Category: XIII Death

  • Altar to Your Beloved Dead

    Throughout October, the veil between this world and the next will become continually thinner.

    Honor your loved ones on the other side today by setting up an altar for them.

    Include an image of each deceased loved one (human or otherwise).

    Place at least one candle near each image, along with an offering of one or more items this loved one appreciated while they were alive, such as a nonperishable food or beverage, fruit, flower, small potted plant, book, poem, perfume, or anything else that feels right.

    Further decorate your altar with fall flowers, such as chrysanthemums and marigolds, and fall produce, such as apples and pumpkins. An incense holder and incense would also be a nice addition, as sweet-smelling smoke is a traditional offering for the spirits.

    Light the candles and sit in quiet communion with your loved ones for at least a minute or two once a day until Samhain.

    Also, see if you can notice the subtle changes in the ether that correspond with the thinning of the veil.

    Can you hear the spirits?

    Can you sense eternity?

    Visit Llewellyn Spell Listings

    Tina Turner (1939-2023), meditating at her altar
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  • The Cost of Battle 💔

    “In Montmorency [Quebec], the ghost is thought to be Mathilde Robin. In 1759, in the middle of the Seven Years War, Mathilde had found her true love in Louis Tessier, a local farmer and member of the militia who asked for her hand in marriage. Her father approved of the match and the two were to be married at the end of the summer in 1759.

    “However, this was a turbulent time in Québec and Louis was soon sent to fight in the Battle of Beauport, which took place at the base of the Montmorency Falls on July 31, 1759.

    “The English forces were controlled by General James Wolfe who is famous for taking Québec during the Plains of Abraham. He would not be victorious during this battle; wet air from the falls and a sudden storm ruined the English gun power and the British troops were forced to retreat. Wolfe recorded 210-deaths in this journal. The French leader, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, recorded 60.

    “However, for poor Mathilde, the French were victorious but her beloved Louis was one of the 60-militiamen who were killed. In her grief, it’s believed that she put on her wedding dress and threw herself from the top of the falls, where they had met the evening before. People have claimed to have heard her cries or to have seen her ghost in a white dress falling from the top of the falls.”

    From The Travel Geek: Montmorency: La légende de la Dame blanche

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  • You’re F*cked – Happy All Saints’ Day!

    Probably one of the most famous martyrs is Saint Peter. Born in Judaea in AD 1, Peter was the first pope and was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus.

    Peter was sentenced to death by the Roman emperor Nero, famous for his ruthless and brutal treatment of Christians. In the year 64, the Great Fire of Rome started in the Circus Maximus arena. It burned for nearly a week and by the time it was put out, it had torn through 10 of Rome’s 14 districts. Nero blamed Christians for the fire, and Peter was one of the main scapegoats.

    Famously, Peter asked to be crucified upside-down, as he didn’t believe anyone was worthy to be killed the same way as Jesus Christ. According to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, Peter said, ‘I beseech you the executioners, crucify me thus, with the head downward and not otherwise.’

    Many believe that Peter is buried in the crypt underneath St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but this has not been conclusively proven.

    Read about more torturous saints’ deaths at www.history.co.uk.

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  • The Rotting Pair

    The Dead Lovers, also known as The Rotting Pair, is a circa 1470 painting by a German Gothic artist, probably from Ulm or more generally from Swabia or the Upper Rhine region. It is on display in the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame. Its inventory number is MBA 1442 (“MBA” stands for Musée des Beaux-Arts).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Lovers

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  • Desdemona

    DESDEMONA
    O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not!

    OTHELLO
    Down, strumpet!

    DESDEMONA
    Kill me to-morrow: let me live to-night!

    OTHELLO
    Nay, if you strive–

    DESDEMONA
    But half an hour!

    OTHELLO
    Being done, there is no pause.

    DESDEMONA
    But while I say one prayer!

    OTHELLO
    It is too late.

    Théodore Chassériau, “He smothers her”: plate 13 from Othello (Act 5, Scene 2), etched 1844, reprinted 1900
    French, http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/371339

    Shakespeare, Othello, Act V, Scene ii, 1622.

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  • Self-Portrait With Death Playing the Fiddle

    Self-Portrait With Death Playing the Fiddle, Arnold Böcklin, 1872, image from German History in Documents and Images

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