest follies and disasters and predictions in the Bible.
    First we may start with natural disasters. One in particular: The Flood. Every culture in the world tells of a flood that drowned the world, causing severe, rapid change in land masses and territory. People back then would have considered this the end of the world, but it wasn't. I could go back even further and discuss the ice age and the splitting of pangea but that would be going back before humans could record their own history. So I'll jump ahead to horrible diseases.
     The bubonic plague was a traumatizing event for mankind. It decreased the human population so much that many people believed that this could only be the End of Days, God will pass judgement on them. Yet after the plague receded, life continued on and the population began to rebuild again. Other diseases that plague mankind are STDs, cancer, and more recently Swine Flu and Bird Flu. There was also the Sweating Sickness that plagued England over the centuries. When the Pilgrims settled in the New World, they suffered disease and malnutrition. Most of them died from the cold or starvation; to them it would seem like the End of THEIR Days.
      Now wars? They happen more often now than perhaps before; most of these wars are usually fought not just in the sands or on the seas but in back alleys of Europe and America with spies. Yet we will stick with wars that have to do with drones and tanks. There was the 2 World Wars, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. With every new generation there's a new weapon that can kill (they say this will make it cleaner and less bloody - as if THAT makes it better!). Also there's the wars of drugs, crime, and sex slavery.
     Now we come to the Anti-Christ. The Anti-Christ is supposed to come in the disguise of someone who promises salvation; to make their country great and powerful, who will bring world peace. In other words: a blood-thirsty dictator. Let's name just a few of those: Julius Caesar, Otto von Bismark (who brought the German states together to form the Prussian Empire through war), Adolf Hitler, Francisco Franco, Benito Mussolini, Fidel Castro, Quadaffi, Saddam Hussein, and Kim Jong-il. All have promised salvation and most have succeeded (depending on which side of history you're on) and almost all have met terrible (well-deserved) ends. Hitler murdered millions of innocents through the Holocaust and Hussein has done the same to his own people.
      Apocalypse translates to "awakening" or "hidden knowledge", which means the old world will gave way to the new world. Something so shocking happens, which destroys the old school of thought and is replaced by a new school of thought. The discovery of the Earth being round and not flat was enough to break some of the Catholic Church's authority for most people. When the Roman Empire fell, people thought THAT certainly meant the end of all civilization. The Dark Ages was a living End of Days where chaos ruled over reason. You can call this all crap but I choose to believe (and I never use that word unless I know something is true beyond a doubt) that another great discovery is just around the corner that will destroy our former way of thinking and give way to new ways of thinking. Perhaps a cure for breast cancer?

The Fang Fetish: Our Obsession with Vampires

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Promo

NBC's Dracula set to premiere this Fall

       Ever since the  Twilight Phenomenon vampires have been popping up everywhere. FALSE! We have forgotten the vampire stories of the talented author Anne Rice (who wrote the novel turned film, Interview With A Vampire), and from the TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it's spin off Angel. Also Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. And before that vampires have featured in myth and legends: the Greek Lamia (a female race of vampires) and the Indian goddess Kali who looks pretty vamp-like with her large protruding fangs and thirst for blood shed; the vampires of Eastern Europe and Asia and all the way to South America. We not just as Americans, but as humans, are obsessed with the cult of vampires.

Angel Promo Picture

    Why? A few reasons. The first being we as a species that fears death are obsessed with immortality. There are so many things that can kill us and we can die at any time from disease, war, or by chance. We love the idea of being young, beautiful, invincible, and free from the restrictions of morality. We want super powers: the power of compulsion (making people do whatever we want) and having super speed and agility, never in fear of anyone or anything. Not even Death could scare us. There's some pleasure in being the predator and not the prey, which leads us into the next reason: Vampires as Sex Symbols.

     In the Victorian Era where everyone was sexually repressed, the idea of having one's blood sucked from one's neck would sound sensually exciting; the fangs were phallic symbols and "piercing" the woman's neck was a euphemism for "penetration" and then draining them of life is similar to how a man or woman feel after climaxing. Dracula was the first vampire to be viewed as a sex symbol. He was the first "Lady-Killer" you might say. He was a predator who stalked and attacked women. He was a creature of darkness who kept to the shadows but maybe that's one of the reasons we find him sexually alluring. He was a man's primal instinct that lusted after our flesh, not just our blood. In the book, Dracula builds a psychic connection with Mina in order to spy on his enemies but by consequence she could see where he was. This to us can come off as a soulful connection, a soul mate as it shows in later reproductions of Bram Stoker's novel. Mina becomes Dracula's true love; even more so in the recent show Dracula on NBC, where Mina is a reincarnation of Dracula's murdered wife, Ilona, and Mina cannot deny that she feels they have a connection as well. 

