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A Trojan Feast: The Food and Drink Offerings of Aliens, Faeries, and Sasquatch
YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
Accept food from faeries, and you’ll never escape their realm, according to European folklore. Accept food from Sasquatch and you will forever be trapped in the spirit world, according to indigenous North American tales. And today, abductees—at least those who have returned—often report being offered strange beverages from their captors. Are these similarities mere coincidence, or is something more at play?
In this outstanding example of scholarship on the unknown, Joshua Cutchin has created the world’s first survey and analysis of the food and drink offered by aliens, faeries, and Sasquatch. The offerings are often not what they appear to some liquids have healing or aphrodisiac qualities, some foods expand awareness, and there are ointments that reveal an invisible world.
Through his playful explorations of every possibility—from the outer regions of space to the inner sanctum of the human mind—A TROJAN FEAST offers new insight into our relationship with these strange creatures of the outer edge.
“The humble subject of food in anomalistic accounts serves, in Cutchin’s measured, learned, and lucid argument, as proof that high strangeness events may be uncertain and discordant, but not incomprehensible.” — Thomas E. Bullard, folklorist (ret.), Indiana University, Bloomington
“Joshua Cutchin has brought together a contemplative and truly unique folkloric analysis of the way that food and drink fits into the broader narrative of purported strange phenomena. In doing so, Cutchin provides, in the very truest sense, ‘food for thought.’” — Micah Hanks, author of “Magic, Mysticism and the Molecule”
JOSHUA CUTCHIN is a native of North Carolina with a long interest in forteana. He holds a Masters in Music Literature and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Georgia, and currently works as a public affairs specialist in the southeast. In addition to his media work, Cutchin is also a published composer and maintains an active performing schedule as a jazz and rock tuba player, having appeared on eight albums and live concert DVDs. A TROJAN FEAST is his first book.
Accept food from faeries, and you’ll never escape their realm, according to European folklore. Accept food from Sasquatch and you will forever be trapped in the spirit world, according to indigenous North American tales. And today, abductees—at least those who have returned—often report being offered strange beverages from their captors. Are these similarities mere coincidence, or is something more at play?
In this outstanding example of scholarship on the unknown, Joshua Cutchin has created the world’s first survey and analysis of the food and drink offered by aliens, faeries, and Sasquatch. The offerings are often not what they appear to some liquids have healing or aphrodisiac qualities, some foods expand awareness, and there are ointments that reveal an invisible world.
Through his playful explorations of every possibility—from the outer regions of space to the inner sanctum of the human mind—A TROJAN FEAST offers new insight into our relationship with these strange creatures of the outer edge.
“The humble subject of food in anomalistic accounts serves, in Cutchin’s measured, learned, and lucid argument, as proof that high strangeness events may be uncertain and discordant, but not incomprehensible.” — Thomas E. Bullard, folklorist (ret.), Indiana University, Bloomington
“Joshua Cutchin has brought together a contemplative and truly unique folkloric analysis of the way that food and drink fits into the broader narrative of purported strange phenomena. In doing so, Cutchin provides, in the very truest sense, ‘food for thought.’” — Micah Hanks, author of “Magic, Mysticism and the Molecule”
JOSHUA CUTCHIN is a native of North Carolina with a long interest in forteana. He holds a Masters in Music Literature and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Georgia, and currently works as a public affairs specialist in the southeast. In addition to his media work, Cutchin is also a published composer and maintains an active performing schedule as a jazz and rock tuba player, having appeared on eight albums and live concert DVDs. A TROJAN FEAST is his first book.
271 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2015
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392 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews
February 9, 2016
This book was lauded as one of the best true paranormal books of 2015. And as an avid fan of the genre, I wasn't disappointed. The detail and thought provoking connections made it an utterly satisfying read.
November 16, 2017
Oddly interesting
A fascinating deep dive into a strange corner of UFOs and folklore. I appreciated the scholarly approach and thoroughness. I am left mostly satisfied but hungry for more from this great author!
A fascinating deep dive into a strange corner of UFOs and folklore. I appreciated the scholarly approach and thoroughness. I am left mostly satisfied but hungry for more from this great author!
December 16, 2022
I don't remember where exactly I first heard about this book, but it's lived in the back of my mind for a long, long time. Joshua Cutchin is one of the most interesting writers out there for modern fairy lore. Like Vallee before him, he ties modern alien encounters to the older fairy stories. And like some modern researches, Sasquatch is also brought into the mix.
