H is for Horoscopes

Almost everyone loves to read their "horoscope" in the local paper. But based on the way astrology works, knowing your sun sign isn't much more specific than in biology identifying that you're a human, in that it rules out a lot of things - not an elephant, not an ant - but there are certainly a lot of details that we think make us much more unique than that.

Symbol for Cancer

If you're curious about your detailed horoscope you can get a free account at astro.com. They have some detailed interpretations available for fees, but you can also run a chart and see some basic interpretations for free. You just need to know when (to the minute) and where (city) you were born.

Graphic Wheel

What you will find is that although a sun sign is important (kind of like saying you're a human is very defining in some ways), there are a myriad of other things going on. What sign is each of your planets in? What house (slice of the pie on the wheel) is each planet in? What sign falls on each house? What are the "aspects" of how the planets are organized around the wheel? Then, taking all those things into account, what are the overarching themes?

For instance, my chart illustrates a friction between the rather serious influence of strong Capricorn/Scorpio positions and the absolute foolishness of my Moon (emotional core) in Sagittarius (the lucky gypsy) in the 11th house (the home of the iconoclast). What are the patterns in your horoscope?

Sue London is a writer, blogger, and doodlist who knows more about astrology than any normal human. A long time ago she wrote this poem about it. Check out what she's up to by visiting her Sueniverse.

Blog post for the April A to Z blogging challenge.

G is for Ghosts

What do Charles Dickens and Grant Wilson have in common? Ghost hunting, of course! Dickens was a member of London's "The Ghost Club" and Grant is part of the famous Ghost Hunters duo on SyFy.

Ghost Hunting Kit

Across cultures and history there has been a strong belief that some part of us lives on after we die - our spirit, essence, financial debt - something. While some people claim they can see ghosts, still others of us believe there could be ghosts but are reliant on equipment like cameras, audio recorders, and other sensors in our attempt to pick something up from the afterlife.

It's hard to say, though, where the truth ends and the human love of a good story begins. Who hasn't
spent a long, dark night with friends telling ghost stories to each other? Sometimes we feel a need, or at a desire, to scare the bejeezus out of ourselves and others. We flock to horror movies, keep Stephen King living in style, and pour billions of dollars into Halloween. We WANT to be scared.

But just because we want the thrill of fear doesn't mean that ghosts don't exist. It is harder to discount ghosts when you have either had a haunting experience yourself or know someone who has a detailed and rational account. So, have a story to share?

Sue London is a writer, blogger, and doodlist who has two ghosts hanging out in her house. She thinks she picked them up at Disney's Haunted Mansion. Check out what she's up to by visiting her Sueniverse.

Blog post for the April A to Z blogging challenge. 

F is for Fairy

Do you hear a bustle in your hedgerow? Based on my experience you should be alarmed. The fae aren't necessarily bad, but they are a bit... capricious. If your only reference for fairies is Tinkerbell then you haven't gotten the big picture of fairy history.

For one thing,  in the whole of fairy literature they usually aren't what you would call nice. There are some distinctions between Seelie Court and Unseelie Court, but many of these are creatures that will happily steal your life, if not your soul, for their own whims and pleasures. Somewhere between a Greek god and a modern vampire. On the other hand, they may grant you wishes, treasures, or other worldy (and otherworldly) delights. Fortunately most of the fae don't have the power to take you to the fairy realm or do the really big stuff. But don't underestimate them.

What to Do About a Fairy Infestation
First of all, don't upset them. Unless you happen to like to have things around your house broken, misplaced, and for your household to be otherwise inconvenienced. But there are a few strategies to use in order to reduce their impact or discourage their desire to stick around.

1. DON'T cut down or disturb anything you suspect to be a fairy ring. This will not necessarily send them away, and whether they eventually decide to stay or go YOUR life will be at their mercy until they feel they have exacted their revenge.
2. Do leave out something for them to fix. If you have a fae hanging around your house they are probably bored. Don't encourage them to alleviate that boredom by breaking and moving things around.
3. Don't leave out food that encourages them to stay. No drips of honey, fresh fruit, or sugary drinks left out on the counter.

Sue London is a writer, blogger, and doodlist who is part fae on her mother's side. Check out what she's up to by visiting her Sueniverse.

Blog post for the April A to Z blogging challenge.

E is for Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

Has the phone ever rung and you knew who it was without looking at the caller id? Have you ever started humming a song to have someone else say "I was just thinking about that song!" Do you always know the winning lottery numbers before the drawing? Then you might be psychic! (And about that last one, please leave us your contact information below...)

In case you missed the memo, the term Extrasensory Perception (ESP) was coined by J.B. Rhine back in the 1930s. His buddy Karl Zener, the psychic researcher's Wizard of the Coast, developed the card game version of a psychic test, which they used to develop elaborate testing for psychic ability at Duke University. Eventually all that testing paved the way for Peter Venkman to hit on co-eds in Ghostbusters because the world has a fabulous logic like that.

Although no longer associated with Duke, The Rhine Research Center still exists in Durham. We will assume that you don't need to call ahead if you want to visit.

