Supernatural Essays (Examples)

Hamlet is scared by the sudden appearance and thus cries out: "Angels and ministers of grace defend us! / Be thou a spirit of health or a goblin damned, / bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell/... thou com'st in such a questionable shape / that I will speak with thee" (1.4.20-25).
Hamlet gradually gains strength in his belief that divine justice had somehow been invoked and the ghost had appeared to guide everyone to justice. However this is one conclusion that we may draw from the play. There can be some others as well that might not be so positive in nature. Was the ghost actually Hamlet's father's? even if it was, was Hamlet really just in seeking revenge? If he were, then was his modus operandi correct? These questions result from close study of the events the followed the appearance of this specter. Even though…

Supernatural Elements in Shakespeare
The supernatural is a topic that runs throughout Shakespearean plays. Indeed, the ability of the supernatural to affect the movement of drama in Shakespeare's works is almost unparalleled. Supernatural elements often take on a power and efficacy that the forces of the natural world could never mimic, and supernatural events often have as great an impact on worldly events as everyday activities do. The examples in Shakespeare's works are numerous: Prospero's powers and his minion Ariel, the Ghost of Hamlet's father, Margaret's curse in Richard III, and the power of prophesy in Julius Caesar. Of all of these instances of black magic and the supernatural and their peculiar effects on the denizens of the land of the living, perhaps no example is more famous, however, than Macbeth and its witches. The play describes Macbeth and anquo's encounter with the witches very early in the action of the…

Supernatural Tales
Epic of Gilgamesh and Hercules

The Epic of Gilgamesh, similar to several provocative stories, may possibly be looked at through whichever figure of interpretive lenses. The current research reflects on Gilgamesh through the lens of contemporary spirituality, attempting to generate insights about both the epic and human spiritual state of affairs. The conception of spirituality is, on the other hand, significantly challenged as well as confused. There are about three permanent as well as extensive questions that need to be undertaken in terms of spirituality and the questions are the identity, the objective as well as fulfillment (W.T.S. Thackara, 2009).

The Gilgamesh was reflected as a very confident two thirds divine warrior- king in his distinctiveness. On the other hand, in the sense that he never understood his humanity especially when it come to his mortality, this was noted during the death of Enkidu because it turned out to be completely…

Sundiata, role magic, fate, supernatural, dreaming play? Where find elements Islam epic? eference Book:
The supernatural, and all of its manifestations -- including magic, dreaming and fate -- play a highly substantial role in the plot of D.T. Niane's Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. This fact is due in part to this tale's continuance of the tradition of epic literature, in which heroes overcome tremendous odds that are fueled in no small part by the influence of gods, fate and supernatural forces. Yet Sundiata's very origin -- which was prophesized by a divine hunter in the court of his father, the king Nare Maghann Konate, as one who was fated for greatness -- underscores the reliance upon the supernatural that many of the events in the plot of this story hinge upon. In that respect, the supernatural (even in its manifestation in organized religion such as Islam) is the…

Reports of paranormal and supernatural activity are typically considered publicity tactics or exaggeration aimed at generating interest, particularly within the ‘millennial’ generation. Irrespective of the quantity of evidence available, there are several individuals who simply do not accept such tales; one can find only a scant number of people willing to accept such urban myths and anecdotes. But the Pennsylvanian Blair County and its Ghost Research Foundation recognize numerous haunted sites and accord them the status of ‘national museums’. The foundation focuses on exploring numerous haunted sites across Pennsylvania ("Discovering the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, Pennsylvania Uncoveringpa"). Blair County’s key ‘haunted’ tourist spots are Altoona Railroaders Museum, Baker Mansion, and Mishler Theater. These three sites offer highly intriguing entertainment, particular in October and November. The abovementioned museums plan and arrange ghost haunt festivals to entice visitors. Halloween sees a huge inflow of tourists at these sites, seeking participation in their…

Personal Experience With Supernatural Element
Haunting experiences in the modern society concentrate on the lively relationship between the ghosts in popular culture and in folklore. While popular culture greatly resembles folklore in that both depend on conventional genres, content and styles of communication, popular culture is distinguished by production of content for a mass audience while folklore is relayed intimately in small groups or via face-to-face interactions. The link between popular culture and folklore though less discussed and researched historically, it is no less significant. For example, one just has to consider the mass production of roadway ballads in the 18th and 19th centuries, and or the utilization of culture brokers throughout history (Goldstein, Grider and Thomas).

Folklores primarily debate past and current supernatural traditions across the globe, focusing on how these traditions relate to place, ritual, experience and narrative. For example, Europeans have explored whether fairies should be categorized as…

In conclusion, Arabian Nights offers a glimpse into the reality of the Arabic world through the use of "magical realism," magic, and the supernatural. The Mohammedan faith of the Arabic world is implicit through much of the work -- and that insistence upon the supernatural plays a part in the overall theme and structure of the work. From such smaller tales as "The Ox and the Donkey" to such central tales as that of the king and Shahrazad, the theme of captivation and conquering through the use of spellbinding and magic, Arabian Nights shows how much faith the Arabic world had invested in such ideas. And the fact that Nights is still popular today shows how much we have too.

orks Cited

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2010.



Irwin, Robert. The Arabian Nights: a companion. New York, NY: Tauris Parke, 2005.



Lawall, Sarah [ed.]. The Norton Anthology of…

Australia's Aboriginal Supernatural eliefs
The word 'aboriginal' means 'first' or 'earliest known' (Humphreys, p1).

