Happy Halloween!!!...

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!!!

"Season Of The Witch," --- Lana Del Rey...

 

You fire-breathing dragon Queen!!!...

 

The Difference Between Voodoo & Hoodoo, --- And "Voodoo Fanatic," In New Orleans...

There is a major difference that lies between what Hoodoo defines, and what Voodoo defines. Voodoo is the religion, or belief system, of many African Americans living in the Mississippi Valley. Hoodoo, on the other hand, is the magic that has derived from the teachings of Voodoo, which was originally a part of Voodoo. Hoodoo is the craft; the practice, where Voodoo is the mindset and monarchy. Since the nineteenth century, these forms have coalesced into one overarching form, but the differentiation is still important enough to absorb.

New Orleans Voodoo is a cultural strand of the Afro-American religions rooted in West African Dahomeyan Vodun. Voodoo is a result of this African diaspora. Most especially as a result of the slave trade, West African Dahomeyan Vodun was fused with Catholicism and Francophone beliefs in the South. Voodoo especially developed along the Mississippi in the south, mostly in the larger towns of Louisiana and Mississippi, and of course with its largest influence falling in the town of New Orleans. An amalgamation of French, Creole and Spanish influence, this melting pot of religion fusions is what brought us Voodoo Dolls, Gris-gris, Mojo bags, and so on.

Voodoo’s belief system centers around one detached God who stays at a distance, and does not interfere in a person’s life unless called. The spirits are the ones who truly help us with what we need on a daily basis. These spiritual forces, however, can be either helpful or manipulative, which is why we protect and guard ourselves against such open vulnerability until we know it is safe. We do so using crystals, powdered charms and spells, elixirs, dolls, and what have you. We connect with the spirits around us through song and dance, writing, candle spells, symbolism, and connecting with our own spiritual self. The use of snakes as symbols and loa (spirit forms) is like a current that runs through Voodoo; the snakes symbolize how knowledge and a connection to the spiritual self can heal. How insight and enlightenment can lift our spirits away from the dredges of what pain and misery have to offer. Those who practice Voodoo today hope to influence the greater good, and the greater outcome, through an ever-deepening connection with mama nature, the spirits that constantly surround us, and our ancestors’ aid. As a sign of respect to the spirits, we choose to conduct our rituals in private. We show our commitment and integrity when we arrive without ego.

Ego only stands to distract us from pure happiness. When we allow our ego to take over, we lose sight of what we really care about. We get too caught up in the ‘more’ of what we want and lose our focus. It is always best to maintain tabs on the ego, so as not to allow it to muck up our waters of purity. When the ego is in play, we find ourselves always wanting more than what we have. We find ourselves chronically dissatisfied with what we already possess, and we forget to find happiness in what is already in front of us, loving and urging us onward in our journey. Sometimes, close beloved ones with a strong ego can mess up our journey just as much as we could, when we let them in too deep. It is always important to not only maintain healthy boundaries with your own ego, but with those in your life who let the ego run their lives. Like a Tasmanian devil, the ego will rip apart what you’ve built, so build up your protections and defenses before you ever let it loose in your life.

Voodoo Constructs † Healing

Voodoo views items as energetic carriers. In that, practitioners feel that fingernails, teeth, hair, and any objects owned by a person represent an aspect of them, eternally. This is why we cleanse the items, spaces, and whatever we come into contact with from a person. The spellwork of Voodoo is formulated through a particular structure and five basic intentions. These include curing and cleansing, protection from negative forces, luck and fortune, divination and insight, and punishment. Then, from there, we discern our items for spells through sympathetic symbolism. When we wish to banish, we use a chopped (in half) apple and bay leaf covering it, to block and cut off growth. We could, also, use a banana for its slippery nature, urging the individual to slip-slide on outta here!

