The Stull Cemetery

 Okwunne Ogbogu
 

the mysteriously remains of the destroyed church

People who have visited Stull Cemetery often walk away forever changed. Not that it is apparently noticeable or an immediate note of something occurring, Stull causes something to effect peoples lives. Call it a curse or a black mark on their lives something paranormal is often thought to happen in the months following their visit. We all know a average sane persons life changes daily, but, many who have dared to set foot on the un-holy plot of land known as Stull Cemetery feel that something happened the day they did that has changed their lives for the worse. Some call it the devil's curse, some tales say the flames of hell actually has lifted up through the earth and burnt or marked their souls for damnation.
 
Kathy M., a paranormal investigator from Tennessee, said after traveling there to see what it was all about has destroyed her life. Upon returning home from the investigation with fellow team members everything went wrong. From the group disbanding, divorces, and even a sudden tragic illness and a death or two. Not one to believe in such things Kathy and her group out of fear started charting and documenting everything that had happen since their visit to Stull cemetery in late October of 2008.
 
"The long list of current and past tragedy's read like a laundry list of the Devil's dirty work", says Kathy. It's infamous nicknames are The Seven Lost Gates of Hell, The Cemetery of The Damned, Satan's Burial Ground, The Devil's playground and most infamous The Seventh Gate to Hell. Stull cemetery is often said to be where Satan the Devil himself appears. Located in Stull an unincorporated town in Douglas County, Kansas, and United States. The old haunted cemetery as many have claimed located in Stull has gained an decent amount of recognition due to various urban legends referring to the Devil, and as being a supposed gateway to Hell. Local police have discouraged curiosity seekers from entering the cemetery, especially on Halloween, and some people have been arrested for trespassing there. The cemetery is also the site of the final confrontation of the Apocalypse in season five of the television series Supernatural.

 

burnt out church, old tree, and rusty graves

If people were asked where one of the gates to hell might be located, very few would say Kansas, but according to locals, it just may be. The place is called Stull Cemetery in Stull, Kansas. The small town of Stull was settled in 1862. At first sight, the cemetery appears very normal. Picture of the burnt-out church Roughly 100 graves etc., there is more lingering right under the surface. In 1995, Time Magazine asked Pope John Paul 2nd why he ordered his plane to fly around Kansas, and his response..."I don't want to fly over unholy ground..." Some of the hype may come from the fact that Stull Cemetery is located in the Topeka zip code prefix of "666", or perhaps even that the road leading up to the cemetery, was literally named Devil's Lane up until 1905. In 1974, the University of Kansas college newspaper did a report on Stull Cemetery, which sites the legend being over 100 years. The elders of the small town believe that Stull Cemetery is one of the alleged 7 gateways to hell, allowing Satan to allegedly manifest on earth through a supernatural portal. This legend comes from a handful of local rumors, one being that Satan's unholy son is buried within the walls of Stull, and that on the Spring Equinox, and on midnight of Halloween, the Prince of Darkness comes to earth to visit the tomb of his son. Picture of the burnt church the exact location of the gateway to hell is unknown, but most of the controversy centers on the burnt out church in the cemetery.
 
Stull Cemetery, the church was built in 1867, and was swept over by the mysterious fire in the early 1900's. Some say that the religious community destroyed the church in an attempt to seal the gateway to hell. Although the church has no roof, it is said that no rain will ever fall within the church. Another secret to the Stull mystery revolves around the pine tree that was mentioned above. It is reported that witches were hung from this tree during the Spring Equinox Sabbat years ago, and that a town man was reported missing for some time, only to be found later hanging from this very tree. Modern covens did indeed visit this cemetery to pay homage to those witches that died there, up until 1998, when the caretakers had the tree cut down and removed. Halloween night of 1999, media from Lawrence Journal World and Sunflower Cable Station Channel 6 News were at the cemetery by permission of the Sheriff. At 11:30pm, only 30 minutes before the alleged gate to hell would be cast open, an unknown representative of the cemetery caretakers appeared, and requested the Sheriff to remove the reporters. The media left peacefully, mere moments before the stroke of midnight.