The Australian Aborigines share a unique relationship with Earth Mother that is a "connection [going] back to the beginning of our existence and it brings with it a sense of responsibility and respect for the Earth Mother. Our people were expected to take care of our sacred Earth Mother; that was a responsibility given to us from time immemorial" (Earth, p1). This relationship with the earth is evident in many old religions, but the Aborigines could be considered the first, as there has been evidence of their existence in Australia almost 12,000 years before Europeans in Europe.

Aborigines believe the creation of the universe and all things within it happened during "Dreamtime" when "spirit ancestors wandered through the land, created the physical environment and landforms, gave life to plants, animals and humans and established the order - laws, customs…

There is no doubt in my mind that the farmer and the two state police troopers, all very credible witnesses, saw what they saw. It was not a hoax or figment of their imaginations. However, it is possible that they misinterpreted what they saw. During the 1950s the government said the UFO sightings were the result of swamp gas which rose and reflected lights and looked like images in the sky. Michigan is a wet land state. In addition to more than 10,000 small lakes there are thousands of swamps and marshes. It's possible that what they saw in the sky was a reflection of some natural phenomenon, like swamp gas, that configured itself to look like a flying saucer but wasn't really an object of "advanced technology."

Having said this, however, I must admit that the photo doesn't look anything like natural phenomenon. It looks manufactured and high tech. It…

Otherness" Quality of Gothic Fiction
Otherness in Wapole and Lewis

The construct of otherness is represented in Gothic fiction in three primary ways: (1) An underlying emphasis on the supernatural is a strong platform to presenting a sense of the other to readers. (2) Moreover, women are portrayed in a manner that characterizes them as being very different from men. (3) The behavior of the characters and the situations in which they find themselves and put themselves is profoundly different from the quotidian experiences of the readers, thereby imparting a separation between fiction and real life that comfortably maintains the characters in some kind of otherland.

The "Otherness" of the Supernatural

With his 1764 writing of the novel The Castle of Otranto, Horace Wapole is said to have invented the Gothic novel genre -- a classification that relies heavily on representation of the supernatural. In the minds of contemporary readers, supernatural being are…

Supernatural in Renaissance Drama
There are things in heaven and earth, not dreamt of in the philosophy of Horatio, not simply in "Hamlet" but also in the "Midsummer's Night Dream" of Shakespeare, and the "Dr. Faustus" of Christopher Marlowe. But while all of these plays deal with the theme of human aspirations in a world with a permeable, rather than an impermeable wall between humanity and the supernatural, "Dr. Faustus" suggests that breaking down this wall is initially fun and playful, although it has dire consequences at the end for the play's protagonist. Marlowe's cartoon characters and images of conventional morality, combined with heightened language convey humor rather than horror, until Faustus is condemned to hell for all eternity. The even lighter "Midsummer's Night Dream" also suggests in its early language an initial playfulness for the human and supernatural lovers who engage in transgressing sensual activities. But this comedy set…

Navajo Indians
Navejo Indians

The Navajo Indians also referred to as Dine are semi-nomadic people. It is interesting to note that Navajo people are at times known as 'Holy Earth People (Iverson, 2002). This comes from their beliefs in supernatural beings as well as traditional practices of ritual songs and dance. Navajo people are found in north-eastern areas of Arizona and north-western region of New Mexico (Iverson, 2002) .the regions where the Navajo people live in arid and desert areas that have minimal rainfall. The Navajo people are highly family oriented people, and have a rich culture that is full of ceremonies and other traditions. This paper looks at the history of pastoralists of the Navajo people, their beliefs and religious practices and kinship, sickness and healing, which are important elements with the culture of Navajo people.

Pastoral ways

The traditions and practices of a society, which are to some level the outcome of…

Smith notes that it may be impossible to unequivocally prove something with one hundred percent accuracy; rather, scientists seek probability.
The term theory is often misconstrued: Smith states that "theories always explain facts." Moreover, there is no clear demarcation between a theory and a hypothesis. Theories are basically broad hypotheses. Laws, on the other hand, are more restrictive and are often derived from theories. The practice of science entails experimentation as well as presentation to the scientific community. When the research is presented to other scientists, it is usually done so through peer-reviewed journals. Often other scientists will critique and critically evaluate the scientific experiment and attempt to replicate it. When the experiment has been replicated the hypothesis may become part of the canon of established science and from there, common knowledge.

Because science can only deal with what is observable and measurable, it can not apply to philosophy, aesthetics, ethics,…

supernatural elements of film and story can be both different and similar. Movies and novels that portray elements of horror and paranormal like ghosts and demons do so in a way that evokes suspense, fear, and a sense of surreal. The movie, The Sixth Sense, directed by M. Night Shyamalan and the novel, The Demonologist written by Andrew Pyper shows ghosts and the supernatural as a means of communication from the afterlife or "other side" and the waking life. Although The Sixth Sense focuses on ghosts and The Demonologist focuses on demons, the way in which the writer/director forms the story share similar concepts.
Pyper creates a protagonist in David who is a skeptic of the existence of the supernatural. As explained on page 7: "A demon expert who believes evil to be a manmade invention." (Pyper 7) His skepticism is born of that of never having truly witnessed an…

John esley Before Referencing
Supernatural tales of death and jealousy: Edgar Allen Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" and Robert Olen Butler's "Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of a Parrot"

