P.J.Harvey: Horses in my Dreams

Inside the mind of the octopus | Orion Magazine

This is a beautiful, sometimes sad, piece on not just the intelligence of the octopus, but the awareness of such a mysterious and enchanted creature, in particular, one named Athena in an aquarium that moved the writer deeply: Inside the mind of the octopus | Orion Magazine

Cows and Magnets

I had no idea. Cows are fed magnets -- on purpose. I found this news by following this Wikipedia link - Cow magnet - which I found in this story on a study of supposed magnetic cows.

So what's a cow magnet, for those that don't know?

A rancher or dairy farmer feeds a magnet to each calf at branding time; the magnet settles in the rumen or reticulum and remains there for the life of the animal.

When the cow grazes, it often consumes and swallows what is called tramp iron: baling and barbed wire, staples, nails, and other metallic objects. These objects are indigestible and would lodge in the reticulum and cause inflammation resulting in lower milk production (for dairy cattle) or lower weight gain (for feeder stock). This condition is called hardware disease.

The cow magnet attracts such objects and prevents them from becoming lodged in the animal's tissue. While the resultant mass of iron remains in the cow's rumen as a pseudobezoar (an intentionally introduced bezoar), it does not cause the severe problems of hardware disease. Cow magnets cannot be passed through a cow's 4th bonivial meta-colon. (Wikipedia)

Since cows have magnets inside of them, this was offered as a theory as to why the cows, according to one group of scienitists, seem to align themselves so poetically, as noted in the above mentioned link:

...a group of guys with Biology and wildlife backgrounds were apparently sitting around looking at pictures taken by Google Earth, when they noticed that there seemed to be a pattern in the way some cows in a pasture aligned themselves. After looking at more pictures, a larger pattern began to emerge. Oddly enough, the cows seemed to be aligning themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field lines. The group, led by Hynek Burda wrote up a paper describing what they’d found and had it published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

And, as happens in these studies, another group came along and disputed the first study, which was disputed right back by the first group.

Animal Symbolism in Dreams: Baby Elephant

I visit What's Your Sign.com now and then and thought I'd share a link about animal symbolism in dreams: Animals In Dreams - What Animals Symbolize in Dreams.

I was particularly interested in the above because it seems I've been having animal dreams lately. Like yesterday's silly and enigmatic Penguin Moons dream.

Last night, a very disturbing dream about a baby elephant that I was keeping as a "pet" (something I would never do, and I am adamantly against keeping exotic animals as pets, or even in most zoo like situations/captivity.) Jim reminds me that the elephant hasn't been fed for a long time, and it's really hungry. This surprises me because I thought he was fine. He's in the backyard. So I go out to check, and feel bad I hadn't realized he would need to eat elephant food, and he follows along my side but then starts to nip at me like a dog would, and the elephant is pissed. Again I'm surprised, for the baby elephant is so cute! But he's behaving very aggressively. He's really hurt me by bumping into me and nipping at me.  Somehow I try to get him over a wall or something -- where food is-- but it ends up tragically and he falls from pretty high and crashes to the ground. He's bleeding, hurt, really injured. I feel terrible, just horrible, I'm crying. I try to feed him vegetables, things he might like. He feels better but it's temporary, he's dying. And in pain. I also worry about the neighbor's, because he landed in their house, and there's blood and a mess everywhere and how do I explain that? Jim hands me a gun and tells me I have to kill the elephant, put him out of his misery, it's the only right thing to do. I know it is but I just cannot bring myself to it. I am so miserable, so sad, and feel so bad that I've created this by thinking I could take care of a baby elephant in my backyard in the city and nothing would happen.

 What's Your Sign has a lot about elephants, animal meanings and symbolism connected with chakras, totems. I found interesting insights regarding elephants but not baby elephants specifically and obviously the fact the elephant in my dream was a baby is significant. I'm thinking this has something to do with health and life changes on one level but I need to explore this more.

But if you are curious about dream imagery and meaning in the context of animals, have fun exploring the site, which offers a lot of information on many symbols from different cultures and systems.

On Binnall of America: White Haired Guardian, Animal Ally

My new Trickster's Realm column is now available at Tim Binnall's site:White Haired Guardian, Animal Ally.

Baptizing the Animals

The other night elements in the dream shifted a bit. I’m on a hill and decide to shoot at a bottle on top of a tree stump that’s sticking up out of the river. I aim a rifle, shoot, and hit it right off the first time. I’m pretty surprised I hit it, and even more surprised I wanted to in the first place. I kind of wonder, what am I doing with this gun? I don’t like guns! Then I see a man enter the water and hold down what at first I think is a cat, but becomes a black panther. Beautiful animal, but silent and moving so gracefully. I worry it’s dead, or drowning, yet the man’s intent doesn’t seem to be of harm. More like he’s performing some kind of ritual. Then the black panther turns into a large black and brown dog. Again, very very beautiful, and large, and I worry about it’s safety but the man doesn’t seem to be about harm. It’s some kind of message; some sort of ritual.