Works cited:
Gintowt, Richard. "Hell Hath No Fury." Lawernce.com. Lawrence Journal World, 26 Oct. 2004. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Marin, Patricia. "Haunted Stull Cemetery Continues to Fascinate Paranormal Researchers." Examiner.com. Examiner, 8 Apr. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Schafer, Adam. "Real Stories of Real Haunted." Haunted Houses & Haunted Places. Hauntedusa.org, 1999. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Taylor, Troy. "STULL CEMETERY! ONE OF THE SEVEN GATEWAYS TO HELL?" STULL CEMETERY! ONE OF THE SEVEN GATEWAYS TO HELL? Prairieghosts, Apr. 2002. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Waugh, Lisa. "HauntedAmericaTours.com "Changing The Paranormal Landscape ~ One Page At A Time!"" STULL CEMETERY Haunted Cemeteries Real Ghost In America ... HauntedAmericaTours.com. Hauntedamericatours, 2004. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Links to further research:

Haunted Stull Cemetery continues to fascinate paranormal researchers
http://www.examiner.com/article/haunted-stull-cemetery-continues-to-fascinate-paranormal-researchers
A ghost-hunting examiner explaining the importance of the Stull Cemetery

Haunted Kansas
http://www.prairieghosts.com/stull.html
Some additional information about Stull Cemetery

Hell Hath No Fury
http://www.lawrence.com/news/2004/oct/26/stull/
An article that goes deeper to find the truth of the Stull Cemetery

The Haunted Railroad Crossing

Chelsey Watts

Railroads are never a safe place to cross, especially when it is foggy and difficult to see. Trains are constantly moving from station to station and a train going fifty fives miles per hour takes about a mile or more to come to a complete stop if their tires and breaks are in good condition. Trains cannot swerve; they can only follow the track. Never take chances when crossing a railroad, always look and listen to make sure one is not near by.
 
The Salt Lake Tribune says that on December 1 1938 in Salt Lake City, twenty-three students and one bus driver lost their lives due to an incident between and school bus and a train. A train crossed at 10200 South and 400 West in South Jordan during the first snowstorm of the year. The bus driver opened his doors to look for a train but saw nothing in the thick fog. The driver pulled onto the tracks at 8:34 a.m. and at that same moment, an 80-plus car "Flying Ute" train emerged from the storm traveling more than 50 miles per hour. The engineers slammed on the brakes, but it was too late — the train plowed into the bus. 

Ghost and Ghouls say that the legend happened on a rainy day in the 1930s (or perhaps 1940s) a crowded school bus stalled at a railroad crossing near San Antonio, TX. The train plowed into the school bus, killing a dozen children (give or take). Nowadays, if someone stops his or her vehicle on the same tracks, an unseen force will push the car to safety. If the person dusts their bumper with baby powder and then stops on the tracks, small handprints will appear. It seems the children killed all those years ago want to save others from suffering the same fate, or so the story goes. 

 

This is a picture of someone putting baby powder on their truck and the handprints showing up

But the truth says that there are reports of moving cars and ghost prints persist, the school bus accident never happened, at least not in Texas. If such an accident had occurred, it would have certainly appeared in newspapers. Yet, no articles exist. However, a horrific bus-train accident did occur in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1938, 26 children died after a train struck their bus, which had stalled on the tracks. The accident resulted in days of nationwide coverage, and researchers believe this incident inspired the San Antonio legend.

I am from Texas and have lived there all of my life. I have never heard of such a thing happening in San Antonio. I live about four hours from San Antonio and I have visited there at least fifteen times in my life. The two articles that I read contradict their stories. The article that was written in Salt Lake City has a specific address, the time of day and the number of students that were on the bus. That article is very similar to any article that talks about the incident. I personally believe the incident happened in Salt Lake City. There might have been an incident similar in San Antonio and the railroad tracks there are haunted, but I think the incident that everyone says to of happened there really happened in Salt Lake City.

 

This is a picture of the railroad tracks at night and you can see the ghost.