Both Edgar Allen Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" and Robert Olen Butler's "Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of a Parrot" use supernatural plots to highlight the intense emotions human beings often feel about common and ordinary subjects, namely death and the loss of a loved one to someone else. Poe's tale is written in the style of American Romanticism, and uses highly ornate language and a European setting to create an atmosphere of death, misery and decay. Poe's tale begins strangely, and becomes even stranger as the narrative wears on. The final appearance by death as a masked figure at a costume ball makes the allegorical theme of the story horrifyingly real -- not even the wealthy can escape…

The wife's lie is revealed in "Bisclavet" because the inner humanity of the werewolf does shine through, albeit to another man. "This beast understands, feels like a man," says the king. (p.5) Ultimately, the king's friendship, a relationship forged in the male sphere of the hunt with Bisclavet is more meaningful and lasting than that of the marital bond, borne of a lie of concealment, first on the part of the man, then on the part of the woman. After the full truth is revealed and the werewolf becomes human again: "The king ran to hug him tight;/He kissed him a hundred times that day." (p.9) hen he learns that his friend is in fact a man, and also that the truth has set the man free, the king cannot restrain his lover-like affection. For the first time in the werewolf's life, the man has honest relationship that allows him…

Irony in "Soldier's Home" -- Irony is a device used by writers to let the audience know something that the characters in the story do not know. There is usually a descrepancyt between how things appear and the reality of the situation. Often the characters do not seem aware of any conflict between appearances and the reality, but the audience or reader is aware of the conflict because the writer has used irony in the story. Whatever the emotion of the story is, irony heightens it.
There is a strong element of irony in Ernest Hemingway's painful story "Soldier's Home." Harold, who served in the Army in World War I on the bloodiest battlefields, comes home too late to be welcomed as a hero. We know he needed to be treated as a hero (because he makes up lies about himself) but the townsfolk and his parents do not. While Harold…

Authentic Prayer in Habakkuk
The world today offers many challenges, especially for the person who is determined to maintain a sense of faithful love for God. In addition to the many scientific and non-faithful persons attempting to dethrone God from the faithful heart, personal struggles and challenges could also lead to significant despair. Even the strongest of faiths can be tested, challenged, and even a little shaken. It is my belief that this is one of the reasons why the Bible is filled with examples of everyday human beings who, despite the faith required for their positions as prophets or preachers, nevertheless experienced challenges that were every bit as hard on their faith as the challenges we experience today (Hays, p. 16). Hence, a prophet like Habakkuk and the nature of his prayers provide for the reader an honest rendition of what it truly means to have faith, and indeed, as…

Post-Impressionist artists were interested in the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche, particularly in his concept of the Ubermensch, a superman who would be capable through intense struggle of surmounting the lower forces that would limit his ability to achieve. The idea that man could evolve beyond his present capacities influenced the relationship of European man to previous cultures and to contemporary but less "civilized" societies. This paper explores the ways in which Paul Gauguin applied the Ubermensch concept to his art and to his life, and examines parallel motifs in the oeuvres of his contemporaries.
The Artist Gauguin: Man, Nature, Ubermensch and God

At the beginning of the enaissance, Massacio painted The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and initiated a new view of humanity: an intensely personal and emotionalized struggle against fate. In spite of the Neo-Classical return to the formal norms of the past, the human agony…

Self-Made Man and the Recipient of Divine Grace:
Benjamin Franklin vs. Jonathan Edwards

Despite the fact that both Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Edwards are honored as two of the greatest authors of colonial America, they could not be more different in their ideological orientations. Edwards (1703-1758) is perhaps most famous for penning the image of the human soul as a spider in the hand of a merciful God, suspended above the flames of hell in his sermon "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God." All human beings, Edwards implied in his image, were essentially fallen beings. A true Puritan, Edwards believed there was no way for hard work to win divine favor; one could only hope to be the recipient of divine grace. In contrast, Franklin (1706-1790), despite living during roughly the same time period as Edwards, was the consummate self-made man. As well as being credited as one of…

Scientific Knowledge
There lies question on whether scientific knowledge is able to answer all the questions that relate to physical reality. For many years, people have wondered what the earth is composed of, leaving them wondering if the nature's secrets will one day be revealed (Grant 64). However, it is notable that since Galileo discovered the moon in 1608, there has been a remarkable move by his fellow scientists.

A lot of studies in science including the origin of the solar system, sonata of the stars, how matter changes to energy, and detailed works of an atom, among others has not fully exposed the science knowledge. However, the human culture seems to change with science. orldview patterns prove that complex systems studies by working from their smallest constituents meaning from bottom up. These paradigms also confirm that the laws of nature pounce from deep symmetry writs in to the basics of time,…

I set up my practice at once. So many maladies among citizens of this town were directly related to the spiritual imbalance in the forest. Little puk-wudgees caused much havoc among the townsfolk. Oh, at first the people of Freetown had little faith in my medicine, but over time they came to appreciate that I was perfect for their unique corner of the world.
Theirs was a land haunted. People came to me when the ghosts in their attic began to make noise; when they saw lights above the forest at night; when they saw a creature from the corner of their eye. This was life as normal in Freetown. Everybody who lived there simply accepted it, without becoming creepy like such a town would seem on television. But I helped them. I helped them learn the reasons why spirits acted the ways they did. I taught them how to…

S. By offering an astonishing and heretical thesis. Hence, many believe in the notion of extra sensory perception (ESP). Evaluation: Time takes an objective view of society's perception of psychic phenomena. A thorough explanation as to why this unique ability is suppressed because of society's skepticism.
6. Shea, C. (2011). Fraud scandal fuels debate over practices of social psychology. Chronicle of Higher Education, 58(13), A1.

