A dispatch from Fennario:
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president posted a photo on his social media accounts Saturday showing what he said appeared to be a mythological woodland spirit similar to an elf. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not seem to be joking when he posted the photo of an “Aluxe,” a mischievous woodland spirit in Mayan folklore. López Obrador wrote the photo “was taken three days ago by an engineer, it appears to be an aluxe,” adding “everything is mystical.”
According to Ancient Origins:
Aluxes are believed to live somewhere around the Yucatan peninsula. They are typically invisible to humans, although legend has it they are capable of becoming visible when they want to be mischievous or are feeling playful. They are typically found in natural areas including jungles, forests, fields, caves, and even deep stones. However, they are able to make a home anywhere they wish, as long as they have food, water, and shelter.
I don’t know why people think López Obrador should have been “joking” about this — but I guess not everyone is open to crossing the Frontiers of Fennario.
I look forward to the day when the Captain of our New England Raanging Company, Paul McNamee, captures an image of a Puckwudgie on the trail cams he has set up around Fort Wilderness in Massachusetts. And Quixotic Mainer may well sight one on his rambles. No joke, man.
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Any proper Scottish Highlander would be totally open to the notion of a wood elf ogling him from a tree. We have already explored Jamie Fraser’s encounter with the Sidhe, detailed in Diana Gabaldon’s The Scottish Prisoner. And Liath Wolf’s YouTube Channel is a compendium of weird tales from Scotland. I do not ken whether John Sayles will venture to Fennario in the eagerly anticipated Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade’s Journey, which publishes tomorrow. What I DO know is that I will be ensconced in my man cave at 4 p.m. (PST) on Thursday, March 2, when Gabaldon and Sayles talk Story in a virtual event hosted by The Poisoned Pen.
Here be the YouTube link:
Dinna fash if you can’t catch it live; it will be available at that link afterwards. It’s supposed to rain in Sisters that afternoon. What better than a mug of tea and some Highlander yarns on a dank February afteroon?
Matthew says
I once woke up in the middle to find a demon sitting on my chest. I threw a punch at it and it disappeared. This was undoubtedly a hallucination (the punch didn’t connect with anything), but it was real chilling.
Matthew says
I perhaps should point out that the reason I wrote this was because the story by the Mexican President made me think of my own encounter with something weird. It’s not meant to be a non-sequitur.
Quixotic Mainer says
I once was called to help a guy out who claimed on a stack of bibles that what looked like an ugly old woman was sitting on his chest trying to choke him in his sleep. He had no history of mental problems before or after, but sat in his truck white faced whilst I poked about the house for the aforementioned night hag.
I didn’t catch up to the witch, (probably for the best, if Roland Deschaine can’t do it, I’m unlikely to fare well), but I have no doubt the fellow experienced something.
Matthew says
It can probably can be explain by sleep paralysis and a post-dream hallucination, but what I experienced felt very real. I’m not a die hard rational materialist, but I tend to go with “scientific” explanations first. Still, I will always wonder.
Padre says
I’ve heard several people describe similar scenarios to what you’re experiencing and have thought that it could be a manifestation of sleep paralysis. But at least one person I’ve heard was conscious before it happened. And it happens to people who are very-level headed and not given to flights of fancy, not do they have a pre-occupation with supernatural beings that could be getting expressed through their subconscious. I just figure it’s another case of there being a lot more happening around us than we’ve been led to believe.
Quixotic Mainer says
I’ll surely keep an eye on the upper limbs of the oaks and pines. If the puckwudgies aren’t up there, the agropelters are!
J.F. Bell says
If you’re of a mind, I’ve got a ghost story at hand that might be of interest.
Still taking email at the Nugget address?
JimC says
Outstanding. Please send to FrontierPartisan@gmail.com.
John Maddox Roberts says
If I should encounter a chupacabra I’ll try to get pix and post them.
JimC says
Thank you. I’ll keep an eye peeled.
Padre says
One of the privileges of my vocation is that when I’m wearing my clerical collar I am occasionally approached by people who are looking for a non-judgmental ear to bounce their supernatural encounters off of. They usually broach the subject with, “You’re probably going to think I’m crazy but…” or “I haven’t told many people this…”. I’ve never heard this from people who are actually crazy. (And I’ve talked to my fair share of them, too.) Some of these stories could have plausible material explanations, but a lot don’t. There’s far more happening out there than our five senses can detect and explain.
David Wrolson says
Padre-You will probably think I am crazy but-(LOL)-not sure if you caught it but I will retell my “Marble” story from Namibia.
Our hunting/tourist guide in Namibia in 2021 was native and we were driving on a remote gravel back road road in Etosha National Park when he suddenly stopped-jumped out and (ostensibly) picked up a marble from the ground and said “I had a dream about this color marble last night.” The hair stood up on the back of my neck and from what I could see the marble looked dusty. He didn’t make a real big deal about it.