Work Cited:
Brantley, Kanesha. “San Antonio “Haunted” Railroad Crossing.” Can of Mystery.  Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Dalrymple, Jim. “Deadly Utah school bus accident remembered 75 years later. “The Salt Lake Tribune. 2 Dec. 20013. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Ghostghoul. “ Truth or Legend: Do Ghost Children Haut A Texas Railroad Crossing?” Ghost and Ghoul. 19 July.  2015 Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

Ghostghoul. “Ghost Picture Of The Day: Railroad Ghost Girl.” Ghost and Ghoul. 3 July. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Weiser, Kathy. “ Texas Legends: Ghost Children upon San Antonio’s Railroad Tracks.”  Legends of America. Sept. 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Links for further research:
Miracle Hunters - "The Ghost Tracks of San Antonio": Hosted by Jonathan Levit
https://youtu.be/RJYuF2sYzGw
This is a video of a guy that goes to the site in San Antonio to give a tour of the areas and have people try out the “optical illusion.”

“Haunted” railroad tracks in San Antonio, Texas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ZWdwPc2LA
This is a video of someone putting their car and neutral and seeing if the ghost will take them over the railroad tracks.

San Antonio Ghost Children
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/handprint.asp
This article is about two kids that went to the railroad tracks and tried the illusion themselves. It also talks about the variations and origins behind the illusion. 

The Creepy Legend of The Haunted Railroad Crossing
http://paranormal.about.com/od/hauntedplaces/a/The-Haunted-Railroad-Crossing_2.htm
This article talks about the facts of the incident and also mentions “weird” things.

Suicidal Roommates/Straight A’s

 Rachelle Jackson


There are many stories that are told to you as you go through high school getting ready for college. Some are known to be truthful and some are known to be false. For example The Legend of the 4.0 myth. If your roommate dies, you will receive straight a’s for that semester. Surprisingly I had never heard of this rumor until now


No one knows exactly where the myth originated from or how it even got started. It has spread across the country from college to college. Many colleges have different versions of this myth. It goes form if your roommate dies you get straight A’s till if a parent or close relative. It has many scenarios too. In one incident a male committed suicide in class why taking an exam. He shoved a pencil up his nose and then bang it on the table. All the students got credit for the exam, however, they did not, nor did his roommate receive straight a’s. Although the myth is proven to be false a movie has been made about the rumor called The Dead Man on Campus.



Works Cited
Aiello John. “The Legend Of the 4.0” Vanderbilt.edu. 14. Sept. 1998.Mon 12. Oct. 2015

“Grade Expectations.” Snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp. Snopes.com. 11 June. 2011. Mon. 12.Oct. 2015

The Dead Man on Campus. Dir. Alan Cohan. Tom Everett Scott. 1998. Film

“Lead By the Nose” snopes.com/college/exam/pencil.asp. Snopes.com 11
June. 2011 Mon. 19. Oct.2015


Further Research Links

A blog post written by a student letting you the myth has no accuracy
http://canofmystery.blogspot.com/2013/11urban-legend-suicidal-roommate.html

Describes a professor not knowing anything about the legend of the 4.0 myth but his student claiming it to be true
http://freakonomics.com/2011/12/07/straight-as-if-your-roommate-dies/

This blog post was written to inform you on how there are many different urban legends and how the author thought they suicidal roommate legend was accurate, how him and his roommates joked about later found out there is no truth to the myth
http://canofmystery.blogspot.com/2013/11/urban-legends-suicidal-roommate.htm
 

What Hoodoo Really Is

Manny Dejesus

Picture of 7 colorful Voodoo dolls on display.

Crazy dancing, hexes, curses, abductions, oils and Voodoo dolls. All the necessities to create "Voodoo" we have heard so much about. Hoodoo  can be called a religion, healing tradition, an art form, or even magic (Chireau). Hoodoo does not have to have one title but can actually be all sorts of things in one. Hoodoo has been going on for Centuries and has been a practice that started in Africa and was brought to the Americas by slaves, and the knowledge was intertwined with that of the Native Americans and Jews (Yronwode). The “religion” made its way to the United States and is practiced primarily in the southern half of the states like New Orleans. Hoodoo in itself is used in many different ways, in fact it can be used as a verb, noun and adjective. Different researchers say different things but Yvonne Chireau Ph.D. a professor from Swarthmore College that studies African American religions says it best, “Hoodoo African based tradition that makes use of the natural and supernatural to make change in the human experience”. What Chireau is saying is that Hoodoo by itself is not evil nor is it good but just a neutral practice that can change human experience for the better or for the worst.

