Something on Your Back?

A weary nighttime traveler heading home hears a mysterious request, “obariyon,” that is, “give me a piggyback ride,” followed by a weight on his shoulders and back. As he continues the weight slowly grows, until he is crushed to death. He has been killed by a mysterious child-sized Yokai (a Japanese paranormal creature), known as Obariyon. In other versions of the legend, the traveler makes it home safely, finding he's been carrying a bag of gold, and it now very rich. Conventional wisdom suggests these tales relate both the overwhelming weight of child rearing and the great rewards of it.

However Obariyon's behavior reminds me of another paranormal creature, a demon from Jewish mythology, called a Dybbuk. Dybbuk are either straight-up demons, or the angry souls of the dead, which ride on people's back, slowly draining the life from them.

(Illustration: “Book of Job” Die Bucher Der Bibel, by Ephraim Moses Lilien - obtained via Wikipedia)

Is it possible Obariyon and Dybbuk are the same paranormal effect with different background mythology attached to them? And what other paranormal creatures are said to ride on people's backs?

Digging deeper revealed a lot of references to Sleep Paralysis and Lucid Nightmares, such as, “witch/hag riding your back” (American/European), “hag ridden” (European), “Night/Old Hag” (Eurpoean), and “the Devil on your back” (African). The idea that witches, hags, ghosts, demons, and/or aliens can cause the effects sleep paralysis and lucid nightmares is global, but the phrasing of “on your back” makes little sense when you consider it rarely happens to anyone not sleeping on their back, and is least likely to happen to those that sleep on their stomachs. Among the folk cures for Sleep Paralysis, such as s tucking silverware under your pillow, getting into bed backwards, praying and reading religious scripture, there is included, sleeping on your side.

This however does not directly relate to Obariyon or Dybbuk as these phenomenon happen during daily activity, as opposed to during a waking dream. In Japan Sleep Paralysis phenomenon is called “Kanashibari” or “to tie with iron rope” and is also believed to be caused by ghosts or evil spirits.

The other results of my initial search came up with very brief Christian commentary about seeing demons riding people's backs in an attempt to turn them from the true way, and signaling the end of days (as a lot of things in Christianity are wont to do). This certainly fits the Dybbuk interpretation, but the accounts I encountered are not very detailed and do not go back very far, suggesting a modern origin (which if it's the end times, make sense). So, once again, this is something I'll be on the lookout for more information on.

Sources/Further Reading:

“Dybbuk” Wikipedia
(Last modified 2017-12-15)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dybbuk

“Night Hag” Wikipedia
(Last modified 2018-01-10)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_hag

“Obariyon” Yokai.com
(Last modified 2015)
http://yokai.com/obariyon/

Rosen, Brenda. The Mythical Creatures Bible. New York: Sterling, 2008.

“Symptoms” The Sleep Paralysis Project
(Last modified 2018)
http://www.thesleepparalysisproject.org/about-sleep-paralysis/symptoms/

The Diagram Group. Understanding Dreams. Philadephia: Running Press GEM, 1993.
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Third Lotus Block Update

The second of four buildings was fully down a couple weeks ago. Sometimes it's kind of eerie thinking about how there was a building there when you see an empty lot like this. Though honestly witnessing the progress on the demolitions has become kind of exciting for me:

And while no progress had been made on the next building a week later (it appear the Lotus herself will be last), the rubble is clearly being sorted:

 

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A Second Lotus Block Update

For the past few weeks the building that was behind the yellow building has been coming down (I say was because the yellow building is gone of course). It was not a building I ever noticed anyone express interest in, until the demolition made the stain-glass windows of the upper stories more visible:

The following images were taken a week later (Sept 19th). And while it may not look like a lot of progress bringing it down, we should understand there is a lot of crap they're shifting through. Plus, look at the new crane they brought in:

 

 

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And the Clock is Ticking for the Lotus Cafe

As of last week, the yellow building on the far end of the block where the Lotus Cafe building sits has been pretty much entirely demolished (Portland, Oregon). You can see in the image below the building between it and the Lotus still stands, but it's days are now visibly limited:

 

 

It's a bitter-sweet sight for sure. While the area is being renovated in a way that should boost business in the area, the Lotus' block sat among the shiny office buildings like a pocket of history. Demolitions are always interesting to watch, but it can also feel like memories are being taken away. Though as I stated before, there may be a paranormal investigative value here too, if the new building in fact proves to be haunted.

I'll continue to bring you updates when I can. Hopefully, I can catch when the Lotus is half-down for posterity.

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The inconclusive follow-up investigation. . .

So, figuring sooner was better as far as trying to recreate the image if it was an illusion I headed back out to the Vernonia Memorial Cemetery. That way the grass should not have grown too much. Unfortunately, it was apparently due to be mowed, so by the time I got up there, the portion with the downed tree branch had been cleaned-up and mowed.

(It's not exactly the same angle, but it's clear the grass looks very different mowed anyways.)

This also made it a little harder to identify the exact grave, and get an estimate of the size of the pot nearest the figure, obviously. (But if we assume it's 1 ft, that means the figure is only 2.5 to 3 ft tall.)

 

None of the graves in that immediate area appeared to be children, but given a full list of graves is available online, and we can see that it includes all ages. Children among them include; Scotty (4), Evelyn (10), Terresa (4), Amy (11), and Frederick (7). You can check the full list yourself on Find A Grave (if you're into that kind of thing):

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=39525
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I'm not saying I took a picture of a ghost. . .

. . .but I think this image is worth examining.