To focus on one aspect of the five intentions, when we use magick to heal the afflicted, we do so in a few steps. First, we diagnose or discern what the issue is. We use particular items geared towards helping us in this state. We might try divination to unearth whether a troubled individual is cursed or spiritually unrested. We will try to configure who cast the curse, or what the exact root of the problem is. Then, we attempt a cure. The conjurer, or practitioner of Voodoo Hoodoo, would locate and remove the main source of the problem, and destroy or combat whatever it was. Finally, we cleanse. We want to make sure that we cleanse ourselves of any negative residue, and inhibit recurrence of the issue. Thus, we may choose to pursue more aid.

Voodoo is often thought of and referred to, in the western world, as a form of folk psychiatry, for how it addresses and helps those who believe in it. While its merit has been disputed left, right, and center, it really brings results to those who practice. Plus, it provides a living for many. Healing practitioners in the realm of Voodoo do cover a lot of ground. There are the rootworkers who sell herbal remedies, which can treat a wide array of physical and emotional disorders. Rootworkers are herbalists, basically, and are trained in the way of plant life and its medicinal uses. Then, there are faith healers, who connect with the energetic forces of the universe, as well as spirits and ancestors, to gain applicable wisdoms and help others find solace through resurrection and emotional recognition. Finally, voodoo vendors exist for tricks, charms, spells, and the profit of goods. They are the ones crafting mojo bags, voodoo dolls, gris-gris, charms, and the like, with the intention of selling to the greater public.

Hoodoo

The main intention of hoodoo differs somewhat from voodoo. While voodoo’s main goal is to heal its practitioners and all who seek its wonder, hoodoo is more a form of folk magic, in how its main goal is to improve practitioners’ daily lives through ritual and connection with supernatural forces. Hoodoo operates independently of gods or any trappings of religious operation. Conjuring spirits and ancestors is prevalent in hoodoo, however, as is connecting with them for personal gain. This manipulation is not to be taken lightly, by any means and is meant to respect the laws of nature as well as all laws of the natural universe.

Practitioners of hoodoo use minerals, plant life, herbs, animal body parts (or curios), bodily fluids, and objects of meaning in their spells. The term hoodoo can be used as a noun to refer to its magical system, as an adjective to describe one who uses the craft or an item they use in the craft — i.e., a ‘hoodoo woman’; a ‘hoodoo spell’ — or as a verb to describe the act of using or conjuring hoodoo.

Voodoo and Hoodoo Today

Voodoo hoodoo is an individualist practice, meaning that you can make of it what you desire. Today it is a melting pot of spiritual significance, wrought with nontraditional means, and merged with wicca and new age mindsets, which has, in turn, forged new bonds between blacks and whites who find solace in its grace, regardless of cultural origin. The form has evolved in magical ways from its original roots. Now, Instagram is wrought with those preaching of its goodness, or showcasing its worth, as a spiritual form. I even know of a few young poets who solely write in the voodoo hoodoo vein. Artists, scholars, and people of all walks of life find solace and sovereignty in hoodoo and voodoo today and make it fit into their lives, and work for them.

By Mariesa Faer, author of Hoodoo † Voodoo: Rootwork, Conjure and Folk Magic

... A nice little videu >>>

 

She's strong, but she's exhausted...

 😭😰😰😳...

Video: Former Hollywood Actresses Ranked By Bust Size...

 SUPRISING!!!...

"Eye of newt, --- can of tuna???"...

 ???...😼😻😺💖

   "Let's see, --- eye of newt, wing of bat, toe of frog, --- who wrote in can of tuna???..."

Hmmm... And, even more la-la-LA from "Ask A Mortician"...

Watch me get embalmed!!!...

Hair & mourning jewelry (jewelry made from dead loved one's hair)...

What happened to the Titanic's dead???...

    

                                            Famous film corpses???...

Sex & Society In Ancient Hawaii...

 

Sex & Society In Ancient Hawaii... (info taken from articles published by the sociology department of the University Of Hawaii)

"You'll know "le'a" as your ancestors did. It's natural. It's beautiful and satisfying. And, it's just lots of fun!" --- Mary Kawena Pukai.