        Today, most of tragic romances between vampires and humans is still felt by audiences today who read romantic trashy novels that feature undead bloodsuckers. As a woman myself, I have a hard time resisting a man with fangs. It's felt on a primal level to throw caution to the wind and give in to pleasure like animals do everyday. The romance of eternal love is also exciting (mostly to women). A Romeo+Juliet story between a human and a supernatural being is a romance novelist's bread and butter. It's a couple we cheer for to succeed and prove that love can conquer all boundaries such as race, religion, and class.

    My final theory may be shaky: Blood. It's less the fluid and more the color: RED. Red represents love, passion, anger, and desire. Studies show that a man or woman wearing red is seen as more attractive to others. A woman with red lips or a little rouge on her cheeks is irresistible or even wearing a red shirt; men or women who wear red are seen as ready for sex or more open to a sexual relationship (that prospect decreases with age; only the young up to 40 can apparently pull off red). That being said: blood=life. A Vampire's hunger for blood could be our psychological lust for life; to live life without fear of consequences.

The Vampire Diaries Season 1 Promo

    Twilight for me destroyed the Vampire-ideal and although I appreciate Stephanie Meyer's trying to be creative (VAMPIRES DON'T SPARKLE! EDWARD'S A FAIRY!). Yet The Vampire Diaries (soon to be followed by a spin-off The Originals) has reawakened my passion for the sexy blood suckers. The show on the CW goes into the vampire genre with some of the old traditions but adding some new twists: vampires aren't always weepy and brooding but also enjoy life and all it has to offer; but they also act human at times without getting too cliche.

     Vampires are a part of our alter egos: they are our primal instincts, our darkest desires and fantasies, as well as embody our deepest fears. No matter how many times people tire of seeing vampires on screen, we will never be sick of them.