Being in Vernonia, Oregon, I decided to walk up to the Vernonia Memorial Cemetery (basically you walk uphill on Bridge Street until you feel like you can't possibly be on the right road and keep going) and try one of those techniques you don't hear a lot about on all those ghost hunting shows, take daytime pictures of a place with no reported hauntings, but connection to spirituality and/or death. Or simply take pictures because you have a odd feeling, like perhaps you're not alone?

Well, none of those pictures, for some of which I even invited anything present to show itself, captured anything. However, because of recent wind, there were several potted flowers that had tipped over (I righted a few of these, if it makes you feel better about the fact that I might be disturbing the dead), and a large tree branch that had come down across a couple of graves. So I took a picture of that because it was interesting:

(The only thing I've done to this image is re-sized it, since it's somewhat large.)

It too looked perfectly normal, until I expanded it too full size. That's when I saw this:

(This time, all I've done here is cropped the image to fit.)

And incase it you're not quite seeing it, this appears to be the apparition of a child in a hat:

 

(Clearly I've edited this one. If you'll notice the flowers in front of it as well, it's clearly too small to be an adult.)

But is it an apparition? Well, I can't say. It could just as easily be an illusion. No point in getting too excited or bummed about that. I can see two reasonable future courses of action here; identifying the occupants of the nearby graves to find their age, and seeing if I can recreate the image to prove it's only an illusion.

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Mythology of the Titanic

April 15 marks the 105th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. For many people this tragic event is very simply explained by inferior steel/iron, lack of lifeboats (which were also not properly filled), and unheeded ice warnings (or a rouge iceberg). There are alternate explanations for the sinking, including a few that state the titanic was switched with another ship for insurance reasons. But there have long been even more bizarre legends and myths around the famous wreck.

* Rapping Below Deck *

One of the oldest stories involves a rapping or hammering sound. Rumors of workmen trapped in the hull apparently circulated around the ship, but later explanations would of course include the warping of the inferior steel/iron.

* The Mummy's Curse *

Some claim that among the more valuable items in the cargo hold, was the cursed mummy or sarcophagus (sometimes identified as Princess of Amen-Ra, or artifact no. 22542), who having caused the deaths of many involved with her, took the ship to the depths. Truth is artifact no. 22542 is actually the coffin lid of a Priestess of Amun, which William Stead and Douglas Murray wrote a ghost story about, before Stead went down with the Titanic. His mummy ghost stories then became entangled with survivors' other stories. The lid itself is still sitting in the British Museum. Amen-Ra, by the way, is just another variant name of Ra/Amun-Ra, the ancient Eygptian sun god (there's a link to the wikipedia page for him in the resources list below, encase you're curious).

* Other Ghosts *

Several ghost stories surround the artifacts recovered from the titanic. Apparitions and paranormal activity are supposed to plague museums that host them. Temperature drops, moving portraits, EVPS, ghostly touches, and shadow figures, have all been reported.

At least one person claims to have interacted with the ghost of Captain Edward John Smith, the captain of the Titanic, giving him a tour of his ship. However, he is also said to haunt his former home.

Ghost orbs have also been reported over the Titanic's resting place. Submarines in the location have reported communication errors, and even phantom SOS calls.

* Premonitions & Recognitions *

This entry of course would not be complete without mention of the various precognition claims related to the Titanic. Most notable is Morgan Robertson's “Futility” about the unsinkable SS Titan which bore many similarities to Titanic, including hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage while carrying too few lifeboats, despite being published in 1898 (14 years earlier). While the book is real, whether or not it is purely coincidence is up for debate.

William Stead is also known to have penned a tale about a White Star Line ship that rescued survivors of another ship after it hit an iceberg. This and his tale about a sunken mail ship have cause many to believe he knew he was to die on the Titanic.

Another claim comes from the helm of Titanian, when in 1939 the helmsman supposedly stopped at the position of the Titanic's wreck on a premonition, at which point a iceberg appeared and struck the hull, causing slight leakage.

Legend also has it that dying young woman interrupted a violinist (Wally) to tell him of her premonition of the massive ship sinking. That night, another violinist (Wallace) went down with the ship.

* Bonus: Interesting Facts *
- Titanic's RMS designation stands for Royal Mail Ship. In addition to passengers, there was a great assortment of cargo being brought across the Atlantic.
- The Titanic was originally designed with enough lifeboats, rumors say the head of White Star did not like the way it looked and ordered the number to be reduced.
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Resources & Further Reading/Viewing:

“12 Spine-Tingling Ghost Stories About The Titanic” Ranker
(Last modified prior to 2017-03-03)
http://www.ranker.com/list/titanic-ghost-stories

“Amun” Wikipedia
(Last modified 2017-02-17)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun

Bob Rickard & John Michell. The Rough Guide to Unexplained Phenomena. 2nd Edition. London: Rough Guides Ltd, 2007.

“Cursed Mummy on the Titanic; Did a mummy's curse send the Titanic to the bottom of the ocean?” Snopes
(Last modified 2012-04-12)
http://www.snopes.com/history/titanic/mummy.asp

“Legends and myths regarding RMS Titanic” Wikipedia
(Last modified 2017-01-22)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_and_myths_regarding_RMS_Titanic

“RMS Titanic alternative theories” Wikipedia
(Last modified 2017-02-08)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic_alternative_theories

“RMS Titanic” Wikipedia
(Last modified 2017-02-19)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic

“The Myth of the Titanic Mummy” Unmuseum
( Last modified between 2000 and 2017-02-19)
http://www.unmuseum.org/mummyth.htm

“Titanian - Echo of Titanic” Encyclopedia Titanica
(Last modified prior to 2017-02-19)
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanian-echo-titanic.html

“Titanic Mystery” Mysteries at the Museum (series, 2016)
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