-------------------------------

In pre-world-contact Hawaii sex and all social relations between people were considered to be natural and normal, and casual, not something to be backward about or ashamed of in any way. The Hawaiian ancient religion had no concept of "original sin," and so the Hawaiians were flabbergasted and, at first, even rather amused by the up-tight mores and the extreme religious strictness of the missionaries sent to their islands. They thought the missionaries very strange, in that they seemed obsessed with sex, yet terrified and repelled by it. 

To the Hawaiians sex and everything that led up to the actual act was to be enjoyed, not something to be ashamed of and, especially, not to be closely regulated. They felt no shyness about nudity, which was considered practical, healthful, normal and beautiful, especially in a very warm climate. They surfed the waves on their surf boards joyously, and totally nude, since wet bodies dried quickly, without the chafing of sodden clothing, --- even if it was only bark cloth (tapa) loin coverings, or wrappings.

By the way, in the pre-contact Islands sexually transmitted diseases were totally unknown; they simply didn't exist. (Common diseases known in the rest of the world absolutely ravaged the isolated Hawaiians. For instance, measles was a deadly scourge among the Hawaiians, who had no natural immunity.) 

Royal incest was practiced and seen as necessary to insure the highest "mana," or power of the kings and queens of their race. Brother and sister mating was ritually done among the "Ali'i Nui," the cherished royalty of the Islands, for the supreme benefit of all the People, to create the most pure human "vessels" for communicating with the gods, and to insure mana, or a rain of spiritual blessings, and that there would always be a human conduit to their deities. (Naturally, this too horrified the missionaries.) In addition to the fact that after the royal sacred mating, and marriage was preformed the Ali'i Nui brother and sister couple were free, according to Hawaiian society practices, to take other wives and other husbands of their choice, often multiple mates. (The missionaries were, once again, absolutely scandalized by this also.)

The hula, the traditional dance, done by both men and women, was a graceful and sincere expression of Hawaiian culture. But, missionaries saw this slow, sensual swinging of the hips and the rest of the body as disgraceful and sinful. They sought to stamp out the hula wherever they saw it performed. 

Madame Pele, the Hawaiian fire goddess, little mother of volcanoes, was a much loved deity in the Islands when the missionaries arrived. Of course, they considered Pele to be as sinful as her worshippers. And, of course, the missionaries tried to stamp her out. And, to also destroy the worship of Kane, Ku, Lono, and Kanaloa --- the principal Hawaiian gods.

So sad, --- when James Cook first came to the Hawaiian Islands in 1820 there were about 400,000 Hawaiians. Less than fifty years later, there were approximately 140,000. Today, it is very, very rare to find a person with almost pure native Hawaiian blood. Most Hawaiian natives are a mixture of Hawaiian, Oriental and Caucasian heritage. 

******************** 

(For a fascinating, beautiful, thoroughly researched and vastly entertaining look at Hawaii, even from it's very beginning, with the geological formation of the islands, I give my highest rating - ***** to James Michener's huge and marvelous novel: "HAWAII".) 

Kaahumanu: The Woman Who Changed A Kingdom...

 The Woman Who Changed A Kingdom

by Betty Fullard-Leo     

Perhaps, Queen Ka'ahumanu looked like this.

Without Queen Kaahumanu, the favorite wife of King Kamehameha I, it is doubtful that the man who united the Hawaiian Islands under his royal reign would have succeeded at all. Her power and influence, however, stretched far beyond supporting him. She would transform the foundations of a kingdom, while overthrowing an ancient religion and challenging the reigning religion of the west.

What drove this formidable woman? Was she impelled by a passion to break down all boundaries of tradition? By her hunger to become the center of power? Or had her heart been broken too many times, by her father, by her two husbands, and by the never-ceasing kapus (taboos) on her as a woman and as the wife of alii? Unable to enjoy the common pleasures of life, was she forced to seek control over life? Did she no longer believe in the ancient gods? Did she seek in Christianity a refuge from disappointment rather than an answer to her spiritual need?

