Chiara C. Rizzarda's Blog, page 26

#Spooktober 9: The Black Chamber

“The Black Chamber” by Johann August Apel, translated by Thomas De Quincey in Knight’s Quarterly Magazine, Series 1, Volume 1 (1823). You can read it today on my Patreon.

#Spooktober 8: The Death’s Head

“The Death’s Head” by Friedrich August Schulze from Tales of the Dead (1813), translated by Sarah Elizabeth Utterson. You can read it today on my Patreon.

#Spooktober 7: the Phantom Piper

The Phantom Piper is a legendary figure from Tudor England, often associated with ghostly music and haunting various locations, particularly in the West Midlands of England.

One of the most famous legends involves the Phantom Piper of the Wrekin, a hill in Shropshire. According to local folklore, the piper’s music can be heard echoing through the hills, especially on misty nights. It is believed that the piper is a spirit of a long-dead musician who met a tragic fate, possibly linked to a historical event.

You can read more about him on my Patreon.

Further Readings:

Briggs, Katharine. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. New York: Dorset Press, 1971.MacGregor, Alasdair Alpin. The Ghost Book: Strange Hauntings in Britain. London: Robert Hale, 1955.Simpson, Jacqueline, and Steve Roud. A Dictionary of English Folklore. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.The Lore of Scotland: A Guide to Scottish Legends. New York: Random House, 2010.“Phantom Piper of Derbyshire,” in Folklore of Derbyshire, Derbyshire Ghosts, and Legends

#Spooktober 6: Ceffyl Dŵr

The Ceffyl Dŵr is a creature from Welsh folklore, known as the “Water Horse”, a ghostly horse-like being which haunts rivers, lakes, and misty moors, luring unsuspecting victims to their doom. It’s often described as an ethereal, shape-shifting entity that can appear solid one moment and then dissolve into mist or water the next.

The creature typically takes the form of a beautiful, sleek horse. At first glance, it may seem like an ordinary creature with a glossy coat and strong build, but its hooves often leave no prints, even in the softest mud, and its eyes can glow with an eerie light. In some tales, the Ceffyl Dŵr’s mane and tail appear to be made of water or mist.

The Ceffyl Dŵr’s ability to shape-shift adds to the danger of encountering one: it can vanish into fog or mist, appearing and disappearing at will, leaving no trace behind. As many folklore shapeshifters, it’s a malevolent creature with a penchant for trickery: it uses its beauty and grace to lure people into danger, appearing to travellers near water sources, especially at night or in the early morning when the mists are thick, and visibility is low.

Once someone attempts to mount the Ceffyl Dŵr, believing it to be a friendly horse, the creature reveals its true nature. It gallops toward the nearest body of water, carrying its victim with it. As the rider realizes they are in danger and tries to dismount, the Ceffyl Dŵr will suddenly rise into the air, soaring above the water before diving into the depths, dragging the unfortunate soul down with it. Victims of the Ceffyl Dŵr are never seen again.

Some other versions of the legend describe the Ceffyl Dŵr as a guardian of sacred or cursed waters, attacking those who dare to disturb the peace of these places. Others portray it as a lonely, vengeful spirit, forever bound to the water it haunts, seeking to pull the living into the realm of the dead. Some other times, it’s a creature of mystery and sorrow, the ghost of a horse that drowned in a river or lake, cursed to remain in the water forever, repeating the circumstances of its death with each new victim it claims.

One of the most famous tales involving the Ceffyl Dŵr comes from the region of Brecon in South Wales. The story tells of a young woman who encountered a beautiful white horse drinking from a nearby stream while crossing the moors at dusk. The horse seemed gentle and inviting, and tired from her journey, the woman decided to ride it back to her village. As soon as she mounted the horse, it began to gallop uncontrollably, racing toward the river at an unnatural speed. Realizing too late that this was no ordinary horse, the woman tried to dismount, but the Ceffyl Dŵr took to the air, soaring above the water before plunging into the river with her. She was never seen again.

Another legend tells of a fisherman who encountered the Ceffyl Dŵr near Llyn y Fan Fach, a lake in Carmarthenshire. The fisherman saw a magnificent horse by the water’s edge and approached it, hoping to capture it and take it home. As he reached out to touch the horse, it dissolved into mist, enveloping him. The mist thickened, and the fisherman became disoriented, losing his way. When the mist finally cleared, the fisherman found himself standing waist-deep in the freezing lake, miles from where he had started, with no memory of how he had gotten there. He barely escaped with his life, and he told others of his encounter, cautioning them to stay away from the misty shores of the lake.

Picture in the header: Misty Lake by Olga Yakubouskaya

#Spooktober 4: The Spectre Bride

“The Spectre Bride” by Friedrich August Schulze comes from German Stories (1826), translated by Robert Pearse Gillies. You can read it today and tomorrow on my Patreon.

