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 Grüß vom Krampus - Greetings from Krampus In many countries, the joyous feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated on December 6th. However, in countries like Austria, Germany, and Hungary, St. Nicholas travels with a frightening companion named, Krampus. While St. Nicholas rewards all of the good boys and girls with presents and treats, Krampus handles punishing the bad ones. Krampus is usually seen with a bundle of sticks he switches the bad children with. Even worse is the bag he wears on his back, which he uses to haul away the particularly bad ones for him to feast on at the end of the day. We don’t know about you, but the idea of a horned beast beating children or eating them for dinner is much stronger motivation for being good than a jovial and sweet looking St. Nicholas.
Krampus Day is typically celebrated on December 5th with a Krampuslauf, which is where people dressed as Krampus run through a town. These Krampus runs are taking place in more and more locations across the globe as the legend gains popularity. The Krampuslauf in Graz, Austria is one of the biggest runs and is known for its amazing display of costumes. This is definitely one of the trips on the list of “must do trips” for the team at Believe It Tour.
Even though we’re a little late on wishing you a Merry Krampus and reminding you to be good for more than goodness sake, we felt it was time for a Believe It Tour Krampuskarten (a Krampus card). Please heed our warning this Christmas season to be as good as you can be in the hope that St. Nicholas comes knocking at your door instead of Krampus.
Happy holidays everyone from Believe It Tour.
 Dracula's Castle in Transylvania. Bran, Romania Fitting for Halloween our spooky photo collection from the recent Believe It Tour – Old Haunts trip is now available for viewing. This includes the days spent in Transylvania visiting all the legendary Dracula locations.
Believe It Tour’s official tour guide, Michael Esordi, also shares images from his search for other vampire and werewolf hotspots. Plus other creatures, legends and folklore from the region of Michael’s roots.
Follow this link to view:
» Old Haunts Photo Collection
Happy Halloween!
 On the Quest for Santa in Bronner's A Believe It Tour adventure just wouldn’t be complete without including Santa Claus. This trip is especially exciting since we’ll get to see the jolly old gentleman not once, but twice during our travels. The first time we saw Santa and Mrs. Claus was at a Christmas extravaganza known as Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan.
Bronner’s lays claim to being the world’s largest Christmas store in the world and from all appearances it certainly lives up to that title. This store is a Michigan landmark having been founded in 1945 by Wally Bronner. From it’s humble beginning almost 60 years ago it’s grown into a huge enterprise that’s all about Christmas almost 365 days of the year.
As soon as we walked into Bronner’s we were greeted by Santa, so that got everything off to a good start for all of us. Not only was a live Santa there talking to everyone, but all things Santa were surrounding us from Christmas ornaments to large moving figures. We not only got to talk to Santa Claus, but we also found some mermaids, aliens, and Sasquatch ornaments while exploring the store.
After a quick walk-about through the store and a quick group photo with Santa the crew was back on the road and speeding off to our next destination.
 Elmwood Historic Cemetery Site of the Battle of Bloody Run Saturday was off to a great start when the Believe It Tour crew had a history discussion over morning coffee before heading off for a day of adventure.
Detroit is a city filled with rich history. Many people unfamiliar with the area only think of the automobile industry, which was certainly an important part of the city’s history and current day identity. However, Detroit’s history is a rich one that stretches back to early American Indian days.
One of the spots of particular interest to us was the Elmwood Historic Cemetery. A section of the cemetery was actually the site of a brutal battle on July 31, 1763, which took place during the French and Indian War. Under Captain Dalyell’s command, the British were viciously defeated by a confederacy of various Indian tribes led by Chief Pontiac. The battle took place at Parent’s Creek, which supposedly ran red with British blood. The creek was renamed Bloody Run and the military forever became known as the Battle of Bloody Run. Today, a section of the original creek can be seen running through the Elmwood Historic Cemetery.
Now this is where another Detroit legend has a deep connection with the battle of Bloody Run and that’s the legend of Nain Rogue. This is Detroit’s famous red dwarf, which has been a part of Detroit history for over 300 years ago when the city was founded. Nain Rogue is considered a portent of catastrophic events for the city as it’s usually seen just before something disastrous occurs. For example, the Nain Rogue was seen by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac shortly before he lost his fortune and was ruined and the creature was also seen the day before the Battle of Bloody Run in 1763.
I’ll leave you with that teaser about Nain Rogue as we’ll be exploring him more the last day of our Michigan adventure. Stay tuned for more.
 Detroit Institute of Arts Nail Man Saturday wouldn’t have been complete without the Believe It Tour crew making a quick trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts. Located in the African art collection is a fascinating sculpture of a man, covered in shards of woods, that’s known as the nail man. This roughly 3 ½ foot tall statue has tales around it that are much taller than it is.
Museum legend has it that workers have claimed to see the diminutive wooden man come to life and perform an ancient African dance after the museum is closed. Others have also claimed to hear loud crashing noises. However, most people that experience the noise feel it sounds more like something associated with a painting falling rather than something coming from the statue.
The nail man has an interesting history that goes back hundreds of years. In the African Congo there are fetish statues known as Nkisi that are broken into two main categories called Nkondi (Minknodi) and Nkonde (Minkisi). Of the two the Nkondi were considered the most powerful and usually rather malevolent. Nkisi were considered a talisman against illness, evil spirits, and anything else that could be considered negative.
The Nkisi statues were made active by a ritual performed by a tribe’s magic or holy man. The basic statue was carved by one person and then finished by the magic or holy man with the addition of items such as the nails and by placing a magic substance somewhere in the body or head of the statue. The wood shards or nails were used as a means to provoke the statue to pursue whatever was causing a problem or to show potential evildoers what their fate might be. The older the statue was the more powerful it became as supposedly its power increased over time the more people believed in it. When missionaries first saw the Nkisti figures in the late 1600s they immediately said they were images of the devil.
I can’t say while we were there that we saw any statue dancing or heard anything amiss. However, the piece did have some interesting energy around it, so I can almost imagine some strange things going on in the museum at night or how a tribe in the Congo felt it had mystical powers hundreds of years ago.
 Detroit's Nain Rouge In planning the Believe It Tour trip to Michigan, there is no doubt that we would have to cover the legend of the Nain Rouge that haunts Detroit.
To learn as much as possible about the Nain Rouge I started corresponding with an expert on the topic, Josef Bastian. Josef is the author of the book aptly titled, Nain Rouge, and will be guiding us to some of the historic locations in Detroit tied to sightings of this creature.
The Legend of the Nain Rouge
As Told By Josef Bastian
The Nain Rouge (or Red Dwarf) had been a part of the natural world, existing long before the coming of humans. In the region the Chippewa called “Meicigama”, meaning great water, The Nain Rouge made his home near the narrow straits between the two lakes. This was the area that the later French settlers were to name “Detroit”, or the straits.
As the Steward of Straits, the Nain Rouge was responsible for keeping harmony and balance in the natural world near the straits of the great river. He befriended all living things; plants, animals and eventually the native tribes that began to settle the land.
It was not until the French settlers arrived that the Nain Rouge began causing trouble. It seemed that Antoine de Mothe Cadillac and his band of explorers bought some land from the natives, while stealing other tracts of land without cause or permission. The Nain Rouge could feel the discord resonating around him and knew that he must confront Cadillac and his men.
At first, the Nain Rouge was cordial and diplomatic. All this changed when Cadillac welcomed him into his quarters, only to mock him and decry his stewardship over the land. A quarrel began and soon turned into an angry brawl, causing great injury to Cadillac and his officers. The Nain Rouge was beaten mercilessly during the fight and fled from the settlement in anger and pain.
It is said that as he ran away, a curse was flung from his lips onto the entire region of Detroit. The curse, it is rumored, befalls anyone who creates evil of their own will, empowering the Nain Rouge with greater and greater strength throughout the centuries.
Now, the Nain Rouge is often seen just before a tragic event; a harbinger of doom that revels in the downfall of humanity.
