Bibliophile support group Re: A Word A Day – Paranormal Fantasy Style

[paulgoatallen]

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PamelaKKinneyPK wrote:

I think my dear or my sweet in French. Form of endearment. I could be wrong.

I have googled the term Ma Petite but have found several responses.  I think that it means in the novel, my little one but I am not sure.  Any ideas?

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Yep – "ma petite" is a French term of endearment...

Paul 

[gegarland]

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paulgoatallen wrote:

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PamelaKKinneyPK wrote:

I think my dear or my sweet in French. Form of endearment. I could be wrong.

I have googled the term Ma Petite but have found several responses.  I think that it means in the novel, my little one but I am not sure.  Any ideas?

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Yep – "ma petite" is a French term of endearment...

Paul 

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...but surely it is only a term that someone would apply to a woman or child, and never a woman to a man?

[Paranormal77]

Ok that was funny, what would be a term of endearment going the opposite way, a women to a man? Anyways thanks everyone, I have never taken any French so some of the phrases I can kind of get a sense of but like to know what they mean.  Now if it was German it would be a different story as I took 4 years of it.... Then again no offense to any potential German contributors, German is choppier than French which is more fluid. 

~Paranormal

[rowenacherry]

Petit means "little"

Petite is the feminine agreement.

Ma is the feminine possessive adjective.

Mon is the male possessive adjective.

(mon, ma, mes)

If one wanted to refer affectionately to a male, it would be "mon petit". I'm not sure how many full grown males would be pleased to be called "my little one".

For a female, it would me "ma petite".

[Paranormal77]

Lool Yes I dont know any guy that would like to be called my little one. But that was a very informational tid bit.  Thank you for your response.  I was wondering who was right in their translation, but yours makes perfect sense. 

[Stacia_Kane]

Scrying: Fortune-telling, usually by using a focus object such as a crystal ball or black mirror, but many different objects can be used (including various animal body parts). 

Bibliomancy: Another form of fortune telling, where in a question is asked and a book opened at random; the belief is that the first line the querent sees contains the answer. Bibliomancy was traditionally performed with a Bible, though whether that is for religious reasons or because Bibles were the only books a lot of people owned I'm not sure.

Defenestration: The act of throwing someone out of a window

Those are just a few off the top of my head... 

[Zack_Kullis]

Scrying with animal bones and parts is fascinating!! 

Here are a few others.

Cyclomancy:  A form of divination where an object is spun and its final resting position is consulted.  (Sounds like "spin the bottle" that I used to play as a kid, but the consulting was done with the lips....)

Verdelet:  The name of the demon that was tasked with carrying witches to their sabbaths.

[carmen22]

Bansidhe or Banshee -

The Banshee, from the Irish bean sí ("woman of the síde" or "woman of the fairy mounds" ) is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. Her Scottish counterpart is the bean shìth (also spelled bean-shìdh).

The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy) may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death. According to tradition, the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this select list.

Whatever her origins, the banshee chiefly appears in one of three guises: a young woman, a stately matron or a raddled old hag. These represent the triple aspects of the Celtic goddess of war and death, namely Badhbh, Macha and Mor-Rioghain. She usually wears either a grey, hooded cloak or the winding sheet or grave robe of the unshriven dead. She may also appear as a washer-woman, and is seen apparently washing the blood stained clothes of those who are about to die. In this guise she is known as the bean-nighe (washing woman).

  Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die.

 The banshee may also appear in a variety of other forms, such as that of a hooded crow, stoat, hare and weasel - animals associated in Ireland with witchcraft.

Message Edited by carmen22 on 06-15-2009 10:20 AM

[paulgoatallen]

Carmen:

I always loved the term banshee. Maybe that's why I loved Siouxsie and the Banshees back in the day...

Paul

 

[Zack_Kullis]

Ankou.  In Breton folklore, Ankou is normally the spirit of the last person to die in the community and is thought to usually be a woman.  The ankou is tall, skinny, has a large wide hat and long white hair, or sometimes it is a skeleton with a revolving head that enables it to see everybody everywhere.  The ankou usually drives a creaky "deathly wagon or cart" that is piled high with corpses.  It has been suggested that the Ankou came from the prehistoric dolmen-builders of Brittany.  Judging from many of the depictions that I have seen, it looks like it is closely related to the grim reaper.  If it stops at your house, you had better have your last rites done....