Stoned Wallabies Make Crop Circles

Years ago a British scientist offered the theory that crop circles were made by "mating hedgehogs." Now we have another animal related theory to explain crop circles: wallabies. Stoned wallabies, who've had their way with the poppies in the poppy field, then, loaded out of their little mammal minds, flop about, creating crop circles. ;Stoned wallabies make crop circles

Australian wallabies are eating opium poppies and creating crop circles as they hop around "as high as a kite", a government official has said.

Black macaque takes self-portrait: Monkey borrows photographer's camera | Mail Online

Great story, with pics:
Black macaque takes self-portrait: Monkey borrows photographer's camera | Mail Online

Dragons and Dire Wolves: Will the Beasts Rescue The Good in Game of Thrones?

I'm hooked on the HBO series Game of Thrones. Funnily enough, I didn't want to get into watching the series when it was being advertised for two reasons: one, I feel I watch too much television as it is (though probably don't) and didn't want to get into another series, and two, the genre didn't really grab me. My husband really wanted to see it though so I gave it a try. I was hooked from the first few moments.

For those watching the TV series, you know that last Sunday's episode was one hell of a shocker! I don't think there have been more than half a dozen television series with such outright, in your face shockers. And for those who've read the book series by George R. R. Martin, you'll know what follows, but for myself, I haven't read the books (not yet, now I plan to) so I can only speculate on future episodes.

Things look bad for just about everyone; war has already started in battles here and there and it looks like one end all war is coming. Not to mention the low humming sub-theme of "Winter is Coming..." which can only be bad. Evil spirits, assumed to be long extinct if not outright non-existent to begin with, have been waking up. Yes, things are grim indeed. Very grim.

Within the mix of imps (who is one of the sexist characters on television, okay, that might be weird, but  many women agree with me), kings, queens, heroes, villains, intrigue, betrayal, sex (good old fashioned lust filled something for everyone sex), there are the creatures. The beasts. The animals.

There are the Dire Wolves, beautiful and magical animals, one in particular. The Dire Wolves are fiercely loyal, warrior-like in the protection of their "masters," bound in an almost spiritual manner to their owners, and possess preternatural abilities, including a psychic connection.Then there are the Dragon eggs; like the Dire Wolves, no longer extant. Thought to be outright fantasy, or at least, no longer existing, three eggs lay in a chest as a novelty. They are beautiful and a curiosity, and yet... there is the hint that they may awaken.

Will it be the beasts in this story that help rescue humans in Game of Thrones? Dragons and Dire Wolves; will we see more of them in future episodes? I hope so, and I think we will.

Related posts:
Game of Thrones Second Episode: Dire Wolves
Game of Thrones: Dragon Eggs

Game of Thrones: Dragon Eggs

Besides the cool and no doubt preternatural Dire Wolves in HBO's Game of Thrones, we also get dragon eggs. Given as a wedding gift to Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke), recently married to the Dothraki King, the petrified dragon eggs sit interestingly in an opened chest in Daenerys' room. Considered valuable because they're so unusual, the eggs are just that: a curiosity, since dragons have been extinct for centuries.  Ah, but we know better... the eggs come in threes, a magickal number always, in tales like these, and just because it's said that the "...dragons no longer ride..." doesn't mean it's so. As I've commented on this blog in here, and here, I haven't read any of the books in the Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin, so I don't know what's coming, or how closely the TV series follows the books. But following the classic trail of lore, as well as the hints in the show (such as traveling the seas, which the Dothraki have avoided) I think it's a good guess to say those dragon eggs are going to hatch, and the dragons shall be ridden. No doubt with Daenerys Targaryen in the lead. The eggs have already been curiously warm to the touch, a sign of things to come.

Official World Tapir Day Website

A little late, but congratulations to the tapirs of earth:Official World Tapir Day Website

Game of Thrones 2nd Episode: Dire Wolf

Episode 2 of Game of Thrones was just as great as the first episode, and this time, we had more Dire Wolf goodness. I love the dire wolves; beautiful animals. Of course, they're not really dire wolves, but dogs. I've read on-line that they were huskies, yet, while they look husky like, they don't seem to be true huskies. Then I thought they might be husky-wolf hybrids, or something like that, but according to this Yahoo's Answers at Yahoo.com  about the show's dire wolves, the animals are actually a breed called Northern Inuit, from the UK. An Associated Content article has more information. The breed has only been around since the 1980s. And here's more on the Game of Thrones Winter Is Coming.net.