Recently, there have been many more sightings of the Nain Rouge. He seems to be growing in power.
Some say the times are bad. Some say it is only getting worse.
Perhaps, the day of reckoning is upon us…
» Learn more about Josef Bastian and Nain Rouge.
 Gravestone of Mercy Brown Mercy Brown’s life:
Mercy Lena Brown, born 8/2/1872, was the fourth of six children of Mary (Arnold)
and George Thomas Brown. Her father George was a farmer in rural Exeter, RI and an upstanding member of the community. Historians believe Mercy’s life and aspirations were similar to those of other young women of her upbringing and time: she helped to care for her younger siblings, tended the farm and home to sustain the family’s livelihood, and probably dreamed of getting married and having a family of her own.
The tragedy:
Tuberculosis (TB), known as “consumption” for the way it slowly ravished its victim’s bodies, was the leading cause of death in the 19th century and caused widespread panic since there was no cure for it at that time. One symptom of TB was that its victims coughed up large amounts of blood, which some construed as evidence of evil and vampirism.
Among its victims were Mercy’s mother and sister in the late 1800s and her only brother, Edwin, began to show symptoms in 1890. By the autumn of 1891, Mercy contracted a rapidly progressing form of the disease known as “galloping” TB and died on January 17, 1892. Until the ground thawed enough for burial, Mercy’s body was stored inside a crypt near the graves of her mother and sister at the Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Exeter.
Rural families were less likely to contract TB since they were in sparsely populated areas, but since several members of the Brown family had been affected, a classic New England hysteria, not unlike the Salem Witch Trials, descended upon the town.
The legend begins:
Mr. Brown was besieged by villagers who believed one of his deceased family members was the cause of his son Edwin’s prolonged illness. Brown, himself, did not accept the theory but agreed to an investigation supervised by medical examiner Harold Metcalf, MD, of Wickford, Rhode Island.
Upon arriving at the cemetery, Dr. Metcalf found villagers had unearthed Mercy’s mother and sister. The villagers believed that if blood ran from the heart, it was proof the corpse was the culprit. However, there were no signs of blood in either corpse. Dr. Metcalf then examined Mercy’s body from the crypt. Her lungs showed diffuse tuberculosis and her heart had blood in it. Dr. Metcalf knew this would not have been unusual given it was stored in cold weather for a brief period of time, but villagers interpreted it as fresh blood. A fire was kindled atop a stone wall near the grave sites, Mercy’s heart was removed, and reduced to ash before she was buried, which seemed to satisfy the villagers. It was said that the ashes were fed to Mercy’s brother Edwin in the hopes of curing his own TB, but that detail remains unverified and Edwin died later that spring.
There are no known photographs, drawings, or letters from Mercy Brown. The only remaining item is a patchwork quilt she made, which is currently in the possession of distant relatives. Accounts of what happened that March in Exeter were found among Bram Stoker’s belongings and were said to be inspirations in writing Dracula, the 1897 horror novel.
To learn more and help a good cause, come to the Believe It Tour – True Blood Drive on Friday, June 24, 5-8pm at the Rhode Island Blood Center.
 What does the folklore say about these clouds? Today, I was thinking about the arrival of spring and wondered about some of the folklore around the season. However, when I was looking into it I actually stumbled on a different type of interesting folklore – the folklore of weather.
The folklore behind weather phenomena and seasons is present in every culture throughout the ages. Who hasn’t heard someone say something about the weather that sounded like an old soothsayer prediction? I always remember my Mom reciting the “red sky at night, sailor’s delight” saying when we’d see a red sunset.
Here are five common sayings that may or may not be accurate since I couldn’t seem to find any meteorological basis or other information to support them.
A warm October means a cold February.
A green Christmas means a white Easter.
If the first week of August is abnormally warm the winter will be long and snowy.
When leaves fall early it will be a mild fall and winter.
Now here are five sayings, with a more scientific basis, that most people have heard at some point in time.