So What is Hoodoo exactly?
Hoodoo is a spiritual practice but is actually a very general term that can include anything and everything from love spells to protection magic (Yronwode).  Catherine Yronwode is a Folk magic practitioner who wrote, different words pertaining to Hoodoo such as witchcraft had different meanings. Yronwode goes on to explain that witchcraft is basically saying it’s the evil form of Hoodoo meant to curse somebody and while Hoodoo is meant to boost your luck and increase your happiness. What makes Hoodoo different from other “religions” is that it does not have a central power and “places emphasis on personal magical power, there are no priests or priestesses”.

Sculpture of Grandma Hoodoo.

Works Cited:
7 Colorful Voodoo Dolls. 1997. Voodoo Authentica, New Orleans. Voodoo.com. Voodoo Authentica. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Chireau, Yvonne. "What is Hoodoo." Academichoodoo.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 October 2015.

Kuebler, Thomas. Grandma Hoodoo. N.D. Sculptor of the Bizarre. Tskuebler.com. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Yronwode, Catherine. "African American Folk Magic." Luckymojo.com. N.p. n.d. Web. 7 October 2015.

Yeti

Deja Moultrie

Up in the Himalayan Mountains in Asia many have witnessed to see what they called a Yeti. The most commonly known name for Yeti is Bigfoot as most people call this creature. A Yeti is what seem to be abominable snowman. As The National Geographic Channel stated, most people believe that a Yeti is a giant ape-man, and others believe it is a God. With its dark gray like or reddish-brown hair and weighing between 200 and 400 pounds, the Yeti made its first appearance in 1832 by a British explorer B.H. Hodgeson stated by Stewart Green in his article “The Yeti: Legend, Lore, and Climbing Mystery”. B.H. Hodgeson have reported seeing the wild creature, but with it reddish-brown hair he believed that it was an orangutan. Years after the first report of this mysterious creature, others believed that they have encounter this same animal and reported their story also. Stewart Green also mentioned that in 1899 the first recorded footprints of the Yeti have been reported by Laurence Waddell, but being that he wasn’t a full believer in the Yeti stories that everyone was telling him because the never really witnessed the creature with their own eyes, he felt as though the footprints was left by a bear. Which is quite understandable because in Laura Smith-Spark informed us in her article “Has the mystery of the Yeti finally been solved?” the hair follicle that is believed to be from a Yeti genetically proved that a Yeti and bears are related in some way, shape or form. Therefore it wouldn’t be too difficult to get those two species confused. In 1925 as Stewart Green stated, was when the first detail report was made by a Greek photographer name N.A. Tombazi, on a British expedition. It was said that he saw a dark figure in the snow, but couldn’t make out what it was. It walked like a human, but it didn’t wear any clothes. Before he could take a picture, the dark figured disappeared .There isn’t anyone who had full contact of Bigfoot and who have tons of evidence that this creature exist. There are some people that are still trying to get a glimpse of this mysterious creature and there are some people who do not believe that this creature walks on earth. The Yeti is still known to be one of the most popular mythological legend and until someone comes to fully prove that this creature is real it will forever be a myth.

Works cited:
DavidWalker1964.” Roger Patterson Bigfoot Footage”. Youtube.com.Google.24 Nov.2007. Web. 14 Oct. 2015

Green, Stewart. “The Yeti: Legend, Lore, and Climbing Mystery”. Climbling.about.com. About.com.2015. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

“Abominable Snowman”.natgeotv.com.National Geographic Channel.2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2015
Smith-Spark, Laura. “Has the mystery of the Yeti finally been solved?” .Cnn.com.Cable News Network.17 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.


Five Tags: Yeti, Snowman, Asia, Big Foot, Himalayan Mountains

The Giant’s Causeway

Kali Wiggins


“Giant’s Causeway, Ireland,” by Jeff Mauritzen, National Geographic


The Giants Causeway is a stunning geological phenomenon located on the northern coast of Ireland. Tourist travel from all over the world and visit this extraordinary site to personally witness the breathtaking view of the causeway,and better understand the reasoning behind the famous legend about the giant who supposedly created it. Richard Pococke, who was well-known in Ireland for his documentaries about natural locations, personally visited the Giant’s Causeway and observed that it consists of tens of thousands of vertical and geometrical shaped basalt columns ranging in height and width.In one of his letters, Pococke recorded that the pillars have anywhere from three to eight sides, and they could range from one to two feet in diameter.