I guess he could have faked it and palmed the marble-but I don’t see to what end and how would he have even thought of something like that?
I have been told that African missionaries have a lot of weird stories.
Matthew says
I’ve heard weird stories from people who do mission work in South America. I overheard too people talking at church about a tribal shaman who had converted to Christianity. Even after his conversion he maintained his powers were real including the ability to kill a person with a thought. One of the people talking about it said he scoffed when the ex-shaman said this. A chicken came around at the time. The ex-shaman just stared at it and it fell over dead.
Matthew says
Esquire has an article on foreign volunteers in the Ukraine.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a42929480/ukraine-secret-weapons/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Natty Bumpo says
The image from Mexico is of either a cub or a kutamundi with a bag on it’s head.
However, about 25 years ago I lived in a 100 year old apartment building and woke up with the old hag on top of me and she wasn’t a lady friend of mine.
Scary stuff and I’ll never forget about it ever.
JimC says
That’s two with the Old Hag. This merits exploration.
SQUIRE RUSTICUS says
You’re all going to think I’m a flake now, and I’d thought not to mention this. Thought about it all night, but….Hope I do not regret this.
In about 1986 my brother and I moved into a older house, in the area of the old town, right at the edge of the former frontier army post (Fort Hays). It was a rental while we were attending college.
A few weeks after moving in, I had the couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move beautiful woman that turned into a horrible hag setting on my chest experience happen multiple times. Sometimes I had just woken up, a couple times I just got into bed. (I also was grabbed by the arm and on the shoulder a couple times walking in the house at night). The woman, cloud, horrible hag would be on top of me, float, squeeze, pinch, and grab.
It scared the HELL out of me, and I was afraid to go to bed at night. You know as children you believe in ghost, etc… but as a young adult, not so much. Anyway it did not happen every night, and lasted for about 3 weeks only.
Once I was able to mention “God” in some statement I mumbled, and it disappeared for about a week. Then the last time it came (I believe something was there). I mentioned God again in a statement and it was gone, disappeared. At the time I wasn’t very religious any longer, BUT it showed me there was something to religion and GOD (had real power).
Anyway on a weekend I mentioned my experiences to my Mother, (whom I thought would think I was having mental problems), and she instantly was shocked, saying my brother had come to her with simular stories. She said, we had to move from the place, but we stayed. Everything stopped…
My brother would never tell me of his experience, won’t talk about it, and got pissed at me to couple times I mentioned it to him. So do not know what he experienced.
Over the years I’ve had a few people I’ve told the story to, offer different explanations. None explained what I experienced.
Anyway you can now laugh, think I’m a flake. BUT I believe this experience was real. I was not asleep when these things happened. A couple times I just got into bed. Twice I was walking through the house at night.
AS A SIDE NOTE:
I forget the story, but didn’t Kit Carson claim to have had a horrible hag come out of no where to their camp, and then disappear without a trace ??? Seems I read that, but was too long ago to remember the story.
JimC says
That’s a helluva experience. We’ve got two here with the encounter with the Old Hag. Your Carson reference is tickling a memory for me, too, and I may be heading down a sidetrail to run it down.
SQUIRE RUSTICUS says
I remember reading something in the 90’s about Carson and a old hag “or” (maybe my memory is tainted by all the years) it could have been a starving Indian lady coming up to the campfire from out of nowhere, and making the trapper party at unease. Then I read anything I could about the Fur Trade, Mexican and Spanish frontiers.Too long ago to remember exactly, and I’ve read so much since.
In the 90’s:
I had a Laotian friend whom told me as a child in Laos, he attacked the Spirit House outside his parents house with a slingshot being ornery, and being attacked during the night by spirits, some like an old woman.
I hope my earlier story doesn’t make anything I write in the future seem like nonsense. Most of life can be explained, sometimes maybe not
. Much of what you write about has personal meaning to me, I have an experience, or some knowledge of the subject. Most of my life, I’ve felt sort of alone in many of my interest.
JimC says
No, indeed. It seems that experiences of “the Old Hag” are not uncommon.
Matthew says
Interestingly, I also had my experience after moving to a new house. I think I also invoked God after I threw the punch at the demon. I’m still leaning toward hallucination. At least, I hope it was a hallucination.
J.F. Bell says
I never got visited by the hag. The one time I got sleep paralysis, I did get to a meet an old man dressed like an undertaker from Kansas in 1850. Had a face that was silver and vaguely radiant, like the moon. Eyes were pure black except for gold rings in the middle.
Still haven’t figured out what to do with that one.
Jean says
Loved this and all the comments. There is a lot more to this world that most want to believe.