In Chinese lore, pandas used to be all white. Then a brave shepherdess was killed rescuing a cub from a leopard attack. All pandas covered their arms with black ash in mourning, and still carry the stains of the ashes on their fur in memory of her sacrifice. #LegendaryWednesday

In the many versions of the Latin-American tale of La Llorona, the spirit of a grieving, remoseful woman who drowned her children now wanders the earth in eternal purgatory, weeping and wailing as she searches for them, sometimes kidnapping children to replace them. #LegendaryWednesday

The term "Apache tears," referring to obsidian pebbles, comes from the 1870s legend of 75 Apache warriors who rode their horses off a mountain rather than admit defeat against the US Cavalry. When their families wept, their tears turned into black stones. #LegendaryWednesday

There's a Miwok legend about Tol-le-loo the White-Footed Mouse stealing fire from the valley tribes on behalf of the mountain tribes. Wit-tah-bah the Robin spread his body over the fire to protect it from Tol-le-loo, which is why robins have red breasts today. #WyrdWednesday

According to Mazatec legend, fire fell to earth from a star, and an old woman kept the fire for herself. An opossum stole it and shared with the rest of humankind. He did this by sticking his tail into the fire, which is why opossum tails are hairless today. #WyrdWednesday

A Tlingit legend tells of a flesh-eating giant defeated by a brave warrior, who then chops and burns the body on a pyre. The ashes turn into a cloud of mosquitos, and the man hears the giant's voice declaring, "I'll eat your people until the end of time!" #WyrdWednesday

In the Swedish folktale "The Werewolf," an evil queen turns her stepdaughter's fiance into a werewolf. The princess performs a magic spell to change him back into a human, then throws the wolf skin over her stepmom and stepsisters to turn them onto werewolves. #FairyTaleTuesday

The nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill" has been compared to the Norse myth of siblings Hjuki and Bil, who were taken from earth by the Man in the Moon as they were fetching water from a well. They still carry the water as they follow the moon through space. #FairyTaleTuesday

The Icelandic fairy tale "Kisa the Cat" is about a queen's talking cat, Kisa, who rescues the kidnapped Princess Ingibjorg from a giant. Later, once Ingibjorg marries a prince, Kisa transforms into a human girl and reveals she'd been enchanted by a fairy the whole time. #FairyTaleTuesday

The draugr is an undead creature that appears in ancient Scandinavian sagas. They can shapeshift into animals, control the weather, see the future, and enter the dreams of the living. In some tales, the arrival of a draugr was preceded by a heavy fog or mist. #MythologyMonday

The Tuatha Dé Danann—a powerful supernatural race that inhabits the Otherworld in Irish myth—are hidden from human eyes by féth fíada, a magic mist or veil. They originally descended on Ireland in a cloud of mist, having been banished from heaven. #MythologyMonday

Hy-Brasil is a phantom island that appeared on maps from 1325 until it was declared a hoax in the 1800s. Some European sailors claimed it contained an advanced civilization, while Irish sailors said it was only visible once every seven years, due to magic mist. #MythologyMonday

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is damn progressive for having its villain be a man of the law, a stockholder, and a businessman planning genocide and mass displacement for the sake of a multimillion-dollar real estate scheme. Remember who the real enemies are, folks.

When tradwives talk about "Biblical womanhood," all I can think about is Yael hammering a tent peg through the skull of an army commander to save her people from oppression in the Book of Judges.

This year's Halloween costume: I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way!