Like any unusual story, there is a logical and scientific reason behind the formation of the Giant’s Causeway. Since 1986 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has considered the Giant’s Causeway to be a part of the World Heritage List. They credit the causeway as an important geological site,which over the last three hundred years of scientific studieshas led to a better understanding of basaltic volcanism. It is now understood that the causeway was formed fifty to sixty million years ago as a result of volcanic activity. Scientists now know the lava formed from the volcanic eruption solidified and contracted unevenly causing the many interlocked, geometrical pillars(Martin).


“Giant’s Boot,” by Sean McClean



Tourists find the causeway so astounding because the structural composition of the interlocked columns makes it seem as if it was man made; therefore several versions of the famous Irish legend about the giant named Finn McCool have arisen to compensate for people’s disbelief. Many of the stone structures have become linked to the legend because they resemble human items. For instance, “the giant’s boot” is a humongous stone that strongly resembles a boot, which compels people to associate it to the legend of Finn McCool and the Giant’s Causeway. (Martin)

Chelsea Martin, who is the author of many articles on Fairyroom.com, wrote an article about the Giant’s Causeway that describes a popular version of the Irish legend. Finn McCool, an Irish giant, grew tired of the ongoing rivalry between himself and a Scottish giant named Benandonner. He built the causeway in order to cross the sea, confront his enemy face to face, and put an end to the conflict.  However Finn’s plan did not go accordingly because he greatly underestimated the size of the Scottish giant. He panicked when he realized he could not compete with Benandonner. Thankfully for Finn, he had a clever wife who disguised him as the couple’s baby before Benandonner showed up. Once the giant arrived and saw the “baby”, he became terrified as he contemplated how giant Finn must be if his child was already so huge. This version says that the Scottish giant destroyed the causeway as he fled back to his home, to ensure Finn could not follow him.

Although some might not believe the legend of Finn McCool, the Giant’s Causeway itself is an incredibly unique formation that unites people from all over the world that are interested in its beauty. The ancient Irish legend of Finn McCool only adds more of an attraction to the world heritage site, inviting people who have an imaginative mind to visit this rare formation and better understand how the Irish legend began.

Works Cited:
Martin, Chelsea. “Mystic Places: The Giant’s Causeway and the Legend of Finn MacCool.” Fairyroom.com. Fairy Room. 15 Oct. 2012. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.

Mauritzen, Jeff. “Giant’s Causeway, Ireland.” Photograph. National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 5 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

McClean, Sean. “Giant’s Boot.” Photograph. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Dec. 2004. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Pococke, Richard. “An Account of the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, in a Letter to the President from the Rev.  Richard Pococke, LL. D Archdeacon of Dublin, and F. R. S.” Philosophical Transactions. 45 (1748): 124-127. JSTOR.Web. 8 Oct. 2015.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre. “Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast.” UNESCO. (1992-2015) Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

Links for Further Research:
YouTube: Giant’s Causeway, North Ireland by George Pollenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTEBxxJ6MUw
This website contains information on the structure of the causeway and its legend.

World Heritage Site- For World Heritage Travellershttp://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/giantscauseway.html
This website contains information on the geological formation of the causeway for tourists interested in visiting this world heritage site.

The Giant’s Causewayhttp://www.geographia.com/northern-ireland/ukiant01.htm
This website contains another version of the legend and tells the history of the causeway’s first documented account.

The Grey Lady in Willard Library

 Morgan Pierce

When looking at this picture of the Willard Library, many see the black ball on the ground. This black ball is believed to be the Grey Lady in Willard Library. This picture, along with many others,is backup to the speculations of a ghost being in the library. Not only does the library have pictures to prove that there is a ghost in the library, but the library also has employees that have experienced her presence.

When going to a library, most people think it's going to be a nice relaxing time, not a time to be scared that a ghost is near. In the Willard Library, many claim that there is a ghost that haunts the library. The ghost has been spotted by many different people that have been to the library. Those that have spotted the ghost include both employees and people on the internet watching the ghost cameras . This camera is on the internet 24 hours a day, so anymore who wants to try to find the ghost is able to. When looking at this ghost camera, there are questionable pictures that people think is the Grey Lady, but some think it's just the shadow of someone walking.