Sue London is a writer, blogger, and doodlist who may be the only person who believes in you as much or more than your mother does. Check out what she's up to by visiting her Sueniverse.

Blog post for the April A to Z blogging challenge.

D is for Divination

Do you wonder what the future holds? Or, more specifically, what your future holds? There are those who believe that we can find out through various methods of divination. Divination can be defined as "the practice of finding answers to questions, through observing natural indicators or signs or through using a variety of techniques to contact natural or preternatural spirits." (source)

When you start to research methods of divination you realize that it isn't a question of what you can do your divining with but what you can't (and that answer would be nothing - and in fact you can divine with nothing). You can use tarot cards, runes, dice, animal entrails (ewww), crystals, bones, sticks -- seriously, just pick up some crap at your house and use that.

Now what do you do? Well, you can toss it, observe it, wave it, hold it, dangle it. Yep, just pick some stray piece of crap up and do something with it. Are you feeling your cave dweller roots yet? Sure you are. Now that you've done whatever you wanted to do with that thing, look at it. You are looking for signs, omens, patterns, intuitive knowledge -- something that gives you an idea. It doesn't have to be a clear idea at first, just a general idea. It's like dream interpretation. Use that little seed of an idea and think about what it might mean. Still confused? Pick something else up and do something with it. What you're going for here is attempting to create the random and chaotic, but perceiving the order and patterns that it renders. You may need to throw a lot of crap around. But at the end of it all you will have a deeper understanding of what your future holds.

Our prediction? Your future holds some house cleaning, because now you've got to pick all that crap up.

Sue London is a writer, blogger, and doodlist who may be the only person who believes in you as much or more than your mother does. Check out what she's up to by visiting her Sueniverse.

Blog post for the April A to Z blogging challenge.

C Is For Chupacabra

Plush, cuddly Chupacabra

Tales of predators who roam the night drinking the blood of their hapless prey might be as old as storytelling itself. There's something deliciously macabre about a creature that kills so neatly, leaving behind not torn flesh and gnawed bones but a pristine, bloodless corpse, marked only by small puncture wounds over a major artery. It strikes our imaginations as more elegant, less brutal, and yet somehow more mysterious and frightening than the familiar dangers in our everyday lives.

In March of 1995, such a predator made its presence known on the small island of Puerto Rico. Eight sheep were found dead, completely drained of blood, each with three small round holes in their chests. People murmured that "El Vampiro de Moca" had returned, referring to a mysterious creature that had caused hundreds of similar livestock deaths across Puerto Rico in 1975. The murmurs turned to alarm when those eight sheep proved to be only the beginning of a year-long killing spree that would leave hundreds of pets and farm animals punctured, exsanguinated and lifeless.


In August 1995 the first eyewitness report came in, vividly detailing a reptilian creature with smooth greenish-gray skin, three or four feet tall, with large glowing eyes and a row of sharp spines running down its back. 1975's "Vampire of Moca" had been described as a smallish winged creature, part bird and part reptile: this new beast was clearly something different. It was dubbed "El Chupacabra," the goatsucker, and the livestock death toll rose into the hundreds in Puerto Rico that year. The culprit was spotted from time to time, but now witnesses were insisting they'd seen a creature something like a cross between a dog and a kangaroo, with large fangs and claws. One man who needed medical attention for the cuts and scratches on his torso claimed to have been assaulted from behind by a gorilla. (Puerto Rico is notably gorilla-free.) Later that year the beast apparently left Puerto Rico and began wreaking its havoc in the US, Mexico and South America, where some witnesses claimed to see a strange, hairless creature resembling a wild dog.

So why don't the witness accounts agree? Part of the mystery may have been solved when it was revealed that the first eyewitness had basically described the aliens from the movie "Species," which she had watched a few weeks earlier. This undermined the credibility of her account, and made her version of the creature seem less likely to be accurate. As for the hairless wild dogs, there has been a documented rise in cases of mange in recent years, possibly due to global warming. That leaves the fanged bipedal kangaroo-dog, and theories on its origin span the spectrum from alien visitation to government experimentation.

Do Not Feed the Chupacabras

The fact remains that something is out there claiming animal lives, though the death rate has dropped significantly from its 1995 peak. The modus operandi is always the same: pets or livestock found dead, drained of all blood, with one to three small round holes in the neck or chest. What is El Chupacabra, and where did it -- or they -- come from? Have we witnessed the birth of a new life form, or has the destruction of rainforest habitat forced an ancient species to migrate to fresh hunting grounds? The puzzle of El Chupacabra continues to baffle famers and scientists alike, while capturing the imaginations of people everywhere. Exsanguinated livestock aside, it's nice to be reminded now and then that there are still a few unexplained mysteries in the world.

Debora Silkotch has a personal blog,"I'm Probably Overthinking This," and a mild Twitter addiction (@Dsilkotch). In her spare time she continues to make preparations for the Zombie Apocalypse.

B is for Bigfoot

Do you like sitting alone in the woods at night being paranoid, listening for odd noises, and on the lookout for strange flashes of light? Then you might have what it takes to be a Bigfoot researcher. Jack Links aren't the only ones messin' with Sasquatch. Not only is the hunt for Bigfoot alive and well in America, it might be the next big thing after ghosthunting. You can join the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) and learn how to track down that big, hairy man of your dreams.