Summary: Article discusses the academic field of social psychology and examines how research practices within the discipline are being influenced by the news media and the use of fraudulent data in his reports, plus the manipulation of statistics. Evaluation: Convincingly, the author demonstrates the strong desire of some to capitalize on the psychic phenomena that compels them to falsify data.

Web Pages

7. Anders, R. (2009). Psychic phenomena. Retrieved from http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_4.htm

Summary: The energy of matter and the energy behind matter, which religion calls the spiritual energy and science calls…

Nell cleaned up the yard and planted tomatoes and marigolds. One afternoon as she was sweeping the walk to the alley she heard a commotion and went to investigate. A young girl no more than eight years old was cornered in the alley by a group of ruffian boys with bats and sticks intent on beating her up. Nell raised her broom and began swinging at the boys. "Get out of here!" she shouted. "Quit your messin' with that girl!" Shocked, the boys ran off. The little girl, who was really quite beautiful, cried with relief and thanked Nell over and over for saving her life.
The next day came a knock at Nell's back door. It was the same little girl only today she was smiling. "I brought you a present," she said, "from my mother and sisters." She gave Nell a silver palm pilot and showed her how…

Lady in the ater, the 2006 major motion picture by writer/director/actor Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan that make it a quintessential allegory. The names of the major characters in the film (such as Story and Healer) obviously represent the ideas, as well as the virtues, that they are named after. Further contributing to this theme in the film is the fact that this movie is based upon a children's story. An immense body of literature exists that demonstrates that several children's stories, and several elements in such tales, are allegorical and representative of ideas that may be too advanced for an author to directly address in literature for young people (Luthra 2009. As such, the two principle rhetorical devices that Shyamalan employs to deliver his own messages in Lady in the ater is symbolism and the unique role he gives to each of his characters, who represent various symbolic concepts. Collectively,…

Fantastic Literature
Todorov revised

FANTASTIC LITEATUE IN "THE DEAD LOVE"

The hesitation of characters when confronted with questions of reality is clearly depicted in The Dead Lover and becomes the driving force of the plot through the experiences of the protagonist omuald as recounted by him at the age of sixty-six. The hesitation of omuald to confront the question of which of his experiences -- the ones as the priest or the one as Seignior omuald of Venice -- are real forms the basis of much of the plot. This hesitation is built into the constitution and personality of the protagonist as he is a young priest recently ordained and is not mature enough to deal with the temptations of the world that he comes across for the first time since his education in a cloistered environment is complete.

omuald's Hesitation to Accept the eality of his Vocation

The plot of the story is based…

It is the balancing of tools within the rubric of employee-supervisor roles that requires one use different managerial techniques in order to solve the problem at hand. Similarly, find ways to build and increase trust between members of the group and management and group.
EFEENCES

Blake, . And Mouton, J. (1985). The Managerial Grid III.: The Key to Leadership Excellence. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing Company.

Boulgarides, J. And Cohen, W. (2001). Leadership Styles Vs. Leadership Tactics. The Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship. 6 (1): 59-73. etrieved from: http://www.stuffofheroes.com/leadership_style_vs%20leadership%20tactics.htm

Cronkite, J. (2006). Why is Leadership Style Important. Dirgo Consulting Group. etrieved from: http://www.dirigoconsulting.com/articles/WhyIsLeadershipStyleImportant.pdf

Porter, M.E. (1998). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior

Performance. New York: Free Press.

owe, A. And Boulgarides, J. (2998). Managerial Decision Making. New York: MacMillan Publishing.

Senge, P.M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning

Organization. New York: Broadway.

Zeidan, H. (2005). The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid. Illuminations. etrieved from: http://www.lacpa.org.lb/Includes/Images/Docs/TC/TC409.pdf

In…

Lomax can be interpreted to mean the highest of the low and possibly hints at his place within Satan's hierarchy as he is Satan's son. Mary Ann's name, on the other hand, seems to allude to Mary the mother of Jesus or Mary Magdalene; by naming the character Mary, the author insinuates that she is innocent in the entire affair. Most importantly is John Milton. This is clearly a reference to the author of Paradise Lost. The epic poem seeks to "justify the ways of God to men" by analyzing how Adam and Eve were tempted and why they were expelled from the Garden of Eden (Milton 1.26). Moreover, the epic poem also makes an argument for free will, a concept that Milton, the character, exploits.
One of the central themes within the story is that everything is a test. This sets up the argument that there are several conflicts…

Indeed, the trajectory of the narrative involves exacting revenge on those who prevented her marriage from taking place.
Although the Bride's marital aspirations might suggest that she holds a conservative sensibility, this is far from the case and she is ultimately more aggressive than Jen. While Jen also exhibits physical prowess, her sacrificial gesture at the film's conclusion signifies how she maintains a strong reverence for the Confucian moral code, assimilating her within the wuxia genre. Physically, the Bride resembles a dominatrix; she is taller than many of the characters and fights in a relentlessly savage manner (even going so far as to bite her adversary in one scene.) in contrast, Jen is more diminutive and her face and eyes are softer and less predatory. Where the Bride looks much more imposing than an average person, Jen has an average size that is not dissimilar from the other characters. Indeed,…

