Tangled Tuesday - #Haunted #Antiques #amwriting

I love antique shops. More often than not, I end up "just looking" but there have been several occasions in which something has captured my attention and I must have it. My husband jokes not to bring back anything haunted. Well....you know how that goes.

I do believe objects can hold onto energy. There have been antiques I've been immediately drawn to, but there are others that, upon picking them up, I wouldn't take home if the shop owner paid me. Are they haunted? Maybe. I do tend to touch things a lot when I'm perusing, something I wasn't aware of until my daughters pointed it out. Once, I picked up a large metal urn that immediately made me feel depressed and sad. When I asked the shop owner about it, she told me it was an old burial urn. I have no idea why it was for sale, nor do I know if it still contained ashes. Suffice to say, the urn would not be coming home with me that day.

Just for fun, I decided to do a search on eBay for "haunted antiques."  As of today, there are 521 listed items. Whether these items are truly haunted or sellers cashing in on the current fascination with "all things haunted" is unknown. Personally, I'd never purchase an antique I couldn't touch first but it makes for interesting window shopping.

Here's the link if you're interested: eBay: haunted antiques.

Let me know if anything captures your fancy.

Frightening Friday-Cool Things

I found these really cool things on eBay. They're Japanese Netsuke figurines and about 1-1.5" tall. My daughters think they're scary, so here you go--my Frightening Friday post.

If I had the money I would be tempted...

Cool thing #1 $399.00

Cool thing #2 $680.00

Haunted eBay...and Other Misadventures

Sometimes, I like to window shop for "haunted items" on eBay. I love antiques and usually end up looking at those in particular. Would I buy a haunted antique? Probably not--and certainly not from eBay. In my opinion, haunted eBay items generally fall into three categories; 1) seller looking to rip people off, 2) seller claiming the object is haunted but making no promises 3) seller playing with fire.

This week I found objects that fell into categories one and three.

Category 3: Sellers playing with fire.

Photo courtesy of Alejandro De La Cruz 
*Not associated with eBay listing

"Rare Antique-from Island of the Haunted Dolls."

I was very disappointed with this listing. If you're familiar with La Isla de la Munecas (The Island of the Dolls) you know it was originally created by Don Julian Santana, a hermit who dedicated 50 years of his life to the upkeep of the island. He claimed he was haunted by the ghost of a little girl who drowned in one of the canals around the island. Don would trade homegrown fruits and vegetables for old dolls and place them around his home as a shrine for the spirit that tormented him. In 2001, he was found dead in the same canal the little girl drowned in.
That said, it appears that this eBay seller has NO respect for the dead. She claims a friend "smuggled" two dolls off the island and is using the money to pay for cancer treatment for their child. Huh. Regardless if the dolls are really from the island or not--it's stealing and bad karma.

"Custom Conjured Spirit Guide Haunted Arrowhead"

Photo courtesy of Wessex Archaeology

*Not associated with eBay listing

I had to read this twice. Really? Really?? For $33.33

you can have a stranger conjur a spirit guide and bind it into an arrowhead artifact. You choose the tribe and whether you want a male or female. *sigh* My feelings on binding a spirit...  I won't rant here. I'll save it for another post. 

"Dybbuk Box, Haunted Dibbuk Spirit, Estate Find. Ghost, Sealed, Entity?"

Seller claims the box began destroying his/her life once they opened it. Sooo....why would I want this again? It boggles the mind.

Category 1: Sellers looking to rip people off.

"Haunted Drinking Glass Cup"

Photo courtesy of Billy Maybray
*Not associated with eBay listing

For $100 you can purchase a drinking glass wherein; "By drinking (from the glass) you gain the power and ability to become anyone or anything at anytime for as long as you like by shapeshifting. Only 5 glasses available."

Uh-huh. 

**Also from the drinking glass seller: "Haunted Gender Sex Change Body Lotion" Lotion reported to turn you into the opposite sex. Seriously?? Seriously. 

"Haunted charging box soapstone box that is also the home for a Angel spirit" 

As awesome as this sounds--apparently the seller is kicking his/her angel to the curb. 

How sad. The description goes on and on.

Oh look--you can buy the box on Amazon too.

Amazon has the same description listed by the eBay seller: "This soapstone box is routed out of solid soapstone, not glued pieces. The lid is dramatic with a routed image of a charging bull with a raised lightning bolt across its middle. Each stone pattern is unique. one of a kind." Oddly enough, all of the sellers objects can be found on Amazon. Angel and spirit free.

I'm all for selling interesting objects on eBay. I won't say "for sure" that these sellers are ripping people off because I don't know them personally. I will say one thing though--there's nothing worse than those that prey on the gullibility of others. Sir Walter Scott said it best in Marmion: "What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." On the flip side, David Hannum summed it up even better: "There's a sucker born every minute." 

Frightening Friday-Haunted Mirrors

Photo courtesy of frenchantiquemirrors
via photobucket

Throughout the ages, reflective surfaces of all kinds have been linked to the supernatural world. In ancient Greek legends, the gods observed mortals in a pool of water and reacted accordingly. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, spiritual visions, divination or fortune-telling via scrying mirrors was all the rage. Some cultures believe that mirrors reflect a person's "true" nature, or their shadow soul, and avoid them altogether. And we've all heard that breaking a mirror brings seven years bad luck.
But can mirrors be haunted? 

There are many stories that tell of haunted mirrors. One of the best known is of a mirror located in The Myrtles Plantation. The mirror has been in the Louisiana home since it was built in 1796. It is said to hold the trapped souls of Sara Woodruff and her two children, who lived at the plantation in 1894. An old Southern tradition holds that when a family member dies, mirrors in the home are covered in order to keep the soul of the deceased from becoming lost. According to legend, when Sara Woodruff and her children died, all the mirrors on the plantation were covered--except the one. Hand prints--from the back of the mirror--appear in the reflection no matter how often the mirror is resurfaced. 

A more recent story occurred in February 2013. Two men pulled an antique mirror from a dumpster outside their London home. The men stated that since acquiring the mirror, they've suffered financial problems, illness, pain and a sense of impending doom. They also claimed to see "flickering shadows" reflected in the mirror itself. The final straw was that one of the men woke covered in red scratches. The mirror sold on eBay for $155 in spite (or because of) their claims that it might be haunted. 

Speaking of, here's a couple of haunted mirrors currently for sale on eBay. I'll let you decide if they're worth a bid.

Haunted Victorian antique mirror ghost portal

Vintage haunted vanity mirror

Haunted clock/compact mirror

Haunted vintage mirror