Unanswerable questions. All we know for sure is that Queen Kaahumanu touched the Hawaiian Kingdom as well as Christian structures in unprecedented ways. Many loved her, all respected her.

Born in 1777 on the island of Maui near Hana to a lineage of chiefs, she moved to the Big Island while she was still a baby so her father could join the army of the young King Kamehameha. She grew up tall and beautiful. "Her arms were like the inside of a banana stalk," says Samuel M. Kamakau, "her hair dark, wavy, and fine, her skin very light." Twice she was forced to witness how her own father killed another man. When it came to men and their honor, her presence as a young woman, no matter how bloody the scene, seemed utterly unimportant, as if she didn't even exist.

When she was about ten years old, her father gave her in marriage to the 30 year old King Kamehameha. The following five years were probably the happiest and least complicated ones of her life. She and the King grew inseparable. And although he could have any woman he wanted and married about seventeen times, she was his favorite.

The Hawaiian Islands were far from harmonious at the time, with chiefs everywhere fighting each other for reign and control. Kamehameha's goal was to conquer and unite them all. Kaahumanu advised him. She knew his strongest allies who often belonged to her own blood family. She understood exactly what was at stake.

During those years she learned to surf. She loved to talk and flirt. The strong taboos of the Hawaiian religion stifled her, the taboos enforced so no one would anger the many gods upon whom life and death depended. Women were not allowed to eat with men. Women were not allowed to eat certain foods like bananas and coconuts. And she, as the wife of a chief, was not allowed to sleep with any one else but her husband to make sure that her child would be of royal lineage. For the commoner adultery was acceptable in ancient Hawaii. Kaahumanu couldn't help but resent and question these taboos.

The year 1793, when she was only 16 years old, determined her future. First of all, Captain George Vancouver arrived, hoping to get Hawaii on England's side with lavish gifts. The Hawaiians were thrilled with the fabrics, clothing, liquor, iron, and unimaginable tools from the west. In awe with the strangers, sent by the gods, they were eager to trade. Hawaiian women plunged into the ocean to offer their bodies to the foreign sailors, craving the luxuries as much as potential pregnancies.

But the Queen was not allowed such things. Yet she noticed that these foreigners broke quite a few of the heavy taboos. They thought nothing of sharing food with women. She noticed how her own Kamehameha, greedy for wealth, also took liberties with the ancient religion. The gods struck no one with lightning and death! Even the priesthood saw that the gods were not nearly as angry and powerful as was always assumed. The weakening of the taboo had started.

Secondly, King Kamehameha married Keopu'olani, high chiefess of Maui. This young girl belonged to the purest of blood lines, holding the most sacred life force. She was also beautiful. Kamehameha took her as his sacred wife, the mother of the heir. In short, Kaahumanu, who couldn't get pregnant herself, and was of lesser nobility, received a harsh rejection, even though the king still considered her his favorite.

During the following year long separation, Kaahumanu found a new lover. Kamehameha conquered Oahu and killed his rival. After reconciliation, he gave Kaahumanu the godlike power of puuhonua. She would be the sanctuary in the midst of danger and destruction. She alone had the power to spare from death, to protect women and children, to save criminals from prosecution. Kamakau wrote about the royal couple, "He dealt out death, she saved from death."

Four years later, in 1799, King Kamehameha threw his favorite queen another blow when he married her younger sister. Their emotional ties were severed for good and Kamehameha realized that from now on he owed his once favorite wife the gifts she now cherished most: Shared leadership and public acknowledgment.