"But in that instant of darkness, the night swept in. A great wing folded over the abyss. Many owls hooted. Many mice scampered and slithered in the shadows. A million tiny murders happened somewhere." —The Halloween Tree, Ray Bradbury #BookWormSat

"Everything seemed cut from soft black velvet or gold or orange velvet. Smoke panted up out of a thousand chimneys like the plumes of funeral parades. From kitchen windows drifted two pumpkin smells: gourds being cut, pies being baked." —The Halloween Tree, Ray Bradbury #BookWormSat

"The wind outside nested in each tree, prowled the sidewalks in invisible treads like unseen cats... Anyone could see that the wind was a special wind this night, and the darkness took on a special feel because it was All Hallows' Eve." —The Halloween Tree, Ray Bradbury #BookWormSat

The cat-sìth of Celtic myth takes the form of a large black cat with a white spot on its chest. If you leave a saucer of milk out on Samhain, the cat-sith will bless your household and bring good fortune. If you don't, it will curse your cows' udders to dry up. #LegendaryWednesday

Traditional Samhain foods include seasonal produce like apples, turnips, squash, nuts, and cabbage. Traditional dishes include colcannon, barmbrack, soul cakes, stews, and roasts. Beverages such as ale, mead, or spiced apple cider would also be served. #LegendaryWednesday

Samhain was once a time to honor ancestors and invite their spirits home, while harmful spirits were warded off. Food was prepared for both the living and the dead. As the ancestor spirits couldn't eat, their food was ritually shared with those who didn't have enough. #LegendaryWednesday

In the oldest surviving werewolf film, Wolf's Blood (1925), an injured lumberjack is rescued by a surgeon, who gives him a blood transfusion. The lumberjack later discovers the blood came from a wolf, and fears he might be to blame for a string of murders. #WyrdWednesday youtu.be/w8ZSYxoLv28?...

J'accuse (1919) is a French silent film about the horrors of World War I. It contains a scene in which dead soldiers rise from their graves and march back to their homes. This could be considered the first on-screen depiction of zombies in cinema history. #WyrdWednesday youtu.be/HQ8GjwRhz3o?...

Journey to the West is a classic 16th-century shenmo fantasy novel, a genre involving monsters and deities of Chinese myth. The first film adaptation was Cave of the Silken Web (1927), which features the heroes trapped in a cave by spider demons. #WyrdWednesday youtu.be/9IyxoaYyEc0?...

Der Golem (1915) is a German silent horror film inspired by a Jewish folktale of a rabbi creating a golem: a mute, sentient humanoid being sculpted from clay, who later goes on a murder spree. Some consider it the first monster movie. #WyrdWednesday youtu.be/2A0lMPde6q8?...

In the French tale "The Goblin Pony," three boys ignore their grandmother's warning not to go out on Halloween night. They decide to ride a black pony who, unbeknownst to them, is a shapeshifting goblin in disguise. The goblin runs into the sea and drowns them. #FairyTaleTuesday

The term "jack-o'-lantern" may be derived from the Irish legends of Stingy Jack, a conniving drunk who cheats death time and again. When he eventually dies, neither Heaven nor Hell can take him, so he wanders between worlds, using a hollow turnip as a lantern. #FairyTaleTuesday

Allison Gross is a Scottish folk ballad of an ugly witch who tries to seduce a man with gifts, including a silk shirt, pearls, and a golden cup. When he rejects her, she turns him into a wyrm. Then on Halloween, the Fairy Queen rides by and frees him from the spell. #FairyTaleTuesday

Never attribute to malice what could be attributed to neurodivergence.

In Hinduism, ear piercing is a spiritually significant rite of passage, as it opens pathways to enlightenment and repels negative energies. Piercing also invokes the blessings of Saraswati, goddess of art, music, knowledge, and wisdom, as the ear opens to divine teachings. #MythologyMonday

The custom of painting a bride's hands with henna is tied to Egyptian myth. When the god Osiris is murdered and dismembered, his wife Isis searches for his body parts and pieces him back together, staining her hands red in the process. Henna thus symbolizes love and faithfulness. #MythologyMonday

The ancient Mayans took tattoos seriously, even ridiculing those who didn't have any. Both men and women were tattooed, usually after marriage. Acat, the god of tattooing, was said to bless the ink, needles, and workspaces, and kept the artists' hands steady. #MythologyMonday