Membership in an exclusive, elite privileged club of those who own "the best" -- something that not just anyone can have. To wear Nike Air Jordans was to reify a sacred experience. It was a vehicle to feeling as if one were the hero figure, Michael Jordan" (Aaker & Biel, 1993, p.105). This excerpt demonstrates the extreme length of effectiveness of the complex and truly multi-faceted marketing campaign launched by Nike.
In conclusion, professional athletes have long exerted a strong influence over men's fashion and sports apparel. However, the case of Air Jordans represents a shoe where a celebrity endorsement truly revolutionized the product, the celebrity and the entire athletic shoe industry. Nike took a highly calculated and highly strategic risk when they started courting Michael Jordan and when they used such a tremendous bulk of their advertising budget on this particular campaign. However, their strategy paid off: they successfully…

scholars understand the quality and prospects of "democracy" in China?
Many people have different views concerning the exact nature of democracy. Scholars believe that democracy entails the act of the society choosing its own leaders to implement decisions, held responsible through elections, for the public. Others emphasize that democracy entails the rule by the people, in which the will of the people lies with the supernatural being. Nevertheless, while democracy may have varied meanings depending on every individual's definition, it is with certainty that if democracy shall prevail, ideas must flow, both from the majority and the minority. In absence of free flow of ideas, there will be absence of democratic ideal of governance by people if people are unaware of the occurrences. In the republic of China, some people knew this.

Introduction

China reforms are developing very fast. Her exceptional political growth model is not only divergent from the traditional Soviet…

Poe's The Fall Of The House Of Usher
Of all the authors to employ use of the Gothic style in their poetry or prose, none mastered the craft more than Edgar Allen Poe. The classic American fiction writer specialized in fostering a unique sense of dread and terror for his readers by successfully using elements of the Gothic genre such as the grotesque, or distorted imagery and setting, mysterious circumstances and a slowly building and suspenseful pace. The short story which best displays Poe's use of Gothic literary themes is believed by many to be The Fall of the House of Usher, his hauntingly disturbing depiction of a man's descent into madness and the consequences that unbridled fear can ultimately have. Considered to be a masterpiece of Gothic prose, Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher touches on all of the centerpieces of the genre, including perfectly chosen diction which…

Myths
Myth of Marriage and Children

Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth is a book that can potentially transform the reader's consciousness. Beyond being informative, Campbell's analysis of cultural myths is profound; it provokes genuine introspection. The author refers to the spiritual in whatever he speaks about, and yet he never lapses into religious diatribe or dogma. Subjects like marriage are elevated beyond the social to the psycho-spiritual. For example, he calls marriage "primarily a spiritual exercise, and the society is supposed to help us have the realization. Man should not be in service to society, society should be in the service of man," (8).

In light of modern society, Campbell's words hold new meaning. In America, we have few true rituals because we have turned our attention outward instead of inward. The wisdom of life is being denigrated through a preoccupation with technology and material goods. There is little sense of the…

hile Macbeth also appears to see ghosts as a result of killing his friend and the king, it is very probable that his visions are caused by his conscience, as he is unable to get over the fact that he murdered his best friend and the king. Lady Macbeth also yields to hallucinations: "Here's the smell of blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (Lady Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1). Instead of perceiving them as being examples of their dirty conscience, the Macbeths consider that their visions are supernatural occurrences that appear as a result of their actions.
Macbeth lacks morality where Hamlet uses too much of it: the former does not hesitate to kill anyone that stands in his way in spite of the fact that he is actually close to many of the people that he kills whereas Hamlet discovers that Claudius…

The ealities of the Supernatural:

Any person who picks up a Harry Potter novel will surely come to realize that J.K. owling must have spent a great amount of time conducting research into the occult and the supernatural in order to produce such powerful and influential literary characters and situations. Obviously, owling has borrowed heavily from much older sources concerning the supernatural, sorcery and witchcraft, some dating back to Medieval times. As one of the world's oldest religions, witchcraft is a pagan faith, non-Christian rather than anti-Christian, and is based upon the belief that nature and the universe can be controlled and manipulated via magic and the invocation of divine spirits. As a practice, witchcraft has existed for many centuries, and before the 12th century a.D., sorcery and magic were generally overlooked by the church, but by 1300 a.D., witchcraft became equated with sorcery, at least in the view of most…

After Fuentes novel, later was made a film, " Old Gringo," with Gregory Peck in the title role.
Bierce also joined the characters of the movie From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (set in 1913, a prequel to the original From Dusk Till Dawn). Bierce was an inspiring figure for the producer of the movie. In the film he is first attacked y andits, and then trapped in a ar filled with vampires determined to kill all the humans inside. This clearly fictional adventure also portrayed Bierce as an alcoholic. In that film Amrose Bierce was played y Michael Parks.

Bierce appears as a character in Roert A. Heinlein's uses Amrose Bierce as a character for his novella " Lost Legacy," (pulished in the short story collection Assignment in Eternity). In the story, Bierce has advanced mental powers.

A http: The story purpose is to present Bierce's manuscript written in…

In her late eighteenth century novel that was formative in creating the Gothic genre that remains highly popular. Although mild by 21st century standards, The Old English Baron did contain enough supernatural content concerning Sir Philip Harclay's adventures and struggles with the supernatural to attract a large readership when it was published, and these same attributes still attract readers today. This paper provides a personal reaction to this novel, on its own, followed by a discussion concerning what this author thought of Reeve's relatively low-intensity supernatural descriptions. Finally, an analysis concerning whether the plot resolution can be regarded as comedy or a heroic romance is followed by a summary of the research and salient findings concerning these issues in the conclusion.
Q1. How did you react to The Old English Baron, on its own?

