Tag Archives: death

Ashiarai Yashiki: Giant Ghostly Foot

Arkane Curiosities

Sometimes ghosts are missing body parts. Headless specters abound (looking at you Nearly-Headless Nick). There are even ghosts with several arms or legs. Yet in Japan, we have a ghost who is only a foot. A giant ghostly foot that desires you to clean it — the Ashiarai Yashiki.

Nocturnal Foot Washing

The Ashiarai Yashiki appeared suddenly in front of the door of a house. The occupants heard a booming voice shout out:

“WAAAASH MY FOOOOT!”

The ceiling splintered as a gigantic foot smashed though. This massive foot was covered in bristly thick hair and terribly filthy.

If the people refused to wash the foot, the yokai would stomp around, causing earthquakes and other natural disasters until its demands were met.

A Deceased Merchant

According to some variations of the legend, the Ashiarai Yashiki is actually the spirit of a wealthy merchant who was so obsessed with cleanliness, he would force his servants to wash his feet every night. When he died, his spirit was unable to rest and took on the form of the giant foot, continuing to demand that people wash it.

Maybe You’re Guilty of Something

The Ashiarai Yashiki could also be a play on words. In ancient times, “to wash one’s feet” meant to be cleared of crimes and allegations. This would suggest that a visitation by the Ashiarai Yashiki meant the occupant was guilty of some crime. The yokai came to punish the criminal for their misdeeds. 

Tim Kane

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The Murderous Dr. Satan (aka Dr. Marcel Petiot) — The French Serial Killer Who Dissolved His Victims

Arkane Curiosities

Many people in France during World War II wanted to disappear and Dr. Marcel Petiot was more than happy to help them… but their disappearances were permanent. Marcel Petiot (later known as Dr. Satan) was a French doctor and fraudster who operated in Paris during World War II. He is believed to have killed between 26 to 63 people, mostly Jews seeking to escape Nazi persecution. He managed to escape punishment over and over and would go on to be known as the most famous French serial killer.

The Scheme

Petiot’s victims were lured into his home under the guise of providing them with false identity papers and medical certificates. Although he would charge them 25,000 Francs, he also knew they’d be loaded with countless valuables — cash, gold and jewels. 

Upon arriving, Petiot would bring the victims to an airtight basement, claiming it was a safe hiding spot. The supposed destination for these refugees was Argentina. Petiot explained that the Argentinian officials needed any new arrivals to be vaccinated. As a doctor, he administered the injection himself.

Of course, there was no vaccine. Each shot was loaded with cyanide. However, despite what we all think, cyanide isn’t always fatal. Since the basement was airtight, he dealt with any surviving victims by turning on the gas and suffocating them to death. He even installed a peephole to watch the proceedings. 

A Macabre Mortuary

Marcel Petiot disposed of his victims’ bodies by dismembering them and dissolving them in acid. After killing his victims, he would use a saw to dismember their bodies into small pieces, making it easier to dispose of them.

Petiot then placed the dismembered body parts in a large metal container filled with quicklime and water. The quicklime would dissolve the flesh and bones, leaving behind only a sludge-like residue.

Petiot’s use of acid to dissolve his victims’ bodies was a particularly gruesome method of disposal, and it made it difficult for authorities to identify the victims or determine the exact number of people he killed. Later, he was officially convicted of 26 murders, but he may have killed up to 150 people over three years. 

He left behind a macabre assortment of human remains, including 33 pounds of charred bones, three garbage cans filled with unidentified body parts, ten whole human scalps and nine severed heads. 

A Slippery Fish

In the 1920s, Petiot was involved in several fraudulent schemes, including fake stock deals and impersonating a doctor to solicit money from patients. He was convicted of fraud in 1926 and sentenced to five years in prison but managed to escape in 1927 by faking a seizure and being taken to a hospital, from where he fled.

In 1943, the Gestapo discovered his network, believing it was a genuine method to smuggle refugees out of France. They forced a Jewish prisoner, Yvan Dreyfus, to pretend to be a Jew wanting to escape. However, Dreyfus vanished.

The Gestapo eventually captured Petiot and tortured him about his smuggling network, but of course there was no information to give. They did discover that he was murdering his clients but chose to turn a blind eye. The Gestapo may have seen Petiot’s activities as a way to rid France of Jews and other undesirables, and didn’t want to interfere with his activities.

