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For a number of years, we have had stories of people with superhuman powers battling for control in one way of another.  We have Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Wonder Woman and many more.  These are stories most of us a familiar with us from comic books and movies.

Thousands of years ago, ancient people had the same thing.  They told stories of gods with superhuman powers fighting monsters and traveling to far away lands.  Each culture had it’s particular gods and stories to tell about them.  In the far north in ancient Scandanavia tales were told of Thor and his hammer, Mjollnir.

Thor’s hammer is said to have the power to level mountains.  If thrown it would return to Thor’s hand.  To wield Mjollnir, special gauntlets had to be worn and a belt that would increase the power of the hammer.  There are many stories about how the hammer was forged and not everyone agrees which is the most accurate.

Today, the stories are told in comic books and soon to be in the movies.  Thor and Mjollnir have endured the centuries and is still today a major icon.  Scandanavian people still pray to Thor just as some people pray to a saint.  The symbol of Mjollnir is found in many places all over Scandanavia, in towns and on the crest of many families of Nordic descent.

Germanic Neopagans are fond of wearing pendants depicting Mjollnir as a sign of their faith.  There has been some controversy in the United States as to it’s religious undertones since it resembles an upside down cross.  These are usually the rantings of overzealous Christians who have little or no understanding of cultures outside their small town.

Mystical Charm hopes you have a wonderful Autumn season and looks forward to your comments and insights.

Ghost Hunting has been around for much longer than most people are aware of. Thanks to the popularity of movies like Ghostbusters, and TV shows like Ghost Hunters, most believe that hunting for spirits is a new phenomenon. The truth is that hunting for the restless spirits of the dead goes back much further.

The oldest recorded case of ghost hunting is reported by Pliny the Younger in 100 A.D. When he told the story, it was already a century old tale. The tale tells of a man who bought a house in Athens. The price of the house was far below what it was worth but the sellers wanted to be rid of it and quickly. One night while the new owner was resting comfortably by the fire, a spirit came to him wrapped in chains. The spirit beckoned him to follow and so he did. He was led to a spot in the garden behind the house where the spirit vanished. The next morning, with the permission of the city magistrates, he dug the spot and found a skeleton wrapped in chains. Once the body was given a proper burial the hauntings ceased.

Not much of ghost hunting is mentioned for centuries until the mid-1880’s. William James, a philosopher, suggested applying scientific methods in the search for spirits and ghosts. He found allies in London with Alfred Wallace, Harry Sidgwick, Harry’s wife Elanor and Edmund gurney. Together they founded the Society for Phychical Research to collect evidence proving, or disproving, the existence of ghosts, haunted houses and other paranormal phenomenon.

Ghost hunting would not become a mainstream hobby until the 1970’s with the founding of the Chicago area Ghost Trackers Club (which became the Ghost Research Society in 1981). Today there are over 300 separate ghost hunting organizations throughout American and England and the list is growing.

Mystical Charm hopes you have a wonderful Halloween Season full of fun and frights.

Tags: ghosts, ghosts hunting

Ghost Hunting has been around for much longer than most people are aware of. Thanks to the popularity of movies like Ghostbusters, and TV shows like Ghost Hunters, most believe that hunting for spirits is a new phenomenon. The truth is that hunting for the restless spirits of the dead goes back much further.

The oldest recorded case of ghost hunting is reported by Pliny the Younger in 100 A.D. When he told the story, it was already a century old tale. The tale tells of a man who bought a house in Athens. The price of the house was far below what it was worth but the sellers wanted to be rid of it and quickly. One night while the new owner was resting comfortably by the fire, a spirit came to him wrapped in chains. The spirit beckoned him to follow and so he did. He was led to a spot in the garden behind the house where the spirit vanished. The next morning, with the permission of the city magistrates, he dug the spot and found a skeleton wrapped in chains. Once the body was given a proper burial the hauntings ceased.

Not much of ghost hunting is mentioned for centuries until the mid-1880’s. William James, a philosopher, suggested applying scientific methods in the search for spirits and ghosts. He found allies in London with Alfred Wallace, Harry Sidgwick, Harry’s wife Elanor and Edmund gurney. Together they founded the Society for Phychical Research to collect evidence proving, or disproving, the existence of ghosts, haunted houses and other paranormal phenomenon.

Ghost hunting would not become a mainstream hobby until the 1970’s with the founding of the Chicago area Ghost Trackers Club (which became the Ghost Research Society in 1981). Today there are over 300 separate ghost hunting organizations throughout American and England and the list is growing.

Mystical Charm hopes you have a wonderful Halloween Season full of fun and frights.