Answer No. 1: Overall, I enjoyed reading this story despite its excessive verbosity and flowery verbiage, which of…

1985) held that municipal ordinance prohibiting fortune-telling and any related activity were in violation of Cal. Const. art. I, 2; while arrests for fortune-telling are now less frequent in California than before Azusa, they still occur. For example, in San Diego, four women belonging to the same Gypsy family were recently charged with theft by false pretense; as a precondition of being offered bail, these psychics were prohibited from engaging in fortune-telling or from being in locations of psychic activities (Weyrauch, 2001).
Certainly, there has been much skepticism concerning the reality of paranormal powers since antiquity. A number of "natural philosophers," people that would eventually be known as scientists when more organized systems of thought came into existence, disproved such claims several centuries ago (andi, 1982). For example, in 1692, a French dowsing practitioner by the name of Jacques Aymar was hired by municipal authorities to discover a murderer by…

The narrator observes and describes but does not always interpret the events and the feelings of the characters to the reader. In other words, this narrative style could be termed limited omniscient.
One should also take into account the fact that we are often in doubt about the exact nature of the feelings and thoughts of the main character. e are, for instance, not quite sure if Markheim is sincere in what he says. He is after all a known liar. Are we then to believe that he has truly repented? The narrator is therefore only omniscient up to a point and there are times when there is doubt and ambiguity. For example,

The reader can never be sure if Markheim's anxiety of being apprehended for his crime is justifiable or merely another figment of his imagination. Throughout the passage, Markheim experiences a multitude of volatile and contradictory feelings, developing the…

Fate in Literature
Stories whether they are presented in film, printed or orally spoken all share important commonalities. One of the important shared elements amongst stories that have been around for hundreds maybe even thousands of years in literature is the role of fate within the stories. Fate in literature can be broadly defined as the power, influence or will of a superior or supernatural force that stages and predetermines events in the voyage of a the main character in the story (Princeton.edu).

A classic example of this is the tragedy written by Sophocles, the infamous tale of Oedipus Rex a king who desperately seeks to outrun, challenge and contradict fate, but is unable to because the supernatural forces above him (The Gods), have predetermined and staged inevitable events in his life. Fate is a very interesting topic to explore as it relates to stories because it challenges the notion of free…

SYMBOLIC THEMES OF MYSTERY AND THE SUPERNATURAL IN SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDE'S
RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," considered by many scholars as the quintessential masterpiece of English Romantic poetry, the symbolic themes of mystery and the supernatural play a very crucial role in the poem's overall effect which John Hill Spencer sees as Coleridge's "attempt to understand the mystery surrounding the human soul in a universe moved by forces and powers... immanent and transcendent" (157). Yet the Mariner himself appears to be trapped in this supernatural world as a result of ghostly manifestations which emanate from the realms of the unknown.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" was first published in Lyrical Ballads in 1798, a collection of poetry written and published jointly by Coleridge and his good friend William Wordsworth. Yet the text of the poem generally in use today appeared in Sibylline…

Culture: The Olmec eligion
The Olmec Culture: eligion

The Olmec people are part of the ancient Mesoamerica cultural group. Their history, cultural beliefs, and customs are quite similar to those of the ancient Maya group; in fact, the group remained understudied for many years because archeologists perceived them as a component group of the Maya people. They run an interesting culture, with interesting views on, among other things, the economy, science, their own history, language, and so on. I, however, find one bit of their culture -- religion - particularly intriguing.

The Olmecs' religion links nature to the supernatural world; caves, mountain tops and springs are in this regard perceived as doors leading to the world of supernatural beings. On this front, the Olmec people often structured their buildings to resemble volcanoes or mountains, and constructed their cities close to natural features as a way of showing honor to, and consequently winning blessings…

The centrality of the ghost to the play's metaphysics might be inferred from the fact that illiam Shakespeare acted as the ghost and the player king (Bloom), a strange chimera and bellerophon within the anatomy of the play. To cite Eliot again, Hamlet "is the 'Mona Lisa' of literature" (cf. Hoy 182). It is an exciting challenge to participate in this critical tradition in hopes of concluding it. However, the volumes of superb criticism on Hamlet and King Hamlet's ghost are vast, and this is a mere gloss of its character. If we obsess over it too much, we, like Hamlet, may become lost in its problems.

orks Cited and Consulted

Bloom, Harold. Hamlet: Poem Unlimited. Riverhead Books: New York, 2003.

Dodsworth, Martin. Hamlet Closely Observed. The Athlone Press: London, 1985.

Greenblatt, Stephen. Hamlet in Purgatory. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 2001.

How, Cyrus, ed. illiam Shakespeare Hamlet, Second Edition. .. Norton & Company: New York,…

The extent of the hyperbole may not be clear to a modern audience, but ten thousand miles was an almost incomprehensible distance when Burns wrote the poem and would have taken a tremendous amount of time, regardless of method of travel.

In sharp contrast to Burns' poem, Shakespeare's poem makes it clear that he does not believe his love is supernatural. hile many love poems, like Burns' "A Red, Red Rose," describe love as something greater than nature, Shakespeare celebrates the earthly nature of his love. Instead of using commonplace metaphors to exault his lover's beauty, Shakespeare uses these metaphors to demonstrate that his lover is not an exceptional beauty. Her eyes are "nothing like the sun;...her breasts are dun,...black wires grow on her head," and her breath reeks. (Shakespeare). In other words, Shakespeare acknowledges that his lover is simply a woman, not something greater than this earth. In fact, he…

