If you don’t know which witch is which, then perhaps someone is using sorcery to cloud your mind. Sorcery is a word that comes from the middle ages, a time of strong belief in black magic and witches. It derives from an earlier Latin word for “one who casts lots.” What’s of particular note is…
Tag: Halloween vocabulary
Otherworldly Words: Ghostly
The origin of ghost is akin to the German word Geist for spirit. Spirit is such a more hopeful word, the essence or quality of someone or something. In many ways, our ghosts are that: we believe that the essence of someone still remains. We sometimes feel that the vestige is filled with dread or…
Otherworldly Words: Spectral
Ghosts are around every corner! Hauntings are the most peculiar human phenomenon I can think of. It’s so easy to explain them away through psychology (loss, grief, regret) and physiology (gasses, etc.) or electricity (electromagnetic fields), yet something compelling keeps us cleaving to the idea. I’ve had my own rare, faint glimpses into something that…
Otherworldly Words: Panic
All month long, I’ve brought you words derived from Greek mythology, in honor of the goddess Maia, which May is named for. Have you ever been alone in the woods, and you were certain that someone was following you. The leaves rustled too loudly to be a squirrel. The snapping twig bore the weight…
Otherworldly Words: Labyrinth
May is named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was believed to influence growth and was known as a nurturer. In the theme of the month, I’ll look at four other words, with an otherworldly connotation, that derive from Greek mythology. When I think of a labyrinth, I often think of the confusing halls…
Otherworldly Words: Fury
May is named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was believed to influence growth and was known as a nurturer. In the theme of the month, I’ll look at four other words, with an otherworldly connotation, that derive from Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, the Furies enacted revenge on those wronged. Much like the…
Otherworldly Words: Echo
May is named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was believed to influence growth and was known as a nurturer. In the theme of the month, I’ll look at four other words, with an otherworldly connotation, that derive from Greek mythology. First up is echo. While no longer capitalized, the word comes from the…
Otherworldly Words: Harpy
I’m continuing to look at words that cast women in a less than flattering light. The next word on my list is harpy. In Greek mythology, the harpy was a ravenous, vicious creature with a bird’s body and a woman’s head. Or, as some would have you believe, the definition of a woman, as…
Otherworldly Words: Amaranthine
Finishing up February is amaranthine. This adjective lends a beautiful, ethereal feel to the concept of endless time. Amaranthine is derived from the myth of the amaranth, the legendary undying flower. Of course, amaranth is a real family of flowers, too, and a grain alternative. All this month, I have introduced and discussed words dealing…
Otherworldly Words: January
January is a time for new beginnings, and apparently, for looking back. This month, I’m exploring words named for people, or, as in the case of January, named for a God. January is the month dedicated to Janus, the two-faced God of beginnings, transitions, and as such, doorways as well as the rising and setting of the…
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