 

#Spooktober 3: Dulle Griet

Dulle Griet, literally “Mad Meg,” is a figure from Dutch folklore and art, often depicted as a terrifying figure leading an army of women into Hell.

In the most famous depictions, she is shown as a woman dressed in ragged clothes or clad in armour; she often wields a weapon such as a sword or a large kitchen tool like a pan or ladle, like a chaotic warrior blending elements of the domestic and the demonic.

Dulle Griet is also frequently depicted in the company of other grotesque figures—women who are described as having abandoned all social norms. Which, as we know, is the scariest thing to men.

According to legend, Dulle Griet leads a group of women on a raid into Hell itself, plundering the underworld and bringing chaos to its inhabitants. This bold, almost absurd act makes her a symbol of defiance, and her behaviour is often interpreted as a reflection of the societal fears surrounding women who step outside their expected roles. Hell represents ultimate authority and punishment, but not even that can scare her army.

In some versions of the legend, she is depicted as a vengeful woman who has lost everything and decided to fight back against the Devil, while in others, she is portrayed as a woman driven mad by greed or the desire for power.

Dulle Griet’s raid on Hell can also be seen as a satirical comment on human folly, illustrating how greed, anger, and chaos persist even in the face of ultimate damnation.

The legend of Dulle Griet was popularized by the famous Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder in his painting Dulle Griet (1563). This artwork is one of the most well-known depictions of Griet and serves as the primary visual representation of her legend. In Bruegel’s painting, Griet is shown as a large, powerful woman striding across a hellish landscape and leading her female followers into battle, stealing from Hell itself, with monstrous creatures and nightmarish scenes unfolding around her.

The painting captures the chaotic energy of the legend—hellfire burns in the background, and strange, demonic beings lurk in every corner. Griet herself seems undeterred, moving forward, and she carries a bag of plunder.

The painting is now housed in the Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp, Belgium.

In addition to Bruegel’s work, Dulle Griet has also appeared in various forms in modern art, often reinterpreted by contemporary artists exploring themes of female empowerment, madness, and rebellion. These modern depictions of Dulle Griet often emphasize her role as a feminist icon—a woman who refuses to conform to society’s expectations and instead takes control of her own destiny, even if it means storming the gates of Hell itself.

You can read more about her in this article.

#Spooktober 2: The Fated Hour

“Wan the maiden was,
Of saintly paleness, and there seem’d to dwell
In the strong beauties of her countenance
Something that was not earthly.”
Southey’s Joan of Arc.
“The clock has toll’d; and, hark! the bell
Of death beats slow.”

— Mason’s Elegies.

The novel comes from Tales of the Dead (1813), translated by Sarah Elizabeth Utterson, and it was penned by Friedrich August Schulze. You can read it on my Patreon.

 

#Spooktober 1: the Gwrach y Rhibyn

The Gwrach y Rhibyn, also known as “The Hag of the Mist,” is a figure from Welsh folklore often compared to the Irish Banshee. She is a harbinger of death, as her shrieks and wails warn of impending doom for those who hear them. She is described as a grotesque, ghostly figure with long, matted hair, often dark or white, that falls in unkempt strands around her face. Her eyes are burning, her mouth is wide and gaping with sharp teeth, and she is often clothed in tattered, flowing garments that appear to be part of the mist she emerges from. The Gwrach y Rhibyn might also possess bat-like wings, which she spreads when flying through the night skies. Some depictions also show her with elongated, claw-like fingers.

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Not sure whether Goya had her in mind (probably not), but this doesn’t look good.

The Gwrach y Rhibyn is most active at night, particularly in the misty, liminal hours before dawn. According to legend, she appears to individuals or families before a death, often hovering outside a window or door, crying in the darkness. The wail of Gwrach y Rhibyn is said to be a harrowing sound, a mix of a woman’s scream and the howling wind.

She is believed to frequent isolated rural areas, especially near rivers, crossroads, and graveyards. She is sometimes associated with ancient burial sites, where she is thought to watch over the restless dead. In some legends, she is said to be the ghost of a wronged woman, cursed to roam the earth eternally, seeking out those who are nearing death.

The Gwrach y Rhibyn’s behavior is also linked to family heritage. According to certain tales, she appears specifically to members of old Welsh families, following their bloodlines through generations. She might even be seen as a twisted protector, ensuring that no death in her chosen family goes unmarked by her presence.