When Keopu'olani gave birth to the new heir, Prince Liholiho, Kamehameha appointed Kaahumanu as the baby's official guardian. She was one step closer to the throne. He gave her a place in his council. "She had become," says Kamakau, "the pillar and corner stone of his government." In the political arena, the island of Kauai was to be Kamehameha's last conquest, but when he met face to face with Kauai's gentle chief, Kaumualii, he permitted the chief to continue rulership. A time of peace washed through the newly united kingdom. Arts and crafts developed. Queen Kaahumanu loved to make kites. She loved to make other women drunk. In her loneliness, having been replaced by two young girls, she took on a 19 year young lover. Kamehameha killed the boy instantly. The queens' bitterness reached its limits. Yet they stayed together, Kamehameha and Kaahumanu, living side by side. Kaahumanu ate with the sailors, ignoring the taboo. She smoked a pipe. She abided her time and waited till May 8,1819, when King Kamehameha died. With the date tattooed on her arm she was ready to emerge as Hawaii's most powerful person.

Tradition demanded that at the death of a king all taboos were lifted. This deliberate chaos forced the new ruler to prove his power in reestablishing order. The new ruler had to stay away from the chaos so he could arrive in royal splendor with the scepter in hand. After King Kamehameha's death, women were eating pork and coconuts, and everyone, chiefs and commoners alike, slept with whoever they fancied wherever they were. It was as if the gods no longer existed.

Queen Kaahumanu prepared for young Liholiho's appearance as King. She had no intention to give him leadership nor had she any desire to watch the old taboos fall back into place. When Liholiho sailed toward the shores of Kailua, she greeted him wearing Kamehameha's royal red cape, and she declared to the people on shore and to the surprised Liholiho, "We two shall rule the land." Liholiho, young and inexperienced, had no other choice. Kaahumanu became the first kuhina nui (co-leader) of Hawaii.

Kaahumanu had a feast prepared for that day. She and Keopu'olani, who had once been her rival, challenged the new king to abolish the taboos instead of reimposing them. Where would he choose to eat? With the women who invited him? Or with the men, at a separate table? He hesitated. He moved around. Finally he took his place with the women, and ate. No gods struck. No one died. Breathless priests were witness.

In Liholiho's decision to abandon the ancient taboo, the new monarchy reorganized itself with a woman at the center of power. He could have left it at this. He could have given the priests some dignity by keeping the other aspects of Hawaiian religion going. But Liholiho and Kaahumanu went all the way. They challenged the very foundation of Hawaii, the power of the priesthood and the temples. They destroyed the sacred sites.

For about a year, the Hawaiian people had no roots to hold onto, no beliefs to grasp, for there was nothing that could replace the gods. In 1820 the missionaries arrived, finding a nation eager to fill the emptiness with new notions of good and evil, right and wrong.

Liholiho attempted to conquer Kauai, Kamehameha's unfinished legacy. Kaahumanu married Kauai's gentle chief Kaumualii, either trying to soften the sudden reversal of peace on that island or genuinely in love. The chief never loved her in return.

No wonder then, that Kaahumanu discovered in the Christian religion with its commandments and its strong code of ethics a great tool to soothe pain, to burn remnants of the stifling gods, and to gain power. Kaahumanu saw in the foreign religion a set of laws which she herself could enforce. She saw herself coming full circle, from being a woman with no power over the law, to being a woman at the very center of the law.

The missionaries, although disapproving of her less than subservient attitude, admired Kaahumanu for her zealousness. She relished her unique place between Christian and Hawaiian rules of behavior.

Kaahumanu became sole regent over Hawaii when the young king Liholiho died while visiting England. The future king, Liholiho's brother, was only 12 years old.

She pressed on, fighting especially hard against adultery and prostitution, the two Christian sins she herself had never been allowed. She appalled Hiram Bingham when she took a new young lover, justifying it because she was not married nor was this prostitution. In difficult times, she fell back on the old religious practices, yet she spread the word of Christianity. She built churches and schools.

When she requested to be baptized the missionaries had to draw the line. She was "Not yet born from above with the power of the spirit of God," Bingham wrote.

In 1823, Keopu'olani was the first Hawaiian to be baptized.

In 1824, Kaumualii died. Did Kaahumanu realize that now she stood alone? A new softness seemed to enter her. She fell ill and, thinking that she might die, she told Bingham: "I will do all the good I can before I die."

She recovered, and continued her quest. No longer forceful, she simply started asking her people to obey the Christian rules. She did not marry again and told Bingham: "My love to the word of God is my new husband."

On December 4, 1825, Queen Kaahumanu was baptized and received her new name, Elizabeth. Is it a surprise she chose the name of the strongest, most glamorous queen of England?

The new rules of morality gradually changed the structure of Hawaiian society. Marriage became more popular. Kaahumanu replaced the religious taboos of her ancestry with the religious taboos-the commandments of the west. Once again, Hawaiian society was ruled by the laws of a God, albeit it now a Christian God. And while England and the Unites States became increasingly preoccupied with the separation of government and religion, Kaahumanu saw no reason to do so.

By December 1827, three of the commandments, those against murder, theft and adultery, became enforced by law. With the laws came the need for a system of jurisdiction. In the first jury process Kaahumanu presided as judge. She took on a new lover, Captain Lewis.

Over the following years Kaahumanu and her council encountered the inevitable problems that come with the intrusion of foreigners. Who owned the Hawaiian land? Who made the law? Rules strengthened. Catholic missionaries arrived. The newly baptized Christian Hawaiians became confused. The council chased the priests away in nothing less than a storm of religious persecution, unaware of efforts elsewhere in the world to allow freedom of religion.

Kaahumanu continued to spread the word of Christianity, more and more accessible, showing genuine, moving interest. Hiram Bingham thought that perhaps her comprehension of Christianity was "simple", but it is far more likely that she understood its immense complexity, its good sides, as well as its role of being an immense tool of power.

Although wielding the weapon of Christian rule, she fought for Hawaii's sovereignty. She warded off the foreigners, who, covered by the name of that Christian rule, also wanted to take over the Hawaiian kingdom. Queen Kaahumanu must have known that.

She died on June 5, 1832, just before dawn. Hiram Bingham gave her, moments before, the first edition of the New Testament in Hawaiian, hot off the press.

In 1840, the role of kuhina nui was written into the foundation of government structure.

Age...

 

More la-la from ASK A MORTICIAN...

The decapitation artist: Madame Tussand

Hawaiian edition...

To die a mummy in L.A.: Yvette Vickers ...

 The Death Of Eliza Lam...

Nobody ever dies at Disneyland?...

Scandal at the Harvard Mortuary School... 

The lake that never gives up her dead...

More from ASK A MORTICIAN, --- Funeral la-la-la & other eerie stuff...

An elegant vintage Caddy hearse... Remember the creepy old  "Hearse Song"???... "Did you ever think when a hearse goes by that you might be the next one to die? They wrap you up in a big white sheet and send you down at least six feet. It's alright for a couple of weeks, and then your coffin starts to leak. The worms crawl in. The worms crawl out. They play pinochle on your snout." 😱😯😤💀

I've thought it would be neat to get a hearse and decorate it coolly. (I've heard you can get a low mileage hearse cheap. I'm not spooked about driving a former death mobile.)

  

*****************************************

An ignorant Americans guide to royal funerals...

The oven crypts of New Orleans...

Funeral foods around the world...

 

ASK A MORTICIAN: Series on youtube... (Caitlin is fascinating, informative & hilarious, --- so entertaining. I love her!)

😜😚😏😄😱😨😬...

Corpses on a plane???...

The Kardasians planning their funerals???...

What happens inside the cremation machine???...

Last meals & fossilized poop???...

The foreskin wedding ring of St. Catherine???...

Dying fat???...

Did flying corpses spread the plague???...

 

Famous Witches In History, --- Real Or Not???...

 

She changed, --- over the years...

 

   SHE CHANGED. BUT, NOT OVERNIGHT, LIKE IN THE BOOKS YOU READ. SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY. SOMETIMES, BRUTALLY. BUT, SHE DID. 

Roses are red... Knowledge is power...

 

   

   ROSES ARE RED... KNOWLEDGE IS POWER... GO SMASH THE PATRIARCHY, YOU BEAUTIFUL FLOWER.

Never trust these people...

 

NEVER TRUST THE PEOPLE WHO TELL YOU OTHER PEOPLE'S SECRETS.

"The Beguiled," 1971, --- an absolutely sensational, unpredictable and sexy gothic thriller... (Beware: spoilers!)

 

   "COME, ALL YOU YOUNG MEN... TAKE WARNING BY ME... DON'T GO FOR A SOLDIER... DON'T JOIN NO ARMY... FOR THE DOVE SHE WILL LEAVE YOU... AND, THE RAVEN WILL COME... AND, DEATH WILL COME MARCHING, BY THE BEAT OF THE DRUM.... 

     COME, ALL YOU PRETTY, FAIR MAIDENS, COME WALK IN THE SUN... AND, DON'T LET YOUR YOUNG MAN  EVER CARRY A GUN... FOR THE DOVE SHE WILL LEAVE YOU... AND, THE RAVEN WILL COME... AND, DEATH WILL COME MARCHING, BY THE BEAT OF THE DRUM."

      

      ************************************************************

 Forget the remake of this artistic, unusual, --- and, yes, of course, very erotic film, the 2017 version with Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman;

 

it doesn't have even half the sinister, sensual aura of this one...

    Okay, --- I think Clint Eastwood, in his prime, as the Yankee soldier, John Mc Burney, is a lot more tempting than Colin Farrell, who does absolutely nothing for me.

 

I remember, one author, I don't recall who, saying that all her romantic heroes look like  Clint Eastwood. Ummm, yes, I can definitely see why... Well, then, there's Nicole Kidman who's very good, but she can't compete with the subtle, dynamic performance of the  brilliant, unique Geraldine Page, as tough, classy, passionate Miss Martha. Also, Kirsten Dunst isn't as good as Elizabeth Hartman, as sweet, naieve Edwina.

   And, in the 2017 opening scene Amy says, "Most of the students of the school went home, but some decided to stay here, farther up north.." Come on, --- with those enormous, snaky looking trees and the Spanish moss hanging from them? I could tell that was deepest Louisiana, not a more northern state of the South!  And, I was right. The movie's exteriors were shot in the bayou country of Louisiana.

     1971... 

This is one hell of an exciting, intriguing story, as a very handsome wounded manipulative liar cunningly works his way into the guarded confidences and tender affections of the secluded women at a deep South Civil War era upper class girl's boarding school. However, he's no match for them, as the story cleverly and violently unfolds, and the women's socially repressed hidden motives, lusts and their bitterness and, then, revenge finally surface.

    Mmmm... A cozy chicken dinner with a side dish of mushrooms, fresh picked from the woods...

It's not known if some obscure mushrooms are poisonous because nobody has been brave enough, or stupid enough, to try them. Other hurts from consuming toadstools are, after the hallucinations and convulsions: possible spinal and brain damage and kidney and liver failure. But, some people might survive with kidney and liver transplants.

  After Mc B collapses Miss Martha is shown picking marigolds out of the flower arrangement on the dinner table, holding them to her face, as her eyes shift, evilly. Marigolds are among the flowers of the dead, along with lilies and amaranth.

     I especially liked that in the 1971 version the ladies really don't poison Mc B; he just thinks they did. So, in his mind, he's dying, --- and so, he does. Afterwards, Miss Martha says, "He was in very poor condition." And, then we see the ladies harsh, cold faces outside the school gates, as they stitch the stone-cold dead and slightly pale blue faced Mc B into his shroud in preparation for burying him. And, Edwina thinks, --- I love you, as she covers Mc B's pale face with a delicate handkerchief.. Yes, I like that they bury him; chillingly, no one will ever know he was even there. Whereas, in the the 2017 version they also drag his body out past the gates of the school, but for the Yankees to find, a much, much weaker ending.

