Thursday, July 16, 2009

Michigan's Otherside

I've been pretty busy lately so not much time to post here but I thought I'd pop in real quick to let you know that a blog post I wrote got published on a Web site called Michigan's Otherside. If you're interested in the paranormal, check out their site. To see my blog post on their site, click here. Purty cool, huh?


The below info was taken from the Michigan's Otherside Web site. They are symbols you may see while in a cemetery. Thought you fellow graveyard walkers might be interested.

Dove - The dove is a very common animal symbol, mostly because of its Biblical meaning. Usually holding an olive branch which refers to Noah from the Bible. Also a symbol of purity and peace.

Willow Trees - Grief, sorrow and immortality.

Closed book - Many represent the bible but they can also stand for a life completed.

Curtains - Passing into another existence. Protection.

Broken Column - Life cut short and life coming to an end. A very popular symbol in cemeteries in the 19th century.

Praying Hands - Christian symbol.

Lambs - Innocence. Usually found on the graves of children and babies.

Flowers - Flowers have been used in burial ceremonies since the early days of civilization and before. Flowers have always held a soft spot in people. Their beauty and fragility is a symbol for life and love.

Fingers pointing up - A symbol of the soul rising to heaven.

Hands shaking - Matrimony. Sometimes there is one masculine hand and one feminine hand. Look at the sleeves of the hands. If there is no difference in the sleeves, then the hands are a symbol of being greeted into heaven or saying good-bye from earth.

IHS and IHC - Many times these letters are seen connected with each other. IHS comes from the first three letter of Jesus’ name using the Greek alphabet: Iota, Eta, Sigma. IHC stands for the same thing, but is Roman.

Broken branches - Life cut short.

Tree stumps - Life cut short.

12 comments:

Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...

Wow, that is just the coolest thing. Congratulations. That was well written great story, as always, I enjoy your writing. I think it is great that there is a site like that in your area, how fun is that!

Loved the information on grave markers. I have heard pieces of that, but not that complete of a list. Very helpful for someone like me who has a yard display full of tombstones!

Hope your life calms down a bit. Always good to hear from you.

Cheers!

Diane said...

of course they loved your story! it's awesome!

hope you're doing terrific!!

Dracenea said...

Frog Queen - Thanks for the compliment. Good point about your tombstones too!

Diane - Thanks, lady! I've been good...just crazy busy. :) I hope you're doing well too! 40 more minutes until you have a 14 year old!

suzanne said...

Wow! Congrats.

Loved the grave marker information too :)

permanentcloud said...

congrats on being featured! :)

Dracenea said...

Halloween Spirit and Cindy - Thanks!

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

So the 'Stairway to Hell' actually went up instead of down? That's funny...or is that you just happened to approach it from the bottom rather than the top? Either way, great story. I'm right there with you....I love cemeteries, I love photographing them. And I especially liked the info on the gravestone symbols, thanks for sharing that. I'm a big symbol freak...I am fascinated by symbols for some odd reason. :o)

Dracenea said...

Wendy - Yeah, I don't quite get it either but apparently stairs in cemeteries are referred to as "stairways to hell" no matter whether you're going down or up.

I take interest in symbols too. Like the other day when I saw a crescent moon on an outhouse. I looked it up and the story goes that the crescent moon on an outhouse meant that it was for ladies and a sun meant that it was for men. Interesting.

Lisa @ Serah's said...

Congratulations! Thanks for the info on the grave markers. I love reading about new things. I've only walked through a graveyard once as a kid so I had no idea of all the symbols.

Dracenea said...

Lisa - Glad I was able to shed some light on those symbols for ya'.

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

Interesting symbol info on the outhouse. I saw a circling of crows today on the roof of our neighbors house and I thought about you in this cemetery and the crows...ha! And I was wondering if their home had something ominous inside since they seemed to flock there and no where else. :o)

Dracenea said...

Wendy - Ooh sounds like you have a mystery to solve!