SPOILER!

The wolves were more present in last night's episode. A definite supernatural vibe to these creatures: special magical/spiritual bond between human "owner" and wolf, telepathic bond or communication, protection, loyalty, connections between the "tribe" as a whole, human and wolf alike.

In a very moving and upsetting segment, one of the wolves is ordered killed,in a moment of spite to presumably avenge the mistreatment of the spoiled Prince. Very hard to watch, very sad. A supernatural moment at her death however; the other wolves, separated by distance, responded to the murder of their sister. And the child who had lain still in bed for a month due to a botched attempt on his life (by the very same evil Queen who had the wolf killed) awoke at that moment. Is the dire wolf spirit now within him? The wolf, sacrificed to appease the need for power, control, and blood lust, may return in human form.

Readers of the book series by know what happened, but as I said in my first post about the wolves, I hadn't even heard of the books before the HBO series. So I'm a newbie. I don't know how the television adaptation compares to the books, but, I am loving Game of Thrones!

The White Dire Wolf and Game of Thrones

Well, I got myself hooked on HBO's Game of Thrones, of which the first episode aired tonight. The series is based on the series by George R. R. Martin. I'm not familiar with the books, and have no idea how the television version compares, so no comment there.

A Game of Thrones is the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 6 August 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award,^[1] and was nominated for both the 1998 Nebula Award^[2] and the 1997^[1] World Fantasy Award. The novella Blood of the Dragon, comprising the Daenerys Targaryen chapters from the novel, won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella. (Wikipedia)

SPOILER!

A scene in the first episode includes the discovery of "direwolf" cubs by Lord Eddard Stark, leader of the House Stark. The mother dire wolf had been killed by a stag and the pups are about to be killed as well by the humans who find them. At the last minute, the cubs are saved, adopted by the would be killers, for, as one of the characters says, (paraphrasing) "The wolves were meant for us to find," since the dire wolf is the House Stark's totem.

image source here

After gathering up the five cubs, they are about to walk away, when one of the characters notices a sixth cub. Picking up the wolf, the others laugh at him, for this one is a runt. They comment that it figures he'd get the runt, since he himself is the bastard child of the group. An outsider, like the runt cub, which is all white. The bastard son's name is Jon Snow; the last name symbolically underscoring the symbolism of the white cub. Jon Snow has always been an outsider because he's the bastard son; his cub is also an outsider: white, a runt, and mute.

I suspect that the fact the bastard of the group found the runt of the litter -- and a white animal -- will reveal something along the lines of this character's heritage. A surprise, a link to royalty (magickal or otherwise), power. The white animal will also become something quite powerful; a protector, a fierce and wise guardian... both outsiders, both carrying power, magick, keepers of a legacy, or secret, a lonely quest, the hero's journey.

For those who know all about Game of Thrones, this might seem obvious, silly, or exasperating ("boy, will she be surprised when it turns out that... ha ha") but for me, it's all new, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, including the fate of the direwolves.

Direwolf - Game of Thrones Wiki

ShukerNature: BLUE PIGS AND HYAENA-DOGS

Wondering about blue pigs and more, from Dr. Karl Shuker. Delightful and interesting article. (thanks to Lesley for link)
ShukerNature: BLUE PIGS AND HYAENA-DOGS

"Eyes of the Mothman"

Cryptomundo reports on a new mothy venture: Eyes of the Mothman.

Bird Falls Go Hollywood

People, people, people, there has been no fall of pigeons upon the seedy streets of Hollywood .  . .

Yesterday, I followed a link on the always exploitative and titillating Jeff Rense site to a story about another bird fall, this one in Hollywood, California. Right on Sunset Blvd. My old home, I lived in that area for many years. Birds falling to their deaths in my old neighborhood; I couldn't resist following the lead.

Very early on in reading the article, it became clear it was a joke. Here's what I wrote yesterday on this piece on my blog Octopus Confessional:

I found the link on Rense.com, where it was presented as serious. "371 Dead Birds Fall from Sky on Sunset Blvd." The article very quickly turns ugly in a not- funny- but- we- think- we're -being -funny way. Kind of nasty all the way around, with the smarmy comments about the homeless. But what I strikes me the most is the marginalization of a very serious global phenomena. Whether it's intentional, as in government Dr. Evil plant and cover-up doing its disinfo thing, or, just some smart ass being not as clever as he thinks he is, that constant, low level hum that sends the signal it's not that bad, these events aren't connected, nothing to see here, is being maintained. (371 Dead Birds Fall from Sky on LA's Sunset Blvd; Similar to California, Arkansas, Louisiana Bird Drops -)