    Clint Eastwood read the novel of the same name by Thomas Cullinan, on which the movie is based, in one night, saying he couldn't put it down. (I'm reading the novel, and believe me, it's  GOOD.)

 

He does a delightful bit of soft creepy singing at the opening and ending of the film. I could tell it's him. I remember his voice singing, "I Talk To The Trees," in the musical, "Paint Your Wagon". Interesting that his special, gentle singing voice, which I love, seems to be in the tenor-to-baritone range, but his speaking voice is quite deep.

Uh, --- Jo Ann Harris, who plays the conniving, slutty Carol, had a long affair with Clint Eastwood. Their chemistry is obvious. He was in his early forties; she was barely twenty. But, I say if you're almost middle aged and you can get a young woman, --- go for it. We only pass this way once.

    The film was shot at a huge, fabulous Southern mansion that was especially restored at tremendous cost just for the 1971 "The Beguiled".

   (This is practically my favorite movie, --- 5 stars ***** Two more outstanding thrillers set in the South are "Eve's Bayou"

and "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil".)

Your first kiss from Clint Eastwood???...

   It can only go down hill from there. 😏

   From the gothic thriller set in Civil War time, "The Beguiled," Amy says she's 12, --- almost 13. Mc B says, --- "Old enough for kisses." 

   He's really just trying to distract her from alerting the Yankees who are passing near them. According to the script, Mc B was simply to put his hand over her mouth, but the director and Eastwood agreed he'd kiss her. Amy's surprised reaction is genuine, --- and the camera was rolling, rolling, rolling. 

The Myrtles plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana, --- one of the most haunted houses in the U.S. : Part 2 ...

 

The Myrtles, Francisville, Louisiana, - one of the most haunted houses in America, - [Part 2] ...

Can ghosts have sex with people?  Really???...  The old nursery upstairs is the favorite trysting place for the Judge,---that is, Judge Clarke Woodruff, the rotten old lecher who would lead a pretty, young slave girl up the backstairs during the time of their affair.   Women who sleep in that room often report that the ghost of the Judge slips into bed with them and tries to seduce them.

Other hauntings: the room known as the Bridal Suite was once the bedroom of Sarah and William Stirling.  It is active most of the time, as are most of the rooms downstairs.  Footsteps, laughter, music that comes out of nowhere and the scent of perfumes are common throughout the house.  In the Spring and Fall parties are heard and seem to go on all night. Every Thanksgiving there is the sound of a string quartet.

Ghosts are seen on the grounds in broad daylight.  Some of them are dressed in period clothes of the Civil War South some are in present day clothes.  The ghosts look like regular people, until they suddenly disappear.  An investigator from the "Star" newspaper said, while she was  in it, staying in the Bridal Suite her bed floated off the floor.  A soldier dressed in Civil War Confederate gray silently and faithfully guards the Myrtles.

Hmmm... Sooo... Why are there so many, many ghosts at the Myrtles?  Some think it's because the house was built over a Native American burial ground.  Another theory is that so many emotional and passionate events happened there. Both guesses are maybe right.

Frances Kermeen wrote a book about the Myrtles, telling how she bought the plantation and of her experiences there. It reads like an exciting novel and I highly recommend it as fascinating. You can make up you mind whether you believe ghosts are real, of course...

Oprah Winfrey visited and didn't even last one night. The cast and crew of the T.V. mini series, "The Long, Hot Summer," with Don Johnson, were "uncomfortable" during the filming of scenes there.

The current owners of the Myrtles, since 1999, are John and Teeta Moss. They run the house as a bed and breakfast inn, but they don't live on the property, like Frances and her husband did. Yes, naturally, you can visit and plan a stay. The Myrtles has a fine  restaurant and an interesting  gift shop too. 

Going through it, and hiding it really well...