Red sky at night, sailor’s delight, red sky at morning, sailors take warning. The red color is the sun shining on the bottom of clouds at sunrise or sunset. As weather systems usually move from west to east when you see red clouds in the morning it means there is a storm moving in since there are clouds coming from the west. Red clouds in the evening mean the sun is shining unobstructed from the west indicating there is clear weather.
A ring around the moon means rain is coming. The ring is caused by moonlight refracting through ice crystals in high altitude clouds, which indicate a low-pressure system moving in. A low-pressure system typically brings rain or snow with it.
A year of snow and crops will grow. A thick layer of snow has less ice and more air, which helps to insulate plants. Then when the snow melts it helps to keep the ground moist to encourage plant growth.
Birds flying low are a sign of impending rain while birds flying high signal fair weather. When there is a drop in barometric pressure birds fly lower as air density is greater the closer they are to the ground.
No weather is ill, if the wind is still. No wind indications a high pressure front, which doesn’t usually allow for conditions that would cause rain or snow. However, always look to the West to make sure there isn’t an impending thunderstorm as it’s usually calm just before a thunderstorm.
I think with any folklore it all comes down to our own personal experience and how these old weather maxims fit into that. Personally, I think I’ll now be keeping a closer eye on how birds are flying and how the moon looks at night.
 Click this image for a printable sized picture. Then color this Zombie Leprechaun for a different St. Patrick's Day Card. With everything being zombified these days why not infect our favorite St. Patrick’s Day character, the Leprechaun. Since we don’t know what shade of green the undead flesh of Zombie Leprechaun is, we’re hoping you’ll print out this “Zombie Leprechaun Coloring Picture” and apply what you know.
Have a fun and happy St. Patrick’s Day from Believe It Tour
 You might get more than a pot of gold when you find a leprechaun Yes! For all that is good, sweet and pure on this resource laden, teetering on our own destruction, beautiful, third celestial body from the sun, I believe. I believe in leprechauns. Come on, so do you. Don’t deny it.
I parked my truck on a Friday afternoon and it sat there for two days. On Monday, just in time for work, I placed the stiletto key into the ignition and “Pah-chukka-pah-chukka”. Nothing. Leprechauns at their best.
Now someone would argue that gremlins were at work, but nay, nay, thrice nay. Tis the small being hooked on the green we’re talking about. Rainbow? Gold? Bah. They are the world’s oldest practical jokers. Yes, someone could regale me again about ancient tales having these wee folks ply some sexy occupation dealing in shoe repair, but, in the end, the little buggers are silent pranksters. Foiling fools with bags of tricks well before Penn & Teller branded that sort of thing in Vegas. I know this since I’ve seen it with my own eyes. The evidence is damning.
Here are some headlines ripped from today’s news.
Senior citizen with forty cats wins lottery.
Kobe Bryant misses free throws. Lakers lose to Celtics.
End of rainbow discovered. Yields no gold. Story at 11.
Come on guys. It’s easy. Where did you leave your car keys? On the counter? No, you left them in the bedroom under piles of unwashed socks, but somehow they ended up on the counter. How does this happen? Leprechauns that’s how.
Think about it. Who always closes the screen door, so the dog can run full steam into it every day? He never learns, right? Wrong. The door was open. You went to start dinner and wham – dog with a waffle pattern on his nose when the door was suddenly closed.
Just like the new cement patio that has footprints, and that first scratch on your new car that never left the garage. Say it with me – Leprechauns.
The list goes on and on. You try to kiss your date and you burp. The soup you had in the microwave stayed 1.5 seconds too long and explodes. The houseplants suddenly haven’t been watered in seven days and I can’t even tell you how long your freezer has been cracked open. It all comes down to those mysterious, three foot, give or take, monsters that wish to make hay with our lives.
One even had the audacity to leave my blinker on for five miles. I won’t go into my college grades either. Leprechauns are out there and they are waiting to show the world that your fly has been open for a better part of the day.
To all those, Irish or not, have a pleasant and leprechaun-free St. Patrick’s Day.
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