Tags: ghost, ghost folklore, ghost hunting

Trick or Treating is the part of Halloween most kids are familiar with. In 2005, 93% of all kids in the United States said they were planning on “Trick or Treating”. I fondly remember going door to door, saying “trick or treat” and receiving a handful of candy. Our neighborhood was so big, my friends and I wouldn’t take a plastic pumpkin, but instead a pillow case. Often we would do one half of the neighbor hood, stop by the house to empty the pillow case and go out again for the second half. It took us months to eat it all, but by Christmas we would have it mostly gone.

Dressing up in costumes and going door to door for treats goes back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing (going door to door to sing Christmas Carols). Trick or treating most closely resembles the practice of souling, where the poor would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1st) and receive food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2nd). This started in Britain and Ireland and was even mentioned by Shakespeare in the play “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” (1593). The custom of wearing costumes goes back to the Celtic tradition of attempting to copy the dead souls in order to placate them.

The term trick or treat was confined to the western United States before 1940. After that it slowly made it’s way eastward until the sugar rationing of 1942 to 1947. The widespread use of the term didn’t make it to the east coast until 1952 when Walt Disney made the cartoon Trick or Treat.

In Scotland and northern England, children do what is known as guising. Children wear costumes, go door to door and tell a ghost story in order to receive their treats. The practice goes back to the middle ages but became associated with Halloween in the 20th century. As a matter of fact, guising has made it’s way to America and in some parts of the country is now practiced exclusively on Halloween.

Mystical Charm hopes you have a wonderful Halloween and spectacular Autumn season.

Tags: Halloween, history, holidays

Halloween is full of symbols. Every year people decorate their house with ghosts, skeletons, mummies and more. We carve pumpkins, place a candle inside and put them on our doorstep. We dress up in costumes and for one night a year we get to be Superman, Batman or whoever we want to be.

These symbols and customs had their start with the pagan folklore of the British Isles. The ancient Celts would place a skeleton in their window on All Hallows Eve to represent the recently departed.

The Jack-O-Lantern might be the most widely recognized symbol of Halloween. Originating in Europe, they were originally carved from a turnip or rutabaga. The original story talks of a man named Stingy Jack who tricked the devil into a tree and carved a cross into the tree trunk to trap him there. The devil was so angry he cursed Jack, condemning him to wander the Earth at night forever with only the light he had with him: a candle inside a hollowed turnip. Today we carve pumpkins because they are so available in America and much larger making them easier to carve.

Other imagery surrounding Halloween is usually a conglomeration of the season itself and Gothic horror stories and movies. Dracula and Frankenstein have been popular at Halloween for almost a century. The overall imagery revolves around horror, death, skeletons, bats, ghosts, witches, spiders, black cats, scarecrows and more. Other signs of the season such as corn husks, apples, and pumpkins are also popular. The colors orange and black are most associated with Halloween.

Mystical Charm wishes you a wonderful Autumn season and Halloween. This is truly a magical time of year.

Tags: Halloween, history, mythology

The school year is just beginning for most of us. Very soon, though, we will be faced with exams, midterms and eventually finals. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easy way to increase your focus while you study AND help you improve your test scores? I think I can help.

First, a little biology. Our sense of smell is linked directly into the memory centers of the brain. A scent can bring back memories from your childhood you thought were long gone. For example, while growing up in Indiana, it was fashionable for everyone (in the 70’s at least) to have a Juniper bush. That scent was around me all the time to the point of not really being aware of it. Now, whenever I smell Juniper I am 10 years old again walking down the street to see if my friends can come out and play.

This simple recipe is easy to make and very powerful. Do this:

1 drop of Jasmine
6 drops of Sweet Orange
3 drops Patchouli

Mix together in a small bottle by gently rolling in your hands and add to a diffuser. Allow this mix to diffuse into the room while you study to increase your mental focus.

Here is where the science meets the real world. Remember how I can be 10 again just by smelling Juniper? Place a small amount of the oil somewhere on your body where you can smell it. The scent will trigger your memory from when you last smelled it, which should be while you were studying.

This really could work with any scent. Chose your favorite from Mystical Charm and feel better come test time.

Tags: aromatherapy, mental focus, study aids

The world after the fall of the Roman Empire was unforgiving to say the least.  There was no central government, no one to keep up the roads and infrastructure and no one to keep the peace.  Warlords began to claim land as their own and tried to provide the structure that was so lacking.  Unfortunately, the end result was nearly 1000 years of war.

Jewelry, however, saw a boon in development.  The Celts and the Merovingian’s were noted for their jewelry making skills.  Pieces of jewelry were created with a quality that matched the best pieces from Byzantium.  The Torc (a fastener or adornment to clothing made of a twisted piece of metal) was common throughout Europe as a symbol of power and prosperity.

The Celts specialized is pieces made from continuous patterns and designs.  The Merovingian’s  were best known for their stylized animal designs.  Far from being the only makers worth mentioning, the Anglo-Saxons, the Scandinavians and the Visigoths were all known throughout Europe for their work with jewelry.

