Divine canines: Inugami

There is a type of legendary dog Yokai (spirit) in Japanese mythology and folklore, called an Inugami, which is a combination of deity, spirit and demon. 

The Inugami is often a guardian and a familiar spirit helper, or companion, to their human owner. Often created by a ritual of burying a living dog, leaving only the head exposed above ground. Then food would've been put near it but out of reach of the dog, causing grief and torment to the animal. It would be left there for days until it dies, which then would turn the dog into an Inugami, belonging to its master, the person responsible for the ritual. 

Although cruel, it was believed that the food around the dog would become an offering to its Inugami spirit, making it bound to its owner. Another story is about an old woman who buried her beloved dog alive, with only its head stuck out, needing an Inugami spirit to help her get revenge on someone. 

Some people, such as from the Oki Islands believe that the Inugami is a spirit of good luck, blessings and fortune. Plenty of villages in Japan will have a story about these spirits. However, the Inugami has a dark side. It can possess the owner, causing them to go mad. The Inugami is also capable of turning on its owner. Inugami has also been regarded as a type of werewolf, a much more bloodthirsty fearsome version of the spirit. The origin story of the Inugami is sad but the spirit of the dog is treated as both a familiar and a demon. More on this strange dog creature at Symbolsage. 

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Burial mystery of girl with bird

Location is Tunel Wielki Cave in Poland. Fifty years ago, there was a strange discovery in a cave. A skeleton of a girl with bones of chaffinch birds placed around her, and with one inside her mouth. This type of burial was common in ancient times, but radiocarbon has dated the girl comes from the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries. It was discovered also that she suffered in life and was malnourished. According to the girl's DNA, she wasn't Polish but Fennoscandian. It might be that the girl travelled with families to the area at the same time Finnish troops journeyed there in support of the Swedish king Carl Gustav.     

No one really knows why she was buried that way, except that certain people had beliefs that are about birds releasing the soul to the afterlife. Burying the dead inside caves is a primitive ritual that early hunter-gatherers used to do. Some believe that the girl's skeleton has been buried in a prehistoric fashion, and in a cave with no evidence of any ancient use. 

The birds bones reveal they were not consumed by the child, but likely put there with a ritualistic purpose. These birds were likely already dead while they were displayed on the deceased child. Certain pagan funeral practices similar to this happened in countries such as Finland until the 19th Century. Finches have a lot of significance in Christianity too as birds of freedom. The ritual may also be rural Medieval. More mysterious is that, after the child's skull was sent off for research, it simply disappeared and hasn't been found! 

For more reading at Ancient Origins: Bizarre burial Girl with bird

Have a good weekend.   

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Clarita Villanueva

There is a story from the Philippines about a 17 year old girl called Clarita Villanueva that became almost legendary. 

She was found by police to be so hysterical that she was put in a jail in Manila. Clarita was always screaming and in constant fear by something invisible around her. She described two malicious entities, that only she could see, who were violent. One of her spirit attackers, she had said, looked like a "dark man with curly hair all over his body" and the second attacker was "angelic" with "a big moustache." 

Later it was discovered that there were a number of other invisible creatures with fangs tormenting her. It was noticed that bite marks appeared over her hands and arms, which she could not have done herself while wearing handcuffs. There were strands of non-human hair that she'd pulled from one of the entities. 

While others assumed that she was ill, a visiting pastor called Lester Sumrall considered that Clarita was possessed by demons. So the pastor worked on removing the demons from her until she was freed. There are so many unpleasant creatures of folklore from the Philippines, including the Aswang, (a vampire ghoul) similar to the creatures who attacked poor Clarita. It may or may not have been the same thing!

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Legend of Bennachie

Bennachie is a rocky national park of mountains in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. There are mountains, including the highest called Oxen Crag, which is visible for miles. Rounded hills associated with female breasts, called Mither Tap ("Mother Top") and Bennachie ("Breast Hill"). There was a human active presence there from the Bronze Age, who regarded the site as a mystical gathering place. It's believed that the area was a battle ground for giants. A trace of this combat is found on a standing stone, with very large hand and foot prints. The name of one of the giants is Jock O' Noth as there are songs about him. There is also an old story about wicked fairies who upset ploughman in the region. Much of these legends were gathered in a travelogue by Alex Inkson McConnochie.  

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Serpopard

One of the most bizarre creatures found in ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian art is the serpopard. While the art of ancient Egypt has been considered very realistic and accurate, there are depictions of animals that look mythical and possibly extinct. 

The serpopard is a feline looking beast with a very long snakelike neck. The name itself is a cross with serpent and leopard. Serpopards appear on designs and dating back 3000 BCE. 

Some theorise that serpopards might be heraldic in nature, or they symbolise the dangerous world outside of Egypt. Also fringe ideas out there suggest serpopards could be long necked dinosaurs. While it's unlikely that the sauropod dinosaurs of the Jurassic era made its way into the time of the Egyptian pharaohs, there are other explanations too. 

Others think that the serpopards could be giraffes (doubtful, as there are giraffes clearly shown in ancient Egyptian art and they look nothing like serpopards). There was a more recent animal than the Brachiosaurus. Its called a Macrauchenia although it lived in South America, and also doesn't have the super serpentlike twisting neck of the serpopard.

The serpopard has feline features. There seemed to be a significant number of weird looking animals in Egyptian art and in mythology, as well as myths and legends everywhere else. 

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Emilie Sagee

The most strangest stories of a spirit double, or doppelganger, is about Emilie Sagee. The story about the doppelganger of Emilie Sagee appeared in writings "Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World" by Robert Dale-Owen in 1860. 

It was at a school called Pensionat von Neuwelcke during the 1840's when a former student named Julie von Guldenstubbe, informed Dale-Owens about a peculiar event there. There was a young teacher, Emilie Sagee, who was able to perform lessons and be well liked, although an apparition of her exact likeness materialised in class. 

The teacher would either be reading or writing on the board, when her double appeared out of nowhere, often standing beside her, and making fun of her. The weirdest thing was that even though many saw it happen, Emilie couldn't see her own double! This entity also appeared beside Emilie during lunchtimes, breaks, or during costumed performances by the kids. 

The children found it creepy, to suddenly see a twin of Emilie appearing out of nowhere, doing the exact same movements, or just mocking Emilie. Once, Emilie was teaching a lesson outside in the garden, when her doppelganger materialised in a classroom, and a student touched the double of Emilie, only to feel something described as like "cobwebs".

This doppelganger caused Emilie to lose her teaching position at the school but it followed her for a long time. Wherever Emilie taught, her doppelganger was a nuisance there too, making Emilie attempt 16 different schools! 

While this sounds like a really scary story, many have questioned its authenticity.

Hope you liked this!

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