The only noise
Is the clock
Almost as old as I am
From 1876
Still running like new,
And the sounds of random
Traffic
In the distance,
A cat eating,
An owl outside,
The tap tap tapping
Of my keyboard,
No sounds from
Others in my house,
Slumbering quietly,
Still,
And cold
Upstairs,
With quiet dreams,
As only
Fellow
Vampires
Will have.
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
This is Werewolf Week here at Vampiremaman.com
I’ve been posting stories of Werewolves, in relation to Vampires, the modern world, friendship, and the never ending quest of trying to understand each other.
It has also been a week of horrors that nobody can explain or understand.
Over the past few years I’ve written too many posts about how to try to explain to my children, and talk to my children about mass shootings and other unbelievable acts of violence. Sandy Hook was the hardest. You can’t explain why, or anything else. Nothing about it makes any sense. No good can come out of something like at, or any shooting. Even a day after 9/11, my two year old looked into the sky and asked, “Mommy, where are the airplanes?” We’d always looked in the sky where I pointed out the planes that flew over our home.
I don’t know a soul who isn’t still shaken from what happened in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
My friends in Las Vegas are deeply shaken. One is painting a mural in honor of those lost. I’ll post photos. The community has come together to help, and heal.
A few weeks ago I received a text message from the college my daughter attends about a gunman at one of the locations. I went cold. Nobody was hurt. No shots. The asshole was caught. Still, it chills even me to my bones.
With the three terrifying storms, and now the Las Vegas shooting we are numb, but also we are called to help. Unlike in a lot of movies, when things go bad people help each other. People mourn for those they have never met. We are one in our humanity, at least most of us are.
Nobody will ever know why a man decided to kill people at a music concert. Nobody will ever know why he decided to murder people who were parents, high school students, friends, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, good people…
I find myself without any original words, only sorrow and the feeling that I’m going to cry.
Nobody can understand that kind of evil, in a world that seems to be so full of evil and hate. Nobody can understand that kind of evil in a world so full of goodness and hope.
I write about the paranormal world, those who are Werewolves, Vampires, Ghosts, etc. I don’t try to horrify but write about the day-to-day existence of such beings in the modern world. I write about what it is like to be a little different, or unique, or strange compared to everyone else.
For example – Werewolf myths and stories have been around as long as humans and wolves. Some cultures believed that all it took was a wolf skin belt to make one become a Werewolf. Some said it was a form of witchcraft. Snopes worthy Werewolf stories have abounded for centuries.
In the Old English Werewolf means man-wolf. Sometimes the Greek term Lycanthrope (wolf-person) is used to describe someone who changes their shape from human to wolf, either by full moon light, on demand, or by some other sort of trigger.
There is also a condition known as Hypertrichosis in which a person is covered with hair – face and all. This is a genetic condition that has nothing to do with shape changing. It is just excessive hair (as far as I know.)
If you look at the history of Werewolves, and especially Witches you’ll find a world of blame.
Nobody could believe that someone would kill fifty-nine people for no reason, or injure more than five hundred so they explained it away with accusations of shape shifting and witchcraft.
They burned people alive, tortured them, and locked them away in the name of godliness. There was horror on both sides, with more innocent people caught in the middle. Ignorance and hate for some reason always seem to come up on top. To be crass, shit floats to the top along with dead things.
We can’t blame the modern horrors here in the United States or elsewhere in the world on Werewolves, Witches, Demons or Ghosts. The horror is human. The horror can’t be explained away.
The fact that people are trying to make all of this political has to stop. Yes, there are going to be assholes who are going to say and even do stupid things. They need to feel important. They aren’t. They need to blame and hate because that is where they find their power. They are broken. Stay good. Stay true. Keep your heart on healing and love.
The true monsters are those who kill, who hurt the weak, who subject women and children to slavery like conditions and keep them from their God given human rights, and who prevent others from the freedom of thought, religious belief, and prevent others from loving who they love.
About the love part. Why do people prevent same sex people from loving each other? Why do they force young people into loveless marriages? Why are transgender people beaten and murdered? Why do people abuse their spouses, children, and the elderly? There is no reason for it, except for monsters who are really human. It is control. It is evil and the cult of ignorance and control. It is every dystopian story ever written come true.
As Pogo said, “We have me the enemy and he is us.”
Then again, little possum, there is hope. There is always hope, because there are always those who hold the hand of a dying stranger, who wait in line for eight hours to give blood, who donate to build homes for people they’ve never met, who adopt shelter animals, who comfort those in need, and who feel in their hearts for others.
I’ve been writing for a while but I still don’t think I’ve come up with the right words.
Hold close to those you love, and keep your love light burning for all to see, especially for those who are in their darkest days.
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy, aka Fedor Jeftichew. The most famous example of someone with Hypertrichosis.
Please Santa bring me some fangs…
Some wish for peace on Earth. For years I wished for peace in my own family but I’ve given up. Enough of that least I get a headache that will last until after the end of the year.
I’ve wished for peace and quiet. But I have other wishes for all of my friends, especially my dear blogging friend who have provided me with so much good fun, thoughtful words and smart posts of all kinds.