It's Hard Being Catholic

   When you hear the words: the Pope, the Vatican, Priests, Catholics; you automatically think: corruption, pedophilia, conspiracy, and backward ideals; however, when you're raised in this old and influential religion like I was, you didn't think those things before. No. You think about the sacraments, the rules, and that apparently that every Sunday you have to eat and drink the body and blood of Christ.
   Before Christianity became the official religion of Rome, a person heard about a cult (and every religion is a cult, there's little difference) that worshipped a man who rose from the dead, was born of a virgin, and they consumed his body and blood (so they were cannibals). The Romans were freaked out by this new religion, but what really pissed them off was that the Christians refused to worship the Emperor as a god (like they needed more people to make their egos bigger).
   After the struggle, Christians took over the Roman empire, turning it to monotheism, but all in all it was changing one tyrannical rule for another, except faith pays more because you are representing a power that no one can see. The Caesars managed to become reincarnated from togas to vestal robes. The popes were as corrupted and full of vice as much as the Roman Emperors. Say anything against the Bible and you were burned or if you were lucky enough you were just imprisoned or even "better" confess and repent THEN be burned. Electing a new Pope was a question of who will pay enough to occupy the seat, ideally some one old and not long for this world (and if not they would die from a mysterious illness).
    After the 21st Century the Catholic Church has seemed to reign in their vices and have cleaned house (or so they seemed after recent and continuing scandals of sexual abuse and the mysterious death of John Paul II).
   Growing up, I was not taught to read the Bible (not that we ignored it but we didn't read much of Deuterotomy or Corinthians) or about much of the Catechism (which is basically the do's & don'ts of Catholicism - like you can't have sex with your wife while she's on her period). I was taught to sit down and shut up, we talked about hell (I was yelled at for wearing capri pants that showed my knees - as if knees are a signal for sexual abuse!) and we also learned the white washed version of the bible. I learned the New Testament, I only read the Old Testament years later after I left Catholic School (which has since closed down and is now an office building) and was shocked to see so much violence, incest, and murder. I thought, wow! They missed a few chapters in school. Only when I started reading literature like Greek Myths and "1001 Arabian Nights" did I look back on those Precious Moments books did I realized that those bible stories for kids were useless!
   So I became a cynical, lax Catholic who doesn't even go to church on Christmas. Why ruin the parking for everyone else? Yet as a Catholic I must admit that although the Catholic School System is rife with problems, studies show that children who have attended Catholic school are more disciplined and better educated (I got the best grades in public high school). Also, as an aspiring writer who is also a fan of dramatic stories, the Catholic Religion offers great inspiration for theater.
    Being Catholic means holding onto old superstitions even if the Church recognizes that those old superstitions are obsolete (after 1985 or so, left handed people were no longer recognized as agents of the Devil; 1 of my Catholic School teachers told my sister that she would go to hell because she was left handed).
    Yes, Catholics are seen as superstitious, idol worshipping, sadistic, perverted, corrupted, and ultra-conservative but when you get down to it, the Catholic Church is not exactly flawed, Man is, which means ALL religion is flawed! Jesus preached forgiveness, but men hold grudges.
    The Catholic Church has done some good in the 20th century. If the Vatican had not remained neutral in WWII then most POW and rebels would have perished in POW & concentration camps. Priests and nuns would not have been able to pass through Nazi check points or keep hospitals open or even visit the sick in POW camps if they were involved on either side. And if it had not been for that old "Catholic Conscience" then Hitler would have kidnapped the Pope; luckily some of Hitler's officers were Catholic and thought this action unthinkable! A Nazi officer warned the Pope of the plot before he left Italy. Claus von Staffenbourg was a Catholic who joined the plot to kill Hitler because of his morals about the war and the concentration camps.
    Catholicism relies heavily on the faith of their followers through idols and objects (I still have a rosary hanging over my bed and anoint myself with holy water when entering a church). Objects are comforting. Catholicism is the closest tie we have to the old gods of creativity, majesty, and the belief in fate that we can reach higher than we can possibly imagine.  I feel that way every time I enter a Cathedral or Church with its stained glass windows and smell the sweet incense. I feel a peace for some reason; perhaps because, despite the fire and brimstone of the past, once I took the time to read the scriptures myself and make my own assessment, I took the good part of the message: be good to your neighbor; forgive others as well as your self, and even if all of mankind loses hope, as long as there is one good soul then there is still hope. I suppose that's one of reasons I haven't switched to any other religion.

Sex is Everywhere; Do We Have an Addiction for it?

  If this were 60 years ago where everyone was repressed, it would be easy to spot a sex addict; but now that sex is everywhere, it gets harder and harder to point them out or even diagnose the addiction. It's worse in the United States where we walk the line of a double-edged sword where we say we are liberal and free-spirited when it comes to sex and our bodies but when presented with it, we act prude and conservative.
  The truth is, you can't call some one a sex addict anymore without real concrete proof. A woman can't call her husband a sex addict for wanting more sex in the marriage. A woman can't call her boyfriend a sexual deviant just because he just so happens to look at a poster on a bus with a Victoria Secret ad on the side; any woman or child can see that if they're taking public transportation!
  Sex addiction hasn't really made it into the Diagnostic Criteria yet (as far as I know) because doctors are just not sure if they should; with good reason: any husband or senator caught cheating would immediately say they have an addiction to escape persecution.
  We ALL think about sex; it's a part of our biological function. It's our instincts telling us we need to procreate but more importantly it's a psychological as well as physical need to connect with other adult people. We also enjoy having sex because it just feels good afterwards. We feel more energized, our seratonine levels are high, and we also burn calories!
   There's still so much more we need to know about sex. Believe it or not, there are still myths we need to debunk or prove. The United States is worse off when faced with sex. The sexual revolution is still going on from gender equality to the bedroom. Women are still at a disadvantage through sexual stereotypes and America has a tendency to take the extreme (almost tyrannical puritanical) side of things when it comes to controlling sex such as birth control and sex ed.
    We MUST recognize that no matter what, sex isn't going away. We have to be honest about it; honest with our kids when they ask questions and need advice (you say you can't think of your "baby" having sex well they can't think of their parents' having sex either so it's uncomfortable for both). Ignoring the problem with books or even silence just makes the problem worse with STDs and teen pregnancies. So take a deep breath and relax.