Sue London is a writer, blogger, and doodlist who may be the only person who believes in you as much or more than your mother does. Check out what she's up to by visiting her Sueniverse.

Blog post for the April A to Z blogging challenge.

A is for Abracadabra

Bet you didn't know that the quickest way to cure what ails you is a little magic. At least according to Quintus Serenus Sammonicus, physician to the Roman emperor Caracalla, in his second century treatise Liber Medicinalis. You just need an amulet inscribed with:

A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B - R - A
   A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B - R
      A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B
         A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A
            A - B - R - A - C - A - D
               A - B - R - A - C - A
                 A - B - R - A - C
                    A - B - R - A
                       A - B - R
                          A - B
                             A

Alternately, put in the Bugs Bunny episode where he sings the phrase over and over. Most likely this is why we were all so healthy as children and later begin to show the signs of aging and ill health.

Source: Wikipedia

Sue London is a writer, blogger, and doodlist who may be the only person who believes in you as much or more than your mother does. Check out what she's up to by visiting her Sueniverse.

Blog post for the April A to Z blogging challenge.

Impractical Magic: City Council Requires Licensing of Fortune Tellers

Undeterred by evidence that licensing for professions as important as attorneys and accountants does not protect citizens from fraud, the Eastpointe city council in Michigan turned this month to licensing their fortune tellers (WXYZ Action News). Based on the rather lengthy ordinance (number 1041) we have to assume that at least part of the protection comes from applicants losing interest or falling asleep before they are able to figure out what they are supposed to do.

Provided that an applicant is able to wade through all the information they will realize that Eastpointe anticipates they’re already a criminal, and in complying with the ordinance they will be providing the police with a handy arrest kit. The application requires, among other things: recent pictures, physical description, criminal background, fingerprints (FINGERPRINTS!), and “authorization for the City and its agents and employees to seek information and conduct an investigation into the truth of the statements set forth in the application and the qualifications of the applicant for the permit.”

So what do they mean by fortunetelling? “Fortunetelling” shall mean the telling of fortunes, forecasting of futures, or reading the past, by means of any occult, psychic power, faculty, force, clairvoyance, cartomancy, psychometry, phrenology, spirits, tea leaves, tarot cards, scrying, coins, sticks, dice, sand, coffee grounds, crystal gazing or other such reading, or through mediumship, seership, prophecy, augury, astrology, palmistry, necromancy, mindreading, telepathy or other craft, art, science, talisman, charm, potion, magnetism, magnetized article or substance, or by any such similar thing or act. It shall also include effecting spells, charms, or incantations, or placing, or removing curses or advising the taking or administering of what are commonly called love powders or potions in order for example, to get or recover property, stop bad luck, give good luck, put bad luck on a person or animal, stop or injure the business or health of a person or shorten a person’s life, obtain success in business, enterprise, speculation and games of chance, win the affection of a person, make one person marry or divorce another, induce a person to make or alter a will, tell where money or other property is hidden, make a person dispose of property in favor of another, or other such similar activity. Fortunetelling shall also include pretending to perform these actions.

By this definition you are not safe reading the horoscope to your spouse at the breakfast table, had best not wear a gypsy costume on Halloween, and should probably think twice before quoting from television shows Psych, Buffy, and Supernatural, or movies like The Witches of Eastwick, The Craft, and Love Potion No. 9. And never, ever try to do something like ghost hunting there.

But take heart! You could always hide behind the corporate veil since the very next section defines: “Persons” shall mean an individual. Corporations and other legal entities shall not be required to obtain a fortunetelling license... Because if I have to choose between a palm reader and Enron I’m sure the palm reader is where the real danger lies.

Undoubtedly there will be a follow-up ordinance about exactly what time of day and for how long Eastpointe residents can burn their witches.

Sue London is a writer, blogger, and doodlist who may be the only person who believes in you as much or more than your mother does. Check out what she's up to by visiting her Sueniverse.

Call for Contributors

Do you enjoy researching the occult? Would you like to write for The Arcane Hour? Contact me at cmdrsue@gmail.com

Dr. Barry Taff

Are you familiar with the parapsychologist Dr. Barry Taff? If you're reading a website called The Arcane Hour then you probably should be -- so we'll help you out a little here. Yes, he actually has his doctorate in parapsychology. When he was at UCLA he investigated the case that was eventually retold in the movie The Entity (a great and very creepy movie if you haven't seen it). We're also suspicious, even though we can't find anything to prove it, that Dan Aykroyd based quite a bit of the serious parts of the Ghost Busters characters on Taff.


So what has Dr. Barry Taff been up to lately? It looks like he's (sort of) set up a website at barrytaff.net. There isn't much there yet but it does point us to the book that he's released this year: Aliens Above, Ghosts Below.

Dr. Taff is also involved in the American Institute of Parapsychology, which was founded in 1992 as the Center for Paranormal Studies. He is listed as a director and faculty member.

If you have any links for Dr. Taff or his works, feel free to share them with us in the comments.