Angelology, or the study of angels, has been a topic of human fascination since the dawn of time. There are several perspectives from which angels can be viewed. Many are skeptical about their existence, since they cannot be physically perceived with the senses. Thus these people take a rational and scientific view of the issue, explaining angels in religious literature in rational, naturalistic terms. The religious (predominantly Christian for the purposes of this paper) view is that the ible features angels in both the Old and New Testaments. Such evidence is enough for Christians to justify a religious belief in angels, as it is also enough to justify all other Christian beliefs. Finally, there is the more occult view of actual current experiences with angels. Some people claim to have had experiences such as dreams and visions during which angels visited them. This, like all other occult phenomena including mediumism,…

Both Tayo and Crowe begin their journeys wandering between two worlds. Both are aware of their wandering and are constantly searching for an identity that will allow them to find the world and identity in which they are most suitable for inclusion. Similarly, both Crowe and Tayo experience a traumatic event that leaves them haunted not only by their pasts, but also guilty about their own actions in the past and sure that these actions have caused others pain. Additionally, these hauntings result in both Tayo and Crowe pushing away the ones they love. For Crowe it is his wife and for Tayo, his family. The similarities between the characters of Tayo and Crowe, therefore, suggest the truth of Saez and insbro's claims. Ethnic writers Shyamalan and Silko certainly employ a common theme of exclusion and inclusion, a theme that is encompassed by the larger theme of the presence…

Constructed Myths and Man's Purpose
Since Nietzsche declared that God was dead, science and mankind have begun a twofold search. Nietzsche's declaration asserted that the need for God in the society's constructed identity no longer existed. The understanding of the times was that the scientific method could break down any problem into is components, and uncover both the purpose and the source of all of mankind's desires, tangible and intangible alike. The accompanying hopes for a utopian society would also be ushered in by modern thought. Modern, logical and rational thought would be able to replace oppressive superstition, religious, and myth of ignorant and uneducated people who used religious beliefs to explain those elements of life which previously could not be understood. Since the publishing of his work, along with Jung, Kant and a myriad of others, the social sciences have searched to identify the purpose of religious life within the…

Japanese Lit
The most salient motif connecting Basho's "Oku no Hosomichi" with Kyoka's "The Holy Man of Mount Koya" is the journey. A journey provides the pivotal experience for the hero, who is personally transformed by the journey. The hero's journey is more than one of self-discovery, for through the journey, they hero touches upon deeper metaphysical issues. The heroes on their respective journeys in these two stories undergo similar emotional experiences and transformations. For example, both struggle to face and overcome their own fears. Both Basho and the narrator of "The Holy Man of Mount Koya" need to go through extreme weariness during the process of the journey, for from their point of exhaustion a new type of energy may arise. Sexuality and erotic imagery is present, albeit in subtle and symbolic ways, in these two journeys. Thus, issues related to temptation become important lessons for the heroes. Finally, the…

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4. Social and Political Life

There is a general paucity of information about the actual societal and political structure of the Olmec. While there is not much evidence to build a comprehensive picture of the daily and social life of these people, there is enough available data from certain archeological sites to provide some reasonable speculations.

One of the assumptions that is derived from the excavation of sites at San Lorenzo and then at La Venta is that the society was very centralized. This in turn has led to the view that the society was highly structured, with a hierarchical basis of order and class stratification. This also implies the existence of a ruling elite and a system of power and control, which was possibly based on religious beliefs. This view of the structure of the society is summarized as follows: "Olmec society was & #8230;highly centralized, with a strongly hierarchical structure…

Inductive reasoning leads Legrand to discover an encrypted message that he sets out to painstakingly decipher. Poe's detailed analysis of the cryptogram is quintessentially romantic, encouraging rational inquiry into seemingly supernatural phenomenon. A respect for both the natural and supernatural worlds is implied by the story. Interestingly, nothing supernatural does take place in "The Gold-ug." Legrand admits to the striking coincidences that led him to the treasure, but coincidences themselves are not supernatural events. Legrand states, "it was not done by human agency. And nevertheless it was done."
The titular bug is a scarabaeus, which is a direct allusion to ancient Egypt. Like pirates, the imagery and lore of ancient Egypt has romantic, compelling connotations for readers. The reference to the scarab is coupled with the eerie image of the skull. When Jupiter finally climbs out on the "dead" limb the situation takes on an ominous tone before resolving itself…

Although the events and characters' reactions to them have their differences in the interest of plot variety, similarities between the cases far outweigh the differences.
Not only are the events that Nel and Crowe experience and their reactions to them similar, but also both characters have striking revelations at the end of their stories that suggest the importance of the events. In Nel's case, the remembering "the death of chicken little" allows her to "[reconfigure] a number of long-held memories" (Matus, 69). One of those memories, and probably the most poignant is that of Sula. After coming back to the Bottom, Nel is less than friendly with her former confidant. In fact, she joins the rest of the town in labeling Sula and her wild ways as evil, a predicament that helps unite the town. Although Nel and manage a brief reconciliation before Sula's death, the force of the reconciliation…

O rother, Where Art Thou?
Homer in Hollywood: The Coen rothers' O rother, Where Art Thou?

Could a Hollywood filmmaker adapt Homer's Odyssey for the screen in the same way that James Joyce did for the Modernist novel? The idea of a high-art film adaptation of the Odyssey is actually at the center of the plot of Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 film Contempt, and the Alberto Moravia novel on which Godard's film is based. In Contempt, Prokosch, a rich American dilettante film producer played by Jack Palance, hires Fritz Lang to film a version of Homer's Odyssey, then hires a screenwriter to write it and promptly ruins his marriage to rigitte ardot. Fritz Lang gamely plays himself -- joining the ranks of fellow "arty" German-born directors who had earlier deigned to act before the camera (like Erich von Stroheim in Wilder's Sunset oulevard, playing a former director not unlike himself, or even Otto…

Ivanits'"Russian Folk Belief"
Linda Ivanits' Russian Folk Belief is a foundational and possibly one of kind work exploring concepts of Russian culture that have previously been unknown and would probably have remained so had Ivanits not seen fit to document them. The oral tradition is a largely challenged historical source as it is so difficult to both document and record in an accurate and scientific manner. The bedrock themes that are present within Ivanits work are continually demonstrated within her text through real memories and experiences of Russian people.

