Richelle Hawks' Medusa's Ladder: Patron Saint of UFOs

Women of Esoterica contributor Richelle Hawks  has a wonderful new column (Medusa's Ladder) at BoA entitled Patron Saint of Flying Saucers. As usual, Richelle writes beautifully. In this article, Hawks writes about a lovely book find from 1925 that evokes flying saucers:

Considering it more closely, I was getting a strange, provocative, sci-fi, atomic age kind of vibe from it and it was a very peculiar feeling, quite anachronous. I knew from the book's feel, particular materials, fonts, and agewear that it was older, an interbellum relic. Inspecting the title pages, I was correct—1925. What could this more mod feeling be, then?
I sat down with the book and considered the feeling and the answer hit me suddenly in a flash of recognition—the bottom Saint-scene transformed before my eyes: it's a classic UFO form.
Inspecting it further, I found there were even corresponding details. The window/doors of the coliseum, are fairly close to the place where portholes are described, and there are even spectators in the places where UFO occupants have been described.
Richelle Hawks : Medusa's Ladder

Speaking of Richelle Hawks, saints, and UFOs, a reminder to readers that you can download a free collection of articles by yours truly on Mary and UFOs, including Richelle's article A New Vision:The Virgin Mary Tree of Salt Lake City

"We're in the Money," -- Not

Those of us that write on things esoteric, on blogs, on e-zines, for publications, make very little, if any, money. We do it for... all kinds of reasons. Because we like to write, because we're creative and find writing a form of creative expression, because we like to share and communicate with others, because we've had our own experiences and are trying to figure them out, because we like to think and ponder and wonder, because... many more reasons I haven't thought of. But one thing is clear, we aren't in it for the money. I don't expect money. Well, I expect money in the sense I'm hopeful and have intent and am not projecting negativity, just being realistic. We don't, most of us, write because we think we're going to make money. It's safe to say most of us wouldn't turn money down if it came our way, but it's not expected. It's not about money. If it were, we wouldn't be doing this.

So, in that context, I THANK YOU to all the contributors here at Women Of Esoterica. I am constantly amazed at the fact that everyone here: Kithra, Lesley, Richelle Hawks, Danielle Lee, Anya, Deirdre, Karyn Dolan, Farah Yurdozu, Tina Sena, and Chris Holly contribute to this blog for FREE. Thank you, thank you.

Moving on. . . while most of us write for free, or very little, and of course welcome any money that may come our way, we do it for the reasons listed above, and more. Hopefully, if we're serious enough, or rather, sincere enough, in our intent, in our journey, in our research, some respect comes our way. Genuine discussions on all this stuff; Forteana, anomalous, UFOs, paranormal, whatever . . . takes place. Some even get to make an actual impact somewhere beyond the fringe. That's pretty huge.

We all know there are plenty of clown shoes in this field. Some of them are downright thieving, nasty, lying, dung filled clown shoes.  On the other end of the continuum are the sincere, the honest, the genuine researchers and people who have dedicated themselves to exploration in this realm, and, while they may not be paid in money, they are deserving of respect and care. You don't just kick 'em out because they haven't performed produced the right amount of stuff for your personal agenda, be it bank account or what. Especially if you don't pay them in the first place.

Richelle Hawks:A Girl in Trouble is a Con/temporary Thing: Women on Myster

Richelle Hawks has an insightful piece on gothic novels and cover art for her Medusa's Ladder column at Binnall of America: A Girl in Trouble is a Con/temporary Thing: Women on Mysteries.

I have a guilty secret: I've long been a fan of gothic novels. They're romance novels, but with that extra vibe of preternatural weirdness; moors and castles, lighthouses, quaint English villages on the surface but some weird secret seeping through...the cover art used to have, as Richelle points out, the heroine standing in front of castle/lighthouse/foreboding estate. Strong yet vulnerable kind of thing. But now, the cover art shows parts -- pieces of the woman -- not the whole person. What does this mean? Read her article to find out!



Here's a great site I found that pays tribute to the gothic novel: Labyrinth13: In Praise of the Gothic Novel (and other Victorian delights.)

Richelle Hawks on Synchronicity

WOE contributor Richelle Hawks Medusa's Ladder column for Binnall of America is about book synchronicity, a very enjoyable article. Slightly Woo-woo: Synchronicity and the Unconscious.

Tarot, Maxi Pads, and Animal Sacrifice

Richelle Hawks has a great piece on commercials and advertising, on Binnall of America in her Medusa's Ladder column:Strange Days, Indeed: Notes on Identity and the Super Bowl Commercials And when I read this I just had to find out more:

"I found a magazine ad of an Always maxipad slapped on a tarot card."

If that isn't esoterica I don't know what is. It's teeming with esoteric symbolism.

I found the image; it appears on The Tarot Channel blog. Of course there isn't really a Tarot card called "The Protector" but here's what Tarot Channel says about the number II assigned to the ad card:

I'm thinking that the ad creators had to have some knowledge of Tarot because "The Protector" is assigned Roman numeral II, The High Priestess (who is, of course, associated with the moon).