This book is on a very niche topic that doesn't get a lot of interest. That having been said, food and drink offerings make up a surprising amount of modern alien encounters. Mix into that the notion of ointments or salves, and they make up even more. Why do these exist? Why do food taboos in fairy encounters exist? Why haven't we discussed more the aspect of Sasquatch trying to feed some that it kidnaps? Whether or not these stories are true in a nuts and bolts way, the mixing of food and otherworldly encounters still tells and interesting story.
Cutchin provides an interesting argument that I still am thinking about a week or more after finishing the book. I wish this was a topic that more people had an interest in, as it seems potent in a way that I never would have considered from the outset. The way that he ties it into other mind-altering substances (think of what Angelucci's drink did to him in Son of the Sun) is compelling.
I have a feeling this is a book I'll revisit time and again before I have a very firm opinion on it. It needs to percolate a bit.
This book is on a very niche topic that doesn't get a lot of interest. That having been said, food and drink offerings make up a surprising amount of modern alien encounters. Mix into that the notion of ointments or salves, and they make up even more. Why do these exist? Why do food taboos in fairy encounters exist? Why haven't we discussed more the aspect of Sasquatch trying to feed some that it kidnaps? Whether or not these stories are true in a nuts and bolts way, the mixing of food and otherworldly encounters still tells and interesting story.
Cutchin provides an interesting argument that I still am thinking about a week or more after finishing the book. I wish this was a topic that more people had an interest in, as it seems potent in a way that I never would have considered from the outset. The way that he ties it into other mind-altering substances (think of what Angelucci's drink did to him in Son of the Sun) is compelling.
I have a feeling this is a book I'll revisit time and again before I have a very firm opinion on it. It needs to percolate a bit.
July 16, 2015
Interesting subject
I had never heard about the similarities with food between different folklore and other supernatural encounters. An interesting twist on the oldest mysteries.
I had never heard about the similarities with food between different folklore and other supernatural encounters. An interesting twist on the oldest mysteries.
July 14, 2022
About as well done as you could hope for such a specific aspect that doesn’t feature prominently, or at all, in most UFO reports. A real first-of-it’s-kind as far as I’m aware, so that’s neat. The final two chapters are definitely the best ones. What exactly this study adds to the overall puzzle of these phenomena, I’m not sure, which is why I didn’t rate it 5 stars. I just know that I side with the ancient advice not to accept food and drink offerings from these entities (especially fairies) even though it apparently worked out ok (and even quite well) for some people who did. Most of the offerings (again, especially from the damn fairies) are said to be deceptive and only simulacra anyway. I really just endorse an uncooperative and distrustful stance in the face of these entities in general… dey ain’t honest enuff.
October 7, 2022
I enjoyed this book on the themes involved with food and drink and otherworldly creatures. Cutchin does a good job showing the connections and commonalities, without hiding from the outliers. His hypothesis is intriguing, whether you agree or not, and well defended (as well as any hypothesis of paranormal events and being can be, of course).
April 17, 2018
An interesting recasting of the UFO enigma.
Cutchin casts a fresh eye on the UFO phenomenon by focusing on the food aspect of the encounters. Good read.
Cutchin casts a fresh eye on the UFO phenomenon by focusing on the food aspect of the encounters. Good read.
April 2, 2024
One more folklorist writting about the relationship of abductions and the fairy lore, now the case of strange ingestions, pills and so forth.
January 21, 2016
This is a fascinating catalog of encounters with paranormal entities, such as fairies, aliens and bigfoots involving the exchange of food and liquids with people. The author's premise is that by studying this often overlooked or less-studied aspect of many paranormal encounters something new might be learned. The final chapters are the best, where he takes a less academic tone and speculates about how such encounters may be closely related to the hallucinatory experiences of those who take ayahuasca, an entheogenic brew containing the psychedelic compound dimethyltryptamine (DMT). DMT also occurs naturally in the human brain. Could entity encounters be the result of larger than normal doses of naturally occurring DMT? Or is the food metaphor used by these entities as a way to induce states of consciousness that allow them to communicate with us?
February 24, 2024
Un libro sumamente interesante con un tema poco usual en la causística ovni: los alimentos que las entidades extraterrestres ofrecen en los encuentros que se tienen con estas criaturas. La pregunta que nos hacemos Es si en realidad los extraterrestres son extraterrestres o son otro tipo de entidad que toman un manto distinto dependiendo del entorno cultural donde se desarrolla esta creencia. Un banquete troyano es un excelente libro que vale la pena leerse.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews