Happy Halloween: Do You Know Your Zombie Terminology?

With the so-called zombie apocalypse approaching, one must be educated about the different kinds of zombies before prepping for defense. First, there is the most common and believable-the human that turns into a zombie because of mental collapse, disease, infection, and/or radiation. They stagger around dazed and confused and cause panic to others. Then there is the man-made monster kind or the kind Hollywood and horror authors like me tend to capitalize on.

Zombie interest continues to fascinate the world. Jeffrey Dahmer drilled holes then poured acid down his victim’s heads in hopes of creating his own zombie. His madness didn’t work. Can man make his own zombie? Are these monsters real?

According to Wade Davis, author of The Serpent of the Rainbow, zombies are real. They are a product of the Voodoo religion. He was originally hired by a pharmaceutical company to find out about the drugs Voduists used in their death rituals. He believed that datura also known as zombie’s cucumber was a plant that could medically make one who ingested it appear to be dead for a certain length of time. Sounds like the stuff Juliet used to fake her death. Could Shakespeare known about the magical zombie-making plant?

Datura or sometimes Cimora, a close relative of Datura’s, eventually wears off but leaves the victim in a state of confusion, highly susceptible to the art of persuasion. Presto! A zombie slave is at the captor’s disposal. Mr. Davis didn’t just find his datura flower, but witnessed zombie phenomena as he immersed himself within the Haitian culture.

Bad Juju is a unique blend of horror, romance, and fantasy. Besides The Serpent and the Rainbow, I read volumes of other Voodoo material and watched hours of TV specials. Some of the terms I learned can be found below:

Bokor: A wizard who practices black magic, a zombie maker.

Loa: deity/spirit

Ghede Family: A family of loas known as the spirits of the dead. Three barons rule the family. Baron Samedi is the loa of resurrection. Baron Kriminel is the most feared loa associated with cannibalism and souls. He’s honored on The Day of the Dead. Baron LaCroix is the loa of the dead and sexuality.

Poppet: Voodoo doll

Ti-bon-ange: “little good angel” The part of the soul that represents a person’s individuality.

Gros-bon-ange: “great good angel” Part of the soul that is collected into a reservoir of the Cosmos or spirit world.

Baka: Voodoo spirits in animal form.

Loup Garou: werewolf

Djab: a devil

Dessounin: Death ritual that separates the gros-bon-ange from the body.

Bizango Society: Secret society of Vodouists. They have Freemason-like qualities such as aprons, secret handshakes, oaths, hierarchy, and symbols. Legend states they change into animals at will. They are known for stealing black cats and boiling them to death for Voodoo services. They drink each other’s blood from a human skull chalice.

Bad Juju is available on Amazon for 1.99

LINK: http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Juju-ebook/dp/B0097L9FHW/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1347218825&sr=8-13&keywords=bad+juju

Wild Times on Skidaway Island Goddess Fish Tour: Karen Dove Barr Stops By

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Eagle Update

    Two eagles side by side in the top of a pine tree halfway down Palmetto 14 fairway captured Larry White’s attention. The diversion was intentional. The wily eagles were distracting golfers from their new nest just to the right of the tee box, 100 yards back. Likely a married pair, eagles mate for life.     Larry got a great cell phone shot of the white-headed duo. Since he was in the middle of the Working Men’s blitz, Larry wasn’t a threat to eagle eggs, even if he could climb the towering pine that supported the nest, but the eagles weren’t taking any chances.

     Ben Franklin objected to the eagle as our national symbol. Eagles steal fish and have superior attitudes. Knowing they are apex avarian predators gives the bird a disrespectful approach toward humans and a dangerous one for fellow raptors. With a seven foot wingspread and the strength to haul its nine to fourteen pound body high in the sky and descend at one hundred miles per hour to attack, the eagle is a formidable animal.

     Larry cites a golfing day when he and partner Al Hudgins watched a red-tailed hawk enter territory appropriated by an eagle. The eagle seized the formerly dominant hawk and promptly killed it, right in front of the foursome. Larry doesn’t know what led to the death penalty. Had the hawk breakfasted on baby eagle or merely flown too close to the wrong pine tree?

     Since our lagoons don’t freeze, Skidaway Island eagles are year around residents. Nest-building begins in early February and mom eagle lays eggs by the end of the month. The eggs hatch in late April and early May.  Eagles lay up to three eggs, but the first born may steal food from later hatchlings or peck them to death, an extreme example of sibling rivalry.

     Male and females look alike, but the female is twenty-five per cent larger. Mom and Dad both build the nest, incubate the eggs, feed the babies, and teach them to fly and fish. Landbridge Lane residents can expect eaglets to begin circling nearby lagoons by late June or early July. Eagles take up to five years to attain adult status and sexual maturity. Until then their feathers are brown.

     Almost every year since 1983, when no nesting pairs were found in Georgia, eagles have increased. In 2010 one hundred thirty-nine active nests were counted; 2011 there were one hundred forty-two. Last year researchers counted one hundred fifty-eight nests in Georgia, seventeen in Chatham County. The nest on Palmetto is new.

     When eagles become common as great blue herons on Skidaway Island, what adjustments must we make?  Will eagles object to high-rise golf balls?  Will our squirrel population decline?  Will ospreys be forced into servitude, fishing for the eagle’s dinner?

     I tiptoed out on the 14^th fairway at the crack of dawn, over-sized lens protruding from my camera.  Dad eagle took exception to my pointing it at the nest and swooped back and forth over my head until he frightened me away.

     I wonder what he will do, come spring, when I venture back to get a shot of the babies?

By:  Karen Dove Barr

Contact karendovebarr@hotmail.com

Wild Times on Skidaway Island

by Karen Dove Barr

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt:

Wallowing in mud and wading in tidal puddles while scarfing down a seafood buffet is hog heaven to sus scrofu, the feral pig. America’s original travel agent, Christopher Columbus, brought the first pigs to the West Indies during his second voyage in 1498, where they adapted so well Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto off-loaded breeding pairs up and down the islands of the Georgia coast in the 1540s so prospective settlers would have plenty to eat.

           

Unfortunately none of Georgia’s Golden Isles has nearly enough Spanish settlers to keep the pigs under control.

           

Hernando DeSoto can’t be blamed for all feral hogs in the southern states. Escapees from pig farms, particularly a large “hog-bust” in North Carolina in the 1920s, and later introduction of wild Eurasian hogs for hunting throughout the South have contributed to the mix.

           

Skidaway Islanders with acorn-bearing live oaks, living on the western edge of the island, are most likely to meet their wild hog neighbors. A large boar can be aggressive if disturbed while digging up a yard, as can mama sow with piglets. 

           

On the flip side Skidaway pigs, if cooked thoroughly, are perfectly edible by Landings residents and it’s always hog-hunting season on private property in Georgia.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Karen Dove Barr, Attorney, was recently recognized by the Georgia State Bar for providing legal assistance to military families and service members.  She has practiced in the field of family law in Savannah for 34 years.

http://www.karendovebarr.com/

https://www.facebook.com/karendovebarr

http://amazon.com/Wild-Times-Skidaway-Island-Karen/dp/1939521041

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wild-times-on-skidaway-island-karen-dove-barr/1115227605?ean=9781939521040

http://strategicmediabooks.com/store/books/wild-times-in-skidaway-island/

Wild Times on Skidaway Island, Georgia's Historic Rain Forest, details life in a unique Audubon-designated, ecologically friendly refuge. There, golfers pitch balls around endangered great blue herons, mama raccoons march their babies across backyard decks where once Guale Indians trapped ancestors of the same raccoons, and residents dodge alligators and rescue snakes. 

Even the vegetation is wild. Three hundred-year-old oaks dripping Spanish moss and poison ivy surmount an under-story of wax myrtle and holly. Carolina jasmine, Cherokee roses, and endangered orchids grow wild in the rain forest. The book examines choices residents make when stared down by a bald eagle, when a red-tailed hawk mistakes a golf ball for bird food, when wakened at midnight by deer munching hibiscus. Wild Times on Skidaway Island educates about the species that residents must adapt to on this historic island. 

Conspiracy Theory: Mind Control by Dina Rae

It's been a while since I've published one of my crazy conspiracy theories.   Let me back up one month-Washington D.C., Navy Yard.  Anyone remember?  Another shocking tragedy. My prayers go out to the families.  We can all agree that it's not fair. Religion aside, we can also agree it's pure evil.
The media didn't go hog-wild with this story.  Are they making an effort to tone down the exposure?  No more rockstar murderers? Hope I don't see the shooter on the cover of The Rolling Stone. 
However, this shooting left me with a gnawing feeling deep within the pit of my stomach.  Could this be another example of a real Manchurian candidate?  Mind control? Practice for something massive?  Before you dismiss me as a typical crackpot, read me out:

1) Aaron Alexis, the 34 year old contractor, had no motive to kill 12 people.
2) Aaron Alexis wandered from building to building without a specific target.
3) He claimed to hear voices.
4) He conveniently died in a gun battle with police.

I use Grammarly for proofreading because eye like to rite, but don't like to Miss Spell. 

Fort Hood, John Lennon, Columbine, Gabbie Giffords, Boston Marathon, Newtown, DC Sniper, Northern Illinois University, Norwegian Freemason, Batman III Killer...  The list gets longer each year. Why so many random shootings?  Is it true?  Do suicidal people want to go out with a bang of horror?  This growing list makes me wonder.

 

My suspicions were confirmed after listening to one of my favorite radio shows, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett (I was lucky enough to be his guest!).   His show scratched the gnawing feeling inside.  I wasn't alone in my suspicions.  The topic was mind control.  He even mentioned the Navy Yard shooting in the intro. He offered a somewhat plausible explanation of how and why this is constantly happening.  

His guests were Roseanne Barr, Cathy O'Connor, and her husband, Mark Phillips.  Roseanne Barr had a great deal to say about the brainwashing of Hollywood and brainwashing in general.  The prime subject was the MK Ultra Program.  Cathy, author of Trance-Formation of America and Access Denied, claimed to be a survivor of mind control.
Syrett and his guests blamed the government, but others believe mind control is much more nefarious.  Some go as far as accrediting aliens for knowledge.  Farfetched?  Stay with me.

Psychologists figured out decades ago that an abused child is easy to condition.  Because of Dissociative Disorder, the brain compartmentalizes.  This allows one part of the brain to easily fall into the power of suggestion while the other parts of the brain are seemingly unaware of the implanted information.  
The perfect victim for mind control is also the victim of incest, rape, physical torture, beatings, or anything horrible.  The brain splinters.  Hypnosis is one of the ways the handler uses to implant suggestive thoughts inside of his/her candidate.  

 

So why bother with all of this?  Why not pay or threaten someone to kill for you?  The Nazis were very advanced in mind control.  Dr. Mengele was the primary architect of the Monarch Project, a research program that was taken over by the CIA.  Supposedly, the U.S. hid thousands of Nazis underground in South America to continue their study (Paperclip) and supposedly thousands of children were snatched off of the streets to provide them with human test subjects.  Thoughts and views?  Love to read your thoughts!
I use Grammarly for proofreading because I don't like to repeat myself so I use Grammarly for proofreading.