The Hound of Mons

During the First World War, many lost their lives in bloodshed and carnage in a terrible battle. The whole concept of war was changed forever. It was the first time modern machines (machine guns, explosives, ect) and modern weapons was used. British soldiers used archaic tactics that were centuries old. So many men were killed and so many horror stories come from that period. Beside the terrible bloody events, were mysterious new legends that emerged, from angel sightings to phantom knights and hell hounds.

Who was this hound?
One of the hell hound legends is called "Hound of Mons" because it took place during the Battle of Mons in a place called No Man's Land. This is an unoccupied space between the trenches of warring enemies, divided with barbed wire fences, land mines and armed guards. Germans were present in Belgium and the British soldiers had arrived with boosted morale. It ended up as a very bloody battle with enormous casualties.

The nightmare
From this came the legend of a huge wolflike hound that stalked both German and British soldiers, devouring the dead and creating an added supernatural terror to the everyday horrors of war. A Canadian called F.J.Newhouse, a soldier, first brought this story to the public's attention in 1919 after publishing it in a newspaper. Some believe there is "truth" behind the legend as a patrol of London Fusiliers vanished into thin air, and showed up dead a week later. Whatever killed them wasn't ammo or bullets. They were half eaten. Shortly after this particular gruesome event, both Germans and British often heard chilling howls at night. More patrols disappeared and were found dead later, in the same way as the others. Throats and bodied ripped as if soemthing with razor sharp teeth and claws ravaged them. It wasn't just the British who were losing soldiers in this way. German soldiers suffered similar fates.

The howls became more frequent and the terrified soldiers kept down. Many witnessed glimpses of a large greyish wolf, or a massive light coloured dog with enermous fangs in No Man's Land. It's something that frightened the men so much that they didn't go out, and it wasn't just to avoid being shot at. Something else besides the battle, which had been otherworldly, scared them senseless. This mysterious hound haunted the trenches and No Mans Land for two more years. Then it was gone when the war was about to end.

This was no regular dog, or wolf
It's possible that there was a real vicious and frightening hound in the trenches. The war resulted in devastation, bodies, hunger and imagine how this would've impacted on the wildlife. Wolves have only strayed into human territory at times of disaster, and when there are no people left in a village. It's unusual for a lone wolf to intrude amongst humans and so more incredible for a lone wolf to appear in the middle of a battle. A regular dog would've been killed instantly, and so would a hungry wolf, if it ever ventured near them. This doesn't seem to be normal for a dog and wolf to behave like the mysterious Hound of Mons. A pack of wolves may strike someone but not attack a number of men with guns. This is where the legend makes no sense with the natural world.

My final Opinion
It's either a legend or based on something else. Some say the hound was a scientific monstrosity but I don't think so due to the fact such a thing would've been impossible for the era to successfully make. And even so (a big "if") the thing would've been put down instantly in No Mans Land or not survived the walkies. I believe that the Hound of Mons was a supernatural creature, and perhaps more than one of them. The battle ground was a hunting ground.  

Howling Halloween

From Wolf Science

When you carve pumpkins and dress up as witches, vampires and monsters, think about where it comes from.

It's the season of the Dead. Some people call it Samhain (pronounced "sow-win"), a very ancient Celtic celebration. It's also better knowned as Halloween. To the Scandinavians, it's called Alfablot.

During the ancient rituals of both Samhain and Alfablot, animals (mainly cattle) were sacrificed to the ancestors in celebration of the Dead. Both customs recognised that the spirits of the dead walk at the end of Autumn. The sacrifices were not just in honour of dead ancestors or ghosts but to the nature spirits including fairies. Alfablot means "sacrifice to the elves". Food and sacrificial blood was offered to the spirits in both celebrations.   

Alfablot
Samhain

What can you do?

First of all, in the 21st Century we've become more compassionate towards fellow humans and animals. We don't use live sacrifices anymore during these seasonal rites. Instead we eat, drink and chant. Some people want to make sacrifices but I believe that modern sacrifices should be made entirely different:

Modern day sacrifices:

1. Giving up ones meal and use this as an offering, placing it in the ground or beneath a tree.
2. Removing a lock of hair.
3. Fasting for the day.
4. Donating money and favourite clothes.

However, some prefer to still use living animals. This is just wrong and won't be considered a sacrifice to the gods or spirits anymore. Don't forget that in ancient times, people lived on the brink of starvation and at the mercy of dangerous animals, harsh freezing winters and plagues. Animals and wood (a very important fire fuel to use in the home), was considered a sacrifice if these were offered in the autumn rites, because people suffered more without them. In exchange for that short-term suffering they were rewarded with gifts from nature.

Modern people are a different breed of humans and have no right to destroy any living thing in the name of an ancient sacrifice because modern people won't be making a sacrifice but doing cruelty. Such an act that will have repurcussions. It isn't the person doing a sacrifice because they won't suffer starvation after it. People have lost the meaning of the word "sacrifice" today. Most people think of it as being evil and killing someone and something. It actually means giving up what you most need to others.

To make an ancient type of offering to the dead and nature spirits, you would be better off going to the local butchers and buying some meat. Then offering the meat to the spirits, ghosts and elves, giving it away to the earth, leaving it by a track or a graveyard or a wood.

Some people can say giving food to trick or treaters is an act of sacrifice because you've paid for something you're giving to children dressed up as little monsters. Also leave sweets out throughout the night for the actual spirits would be interested in your sugary offerings. In a way, donating to charity is a form of modern day sacrifice. Today's sacrifices are an act of kindness.

Have a really interesting Halloween.    

Nyctohylophobia

Nyctohylophobia is a fear of forests and woods at night. This is based on an irrational view that forests at night are full of evil dangers, ghosts, monsters, predators and maniacs. The truth is, maybe this is because of an earliest childhood memory, or an eposure to night forests on TV, in horror films that associate night forests as sinister. Also the truth is, it is not quite true.

While forests are dwellings for wildlife and can be very exciting adventures to be camping in, putting this aside, forests are also known to be unsafe, hiding places for things that are dangerous and mysterious.

Nocturnal forests get filled with nocturnal creatures, making eerie sounds that chill most people. But forests and woodlands are also, just like houses, haunted. Once upon a time, old roads and paths went through a wood and forest, often used by travellers, riders on horseback, stage coaches, ect. These passages don't exist anymore. There are ruins of hamlets and villages found buried in English woodlands. These places haven't been lived in for centuries. Yet the souls of these people and their activities left a paranormal stamp.

Many individual forests and woods are quite recent, planted within the last few hundred years, growing over ancient relics and dwellings. Trees are forests are haunted even because in times past, people were hung from branches and left to rot and get eaten by carrion. Battles took place in areas now wooded. There are also burial mounds, old graves and plague pits littered deep under forest growth. 

It's obvious why such places are haunted. Besides the dead, forests are also places of unknown creatures and monsters, such as Bigfoot, winged people and werewolves. Trees themselves have been considered nasty and malevolent, but often these bad living trees are much confined to folklore and fairytales. However, spirits have been seen in trees and some particular wood from a single tree infected by poison. It is sad that a lot of plants have been cut down because of diseases and it's not proven if anything paranormal was behind that. What is certain is that malicious entities that dwell in trees taint them, as they contaminate rooms and houses and objetcs.

Beside the hocus pocus, there is a lost wisdom of trees. People fear what they don't understand. Trees provide healing properties and food, fresh air and comfort. Trees are living things, and I know that trees have a beating heart. The fear of trees may just be a phobia, and yet people don't like trees anyway because they lack any knowledge and have no appreciation for life. Monster trees and evil forests indeed.

Links:

Haunted trees and forests