Ivanits clearly demonstrates how a tradition associated with eons of standards and cultural practices has evolved through more modern times, into the age of Christianity. Each section of her book weaves the roots of Russian folk belief with the dominance of the Christian ethic and practice.

In Part I Folk Beliefs About the Supernatural Ivanits demonstrates how the historical folk entities of the Russian…

On the contrary, if I had been able to be a clergyman or an art dealer, then perhaps I should not have been fit for drawing and painting, and I should neither have resigned nor accepted my dismissal as such. I cannot stop drawing because I really have a draughtsman's fist, and I ask you, have I ever doubted or hesitated or wavered since the day I began to draw? (Van Gogh, Letter to Theo, April 1882).
That he was a talented artist was undeniable. Yet, art was no substitute for religion, and, further still, art was no direct avenue to sanctifying grace. Van Gogh's increasing sense of alienation and feeling of despair would continue unabated -- evidenced by he and his brother Theo's inability to live together for long; the inability of his dream of an artists' collective (the artistic equivalent of a kind of monastic community) to come…

Spear of Destany
The history of civilization is full of legends and myths that have cut across cultural barriers and are nowadays some of the most well-known stories related to the old times of religion and civilization. One of these myths include, among others, the Holy Graal, the Shroud of Turin, or the Spear of Destiny, both of them linked to the life and death of Jesus Christ.

The present research provides a detailed account of the history of the Spear of Destiny, or the Holy Spear, which is considered to have been the one that eventually killed Jesus on the Cross. The accounts of this artifact is important and to some extend crucial for the history of Christianity in particular because of the role it played in the final hours of Jesus' life and, at the same time, due to the mysticism and meaning that has been attributed to it along…

1. Satsuki and Mei first discover the nature spirits in the house, but their encounter with Totoro is even more transformative. The initial encounter with the supernatural seems to open their eyes to the other dimension, and eventually they follow their instincts. The girls’ natural curiosity then leads them to examine what appear to be bunny ears beneath the house, but which are really spirits who lure her to a sort of portal under the house. Following the little spirits eventually leads them to the magical dimension. As a child, I also spent tremendous amounts of time in nature, following my innate curiosity just as Satsuki and Mei follow theirs. I climbed trees, some so big I could sit on their branches comfortably for hours, and personified plants and animals, just as the little girls in My Neighbor Totoro do. Although I have never had the type of supernatural experiences that…

creen
hakespeare's rhetoric has always astounded his contemporary audiences through his almost supernatural ability to perceive and present the universality of human nature on stage, regardless of the time his characters lived in.

The three different types of techniques used in rendering the play to the public are different, but related art forms: literature, theater and film. They reflect their author's or directors' vision of the story originally presented by hakespeare on stage at the Globe, in London, at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Kings of cotland, England, and later Great Britain, had always been challenged in keeping their place on the throne and hakespeare himself lived through times that were still full of intrigue and plotting against the sovereign. Mary tuart, accused of plotting against the queen of England, Elisabeth I, had been executed in 1587, still a vivid memory for many who attended the shows put on stage at…

If humans are not the architects of good and evil, then, it is easy to see how a human cannot be wholly good or wholly evil. An architect may be trying to emulate the style of Frank Lloyd right, but his or her work will, ultimately, be different from right's in some ways. The emulating architect will create some aspects of his or her building that are entirely his or her own. In the same way, a person may be emulating the metaphysical creator of good or evil, but he or she will be flawed in some ways, meaning that he or she is not wholly evil or wholly good. Edgar Allen Poe gives a good example of this in his story "The Black Cat." hile the main character commits atrocities to his cat, Pluto, readers are able to find a glimmer of good through his actions before he commits…

It is clear that the Roman and Jewish authorities were concerned about the development of the early church. Craig points out that, had the tomb been occupied, it would have been an easy matter for those authorities to indicate Jesus' dead body as a means of disproving the notion that he resurrected. However, there is no evidence to suggest that they did so.
In his second rebuttal, Ludemann reiterates his disbelief that a supernatural resurrection could have occurred. Then, he goes on to say that he will offer an alternative explanation for the events. He believes that Paul's experience with Jesus, which Ludemann has previously explained away as a vision, does capture the nature of all of the disciples' experience with a post-mortem Jesus. He also reiterates the point that the Gospels are not reliable as a historical source given how far removed they were from the events in question.…

The expansion meant progress and it implemented the idea of progress into the minds of the new people. As Thomas Jefferson noted, the permanent moving forward of the boundaries and the idea of growth and multiplication enhanced the feeling of unfailing progress: "However our present interests may restrain us within our limits, it is impossible not to look forward to distant times, when our rapid multiplication will expand itself beyond those limits, and cover the whole northern, if not southern, continent, with a people speaking the same language, governed in similar forms, and by similar laws; nor can we contemplate with satisfaction either blot or mixture on that surface." (Peterson, Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation, 1970, p. 746) Turner was the one who has actually laid the basis for a theory of the frontier in American history in the nineteenth century. Before him however, Jefferson, long before he…