Teurst.  A teurst is a large, black being that is similar to the Ourisk of the Highlands, although its description varies between the different regions.  In fact, in the district of Vannes, a Teurst (they call it a Teus or Bugelnoz) is thought to be a spirit that appears in white between midnight and two in the morning.  The job of the Teurst, or Teus, in this area, is to rescue souls that are on their way to the Devil by spreading its mouth over them.   (My ancestors were highland Scots, so I have a bit of an affinity for their beliefs and legends)

[carmen22]

Changelings In Irish folklore, were the replacement for a mortal child who had been stolen by the Good People. For fear that a handsome baby would be kidnapped, people wouldn't mention its beauty. For his or her protection, they would not only call God's blessing upon the baby but actually spit at it, hoping that this would deceive the Good People into believing the baby wasn't worth stealing. Interestingly, boy babies were often dressed like females in their first years to deceive the Good People who were always looking for a mate for their queen. In folklore, changelings were very ugly and had a voracious appetite, eating everybody around them out of house and home. Adults too, were sometimes kidnapped and the changeling would be recognized by its harsh voice and mean-spirited personality.

"The Good People" are thought to have evolved from the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Irish race of gods, founded by the goddess Danu. Irish mythology recounts a number of successive invasions where ultimately, the Milesians forced the Tuatha Dé Danann underground to forevermore dwell beneath the earth. These vanquished subjects of Danu were said to be equipped with supernatural powers and Irish folklore is filled with tales of them seeking vengeance by tormenting those who dwell above the ground.

Message Edited by carmen22 on 06-25-2009 10:03 PM

[carmen22]

Catacombs-  an underground cemetery, esp. one consisting of tunnels and rooms with recesses dug out for coffins and tombs.

[Zack_Kullis]

Thinking of catacombs made me think of a few things; the first being the Parisian catacombs.  If any fan of the paranormal gets a chance to go to Europe, there are a few stops I think they should make.

Paris:  The Parisian catacombs are amazing!  In particular there is a part of the catacombs in Paris that have what is called the "Crypt of the Sepulchral Lamp".

Portugal:  In a city called Evora in Portugal, there is a church called "Capella dos Ossos" (Chapel of the bones).  The sight is almost beyond description!! This a must see!!!

Italy:  There is a small island in the Venetian lagoon called Poveglia.  I have not been there yet, but it is on my list!!  It is supposed to be VERY haunted, and if you read up on its history, it is very easy to see how it would be!!  I am sure it would be full of ghouls!!

Okay, sorry for running off at the mouth there.  As soon as I read Carmen22's post, I thought of ghouls.  I made a quick check on this thread, and I don't think that anybody mentioned this yet.  If it has been mentioned, I apologize for the repeat. 

Ghoul:  A creature from ancient Arabian folklore, it is a creature that inhabits graveyards or other uninhabited places.  It looks like the word actually means demon in Arabic.  It is a shapeshifter (we always love those!!), and usually takes the form of its last victim.

[Valorie35]

I just came across Ensorcelled (To Bewitch) in one of Kresley Cole's books. Thanks for this thread Paul! You learn something new everyday (as my mamma used to say!).

[paulgoatallen]

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carmen22 wrote:
Catacombs-  an underground cemetery, esp. one consisting of tunnels and rooms with recesses dug out for coffins and tombs.

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Great word, Krista! I L-O-V-E terms about the underground and especially dealing with tunnels – catacombs, subterranean, labyrinth, etc. If a novel has a storyline dealing with underground realms, I'm in!

Paul 

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[Robinyoda]

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PamelaKKinneyPK wrote:

myth: A sacred or traditional story that concerns the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to be in their present form. Myths serves to unfold a part of the world view of a people, or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon. Parables and allegories are myths.

Myth derived from the greek "mythos" literally truth.

Hydromancy-- form of scrying using water as the viewing medium.

[Nursefuratu]

Wonderful idea! sign me up for the calandar when you make one Paul!

Widdershins- to take a course opposite the apparent motion of the sun (in the Northern hemisphere), going counterclock-wise, lefthandwise, or to circle an object, by always keeping it on the left. Considered as unlucky or causing disaster.

Pheromones- any chemical substance released by an animal that serves to influence the physiology or behavior of other members of the same species.

Bogans/Boggarts-   A hideously repugnant and unintelligent beast, A brownie that has turned evil. In British folklore, a household spirit which causes things to disappear, milk to sour, and dogs to go lame.