"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought." —Hamlet, William Shakespeare #ShakespeareSunday

"When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won. That will be ere the set of sun." —Macbeth, William Shakespeare #ShakespeareSunday

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t." —Hamlet, William Shakespeare #ShakespeareSunday

"Your face, my thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters. To beguile the time, Look like the time—bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue. Look like th’ innocent flower, But be the serpent under ’t.” —Macbeth, William Shakespeare #ShakespeareSunday

"Sweeney Todd's visitors disappeared... No doubt, he trusted to a fall of about twenty feet below... to be the death of them, or... to stun them until he could go down to finish the murder, and to cut them up for Mrs. Lovett's pies!" —The String of Pearls, James Malcolm Rymer #BookWormSat

"Spring-Heeled Jack, with an awful cry, sprang in the air clean over the heads of the highwayman and his destined victim... His peculiar costume, fitting so tightly to his skin, made him look like a huge bat." —Spring-Heeled Jack: The Terror of London, Alfred Coates #BookWormSat

"He drags her head to the bed's edge... With a plunge he seizes her neck in his fang-like teeth—a gush of blood, and a hideous sucking noise follows. The girl has swooned, and the vampyre is at his hideous repast!" —Varney the Vampyre; or, The Feast of Blood, James Malcolm Rymer #BookWormSat

Bats are good luck in Chinese culture, as the Chinese word for bat is pronounced the same as the word for good fortune. For centuries, bats have appeared on clothes, tapestries, jewelry, pottery, medallions, architecture, and the thrones of emperors. #FolkyFriday

Ahools are giant carnivorous bats with 10-foot wingspans believed to inhabit rainforests in Java, Indonesia. According to eyewitnesses, they swoop down to snatch up humans with their claws and devour them. Some believe they're descended from pterosaurs. #FolkyFriday

The Mayans believed caves were portals to the underworld, so the bats that lived in caves became associated with death and sacrifice. Camazotz, the bat god, was often portrayed holding a dagger in one hand and a human heart in the other. #FolkyFriday

The nightmarish dream sequence in Bluebeard (1901) can be considered an early example of psychological horror. #FlashbackFriday discover.hubpages.com/entertainmen...

The film Pillar of Fire (1899) featured impressive special effects for the time periods, as it portrayed a powerful sorceress queen dancing in flames, her garments changing color with her movements. #FlashbackFriday discover.hubpages.com/entertainmen...

The first biopic of the poet Edgar Allan Poe contained the tagline "A Picture Story Founded on Events in His Career," which can be considered an early version of the phrase "Based on a True Story." #FlashbackFriday discover.hubpages.com/entertainmen...

Popular in North Africa and the Middle East, the hamsa—also known as the Hand of Ishtar, Hand of Fatimah, or Hand of Mary—is an amulet representing divine blessings, worn for protection against the Evil Eye. Women have worn it for fertility and healthy pregnancies. #LegendaryWednesday

Witch stones—also called hag stones, fairy stones, and other names—are stones with naturally occurring holes, believed to be protective talismans against witches and other dark forces. They can be worn around your neck, hung above doors, tied to bedposts, or attached to ships. #LegendaryWednesday

Witch balls are hollow, reflective glass spheres that were hung in the windows of English homes in the 17th and 18th centuries as protection from witches. Folk believed witches couldn't bear seeing their own reflections, so they'd avoid houses with witch balls. #LegendaryWednesday

Saint Barbara's Day, or the Feast of Saint Barbara, is celebrated by Christians in Georgia and the Middle East. As Saint Barbara disguised herself to evade the Romans, adults and children wear costumes to go door-to-door, dancing and singing for food offerings. #WyrdWednesday

In Thracian culture, it's believed that on the coldest night of winter, evil witch-like ghosts called Bocuk awaken. The Turkish holiday Bocuk Night involves rituals meant to protect people from Bocuk, such as painting their faces and wearing ghost disguises. #WyrdWednesday