The Eastern successors to the Romans, the Byzantines, continued the work of the Romans but in the end, religious themes came to dominate.  They preferred to use light weight gold leaf rather than solid gold and put more emphasis on jewels and gems.

Men as well as women were known to wear jewelery, most notably royalty and nobles.  Over time it became increasingly the domain of women to were jewelry and is still practiced to this day.

Mystical Charm and Holy Land Favorites offers many pieces of jewelry.  We are proud to offer a wide variety of Celtic pieces among many others.

Tags: history, jewelry middle ages

Nearly everyone is familiar with Ancient Egyptian jewelry.  From the necklaces and other peices found in King Tut’s tomb to what we see on display at local museums, most people stand in awe of what an acient culture was able to do with gold, silver and jewels.

Established jewelry making in Egypt began between 3000 – 5ooo years ago.  Egyptian preferred gold over other materials because it was rare and easy to work with.  Jewelry in Egypt soon became a symbol of power, both political and religious, in the community.  Jewelry was worn in both life and death as a persons favorite pieces were often included in grave goods.

Although Egyptians had access to jewels, they preferred to work with glass.  They liked the colors they could get working with glass as well as having the control over the final product.  For every gem that could be mined, the Egyptians had a glass “gem” to mimic it.  The color of the jewelry was also very important.  The Egyptian Book of the Dead stated that the necklace of Isis around a mummy’s neck had to be red to satisfy Isis’ need for blood.  Green jewelry meant fertility for the crops.

Although some of the materials had to be imported, such as Lapis lazuli and silver, emerald (a favorite of Cleopatra) was mined in the Red Sea.  Egyptian designs were most common in Phoenician jewelry.  Ancient Turkish designs found in Persian jewelry suggest that trade between the Middle East and Europe was not uncommon.

Mystical Charm is pleased to offer Egyptian jewelry.  From Egyptian Birth Signs to The Jewels of Atum Ra.

Tags: egypt, history, jewelry

The Triple Moon is one of the primary deities found in Wicca.  She is comprised of three seperate goddesses: The Maiden, The Mother and The Crone.  Each symbolises the separate phases of life a woman goes through.  She represents the female part of Wicca’s duotheistic religion.

The symbol for the Triple Moon is a waxing, full and waning moon side by side.  It is believed by many that the concept of the Triple Moon began with the first neo-Pagans in the early to mid twentieth century in England.  It as their view that sexuality, breastfeeding and pregnancy are all ways that women may embody the goddess and therfore make the body sacred.

• The Maiden represents enchantment, inception, expansion, the promise of new beginnings, birth, youth and youthful enthusiasm, represented by the waxing moon.
• The Mother represents ripeness, fertility, sexuality, fulfillment, stability, power and life represented by the full moon.
• The Crone represents wisdom, repose, death, and endings represented by the waning moon.

Most neo-Pagans assert that worship of the Triple Moon Goddess predates Christianity and could go as far back as the neolithic period.  Therefore it is believed that this is the surviving remnant of ancient beliefs.  More research will have to be done to prove one way or another.

Tags: Christianity, Paganism, Ttriple Moon Goddess, Wicca

Everyone knows about Ra, the Egyptian Sun God. Amun-Ra was the original creator, the primeval deity. In Thebes Amun-Ra became associated with the “Breath of Life”.  As Amun-Ra grew in importance he became the sun god as well as “Lord of truth, father of the Gods, maker of men, creator of all animals, Lord of things that are, creator of the staff of life”. He is also the father of Shu, Tefnut, and the remainder of the Ennead.

Osiris is one of the oldest of the Egyptian Deities. He is the shepherd of the dead to the underworld where their soul will be weighed against the feather of truth. Osiris is not only shepherd of the dead but also the underworld agency that governed life including the flooding of the Nile which brought fertility to the region.

Maat is the personification of order in the universe. Often depicted as a goddess holding a scepter. She was the goddess of harmony, law, order and truth. Ancient Egyptian Law was based around the Tenets of Ma’at. Maat was also the judge of the dead after making it to the underworld. The soul of the dead (thought to be in the heart) was weighed against a single feather from Maat. If the scales were in balance, the dead was allowed to enter the underworld.

Seth (Set or Setekh) was the god of deserts and chaos. He is depicted as a man with the head of no known creature. He was the chief god of Upper Egypt and carried the epithet “His Majesty” a title shared only with Ra.

Bast is the patron deity of Egypt. Bast is an ancient solar and was goddess. She is also the protector goddess of Lower Egypt. Bast is often depicted as a lioness or a cat.

This is a very short excerpt of information. The amount of information about each god or goddess is immense and fills volumes. For more information about these gods and more
please visit Mystical Charm.

Tags: Amun-Ra, egypt, goddesses, gods, Maat, Osiris, Set