In the days before photography and when the vast majority of the population could not afford to have their portrait painted, there were limited ways to remember loved ones who’d passed on. The memento mori tradition most likely began with mourning rings, small bands that may have had the name of the deceased engraved inside. They quickly became more intricate.
This past weekend, I visited Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, the final resting place of Edgar Allan Poe and other local luminaries, including James McHenry (signer of the US Constitution and namesake of Fort McHenry), Philip Barton Key (son of Francis Scott Key), and Robert Smith (Secretary of the Navy, Secretary Of State, and Attorney…
Hollywood has made cemeteries seem scary, but really, they are lovely, peaceful places. It’s usually quiet and there are some fantastic pieces of art in the older ones. If they’re not too weathered, you can also read the epitaphs engraved on the stones. Sometimes it is only a name and a date, but often there…
It’s debated in the world of anthropology whether or not two cultures with no way to know about one another can come up with the same ideas. Egyptians and Mayan weren’t aware of the other’s civilization, but pyramids were central to both cultures. One aspect that seems to transcend all cultures is the idea of ghosts.…
The Ouija board, in its current version, dates back to 1891 when three men decided to standardize the “talking board” and market it as a toy. But devices for communing with the spirits had been around for decades. The Fox sisters created their own contraptions for rapping and moaning. Spiritualists made tables float and made…