And in a bit of synchronicity, my Trickster's Realm column for Binnall of America is also about commercials and advertising. Conspiracies and Cannibalism: Animals and Advertising.I didn't know Richelle's column was about commercials until she told me the other day; after I had been working on mine. I avoided reading her column until I sent mine off to Tim Binnall.

Richelle's is up now, mine will be up sometime tomorrow. And be sure to read all the great columns over there as well.

Gray Matters on FRINGE

Coincidentally, Lesley also writes about a TV program for her column Gray Matters this week on Binnall of America.(I wrote about The Mentalist, and Psych, for Trickster's Realm this week.) Lesley really likes Fringe, and I do too; it's my favorite new show so far. Unfortunately, it's on opposite The Mentalist, but we just record one, watch the other. While there at BOA, be sure to read all the great columns, like Richelle Hawks,(also a contributor here at Women of Esoterica), Tina Sena, etc.

Richelle Hawks on "What the Bleep Do We Know?"

Richelle gives her opinions on the movie What the Bleep Do We Know? in Thoughts On That Bleeping Movie. She didn't like it -- but, do not mistake that for her not "getting it" or even not "liking" the message. In many ways, I agree, in some, I simply didn't notice the things she points out. It'll be interesting to watch the film again with that in mind. Overall, I liked the movie, mostly because of the message, but I agree with Richelle, that it was simplistic. Although, that's not the only reason Hawks didn't like the film; in other words, it's too simplistic to say she merely thinks it's simplistic. Heh. Read her views on her Medusa's Ladder column for Binnall of America.

Richelle also has something to say about the "urban legend" of the natives not seeing Columbus's ships. . . something that needs to be said a lot more often.

"He'll Rip Your Lungs Out, Jim: Thoughts on Black Dog Syndrome

That is a great title!

It seems the women here at WOE are a modest group -- except for me,who's always shamelessly self-promoting -- for they don't promote themselves. So I'll do it for them, in this case, for Richelle Hawks, who has another great column up at Binnall of America. This week her Medusa's Ladder column discusses the black dog and "canine energy." As Richelle says, she's been "steeped in it" recently.

Richelle looks at the black dogs available for adoption at shelters and asks the obvious question: why? In doing so, she explores the mythic and folkloric history of the black dog, and our relationship to this Fortean archtype.

Tim Binnall's Women

(heh) Since Richelle and Lesley won't shamelessly promote themselves, I'll do it for them, and promote myself as well.

We all have articles up at Binnall of America.

My Trickster's Realm went up today; it's on Marian Apparitions again: Apparitions and Control. I don't know why I've been having apparitions of the Marian variety on the brain lately, just that way.

Richelle, as usual, has an interesting perspective on things, this time it's the "going green" meme that's the fad now. It's good to be green, as Kermit said years ago, I'm not knocking doing what needs to be done. But Richelle has some good insights, addressing the "evil" side of the whole green thing in A Hero's Dilemma: Green and its Evil Twin. for her Medussa's Ladder column.

Lesley, for her Grey Matters column, writes about the blog on UFO Magazine in UFO Magazine: Online and Blogging ! She's done a great job of getting that going, and it looks great, with lots of bloggers contributing.

Tina Sena (not a contributor here at WOE even though she's been invited -- hint!) writes Heaven Can Wait for her Esoterica column.

But it's not just about us dames. There are other great columnists (yes, I just called us all "great") like Richard Thomas's column Room 101. His current piece is Alternative 3 and the Secret Space Program

And Khyron writes The K Files; the current column is his "summer movie preview."

And as always, there are great podcasts to listen to (for free) so be sure to visit Tim Binnall's site and look around, post in the forums, and listen to some great interviews!

Richelle Hawks: The Love Song of Ardis J. Stembridge

Richelle is a very good writer; just want to say that! Anyway, her latest at Binnall of America.

Farting Demons

Richelle wrote, in her Medusa's Ladder column for Binnall of America, a piece about demonologists and ghost hunting. I came along and shamelessly hijacked her article for my Trickster's Realm column at Binnall: Religious Ghost Hunting.

I've received a response to that from someone who says he's a minister. Here it is:

Hi,

Just read your blog. As a Christian Minister I too get ticked off by self important religious people. But in my biz you will always find them regardless of denomination (of course the more conservative the more plentiful and self aggrandizing they are). I have had numerous experiences with "demonologists" and "exorcists". I have even taken a graduate level course of "deliverance". I was astonished to find that I was possessed by over 42 demons. One of them was a demon of flatulence that went by the name "windy". Wow. That explained a lot. I thought that it was just the starchy food at the cafeteria. Some of my colleagues were even "exorcising" their infants because "you never know if a Demon got in before it was dedicated. I shit you not. This was an accredited Seminary. Religious abuse can run rampant when you have an expert manipulator in a position of power.

On the 'reality' side of it, I have had many encounters with what I would call 'demonic' entities. Same type of malevolent spirits you probably have encountered. I've also encountered ghosts and other beings that I have to label 'angels'.

But I have to say though I respect your opinion it does sound a little intolerant. When I was a Pastor in New Castle, Pa one of my best friends was a self proclaimed Satanist. He was a nice guy. I've had a lot of Wiccan friends. I myself could never be one because as a fat man I do not want to scare people by public nudity. We all are trying to embrace the mysterium and explain it in our own context. A lot of Christians can seem to be obnoxious because they want to share their worldview. Just as you do. But I'm afraid in your rhetoric in this blog you almost become the very same thing you disdain. Ridiculing a religion and making fun of people of other faiths is what self important religious people do. It seems you wish Christians to keep quiet. But do you feel the same when it comes to others of your own faith view? What one might call a malevolent spirit another might call it a demon or the devil. They are just labels for the same thing. And we all deal with them as our faith and world view permits. We might not like it, but to mock it is akin to religious bigotry.

But it's your blog. I know that Christians can hurt and judge. Man you would not believe some of the stuff I have seen. If you've been hurt or judged by a Christian I'm sorry. I've been there, in fact I left ministry for over 10 years at one point in my life because I was fed up with judgemental hypocrites. But your generalizations hurt others of us of the Christian faith who are not crazy assholes.

And I guess that's what it comes down to. We all are looking for meaning and transcendence, but along the way we meet a lot of self absorbed assholes.

And those assholes stink.

Have a great week,

Pastor Swope
(a former stinking asshole who learned how to wipe properly)

Well, I didn't mean to come off as intolerant to Christians. I'm not intolerant of Christians. I am intolerant of pompous Christians. I'm intolerant of those who assume every one else; ghost, spirit, the dead, and the living, are going to respond favorably to their religious mechanization's when it comes to ghost hunting.

I know there are malevolent forces out there, believe me. I know there are "angelic" ones as well. I personally don't interpret them in a Christian framework,a nd I don't care if others do. I do care when those that do get all self-righteous and all.

Goodness, was I not clear on that?

Anyway, when I die, and if you think I'm haunting someplace, please do me a favor and refrain from screaming that I'm a demon and wave a huge cross in my ghostly transparent face,or singing Oh Holy Night. Thank you.

Esoteric Junk Mail

My latest on Tim Binnall's site for my Trickster's Realm column over there: Esoteric Junk Mail.

http://binnallofamerica.com/tr5.5.8.html

As always, be sure to read all the other great columns over there, including Lesley's Grey Matters and Richelle's Medusa's Ladder.

Richelle Hawks: CryptoBotanical Hypothesis

Richelle Hawks has an idea to explain some of our alien encounters:The Going Green Cryptobotanical Hypothesis. An article of hers about this appeared on UFO Digest a bit ago, and has been picked up on UFO Updates and a blog called The Chika Project.

Richelle Hawks on Radio Misterioso

Richelle Hawks was the recent guest on Greg Bishops Radio Misterioso. There's also a link there to the podcast I did with Greg a few weeks ago.

Podcast: Untamed Dimensions

Richelle and I will be guests on Adamn Gorightly's podcast Untamed Dimensions tomorrow night, Tuesday. 6 pm PST.

Richelle's Men in Black Kind of, Story

You have to read this. You just do. My Men in Black Visit Last Night, Part 1, by Richelle.

Medusa's Ladder: Creepy Flying Humanoids

Richelle has a new item up on Binnall of America: her column Medusa’s Ladder, with her article Take Your Protein Pills and Put Your Helmet on: The Flying Humanoids and Liminality.

In the piece, Richelle says that she finds the flying humanoids “creepy.”

I find something ineffably creepy about the recent flying humanoid videos. The much circulated youtube Mexican flying witch video was the stuff of my nightmares. Hoax or “real,” whoever or whatever is responsible for that image of the seated, dark figure, complete with pointy hat and cape, cruising smoothly through the air as if in a living fairy tale—really knows how to play on an archetypal element.

I agree, I don’t know why, haven’t analyzed it, but they creep me out as well, especially that witch one from Mexico. As Richelle noted, hoax or not, doesn’t matter. Still creepy.

On the Right Track: Toward Solving the Mystery of the First Known UFO Photograph

Very interesting article by Richelle for UFO Digest! Is this the oldest UFO photo, or . . .?

http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0108/righttrack.html

Boxes That Talk to the Dead

Richelle didn't plug her article here, so I'm doing it for her. It's very interesting; about the search for something that will communicate with the "dead."

It's on UFO Digest: The Box at the End of the World: Homespun Efforts to Contact the Spirit World


http://www.ufodigest.com/news/1207/thebox.html

New Bloggers Here at Women in Esoterica

Some readers may have noticed that this blog is now not just "mine," but Lesley's and Richelle's (Hawk) as well. I am very glad they thought that being a part of this blog was something they wanted to do. I'm very happy and excited to welcome them!

Both women have their own thing going aside from contributing here. Lesely runs her Debris Field blog, Beyond the Dial, Paranormal Meet and more. She also writes the Grey Matters column for Tim Binnall's website, BoA, and has a column each month in UFO Magazine, Beyond the Dial.

Richelle Hawks also writes for AC, UFO Digest, and there may be a surprise or two coming up in regards to her writing. She also has a blog with one of the oddest but charming and neatest names: Beamships Equal Love.

So thanks Lesely and Richelle!