Petiot’s killing spree came to an end in March 11, 1944 when a neighbor reported a foul smell emanating from his property. When police investigated, they found evidence of Petiot’s gruesome activities. Firefighters discovered a furnace furiously burning with a human arm hanging out the side. 

This time, Petiot claimed his victims were, in fact, traitors and Nazi infiltrators. He was a patriot and actually aiding the French resistance. And the French police bought into this and released him. 

A closer examination of the remains as well as the 2000 pieces of clothing and belongings left behind, revealed that the victims were Jewish. 

The Butcher of Paris Captured

A seven month manhunt ensued with Petiot’s story and picture appearing in papers all over Europe. He was finally recognized in a Paris Metro station on Halloween, 1944. After a search, the police found him carrying a pistol, over 31,000 Francs and 50 sets of identity papers. 

Petiot maintained his innocence to the end, but could never support his claims. On May 15, 1946, he strolled down Death Row toward the awaiting guillotine. When asked how he felt, Petiot replied: “My conscience is clear.” That was, because the man had no conscience to begin with. 

Tim Kane

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Mother of the Gods (with a Castration Cult)

Arkane Curiosities

Everyone needs a mother, even the gods. In central Anatolia (now modern Turkey) the Phrygian people held Cybele as their principal goddess. She also happened to be the mother of the gods.

Zeus Has Two Mothers

Cybele was believed to have given birth to a number of gods and goddesses who ruled over various aspects of the natural world, such as: Dionysus, Hecate and Zeus.

Yet in traditional Greek lore, Rhea was the mother of Zeus and helped the young god slay his father to rule over Olympus.  So how can Zeus have two mothers? Well, Rhea and Cybele come from different cultures, so Rhea was his Greek Mommy and Cybele was the Phrygian Mum.

In some versions of the mythology, there are even stories of the two goddesses being merged into a single deity, with Rhea being identified as a Greek version of Cybele.

She Slept with Her Own Son

Cybele also mothered the god Attis. He was sometimes associated with the god Adonis, who was a similar figure in Greek mythology. Both were associated with vegetation and rebirth, and both were believed to have died and been reborn each year as part of the cycle of the seasons.

Cybele took a fancy to her young son. She fell in love with him and made him her consort, but Attis later betrayed her by falling in love with a mortal woman. Cybele was so enraged by Attis’ betrayal that she drove him mad, causing him to castrate himself and die. In other versions, Attis died in battle or through self-mutilation. Either way, Attis cut off his dangly bits. 

Cult of Castration

Followers of Cybele celebrated the mother of the gods through ecstatic rituals and frenzied dancing, often accompanied by the music of drums and cymbals. Her followers. They were known as the Corbants and their origins can be traced back to the ancient city of Phrygia, which is now modern-day Turkey.

The Corybants were often depicted as wearing armor and carrying shields and swords. They performed frenzied dances and drumming as part of the worship of Cybele. The cult of Cybele was centered around the idea of a divine mother figure who was associated with fertility, nature, and wild animals.

The male priests, called Galli, wore long robes, headdresses, and jewelry, and would often dye their hair and wear makeup. Their religious practices were highly ritualistic and often involved self-mutilation.

During certain religious ceremonies, the Galli would castrate themselves as a way of dedicating themselves fully to the worship of Cybele. This act was seen as a way of emulating the mythical figure of Attis, who was said to have castrated himself in a fit of religious ecstasy.

The Roman version of the cult was known as the Magna Mater, or the Great Mother, and it was often associated with the worship of the god Attis. The cult eventually declined as Christianity began to spread throughout the Roman Empire. 

Tim Kane

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The Last of Us: How Well Can Fungus Think?

Arkane Curiosities

In “The Last of Us,” the fungal disease that turns people into “infected” creatures is based on a real-life fungus called Cordyceps that infects insects and controls their behavior. Science fiction? Hell yes. But it’s based on real science. Turns out mushrooms might have a consciousness despite having no nervous system. So the question is: how well can fungus think?

Underground Internet

Some experts argue that fungi may have a form of consciousness that rivals that of animals or humans. It all boils down to the mycelia. Mycelia are thread-like structures that make up the vegetative part of fungi. They range in size from just a few cells to several acres.

Mycelium in fungi collects intelligence and transmits it to anything they’re connected to — information about how to survive and fight disease, warnings of nearby dangers, and also ways to raise a host plant’s defenses. 

In “The Last of Us,” merely, stepping on an active filament from the fungus can trigger the fungal zombies from much further away to activate and attack them. 