Back in 1937, in Evansville, IN, the lady in grey made herself known to the employees at the Willard Library (Willis). It was early in the morning when a custodian of the Willard Library went to light the furnace in the basement. When walking up the stairs, his flashlight spotted a lady dressed in all grey (Willis). After the first spotting of the Grey Lady, she has been seen by many other people. Another spotting was when the security alarm went off, and when the police arrived, they spotted two ghosts sitting near the upstairs window (Hall).
Many ask, "Why is there a ghost in the Willard Library?" Many different researchers have researched this question. The answer that most of them seem to come up with is the Grey Lady is Louise Carpenter. Louise Carpenter was the daughter of the library’s founder, who sued the Library’s board of trustees on her father's behalf (Harte, et al.). Louise believed that the money the library inherited from her father, who died, should have been her money. She lost the case, which makes the researchers think this is why she haunts the library. Another theory that some researchers have is the ghost is a lady who died on the land that the library sits on today (Willis). They believe that she is searching for her son who died with her that day.

Works Cited:
Blackwood, Margret. "The Willard Library: Most Haunted Library in the Us?" Photograph. The Ghost Diaries. 22 February 2004. Web. 16 October 2015.

ghostghoul. "Ghost Picture of the Day: Willard Library Ghost." Photograph. Ghost and Ghouls. 15 December 2012. Web. 16 October 2015.

Hall, Ashley. The Ghost of Willard Library. 29 December 2012. Web. 9 October 2015
Harte, Timothy M, et al. "Willard Investigation 2". Ghost Hunters Society. N.P. 9 September 2000. Web. 7 October 2015.

Willis, Wanda Lou. "Vanderburgh." More Haunted Hoosier Trails (2004): 200-208. Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Interlibrary Loan. Web. 9 October 2015

Links for further research:
Willard Library, Haunted Houses.comhttp://www.hauntedhouses.com/states/in/willard_library.htm
This website has more detail on the grey lady and the times she has been spotted.

Willard Libraryhttp://www.willard.lib.in.us/index.php
This website is the actual website for the Willard Library. There are directions on how to get there and information on what is needed to check out a book from the Willard Library.

Library offers more than periodicalshttp://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/134236208C2592C8?p=NewsBank
This website gives extra information on the Willard Library ghost, the Grey Lady. An interesting topic that it covers is the background information on Louise Carpenters father.

Mayan Prophecy December 21, 2012

Rassia

 Many people had the belief that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012. One reason that many human beings believed this is because they misinterpreted a date on the Mayan Calendar.The specific date of December 21, 2012 had a specific meaning,which many experts believed was the end of one cycle and the beginning of a new one, for the Mayans. Some believed that the world was going to end. Others believed that the world would turn into total chaos, and some even believed that Jesus Christ was going to return on this date. However, many people did not understand how to read the calendar correctly, so they got the wrong meaning for this date.

As Chris Holly mentions in his article“2012: The Mayans and Other Strange Predictions of Our Time”, there is no one person on planet Earth that can fully explain the Mayan calendar. He explains that even scientist could not explain the meaning of this date on the Mayan Calendar. He also states that many scientists thought that the interpretations of this date were blown out of context and proportion due to the lack of knowledge of how to read the Mayan Calendar.  Others found the fact that many people thought that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012 to be quite comical. Rich Deem is one of these people. He even creates and article, “The Real 2012 Prophecy: Mayans, Nostradamus, and Planet X, Oh My!”,giving his satirical thoughts of what this particular date meant (Deem).
Even though these thoughts seem comical now, we have to look at it from the perspective of when these thoughts were wondering through our heads back in 2012. If the millions of people who really thought that the world was going to end had been thinking logically, they would have realized that no living person on Earth can predict the date of the world’s destruction. Many people argued that many of the signs that were in the Bible either were happening or had already happened. However, the Bible also states that the return of Jesus Christ, thus the world’s end, could not be predicted by any person on Earth.
Some people who thought that the world was supposed to end on December 21, 2012 still believe that this belief is true. However, if they use basic critical thinking skills, they would realize that this obviously is not true, because the world is still revolving today. With this being said, many people should make sure that they completely understand the material that they are reading before they announce publically their wrong beliefs. Had someone who knew how to read the Mayan Calendar correctly and to the fullest, many people would not have panicked about the world ending on December 21, 2012, and that could have saved a lot of people from suffering from the decisions that they made from believing this false fact.
Works cited:
 Deem, Rich. “The Real 2012 Prophecy: Mayans, Nostradamus, and Planet X, Oh My!”. Godandscience.org. 20 January 2012. Web. 3 October 2015. This article is satirical. The purpose of this article make fun of the crazy assumption that the world would end on December 21, 2012. This source is unique because not only does it make fun of this assumption, but it also gives the real explanation of this date. This source is helpful because it explains the meaning of this date. The audience for this article is the general public.  As written on the satirical website, the audience for this article is anyone who thought that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012.

