#beheading
Ik I’m a day late but Happy Halloween everyone ☠️♀️⚰️
Necks below the heads of birds
tweet the marbled meat
Post de-heading
still are words
gargled
gasping for a treat
Against the solid wooden block
porcelain taffy glints
an odorous gander,
unfragrable cock
featherhead
poisoned ivy and lints
Poultry magnaminance
chickety-chick
chickety
the Underhouse carriage
looks rickety
up by the marquee,
aclicking his clock
The Craftsman sat spindling his loom
coarse is the grain
on a pinewooden frock
or the larktree
Buttoned
doom
—
Really guys, I’m almost positive Anne Boleyn sang her last words and these were it ;)
Follow this blog for history humor on your dash
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Pictured above: The cells in which the accused were held while awaiting execution.
On June 1st, 1675 during an 8-year hysteria of witch-hunting in Sweden, 71 people were beheaded and burned. 65 women and 6 men.
1/5 of the women in the region were killed.
The Background
The Torsåker Witch Trials occurred from late 1674 to 1675, in the Torsåker Parish, Sweden. These trials are notable for being the largest witch trials to happen in Det Stora oväsendet (The Great Noise), Sweden’s title for a mass hysteria that lasted from 1668 and 1676 which lead to the death of 300 individuals on the basis of witchcraft. (It’s important to note that around 100 others lost their lives for witchcraft prior to this period, over the span of many years, but this time is notable as being a hysteria because of the sheer volume of deaths in such a short period.
At the time Sweden did not have a separation of church and state, which can partially explain how such a series of events came to be. The first trial of Märet Jonsdotter in Dalarna, 1668, was the event that is thought to have sent things spiralling. The minister of Ytterlännas parish, Laurentius Hornæus, was instructed by Johannes Wattrangius of Torsåker parish, to deal with the sudden explosion of witch hysteria in Torsåker.
The Accusations
Most of the ‘witnesses’ were children. The main point Hornæus pushed was that witches had abducted the children and taken them to Blåkulla, a meadow of Swedish folklore in which the devil held a court during a sabbat. Hornæus tortured the children in order to gain statements. Some of his punishments involved whipping, bathing the children in ice-cold water, even putting them in an oven and threatening to bake them. Some of the children were later found with their throats cut.
“His grandson, Jöns Hornæus, who wrote down the story in 1735 after it was dictated by his grandmother, Laurentius Hornæus’ wife Britta Rufina, was quoted as saying: “I remember some of these witnesses, who by these methods were in lack of health for the rest of their lives”. He adds that children were still, sixty years afterwards, afraid to go near the house where his grandfather lived.” (Source)
Even though around a hundred individuals of both sexes were accused by the children, mostly women took the fall. Many managed to escape death by being pregnant, running away or bribing the courts.
The Day Of Execution
Several months after the initial detainment and accusations of the victims, a sermon was held in Torsåker church. The 71 accused were lead to the place of execution. By this point, many of them were so malnourished from being refused food that their relatives had to carry them to their deaths.
The accused were decapitated, stripped naked, then burned at the stake.
Jöns Hornæus describes the execution in his book, where he wrote down the exact words of his grandmother who was a witness to the scene.
“Then they began to understand what would happen. Cries to heaven rose of vengeance over those who caused their innocent deaths, but no cries and no tears would help. Parents, men and brothers held a fence of pikes. (By which she meant that the men of the village, the family members of the prisoners, surrounded the prisoners with weapons) They were driven, seventy-one of them, of which only two could sing a psalm, which they repeated when they walked as soon as it ended. Many fainted on the way out of weakness and death wish, and those were carried by their families up until the place of execution, which was in the middle in the parish, half a mile from all the three churches, and called “The Mountain of the Stake.” (Source)
“Här brann häxbål 1675. Kvinnor dog, män dömde. Tidens tro drabbar människan.” A small memorial exists in Torsåker to this day. I am currently learning Swedish but I am fairly new to it, so please forgive any mistakes in this translation and feel free to post a better version if you are Swedish.
“Here burned a witchpyre (stake?), 1675.
Women died
Men judged
The faith of time
affects mankind.”
Sources:
In Swedish
- http://www.norrlandmagic.se/landskap/ångermanland/häxorna-i-torsåker-26940588
- http://web.comhem.se/lienn/torsakerhaxor.htm
In English
- http://www.hhogman.se/witch-trials-sweden.htm
- http://spangenhelm.com/largest-witch-trial-swedish-history/
- http://www.witchcraftandwitches.com/trials_torsaker.html
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Days 12, 28, & 30: Made to Watch, Panic, Major Character Death
CW: graphic violence, murder, blood, major character death, beheading, stabbing, eyes
Word count: 974
Summary: Mordegon reveals himself after possessing El’s body for months. Eleven does something drastic.
Dark energy pulsed from the World Tree and glistened like cursed sunlight. It was somehow bright, and the team members squinted their eyes at its energy.
“What do we do? How do we close it?” Veronica shouted over the sound of the energy swirling in front of them.
“I’m afraid you don’t, dear Veronica,” a voice said.
One unfamiliar to them, one they heard often. El collapsed onto his knees and Serena gasped, bending down to help him up. He smacked her hand away and clutched at his chest as dark matter formed from it.
Slowly, gradually, a shadow emerged from El’s body and morphed into a figure in front of them.
He stood tall, in robes, with a white face and horned head. he held out a hand, long, primly trimmed red nails pointing.
“Thank you for leading me straight to the World Tree,” he said. “I will be taking that.” He extended his hand, the Sword of Light shooting to it. “You idiots kept me distracted for a good chunk of time, but my reckoning has finally come.”