My brother Val and I used to like to creep into churches and sit in the back so we could listen to the music. We were not welcome, but we were not completely unwelcome.
My views on faith and my own faith have changed over the years. I’ve always been fascinated by different religions and faiths – which is different from the faith I speak of. Anyway, I was always an outsider. Yet, I feel a kindred spirit with the artists and the music. It is the trappings that give comfort, the repetition, the traditions – the good traditions 0 the positive traditions.
When I walk in the woods or walk through the rooms of an art museum I feel faith. Something is there that is wonderful and real and magic. Something is there that is good. It is a goodness that anyone can let in. It is something that makes one believe that peace and goodness is possible.
Today is Christmas Eve. I believe that the message of Christ is about love and hope and giving. It is about trying to understand others. It is about beauty and joy. You can throw the rest of the stuff out. It is not a comfort. It is not faith. Faith is good. If it isn’t good then it is just a horror story written to scare people into submission – not written by Jesus. He knew better.
That is what I believe.
I respect the faiths of others. I can see good things in religions I don’t believe in. I can say “That is fun, but I’d never believe it.” Sure there are religions, if you can call them that, that horrify me, but that is something I will keep to myself for now.
Find faith in the love you feel. Find it in the sound of birds. Find it in friendship with those who are different. Find it in things you can’t understand. Find it in the words of poetry, the sound of a child laughing, the feel of the cold damp fog on your face, the music of frogs, and in your own heart.
Even those who don’t believe in a god or higher power or world beyond have to have faith. Faith in love and beauty and compassion.
Tomorrow we will celebrate. I hope it is a celebration for all, even if that celebration is a walk in the winter air or the lighting of a candle or the steady purring of a small furry cat.
This was first posted last December (2013) but I’m posting it again.
From Andrew: One of my fondest memories is walking with her in the snow at night. Her hands were hot, and as hard as she tried, she could never warm up my hands.
From Matthew: We looked at the stars in the night sky and didn’t feel dead anymore.
From Verity: A nip of brandy and a nip on the neck of my husband under the mistletoe.
From Lola: A lovely young man all tied up in red ribbons and bows. That isn’t figuratively either. He was all tied up.
From Tellias: We saw a great light in the sky and I knew something had happened that would change the world. That was a long time ago. I was very young.
From Eleora: We never did much for people we took blood from until we started to celebrate the Christmas holiday. Then we started to leave them presents. That is where the Santa Clause tradition came from. And this year I’m going to wear my red dress with the white fur trim and red boots and snowflake earrings.
From Val: My sister Juliette and I would sneak into churches and sing along to the carols. Everyone said it would kill us but we knew nobody who is damned could be so inspired by the music as we were.
From Cody: I used to be afraid of Vampires before I became one and found out how much fun they are, especially around the holidays. Well, except for the men in black and the zombies, but hey, you have to respect them for what they are.
From Adam (a Werewolf): Running in the mountain snow until we were so tired we couldn’t go another inch. My mother would be waiting with fresh meat, fruit cake and hot chocolate. We’d turn from wolves to boys and run naked all over the cabin as my parents laughed. It was crazy but, you know, we’re Werewolves.
From Aaron: We used to act out the Christmas Carol except someone would always tear out Scrooge’s neck before my mom could finish the narration. Oh man, we would laugh so hard.
From Max: Candle light and the long cool kiss of another Vampire.
From Teddy: I’ll never forgot the Christmas I pried my mother’s necklace off of the rotting corpse of the woman who stole it. I knew at that moment that Juliette was the Vampire I would one day marry and would proudly wear the necklace. It was also the night I learned I hadn’t lost my soul, or at least not completely.
From Jayne: I wore a red velvet dress trimmed with flowers and holly. The room was filled with candles and garland. Everyone tasted like cinnamon and whiskey.
From Ione: I was so excited about seeing Santa that I bit the cat.
From Elizabeth: Going for angel walks in the cemetery at midnight with Jayne and Mehitabel. The stone angels inspire the singing of the dead. It is quiet lovely and moving if you know what tombs to visit.
From Nathaniel: After years of spending Christmas protecting my kind from Vampire Hunters, I look forward to spending a quiet Christmas with my wife and child. I think I earned it.
From Thomas Kent: Christmas is a time for us to make frozen hearts warm and inspire peace among all creatures, even those of the night and cold.
To learn more about the individuals above click on their names.
Wishing you all dear readers sweet memories.
A Happy Christmas to all!
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
I imagine myself on a beach. I smell the salt air and feel the wind on my face. The foam laps at my feet. The waves crash. Sea birds cry out. Coming towards me is a man. He is buffed and beautiful and bare. His long wet hair is around his shoulders. Green eyes burn a bright seductive fire just for me. A selkie who has shed his seal skin to be come a beautiful man and he smiles right at me and whispers “make love to me.”
Then I tell him “I can’t do this. I have to pick the kids up then I’m meeting with a client. Maybe another time. Cancel that one. I’m married. Sorry. Oh well.”
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
