A Jenny Haniver is the carcass of a ray or a skate that has been modified by hand then dried, resulting in a mummified specimen intended to resemble a fanciful fictional creature, such as a demon or dragon.
One suggestion for the origin of the term was the French phrase jeune d'Anvers (“youth of Antwerp”). British sailors “cockneyed” this description into the personal name “Jenny Haniver”.
Jenny Hanivers have been created to look like devils, angels and dragons. Some writers have suggested the sea monk may have been a Jenny Haniver. The earliest known picture of Jenny Haniver appeared in Konrad Gesner’s Historia Animalium vol. IV in 1558. Gesner warned that these were merely disfigured rays and should not be believed to be miniature dragons or monsters, which was a popular misconception at the time.
The most common misconception was that Jenny Hanivers were basilisks. As basilisks were creatures that killed with merely a glance, no one could claim to know what one looks like. For this reason it was easy to pass off Jenny Hanivers as these creatures, which were still widely feared in the 16th century. In Veracruz, Jenny Hanivers are considered to have magical powers and are employed by curanderos in their rituals. This tradition is similar to one in Japan, where fake taxidermy ningyo (similar to Fiji mermaids) were produced and kept in temples.
The black swallower, Chiasmodon niger, is a species of deep sea fish in the family Chiasmodontidae, notable for its ability to swallow fish larger than itself.
At the young age of 20 years, Bachelor of Fine Arts, David Nebreda, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He lives locked in a flat in Madrid with just two rooms where he has made all of his photographic work, taking no medication, no communication with the outside world without radio, newspapers, books or television. Vegetarian for 20 years, practicing abstinence, and subjected to maintain a state of extreme thinness.
He takes pictures of himself, after flagellation and self-harm..
Also known as The Buddhist Hell Gardens of Thailand. This garden consists of statues that depict what hell is supposed to be like. According to the ”Traibhumi Phra Ruang,” upon death a buddhist will encounter four celestial beings who weigh your good deeds and bad deeds. If your bad ones outweigh your good ones you go to this hell.
The statues in this garden show, in gruesome detail, what that hell will be like. The hell has 136 pits, but individuals can be reborn from those pits. You can be reborn from all the pits except the one you are sent to for hurting (physically) your parents or monks.
Said to have inspired the likes J R R Tolkien and J K Rowling, Puzzlewood is an ancient woodland in The Forest of Dean, Gloucester. In the 19th century a mile of winding pathways leading over wooden bridges, and through deep and narrow gaps in the rocks, were laid and have remained mostly unchanged ever since. There is evidence of cast iron ore mining dating back to Roman times and in 1848 two workers discovered, in a hole in a rock, three earthenware jars filled with 3000 Roman coins.
No one is quite certain why this carving of two mice nibbling a block of cheese adorns a mid-19th century building in London. However, one theory that is most widely propagated is that it is a memorial to two construction workers who fought over some lunch, each believing it to be theirs. Victorian health and safety being somewhat lacking this resulted in one man falling to his death, only for it to be later discovered that mice had likely eaten the missing food.
I think that’s a lesson in the importance of sharing if ever there was one.
Members of Fee Welch’s family have been trying to get rid of this doll for 40 years, but everytime they do, it ends up coming back. Fee Welch had forgotten about this doll until she found it in a box in her wardrobe while cleaning things out. Soon after taking her out of the box, her entire family got sick. Her dog keeps barking at the doll too. She recalls the same thing happening when her mother found the doll. Everytime her mother tried to get rid of the doll, something happened and she would end up just keeping it.
The doll also invokes a strange reaction in her. She doesn’t want to get rid of it she says. She has grown to love the doll and can’t part with it. She leaves the doll out on an old chair in the lounge room.
“She comes across like she’s spooky and a lot of people are scared by her but deep down I think she just wants to be loved.”
Residual Haunts: the energy and habits of spirits remaining in an area. For example, hearing footsteps in hallways, hearing voices in a room or screaming. They are not aggressive or negative, but rather just energy of the spirits.These energies repeats, almost as if on a repeating film roll.
Interactive Intelligent Apparitions: when it seems that the spirit is aware of its surroundings. These spirits often move small objects, try to talk, touch you. Their main purpose is to try and communicate with you. They are bound to earth because perhaps an emotional bound, or significant event happened there. They can be playful, mischievous, and bothersome.
Poltergeists: Poltergeists are often a spirits that combine different actions over time. They interact by moving objects, throwing objects, screaming, banging objects, and opening or closing objects. These events grow over time with more and more intensity. They can be either somewhat aggressive or negative. Poltergeists also appear and disappear without reason. Some groups believe that poltergeists feed off of the emotions of the people that they surround.
Demonic Apparitions: inhuman appearances and powers among humans. They are usually strong, forceful and almost super-human. They can attack, injure, appear and speak to people.. They have been thought of being anything from a human like figure to an animal-human combination. They are known to walk, fly, disappear, and whatever they wish.
Crisis Apparitions: Apparitions of the dying or recently dead (usually less than twelve hours, but as much as 24-48 hours). This category commonly involves one-time visits to someone with the apparition has emotional ties. Though the encounter usually seems to be a type of farewell, sometimes important and useful information is relayed. Though dying is the most common crisis, other life-threatening situations can also trigger apparitional visits.
Apparitions of the Dead:These are apparitions of people who have generally been dead longer than 12-48 hours. There are two subsets: Those that make one or several visits to someone (they may not have known this person while alive). The very rare cases of apparitions that linger for months or years around a particular location or person.
When sailors died at sea their bodies would, more often than not, be committed to the deep. They would be wrapped in their hammocks with cannon balls or weights placed at their feet to ensure they would sink. The hammock was then sewn up with the last stitch going through the sailor’s nose. If he did not wake up at the pain, they knew he was definitely dead.
A spa in Israel has put a unique spin on the standard massage. While some masseuses use soothing music or scented candles to supplement massages, owner Ida Barak prefers to use snakes; she believes that they have a calming effect and can alleviate joint pain. Imagine—lying facedown on a bed, strong hands rubbing oil on your back as a few snakes slither up and down your body. What could be more relaxing, right?
The corpse flower or Rafflesia Arnoldii reeks of rotten flesh. The leather like red petals has no root system whatsoever and depends on its parasitic activities for nutrition. It can grow as wide as 3 feet. They only grow in the southeast Asian islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
I went here again today (this is from my personal blog last year). I don’t think I shared it on The Oddment Emporium last time so here it is! Weirdest place ever and well worth a visit!