Grant, R. Jeffrey.  2012 Doomsday with Pyramid. Photograph. Rapture Forums. Rapture Forums, 2015. Web. 15 October 2015

Holly, Chris. “2012: The Mayans and Other Strange Predictions of Our Time”. Decmeber212012.com. 21 December 2012. Web. 30 September 2015. This article talks about the many beliefs that people had about this date and why they are incorrect. The purpose of this article is to explain the false assumptions and give the true meaning of this date. This source is unique because it both explains common mistakes and the true meaning of the date. This source is helpful because it explains why these assumptions were wrong. The audience for this article is the general public. As written on this satirical website, the audience for this website is anyone who would like to know the true meaning of this date on the Mayan Calendar.

Links for further research:
Evidence for Godhttp://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/2012_prophecy_review.html
This article is satirical, so the information that it provides is what others thought this date meant on the Mayan Calendar, and what the author thought (playfully) this date meant.

December212012.comhttp://www.december212012.com/articles/mayan/2012-The_Mayans_and_Other_Strange_Predictions_of_Our_Time.htm
This article talks about the many beliefs that people had about December 21, 2012, and why these assumptions were incorrect.

Chiron Communicationshttp://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/tzolkinmaya/esp_tzolkinmaya09.htm
This article talks about why only Mayan experts are able to interpret the Mayan calendars, and not anyone else. 

Alice of the Hermitage

Janee McCarthy

Among many other ghost legends in South Carolina, the legend of Alice of the Hermitage approaches a calmer, innocent ghost story, rather than a terrifying ghost story like we are used to hearing about. Alice was a young girl who lived on a rice plantation with her arrogant brother, whom she was not too happy with, and her mother.  The home was more of a beach home to them, surrounded by trees and marshes.



The Hermitage at Murrell’s Inlet


On the website The Moonlit Road, Cathy Kaemmerien and Craig Dominey wrote an article on the legend of Alice of the Hermitage, where they talked about her family’s traditions. Growing up, Alice Flagg’s family has always had strong beliefs of marrying the right person depending on the social class aspect. Living on the Hermitage, Alice met a young man that she fell in love with. Her family was not happy with this and her brother forbade Alice to see the boy. “The story goes on to say that in an effort to keep the two apart, Alice was sent away to boarding school in Charleston.” (The Hermitage- Murrell’s Inlet, SC). But that didn’t stop her, Alice decided that she could keep it a secret from her brother. One night, Alice’s beloved gave her a ring, which he engraved in the band, “love never fails.” Alice kept the ring on a ribbon around her neck, making sure to keep it from her brother.
 
Alice’s brother sent Alice off to school in Charleston, punishing her for going against her family’s beliefs and traditions. A couple weeks later, Alice was rushed home by her brother because of an unexpected sickness. She had high fever and laid in bed for weeks. While lying in bed, her brother snatched the ring from around her neck and threw it in the nearby marsh. Alice woke up frantically looking for the ring and died shortly after realizing it was gone.

It is believed that Alice Flagg still haunts the grounds of The Hermitage looking for her ring.“For I have never found my ring, though sometimes I still search the grounds at what is now called Wachesaw Plantation.”(Alice Flagg in her own words). Her grave is still at the Hermitage. People can go to the land and visit the grounds that Alice still walks around. Some people say they have seen her, and even talked to her. People lay flowers on her grave and pass on their stories about their visit to the Hermitage.