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View from Greenwood Cemetery, by Rudolph Cronau

One of the most well-known stories involving the Gwrach y Rhibyn tells of her appearance to a family in a remote Welsh village. A young boy in the family fell seriously ill, and despite the best efforts of the local healer, he continued to worsen. One night, the family heard a loud, mournful cry outside their window. The father rushed outside, thinking it was an animal in distress, only to be met with the horrifying sight of a Gwrach y Rhibyn, flapping in the mist with tattered wings. Her wild eyes met his for a brief moment before she vanished into the night. The boy passed away the following morning, and the family believed that the Hag of the Mist had come to claim his soul.

Another tale speaks of the Gwrach y Rhibyn appearing at a crossroad, where a group of travellers heard her wailing in the distance. Curious but cautious, they approached the sound only to see her ghastly figure standing in the middle of the road, her wings spread wide, blocking their path. Paralyzed by fear, they watched as she slowly faded into the mist. The travellers later discovered that one of their companions, who had ventured ahead, had met with a fatal accident just beyond that very crossroad.

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You do not mess with crossroads. (Jan Brueghel The Elder, Landscape with Village near Crossroads and Distant View)

Although Gwrach y Rhibyn is a lesser-known figure in wider European folklore, as many Welsh folklore compared to the over-used Irish creatures, she has inspired a number of Welsh artists and illustrators over the years. Her haunting figure can be found in illustrations from Welsh folklore collections, often depicted as a spectral hag wrapped in mist, her wings spread wide against a bleak, moody landscape.

One notable modern depiction is found in the artwork of Welsh artist Margaret D Junes Jones, who created an evocative piece of Gwrach y Rhibyn hovering over a misty valley. Here you can read more about her, and find some of the books she illustrated.

Policies Management for Participatory Planning

Effective policy management is crucial in participatory and integrated planning processes, ensuring that the strategic frameworks guiding development projects align with both local regulations and broader goals. This involves not only understanding and navigating existing policy landscapes but also actively shaping and adapting policies to support the participatory approach. By fostering collaboration between institutions, stakeholders, and communities, policy management ensures that planning efforts are cohesive, legally compliant, and able to respond to the complex needs of urban and infrastructure projects. Through well-managed policies, the participatory process can move from vision to actionable, sustainable outcomes.

The UN-Habitat Urban Planning and Design Lab proposes to use integrated and participatory planning as a planning alternative in situations where no previous planning trajectory had been drawn to tackle a particular issue, or within difficult political contexts. It identifies seven main features of this approach:

a project-based approach which, as opposed to the product-based approach, focuses on outputs, the management of stages and respect of constraints such as deadlines and budget limits;an understanding of the normative framework rather than individual regulations;an integrated institutional process;a capacity building process that goes through assessment of needs and the establishment of goals;strategies to foster participation;a thorough methodological design of the intervention;a focus on the implementation of results.

The Montréal Urban Ecology Centre also developed a “Participatory Urban Planning” guideline and has been used by many communities across Canada. It’s particularly notable for its highlighting of six stages, which are also relevant for infrastructure planning at a scale that’s larger than urban:

launch the project;understand the issues;explore solutions;decide on scenarios;act togetherinaugurate designs.

As we’ll see in San Diego, LEGO Serious Play offers invaluable tools for at least three of these stages: understanding the issues, exploring solutions through the rapid but thorough evaluation of scenarios, and ensuring the necessary commitment for a joined action between the different stakeholders.

Assessment Stage of a Participatory Workshop

Any good workshop starts with one simple question: is the workshop needed and would it be beneficial?

The “Enabling Inclusive Cities” toolkit developed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provides an invaluable framework to explore the needs of specific populations or regions through two basic pillars: policy and planning, and a sectoral assessment on the other side, to determine needs, options, and priorities within a specific sector. It includes, for instance:

Institutional and governance assessment on institutional structures responsible for delivery of services, featuring:Institutional mapping: identification and mapping of governance and institutional structures;Capacity needs assessment: review of skills and capacity of project staff in city government offices, resulting in a training needs assessment;Stakeholder analysis: identification and assessment of key stakeholders involved in the sector, and facilitation of a stakeholder workshop to gather their inputs on the needs and priorities of the communities;Urban finance assessment: matrix and municipal finance health check.

 

Inclusive needs assessment:

 

Sectoral assessment: focusing on thematic groups such as water and sanitation, solid waste management, energy, transport, land management, shelter, education, and health;Inclusive infrastructure assessment: assessing the status of infrastructure, cost of upgrading, and future growth.Inclusive service delivery assessment on service, access, quality, reliability, and affordability;Pro-poor strategy: current status, backlog, policies, programs, resources, or lack thereof.Inclusive economic analysis on local employment, income, and affordability.

Determining the necessity and potential benefits of a workshop is the first step in any successful participatory design initiative, ensuring that participatory design is not only inclusive but also targeted, addressing key institutional, infrastructural, and service delivery challenges.