Different Levels of Consciousness

Most of us are so hardwired to think of humans with brains as the only things that have a consciousness. Yet if we consider consciousness a continuum, then this opens up the possibility for less complex organisms to have self-awareness. 

I’m not suggesting that mushrooms lead rich, emotional lives. Yet fungal mycelia resemble neural pathways and can span vast distances, creating a web of communication and cooperation that shapes entire ecosystems.

Fungi does support a rudimentary level of consciousness. Mycelia show decision-making capabilities, such as spatial recognition, learning, and short-term memory.

Cordyceps, the culprit for the apocalyptic situation in “The Last of Us,” exhibits complex and highly adaptive behaviors that allows it to manipulate its host and ensure its own survival.

Cordyceps is based on a real world fungus that infects insects. One species of Cordyceps causes infected ants to climb to the top of a plant and attach themselves to a leaf, where they eventually die and release spores that can infect other ants.

In “The Last of Us,” the fungus is portrayed as having a sort of hive mind, with infected individuals acting as part of a larger organism, seeking to spread the infection to new hosts.

Perhaps we have already been infected by such a fungus, and they continue to keep us alive and breathing to propagate their own species. 

Tim Kane

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Xerxes and the Need for Anger Management

Arkane Curiosities

Xerxes I, ruler of the largest empire in the ancient world, wanted nothing more than to complete his father’s conquests. At the start of his rule, he brought Egypt into the empire, but Greece was always on his mind. His father, Darius, had failed to conquer the Greeks and Xerxes planned to finish the job. Yet the only accounts we have of this mighty ruler come from the Greek historian, Herodotus, who seems to have demonized the Persian king. Xerxes is portrayed as someone who files into a rage at the slightest provocation and is sorely in need of some anger management.

Cutting a Person in Half

Xerxes planned to march over two million soldiers into Greece and that kind of war-making required massive financing. Pythias, a Lydian governor, helped bankroll the endeavor. Enroute to the Hellespont to cross into Europe, Xerxes visited Pythias. The governor hosted the king, lavishing money and supplies on the army. Pythias then made one small request. He wanted  his eldest son to be released from serving in the army, so that he could take care of his father in his old age. 

Xerxes flew into a rage. He thought that Pythias doubted the outcome of the war and thought Xerxes would fail like Darius did. The king had the eldest son cut in half. Then he marched the entire Persian army between the two halves to serve as a warning to anyone who would doubt the king. 

Flogging the Sea as Punishment

By 480 BCE, Xerxes had reached the Hellespont, the shortest strip of sea to cross into Europe. He ordered the construction of a pontoon bridge, nearly a mile long. Just after the bridge was completed, a storm struck and demolished the structure. The king was so infuriated, he ordered that the sea be flogged 300 times for its insolence. In addition, he also pierced the waters with red-hot iron in order that the waters obey Xerxes.

The king also took his wrath out on the engineers, beheading every single one. A new bridge was built using 600 boats tied together with ropes. Alas, when he returned to the Hellespont in defeat, this bridge was also destroyed. 

Sore Loser

Now in Greece, Xerxes led 300,000 of his men to the pass of Thermopylae, only to meet a token resistance: 7000 Greeks. However, these Greeks were no typical warriors. King Leonides of Sparta and 300 of his personal soldiers guarded the pass. They held off the vastly superior Persian army for three days, inflicting massive casualties, before a traitor allowed the Persians to attack from behind. 

Xerxes was furious over his Pyrrhic victory. He ordered his troops to scour the battlefield until they found the body of Leonides. Then he ordered the head to be removed and the remaining body fastened to a cross.

A No-Win Situation

Ultimately Xerxes lost and was forced to retreat to Asia Minor. On the journey back by sea, the king’s ship encountered a storm. The helmsman informed Xerxes that the ship is too heavy to survive the storm. The king asks his soldiers to lighten the load, and they leap to their deaths. As a reward, Xerxes gives a crown to the helmsman for saving the life of the king. However, since he was also responsible for the deaths of many Persian soldiers, Xerxes has the helmsman beheaded.

The Greeks viewed anger as a kind of poison that infected the body. Reasonable people controlled their anger, while tyrants and savages gave way to their wrath. Herodotus never documents the lead up to Xerxes outbursts, only the finally, wrathful act. Perhaps a bit of anger management would have helped the Persian ruler.

Tim Kane

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