Alice Flagg’s Grave



Works Cited:
”Alice Flagg in Her Own Words; The Area’s Most Beloved Ghost Tells Her Story.” MyrtleBeach Online. N.d. Web. 13 Oct.

“The Hermitage-Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina.” 2015 SCIWAY. Web. 12 Oct.
Kaemmerien, Cathy. “Alice.” The Moonlit Road. The Moonlit Road, 1997 LLC. Web. 12. Oct.
Roberts, Nancy. “South Carolina Ghosts; From the Coast to the Mountains.” Columbia. University of South Carolina, 1983. Print.
Ross, L. Woodrow. “Ghosts of South Carolina: Two stories of lost love and tragic death.” Independent Mail. Journal Media Group, 2015. Web. 13 Oct.
Links for further research:https://www.google.com/search?q=alice+of+the+hermitage

Giant Human Bones

 Javonne Smith

The theory of evolution is where scientist thinks that we evolved from something or someone. Some say that we evolved from monkeys, people that believe in god say that we came from Adam and Eve. What if we didn’t come from any of that? We could’ve descended from giant humans. Giant human bones is an interesting topic because if they were real, everything that we know about evolution would go out the window. You would have many questions that would be quite difficult to answer. One question would be, why haven’t there been any discoveries in the bones or anything that proves they exist?

Allegedly, the first giant bones were found in 81 BC by the Grecian people. The Greeks thought that they had found human bones, scientist now said that elephants were common in that area and that was the bones they dug up. Some people actually believe giants to be real but till this day there isn’t really a way to disprove it. Although many websites say they are real seem to be a hoax. In many different articles they would talk about the discoveries and show many different pictures. Eight out of ten of the pictures you could clearly tell they were photo shopped. There was a couple of satire sites that I looked up to see what kind of things they had on them. One of them was about a Smithsonian cover up. The article talked about how the Smithsonian destroyed thousands of giant bones to protect the evolution theory.

Then you had the websites like The National Geographic telling you how there isn’t a thing as a giant and all the discoveries are fake. A voice editor P. Deivamuthu told National Geogrphic news that his publication about how the giants aren’t real was taken by fake reports. “We are against spreading lies and canards, moreover, our readers are a highly intellectual class and will not brook any nonsense.” He says how it is nonsense to think that any of this could be real and that’s true there’s no way giant humans can be real.  That makes you wonder if they are trying to cover everything up as well so they won’t also mess up the theory of evolution. So far no one really knows if giants are real or not, all the discoveries or pictures seem to be faked and photos shopped in some way.

Some of the pictures that are from the early 1900’s look like they could actually be real, but anyone could make a picture look real and old depending on how good they are with the camera. Some of the sightings from then could be made up just so a town or a family could get some fame for “discovering” giant human bones. Hopefully in a couple of years this myth can be resolved and we will really know if one day the giants were roaming the earth.


Work cited;
Proctor, Steven. NephilliumAnnunaki and the Sumerian Giant Skeletons. 2012. Photograph. Youtube. 26 March 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Flanagan, Bob. “Smithsonian Admits to Destruction of Thousands of Giant Human Skeleton in Early 1900s” New World Order (2015) Google Advance Search. N.P., 3 Dec. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

Harris, Kristan. “A Giant Mystery: 18 Strange Skeletons Found in Wisconsin: Sons of God; Men of Renown.” Google Advanced Search. N.P., N.D., Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

Owen, James. “” Skeleton of Giant” Is Internet Photo Hoax” National Geographic News. Google
Advanced Search. Web. 10 Oct. 2015
Links for Further Research:
Giant Bones Informational Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azjWu6Uva8k
This link to the YouTube video above is talking about different sightings of giant bones and whether or not they are real.

Greek Giantshttp://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/mythic-creatures/land-creatures-of-the-earth/greek-giants
This link talks about Grecian Giants and how they even discovered a giant in 81 BC.
Giant Bone Legends http://hubpages.com/hub/Did-Giants-Once-Walk-the-Earth
This article talks about legends from the bible and other discoveries throughout the world.