"Mordegon!” Rab shouted. “So this is where ye’ve been hiding all along!”
The sword swirled in Mordegon’s hand. Dark energy pooled at the hilt and filled the whole room with the stench of rotting corpses.
“Mmm, there will be more talk later,” Mordegon said. “After I’ve destroyed the world!
He rose the sword and the darkness eclipsed it, swirling into a maelstrom. When Mordegon lowered the sword again, bulging eyes blinked at the team and it fit in his hand as one large, purple mass.
El stretched out his hand and tried to grab the sword back, clutching onto Mordegon’s robes. His eyes were devoid of energy — it seemed that being possessed for months at a time had worn at his body.
“El!” Serena shouted.
“Now time to destroy the World Tree! I have waited long enough — It is finally time!” Mordegon shouted.
He strutted up to the tree and brought out the sword. He aimed it at the core — and just as he was about to plunge it in, something darted in front of him. Metal hit metal. The eyes on Mordegon’s sword popped open and stared at the assailant.
“The Darkspawn!” Hendrik exclaimed when more eyes latched onto Eleven.
Eleven focused only on the enemy in front of him. They exchanged rapid blows, Eleven managing to keep the upper hand. Mordegon was taller, his sword heavier, and it looked more ornamental than useful compared to Eleven’s sturdy rapier.
It would only take one missed step for Mordegon to be on him. Eleven must have known this, but his body was too fatigued, his arms too heavy. It took one swipe for Mordegon to shove him to the ground.
The others gasped. Eleven’s eyes darted to them, but no one ran in to defend him.
“It would seem your friends aren’t going to save you this time,” Mordegon sneered.
He stepped closer and, as he knelt down, Eleven fired a zap spell into his eyes.
Mordegon roared, reeling back, his hands clutching at his face. He scowled and directed his eyes onto the other El, the one still collapsed on the ground, with the others surrounding him.
“If you won’t play nice, I’ll find someone who will,”Mordegon sneered.
“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Erik shouted, standing up with arm outstretched.
“Jasper, the orb,” Mordegon said with a flick of his hand.
Jasper held the orb aloft and it pushed everyone to their feet, the energy draining from them.
Mordegon approached El’s still body and Eleven’s eyes widened. Mordegon’s sword cut into the other him’s neck, and blood spurted out, coating people’s clothing in crimson red. Eleven’s own heart felt like it had exploded in his chest. He could see himself, see the same thing happening to him, as if he was right there, but he wasn't—
It wasn’t Eleven’s eyes that closed for the last time or Eleven’s head that rolled across the underbrush of the tree, making his fingers tingle numbly, his lips dry instantly, the horror creep onto his face until tears slid down his cheeks and he opened his mouth, but not sound came.
It was someone else who screamed, tearing the world open with her mournful gasps of horror.
Eleven moved immediately. He pulled out his sword and aimed for Mordegon’s chest, driving the blade directly into his body.
Mordegon gasped and blood began to pool over his tunic. Eleven pulled the blade out and stabbed again, and again, and again and again and again—
“No! Please, stop!”
Serena wailed in his ear, but it would not stop him from the deliberate, repetitive action of tearing apart the body of the man who had just killed him.
Arms grabbed at him to move away. He couldn’t. He refused, shaking their touches away, until he felt a flame spell at his back and he cried out in frustration and pain. Tears pricked at the edges of his eyes, but he didn’t feel sad. He turned away from the body for one second, and it disappeared into purple mist in front of him.
With nothing else to drive his anger into, Eleven shouted at the ground and dug his nails into the earth, falling to his knees and curling in on himself. He held his knees to his chest and closed his eyes. Goddess, fuck this! Fuck everything! How could this have happened—
He knew he was panicking. He knew he was exploding into rambling nerves and fear and frustration, but there was nothing he could do to calm himself. All he knew how to do was pant and hold himself close. Each stranger’s touch sent him deeper into himself, and he closed his eyes, wanting to forget. Wanting to not be hereanymore.
Benozzo Gozzoli,La danza di Salomè (The Dance of Salome)
c.1461-1462, tempera on panel, 23.8 x 34.3 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington
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Hewlett: Works From the Last 25 Years
Jamie Hewlett’s custom Tarot interpretation of XIII - Death the Major Arcana
XIII The nameless ARCANUM
Death
La Morte
Dècès
مَوْت
dɛθ
死
Muerte
död
ความตาย
смерть
죽음
θάνατος
kuolema
cái chết
As the final winner of tournament, the witch was awarded with public execution.
After stripping her and locking her on the execution table, the usher gently amputated her ability to resist using a razor sharp ulu. The mixed feeling of fear and shame delivered an explosive ecstasy as she was plundered and butchered in front of thousands of spectators.
His ulu went through her slender neck like a hot knife through butter.
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Betsy plunged toward the witch, and felt the spear tip carving through soft meat. She savored the sweet taste of flesh and victory until she realized it was her own neck she just lopped off.
Though it was the witch that won the duel, she envied Betsy and wondered herself what it’d feel like to cut her own head off.
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Skyrim + Puppet Master
inexplicables mini comics (part 1)
episode 1:
harold makes a phone call:
cressida demonstrates the inexplicable:
meredith confronts her grief:
suzy introduces herself:
episode 2:
meredith makes some new friends:
meredith apologizes to her new friends:
the stonewells reminisce:
uhhh, i have thrown myself wholeheartedly into the most recent RQ patreon miniseries Inexplicables, and my love language for this show in particular is incredibly dumb comics. so. yes. this is part 1 because there are… a lot.
(hello i am extremely indecisive and regret not having made this up like a proper master post the first time, but it’s my tumble i do what i want)