[PamelaKKinneyPK]

Quetzalcoatl ("feathered serpent" or "plumed serpent") is the Nahuatl name for the Feathered-Serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerican culture. In Mesoamerican myth Quetzalcoatl is also a mythical culture hero from whom almost all mesoamerican peoples claim descent. These myths often describe him as the divine ruler of the mythical Toltecs of Tollan who after his expulsion from Tollan, travelled south or east to set up new cities and kingdoms. Many different Mesoamerican cultures, e.g. Maya, K'iche, Pipil, Zapotec claim to have been the only true lineage of Quetzalcoatl and thus of the mythical Toltecs.

One of many names given to the Black Dog of myths of British Isles and yes, even seen in the Americas.

Black Shuck or Old Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog which is said to roam the Norfolk, Essex and Suffolk coastline of England.

 I used the creature below in a very dark paranormal romance story written under my pseudonym, that ended up in an anthology:

The Sorcerous Finfolk : The Finfolk of Orkney folklore were a race of dark and gloomy sorcerers, feared and mistrusted by mortals. 

Their boating skills were unparalleled and as well as having power over storm and sea, they were noted shapeshifters.                                                                                                Unlike the selkie-folk, who were restricted - according to some tales at least - in the times they could come ashore, the Finfolk were truly amphibious.                                                                                                                         They came and went as they pleased, venturing between their undersea world and the human realm as they wished.                                                                                        The Finfolk led a nomadic lifestyle. They spent the long Orkney winters in the luxury of Finfolkaheem, a majestic city of unknown location, but usually said to be at the bottom of the sea.                                                                                                                           In the summer, however, they returned to Orkney, where they took up residence on their magical island home, Hildaland - one of Orkney's magical vanishing islands. Tradition has it that this Hildaland was later taken from the Finfolk and renamed Eynhallow.                    There were two distinct divisions within the ranks of the Finfolk - these were, unsurprisingly, the Finman and the Finwife. The tales of the Finmen generally make up the bulk of the folklore and are fairly standard in their descriptions of the gloomy creatures.

Pam

[KatRichardson]

Well, this has been stagnant for a while so here's some stuff I've been poking at recently:

Gris-Gris: A protetive amulet usually the form of a leather bag worn around the neck. Objects of power or significance to the person protected and the thing protected against are placed in the bag under ceremonial circumstances. Usually associated with voodoo (Vodou/vodun etc) or Santeria rites and related magical practices including Hoodoo/Conjure. The Gris-gris exists in many other mystical practices as well under other names.

Hoodoo: A mystical or folk magic system based in African-American magical and ceremonial rites derived from a variety of African and Caribbean sources. Hoodoo relies heavily on candle magic, herbs, and objects of sympathetic significance such as black cat bones, graveyard dust, and feathers. Practicioners often consider hoodoo to be, not magic, but a system of personal and psychological empowerment through ceremonial connection to ancesteral rites. Others claim it is, indeed magic. Your guess is as good as mine. As a noun "a hoodoo" may be a practicioner of hoodoo.  A hoodoo practicioner may be assisted in their work by spirits such as an Azziza or Legba.

Huli-Jin: A Chinese fox-spirit. These "clever" spirits/demons can shape-shift from their fox form to human form and often appear as seductive women willing to trade sex and magical knowldege for earthly power or love. The number of tails they have as a fox or cat indicates their power in the magical realm. Chinese legends speak of Huli-Jin lending their arcane assistance to sorcerers, emperors, and usurpers in their quest for earthly advancement. The ultimate Huli-Jin is the "nine-tailed fox/cat". This creature also appears in the Korean and Japanese legends as the Kumiho and Kitsune.

[TiggerBear]

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KatRichardson wrote:

Well, this has been stagnant for a while so here's some stuff I've been poking at recently:

Gris-Gris: A protetive amulet usually the form of a leather bag worn around the neck. Objects of power or significance to the person protected and the thing protected against are placed in the bag under ceremonial circumstances. Usually associated with voodoo (Vodou/vodun etc) or Santeria rites and related magical practices including Hoodoo/Conjure. The Gris-gris exists in many other mystical practices as well under other names.

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Also a Medicine Bag by way Shaman (American Natives), just add a few more herbs. The spell can be more specific to the user and one can change the user. A medicine bag is made for one person only.

A Gris-gris can be handed to a other and will work close to the same way. (shrug) Different magic.

BTW Can not way for you next book!