It is obvious from reading the article no deadly fall of pigeons bloodying the streets of Hollywood has happened, but the story is being presented as real. Rense is still at it, he's highlighted the story on his site under one of his special it's the end of the world we're all going to die sections.  Deborah Dupre at Examiner.com has written an article about this, protesting the plight of L.A's homeless, who, according to the Associated Content article, grabbed the bloody dead bird bodies, throwing them onto the grills of hot dog vendors, apparently frenzied by hunger:

One man had already cleaned his fowl and was arguing with a hot dog vendor about frying it on his hot dog grill. The homeless held a bloody knife and shook the pigeon in the vendor's face. The pigeon's entrails hung at least a foot from the pigeon's slashed belly. The guts swayed as the homeless man passionately pointed his knife at the hot dog grill...The poor pigeons that had landed in the street were mostly squashed. A bloody mess."

Stylistically, it should be obvious that this is a hoax/creative exercise as the following excerpts show:

I heard about the horrific event from my neighbor, who happens to whistle when he talks and has a goiter on his neck.

That alone should have given it away, but here are more examples:

The hot dog vendor had abandoned his cart and a dozen or more homelesses were cutting the breasts out of the pigeon corpses and grilling the meat. They had formed a small mob. One whole pigeon corpse, still with feathers and not gutted, sat atop the grill.

Associated Content pays for articles. I tried it myself a few years ago but ended up confused as to their pay system; depending on the type of permissions and controls you choose (turning over your rights to your content to them) you get paid a certain amount per view of your article. So know that if you visit the link he's getting paid, no doubt he's received a lot of hits so far.

I did a simple search of L.A. news sources, and didn't find anything about this story at all. That, and the writing style, are clues that this is not a real event in any way, but a made up story by an entrepreneurial individual, one who is, according to his bio on Associated Content: " . . . is writing a novel titled Parade of Bums, and working on a collection of short fiction stories."

A Man And His Hobby

One scientist's hobby: recreating the Ice Age:

CHERSKY, Russia – Wild horses have returned to northern Siberia. So have musk oxen, hairy beasts that once shared this icy land with woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats. Moose and reindeer are here, and may one day be joined by Canadian bison and deer.

Later, the predators will come — Siberian tigers, wolves and maybe leopards.
Russian scientist Sergey Zimov is reintroducing these animals to the land where they once roamed in millions to demonstrate his theory that filling the vast emptiness of Siberia with grass-eating animals can slow global warming.

"Some people have a small garden. I have an ice age park. It's my hobby," says Zimov, smiling through his graying beard. His true profession is quantum physics.

Forget Pink Plastic Piggy Banks: Get the Real (Dead) Thing

Animal activists, as well as just, well, sane people, are creeped out by TheCheeky.com's offering of a piggy bank. (See Animal Activists Aflutter Over Real-Piglet Piggy Bank.) New take on a classic and iconic "toy" -- this one is a real pig. A dead pig, er, piglet, one that's been properly taxidermied. And they cost only $4,000.00 apiece. 

The company insists they find piglets that have died of "natural causes," and that's partly why the price tag is so high. Takes time to find a pristine piglet newly dead from natural causes.


The Winnipeg Humane Society commented that the bank is "a particularly callous and demeaning exploitation of a baby animal's dead body."

Again, the company insists no piglets are killed or abused, and the company seems baffled by the outcry, misunderstanding the general aura of Dr. Evil Gratuitous creepiness about the whole thing:

For some reason, people think we're breeding pigs with slots in their backs," he said. "Either these people are kids, or they're really, really special adults."

Hart, one of the founders of the company, is not for animal cruelty and agrees with animal welfare activists:

"It's important for people to back up animals, who can't speak," he agreed, "but we're not killing any animals."
 

But back to that creepy vibe; it seems Hart and his partner Ryan McCormick don't get it, or, maybe are just misunderstood in their twisted sense of humor view of the world, for another one of their products are "Glory Hole stickers." These tasteful items can be used thusly:

The stickers can be slapped on the walls of bathroom stalls to give the impression that the occupant is being watched.

At least they don't cost $4,000.00. I don't think. Unless they're made from pigskin maybe.

Sharktopus! On SyFy

 I cannot wait for this to air on SyFy. Produced by Roger Corman, looks campy, looks great. No air date, trailer just says "Coming Soon." WHEN, Syfy Channel, when?

Wonderful, Incredbile, Amazing Doberman

This clip has been making the rounds, I've seen it on Facebook, Twitter, several blogs. But it's such a great story of animal communicating I had to post it here. Dobermans are great dogs, incredibly sweet and extremely intelligent. I think a lot of people continue to underestimate animals. While I find this story a wonderful example of our connection with animals and their abilities to think, communicate and yes, express themselves creatively, I'm not surprised. (thanks to Lesley of The Wild Kingdom for the link.)