Sam Cabot's Blog, page 3

It's 20 Days until SKIN OF THE WOLF...

Today's mask: Eastern Bank of Cherokee Booger Dance Mask, 1920 – 1930

A Native American ceremonial mask up for auction at Sotheby's lies at the heart of Skin of the Wolf. We are celebrating the use of masks throughout the world and across time by featuring a new mask daily as we count down to publication day on July 31, 2014.

The original source for today's mask can be found here.

It’s 21 Days until SKIN OF THE WOLF…

A Native American ceremonial mask up for auction at Sotheby’s lies at the heart of Skin of the Wolf. We are celebrating the use of masks throughout the world and across time by featuring a new mask daily as we count down to publication day on July 31, 2014.

The original source for today’s mask can be found here.

It’s 22 Days until SKIN OF THE WOLF…

A Native American ceremonial mask up for auction at Sotheby’s lies at the heart of Skin of the Wolf. We are celebrating the use of masks throughout the world and across time by featuring a new mask daily as we count down to publication day on July 31, 2014. Check out Sam Cabot's webpage here.

BLACK ROBE: 1991 film about Jesuits/Algonquins in New France

BLACK ROBE, a 1991 film, directed by Bruce Beresford, based on the novel by Brian Moore.

From the IMDB description of the film: "In the 17th century a Jesuit priest and a young companion are escorted through the wilderness of Quebec by Algonquin Indians to find a distant mission in the dead of winter."

View the film on Youtube.com here.

It’s 23 Days until SKIN OF THE WOLF…

A Native American ceremonial mask up for auction at Sotheby’s lies at the heart of Skin of the Wolf. We are celebrating the use of masks throughout the world and across time by featuring a new mask daily as we count down to publication day on July 31, 2014. To pre-order and for more information please use the links on your left.

The original source for today’s mask can be found here.

It’s 24 Days until SKIN OF THE WOLF…

A Native American ceremonial mask up for auction at Sotheby’s lies at the heart of Skin of the Wolf. We are celebrating the use of masks throughout the world and across time by featuring a new mask daily as we count down to publication day on July 31, 2014. To pre-order and for more information please use the links on your left.

The original source for today’s mask can be found here.

Mercy Brown: More about the New England Vampire Panic

In perhaps the most significant case from the 19th-century New England Vampire Panic, the body of Ms. Mercy Brown (victim of tuberculosis), aged 19, was exhumed and her heart was burned to ashes. The ashes were then mixed with water and given to her brother as a cure for his own TB. From the Wikipedia entry on the case: “The Mercy Brown Vampire Incident, which occurred in 1892, is one of the best documented cases of the exhumation of a corpse in order to perform rituals to banish an undead manifestation. The incident was part of the wider New England vampire panic. Several cases of consumption (tuberculosis) occurred in the family of George and Mary Brown, in Exeter, Rhode Island. Friends and neighbors believed that this was due to the influence of the undead. Two family members’ bodies were dug up, and, exhibiting the expected level of decomposition, were thought not to be the cause. Daughter Mercy, however, who was held in a freezer-like, above-ground vault, exhibited almost no decomposition. This was taken as confirmation that the undead were influencing the family to be sick. Mercy’s heart was burned, mixed with water and given to her brother Edwin, who was sick, to drink, in order to stop the influence of the undead. The young man died two months later.” All of this as late as 1892! Read more here.

The New England Vampire Panic

During the 19th century some citizens of New England thought that tuberculosis (consumption) was caused by the dead sucking the life out of their surviving relatives. In response, bodies of the dead were exhumed and their internal organs were burned. One particular case involved Ms. Mercy Brown, 19. Her body was exhumed, her heart burned. The ashes of her heart were mixed with water and given to her brother as a cure for his own TB. He died anyway. Read more about this here.

It’s time to learn about therianthropy

With the title SKIN OF THE WOLF it should come as no surprise that Sam Cabot’s new novel involves therianthropy, or shapeshifting. “The term ‘therianthropy’ comes from the Greek theríon [θηρίον], meaning ‘wild animal’ or ‘beast’; and anthrōpos [ἄνθρωπος], meaning ‘human being.’ It was used to refer to animal transformation folklore of Europe as early as 1901. Sometimes the term ‘zoanthropy’ is used instead. Therianthropy was used to describe spiritual beliefs in animal transformation in a 1915 Japanese publication, ‘A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era.’ One source, ‘The Human Predator,’ raises the possibility the term may have been used as early as the 16th century in criminal trials of suspected werewolves.”–from the Wikipedia page on the subject. For the full text of the entry click here.

The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century, a book published in 1867

The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century, a book published in 1867
The book found via the following link is an 1867 history of the Jesuits in North America during the 17th century. Although filled with the stereotypes European had of Native Americans at the time, the book is a very interesting document of the influence (positive and negative) of the Jesuits on the Native Americans of North America. The multi-volume work is organized chronologically and by nation/region and is essential reading for anyone interested in the Catholic Church and the native peoples of North America. Much of the historical background for SKIN OF THE WOLF involves Native Americans and the Jesuit missions in North America. The full text of the book can be found here.

The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century