Myths and Legends of the World

A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for sexual penetration or other sexual activity during masturbation or with sex partners. Some expand this definition to include vibrators. Others exclude penis prosthetic aids, which are known as "extensions". Some include penis-shaped items clearly designed with vaginal penetration in mind, even if they are not true approximations of a penis. Some people include devices designed for anal penetration (butt plugs), while others do not. These devices are often used by people of all genders and sexual orientations, for masturbation or for other sexual activity. Conventionally, many dildos are shaped like a human penis with varying degrees of detail; others are made to resemble the phallus of male animals. Not all, however, are fashioned to reproduce the male anatomy meticulously, and dildos come in a wide variety of shapes. These may resemble figures, or simply be practical creations which stimulate ...

Krampus is the devilish child punishing companion of St. Nicholas. On December 6th, Nicholas brings joy and presents to good children throughout Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The kindly old Saint leaves the task of punishing bad children to a hell-bound counterpart The Horned Devil, also known as Krampus known by many names across the continent — Knecht Ruprecht, Certa, Perchten, Black Peter, Schmutzli, Pelznickel, Klaubauf, and Krampus. The evening before, “Krampusnacht”, the children are visited by the Krampus, St. Nicholas’s “bad cop” partner, a devil who rises from hell to torment bad children. Krampus is usually portrayed as a classic red devil figure with fur, cloven hooves, horns and a long snake like tongue. He often carries instruments of punishment, sticks and chains to whip naughty children and a large backpack like wicker basket that is used to imprison children and transport them to hell. Although normally devilish, Krampus has taken ...

During the Renaissance, wealthy cities in northern Italy —Florence and Venice in particular — were renowned for their widespread practice of same-sex love, engaged in by a considerable part of the male population and constructed along the classical pattern of Greece and Rome. This gave rise to a number of proverbs illuminating the views of the common people towards the practice; among them: “If you crave joys, tumble some boys.” But even as many of the male population were engaging in same-sex relationships, the authorities, under the aegis of the Officers of the Night court, were prosecuting, fining, and imprisoning a good portion of that population. From the second half of the 13th century, death was the punishment for male homosexuality in most of Europe. The eclipse of this period of relative artistic and erotic freedom was precipitated by the rise to power of the moralizing monk Girolamo Savonarola. In northern Europe the artistic discourse on sodomy was turned against its p...

Happy Earth Day everyone I want to introduce to you a great and feared Earth Mother: Cybele (Kybele) During the first millennium, B.C.E., or possibly even as early as the Paleolithic period, the worship of the Great Mother Goddess, Cybele, began. Cybele was originally worshipped in the form of a black meteorite, by the inhabitants of Phrygia, Lydia and the surrounding mountainous areas, which were located in the western part of the region that is now known as Turkey. This area is one of great historical significance, with the Plains of Illium, and the ancient city of Troy, lying slightly to the west. Cybele was known by several titles, in that mountainous region, including the “Great Mountain Mother,” and the "Lady of Mt. Ida," and she later gained an assortment of other names, which included the "Magna Mater (Great Mother)," “Dindymene,” “Kubaba,” and “Agdistis.” Even though Cybele had originally been worshipped as a classic Earth Mother Goddess, she eventua...

For more than two thousand years, Jezebel has been saddled with a reputation as the bad girl of the Bible, the wickedest of women. This ancient queen has been denounced as a murderer, prostitute and enemy of God, and her name has been adopted for lingerie lines and World War II missiles alike. But what if this version of her story, handed down to us through the ages, is merely the one her enemies wanted us to believe? It happens more often than you think. What if Jezebel, far from being a conniving harlot, was, in fact, framed? Jezebel was a powerful Phoenician princess around 900 BCE.  She is the daughter to Ethbaal, King of Tyre in Phoenicia, and wife to Ahab, King of northern Israel. It is said by many archaeologists and scholars that Jezebel was power behind the throne, not her husband and king. She still honored her religion and did not covert to Judaism. She convinced her husband to worship her Phoenician God Baal, God of fertility, rain and the seasons. They had temple...

March is Women's history month and I am going to feature article about women but limit the show the female form to minimal.  If you were a woman in the ancient world, the best to live is in Egypt.  Women in Ancient Egypt enjoyed many of the same rights that women in our current society enjoy today. A woman could own and sell private property, resolve legal settlements, write a contract, initiate a divorce, file lawsuits, have a profession and inherit property (of course these rights also depended on the woman’s social class). I wouldn't say that Ancient Egyptian women had complete parity to men before the law. Yet they did have many rights that were out of reach for women in neighboring Greece. Women in ancient Etruria and then Rome came close second. This article will examine what it was like to be a woman in Ancient Egyptian society and the different rights and responsibilities that they had. Most women performed domestic tasks in the home. However, there were fema...

Storyville was a well-known, semi-legal vice district in New Orleans from 1897 to 1917. Prostitution, gambling, and live jazz fueled the streets, bringing visitors from all over the world to experience what was growing into one of the city’s largest tourist attractions and money maker. Some scholars of jazz believe that swing started in Storyville, and we know for sure that the original jazz greats made names for themselves in the brothels along Basin Street. Storyville got its name from Sidney Story, who wrote the legislation that “legalized” the district, based off of the vice restrictions used in other port cities infamous for their pleasurable activities. The new legislation bound all prostitution to the area between North Robertson, Iberville, Basin and St. Louis streets just outside the French Quarter. Some locals believed that “lewd women” were getting out of control, and tarnishing the image of the fancy little shops along Royal Street, so the legislation was met with ap...

Divination Divination is simply the use of an object or objects to learn answers to questions or to see an event or events which are not perceptible to the average person. Druid Witches and/or magicians who are born with the rare natural gift for prophecy are known as Seers, who can foresee the future with their Inner Eye. Non-Seers can learn divination methods, but their success varies. User can employ divination, a method of reading the future, the present and the past and/or provide help to a problem at hand by using a cultic, standardized process or ritual. Divination can be achieved by communicating with the supernatural (i.e. gods, demons, spirits, and nymphs) or just by reading certain patterns. Prophecy The most oracles of the ancient world was the Oracle of Delphi A prophet (oracle) is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and to speak for them, serving as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound...