Analytical Blog Six

What causes negative energy and how can you defeat it?

In my book, 'Salem's Lot, there is a house that is claimed to be haunted. Hubie Marsten and his wife lived in a mansion in Jerusalem's Lot, a small town in Maine. He killed himself and his wife in their home, decades prior to when the book takes place. The main character, Ben, broke into the house as a dare when he was a young boy. He claimed to have seen the disturbing ghost of Hubie Marsten which caused him trauma for the rest of his life. After leaving Jerusalem's Lot, he returned well into his adulthood, only to discover the sinister fate of his childhood town. He believes that emotions and events that are spent in a house linger there forever. I have heard this statement before, and I know people do things to get rid of negative energy in their homes. This is all based on spirituality and supernatural beliefs that varies from person to person. I have had many personal experiences with bad energy, especially in homes and places. I wanted to look more deeply into the idea of bad energy and how and why it may linger in an area.

There are different kinds of bad energy and causes for them. Bad energy can be range simply a negative attitude, to lost or wandering spirits. Bad energy may be in a person, home, objects or areas. There are tons of causes of bad energy in a person, including being mentally ill or unstable, overly critical of self, blaming others for personal issues, out of control anger and emotion, not doing things that bring enjoyment to yourself, and overall just being a negative person. In a home or area, it is believed that technological, earth, metaphysical factors can carry bad energy. It is believed that cell phone towers or power lines can cause a shift in energy but it is also possible from devices such as cell phones, computers, or microwave ovens as well. Earth energies can turn bad when a shift in the land underneath your home or disturbance in underground water occurs. Metaphysically, bad energy can be caused by non physical beings, very negative emotion or conflict by the previous occupants. There are other beliefs and causes, but these are the main ones.

To fight bad energy or remove it, there are many things one can do. If anyone has the symptoms and signs I listed above, there is a chance you have bad energy in your life. There are ways to be rid of it and move on. To remove bad energy from your home, it is recommended that you add plant life to your home, sprinkle salt, burn white sage, and spraying essential oils is said to help. People also have different types of "healing crystals." There are tons of different healing crystals, that are said to bring positive energy. The clear quartz crystal is said to be the most powerful in clearing negative energy. Healing crystals can be purchased online or in many stores. To get rid of personal negative energy, meditation and deep breathing is strongly recommended. Getting exercise and appreciating nature is helpful as well. Avoiding negative people, and letting go of things that do not matter. Helping others, taking responsibility for self, and lowering expectations can also be effective to clearing bad energy. There are many techniques out there, and different things work for different people. It is all about finding what works for you and makes you feel more positive. Most people experience negative energy in their lives at some point whether they are aware of that or not, and it is not permanent. 

Other spiritual ways to remove negative energy:

https://pandagossips.com/posts/2758

Quick Burst Six

In my last blog I discussed the horrors of Danvers State Hospital. There is actually a fictional movie about the based on the asylum. It takes place during the renovation of the hospital, and the workers were haunted by the spirits of the patients who were once there. 

This is the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s-5eJq47bY

Quotation Blog Six

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King 

“There may be some truth in that idea houses absorb the emotions that are spent in them," (King 413).

Ben Mears, the main character, is referring to the Marsten House, where a murder suicide occurred decades before this story takes place. A man named Hubie Marsten killed his wife with a shotgun and then hung himself in their home. Upon discovery of the bodies, the shotgun was placed at the front door with a string attached to the trigger that would be pulled if anyone opened the door. He was clearly a deranged man that was violent, and terrorized his wife. Behind closed doors of their home, before the Marsten's deaths, it is easy to assume unspeakable things happened. Mears is saying that these heinous actions left behind a negative energy in the home that stays there forever.

I have moved many times in my life, and I have not always been comfortable all of the places I have lived. I am very sensitive and particular about places I feel comfortable living and sleeping in. When I was about eleven, I lived in the Bradlee Danvers apartment complex. This complex is huge, consisting of thousands of individual apartments. Seemingly a beautiful place, with a pool, gym and nice architecture, there is a very dark history to it. 

Bradlee Danvers is built on the land that was originally Danvers State Hospital. Most of main building (shown above) is still there, but heavily renovated. Danvers State Hospital was an insane asylum with some of the most horrendous, inhumane conditions and treatments in history. Some sources claim that this hospital created the lobotomy, which is a brutal procedure in which the frontal lobe of a person's brain is removed or damaged. The frontal lobe controls  emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, and sexual behaviors, which makes up a person's personality. The procedure resulted in a vegetative state. They used other "treatment" such as electroshock therapy, straight jackets and more. I personally believe "doctors" unjustly and sadistically used people for surgical experimentation. With the building of the hospital, they created underground tunnels that connected all the wings of the massive hospital, which are claimed to still be there to this day. With a rapidly increasing number of patients, staff became overwhelmed and could not handle the stress of the job. With stress and lack of knowledge about mental illness and how to treat it, the patients were treated horribly. Patients were drugged, tortured and held in the hospital against their will. Due to the extreme overcrowding they were not cared for, living without food or a way to bathe. There were bodies buried on the property with only numbers for headstones. There are tons of stories about the hell of all mental asylums at this time period that go deeper than what I have discussed. Both of my parents grew up in Danvers, and I asking my  mom if she remembered when it was still open. (It closed in 1992) She was in high school at the time, and told me that her friends drove past and saw people banging on the barred windows and screaming. It was a place of complete misery, and we will never know the entire truth about what happened to people in there, which is heartbreaking.

When I lived at Bradlee Danvers, I constantly felt uneasy. Even now just writing about it gives me an unsettling feeling. It is hard to put in words, but I felt like I was never alone. I was always extremely anxious, on edge and hyper vigilant. During the nights I would stay awake, usually in a panicked state. I was always a little scared of the dark, but it was way more intense at Bradlee Danvers. When I did sleep I had nightmares and weird dreams. I ended up having to sleep with my brothers or my dad most nights. There was no particular reason for this fear, and it seemed my younger brothers may have had some similar feelings as well. I truly hated it there and argued with my mom to stay at her house instead of going to my Dad's apartment. 

When I learned the history of Bradlee Danvers, I started to think that it was the reason for my anxiety when staying there. It could have definitely been other things, I just find it interesting that my mental state when living there was so strange considering the disturbing events that happened there. Depending on what you believe, the Bradlee Danvers apartments may have absorbed some of the negativity from what transpired there years before, just like the Marsten House. 

Vocabulary Blog Six

1. Page 270- Pallid: (of a person's face) pale, typically because of poor health

2. Page 271- Sheaf: a bundle of grain stalks laid lengthwise and tied together after reaping

3. Page 271- Pellucid: translucently clear

4. Page 271- Pallor: an unhealthy pale appearance

5. Page 280- Vulpine: relating to a fox or foxes

6. Page 280- Incisors: a narrow-edged tooth at the front of the mouth, adapted for cutting. In humans there are four incisors in each jaw

7. Page 283- Pliable: easily bent; flexible.

8. Page 284- Heliograph: a signaling device by which sunlight is reflected in flashes from a movable mirror

9. Page 285- Tenuous: very weak or slight

10. Page 293- Ominous: giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening; inauspicious

11. Page 294- Spurious: not being what it purports to be; false or fake

12. Page 296- Trollop: a woman perceived as sexually disreputable or promiscuous

13. Page 297- Matron: a woman in charge of domestic and medical arrangements at a boarding school or other establishment

14. Page 302- Virile: (of a man) having strength, energy, and a strong sex drive

15. Page 305- Haggard: looking exhausted and unwell, especially from fatigue, worry, or suffering

16. Page 305- Ornate: made in an intricate shape or decorated with complex patterns

17. Page 307- Poultice: a soft, moist mass of material, typically of plant material or flour, applied to the body to relieve soreness and inflammation and kept in place with a cloth

18. Page 307- Urbane: (of a person, especially a man) suave, courteous, and refined in manner

19. Page 310- Penchant: a strong or habitual liking for something or tendency to do something

20. Page 311- Infernal: relating to or characteristic of hell or the underworld

21. Page 311- Parapsychology: the study of mental phenomena that are excluded from or inexplicable by orthodox scientific psychology (such as hypnosis, telepathy, etc.)

22. Page 314- Malign: evil in nature, malevolent

 This is an ornate.

Analytical Blog Five

Essential Question: Where did the legend of vampires begin and how has it evolved?

I chose to answer this question because my book 'Salem's Lot is about a vampires who are taking over their town. Two brothers, Ralphie and Danny Glick go into the woods one night, and Ralphie disappears. Twelve year old Danny comes out alive, only to die in the hospital of unknown causes. Doctors were baffled about his mysterious death and what may have caused it. They believed it was related to some sort of internal bleeding because all tests came back negative. After his death, a bunch of Jerusalem's Lot residents were turning into vampires. In the book, when a vampire bites a person it turns them into one them self. The person who is bit dies, and the marks the vampire left on their neck disappears. So when people started dying at the hands of the vampires, nobody suspected anything until more people began turn. Ben Mears, the main character of 'Salem's Lot, used to live in Jerusalem's Lot as a child, but moved away. He returned to the town to get inspiration for his new books because he was an author with a creative block. In Jerusalem's Lot, there was a murder suicide when he was a child. Hubie Marsten, killed his wife and hung himself in their home. When Mears was a child, his friends dared him to go into the abandoned house. When he went into the house, he swore he saw the hanging ghost of Hubie Marsten, and it traumatized him for life. Matt Burke, a friend of Ben Mears discovered the corpse of the Mike Ryerson, the second vampire. He theorized that he was a vampire because of some of the things he witnessed. 

Ryerson was a gravedigger, and when he was digging Glick's grave, he claims to have passed out. When he woke up, the grave was filled. He had no recollection of whether or not he filled it himself. Ryerson explains to Burke that he was felt sick ever since. He sleeps through the day and wakes at night, his skin is pale and he had marks on his neck. In the middle of the night, Burke hears Ryerson invite an unknown person (or thing) into their home and overhears sucking sounds. Burke argues that vampires can only enter a house or environment if they are invited by a homeowner. He compiles all of the evidence to prove that there are vampires in Jerusalem's Lot, but is in denial. After Ryerson passed away, Burke contacted Ben Mears. He believed Mears would believe him because of his traumatic experience with the ghost of Hubie Marsten. Ben does believe him, and weird things continue to happen. The number of vampires multiplies, and the lives of the townsfolk are in danger. 

Some shows, movies and books portray them differently than others. The Twilight series is definitely different from 'Salem's Lot. I have also watched a show called The Vampire Diaries and there are some clear dissimilarities as well. How vampires are created, their mentality and behavior, history, legend and more varies throughout the world.

 I was curious as to how the real urban legend of vampires came about, so I did some research. The first case of vampires was back in Greek Mythology when a young man named Ambrogio fell in love with a woman named Selena. Apollo, the god of the sun, wanted Selena for himself so punished Ambrogio. Whenever Ambrogio was exposed to sunlight his skin would burn. When he turned to Hades, the god of the underworld, he gifted him with fangs and supernatural powers. He used his fangs to kill beasts because their blood to write love letters to Selena. Later on, he turned her into a vampire, telling her it would kill her body but her spirit would live on. Selena and Ambrogio's blood mixed together would turn anyone who consumed it into a vampire. 

The legend continued into the 1400's when Vlad Dracula (also known as Vlad the Impaler) came to power. He was the ruler of Romania. He was a sadistic, brutal person and tortured many people. His enemies, and some of his own people. His preferred method of killing was staking people through the heart with wood. Dracula's cruelty created the popular legend that the only way to kill vampires is by staking them with a wooden stake. It is also believed that he would dip is bread into the blood of his victims. Since Dracula's reign, the myth of vampires has changed and evolved into popular culture. 




https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/vampire-history

Quick Burst Five

There is a movie about my book, 'Salem's Lot. I found the ratings of the movie: 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079844/ratings?ref_=tt_ov_rt

Quotation Blog Five

'Salem's Lot Stephen King

"If a fear cannot be articulated, it cannot be conquered," (King 302).

The only way to get over a fear is by acknowledging, addressing, and facing it. If one keeps their fears and phobias bottled up, they cannot conquer them. Like most issues and emotional problems, keeping them to oneself can be very harmful and show through bad habits, behavior, reactions and more. Phobias fall under the category of anxiety disorders and are likely triggered by abuse or trauma. Traumatic experiences will stay with people forever, but there is a chance to move on and live a normal life with the right treatment. Jaycee Dugard, a woman who spent eighteen years locked in a shed where she was sexually abused daily was rescued in 2009. She now is the author of two sensational memoirs in which she says she was able to live happily, conquer her fears and let go of her past. I can only imagine the amount of fear she lived with everyday, for her life and those of her children that her captor fathered. The only way she was able to move on was by accepting and articulating her feelings to a therapist and those around her. If she had kept them to herself, she would not have been able to function in the world. This goes for everyone, not just people who are victims of unspeakable abuse. 

It is not unusual to have weird fears or even phobias that interfere with everyday life and functioning. Phobias are usually irrational fears of a particular object or situation that lasts for a long period of time. The fears can be mild, moderate or extreme, it is a spectrum. Some common phobias are arachnophobia, fear of spiders, acrophobia, fear of heights, claustrophobia, the fear of confined spaces. Those are very common, but they can be very random and weird such as chromophobia, the fear of colors, octophobia, the fear of the figure it, or Scolionophobia, the fear of school. It is okay to have phobias, as long as you face them and are able to live a normal life. As Stephen King said, the only way to overcome a fear is to talk about it. 

I did research to figure out what treatment is recommended to people who suffer from phobias. Apparently the best way to cure or treat a phobia, one must go to psychotherapy. With a professional, one who suffers from phobia will generally receive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. In CBT, one learns how to master their fear by changing the way they think. One learns different beliefs and views on their phobia which may take away the overwhelming feelings they have about their phobia. Once one begins to talk about their fears, that is the beginning to conquering it. 

Vocabulary Blog Five

1. Page 194- Dissolution: the closing down or dismissal of an assembly, partnership, or official body

2. Page 199- Demarcation: the action of fixing the boundary or limits of something

3. Page 200- Variegated: exhibiting different colors, especially as irregular patches or streaks

4. Page 201- Cyclic: occurring in cycles; regularly repeated

5. Page 203- Ditty: a short simple song

6. Page 203- Ruddy: (of a person's face) having a healthy red color

7. Page 206- Credo: a statement of the beliefs or aims that guide someone's actions

8. Page 208- Missal: a book containing the texts used in the Catholic Mass throughout the year

9. Page 213- Spadeful: (plural spadefuls or spadeful) The amount held by (or moved by) a spade (shovel) at once. A shovelful

10. Page 214- Rivulets: a very small stream 

This is a variegated leaf: 

Analytical Blog Four

Essential Question: What is the history of Halloween? 

Since I am interested in scary stuff, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Not necessarily because of the candy or costumes but I love horror movies and novels. Last year around Halloween I saw It in theaters which furthered my interest in Stephen King. My topic is about suspense, mystery and horror, so Halloween falls into that category. I have briefly learned about the history of Halloween, why its celebrated and how its evolved, but I wanted to do more research. 

Halloween began two thousand years ago by the Celts, the people of modern Ireland, United Kingdom, and northern France. They considered November first the start of a new year, so on October thirty-first they banded together celebrate what they called Samhain. They associated the day with death and the entrance into a cold winter. They believed ghosts and spirits were wandering the earth this day, so they wore costumes to scare them away. They lit bonfires and sacrificed animals and crops at their celebration. They tried to tell one another's fortunes and thought they could communicate with the dead. This annual celebration continued into the Roman Empire forty three A.D. They conquered the Celtic territory, so they combined Samhain and the  Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. They called the holiday Feralia, and that is where the tradition of bobbing for apples originated because Pomona's symbol was an apple. These two holidays evolved into All Soul's Day on November second. All Soul's Day is also known as All-Hallows day, which would later evolve into "Halloween." This celebration began around one thousand A.D when they would honor the dead by dressing up in costumes, having bonfires and parades. 

Halloween was brought to America by European immigrants who celebrated it and it began in Maryland. They would throw parties and tell ghost stories, dance, sing and even tell each other's fortunes. At this time, Halloween was not widely celebrated until the influx of Irish immigrants during the potato famine. What we know as trick or treating started when people went to their neighbor's homes to ask for money of food. After newspapers and people of authority pushed citizens to stop adding eeriness to their Halloween celebrations, the supernatural beliefs in the holiday were lost. Years later in the 1920's and 1930's, there was tons of vandalism and even violence on the Halloween, which was limited by the 1950's. Now, the Halloween is a beloved, fun holiday celebrated by people of all religions and ethnicity. 



https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween

Quick Burst Four

The following article gives recommendations for the best horror novels ever written. If you are interested in reading a creepy book for Halloween, check it out!

 

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/08/the-best-horror-novels-of-all-time.html

Quotation Blog Four

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

 

"His father had told him many times that book learning was not the secret of running a successful business," (King 66).

 

This quote comes from Hal Griffen, the son of a successful business man. He works for his father in their dairy farming business. He also has a younger brother who is fourteen and feels similar to him which is ironic because my brother is fourteen and relates to me. Griffen finds school very mundane and enjoys working with is father. He feels like an outcast at school and considers it a waste of time and energy. His father does encourage him to get his high school diploma, but knows that is not the key to success. 

 

I chose this quote because I can relate to it. I have never enjoyed school in the thirteen years I have been going. The character, Hal Griffen is eighteen years old just like me. I share some of his feelings toward school and life. I always envy people who do enjoy school and wonder why they do. It is stressful, and often times boring for me. I have trouble paying attention to lecture and participating in class discussions due to anxiety, focus issues and sometimes a lack of interest. There are certain subjects I do well in and enjoy more than others, such as hands on and independent learning. A consistent struggle of mine is motivation. I have tried to get to the root of my motivation problem, and have come up with a few reasons. For years I concluded that laziness and lack of passion was my issue, but I finally realized that is not the case. I love to work, I have worked in waitressing and in the demolition field. I enjoy hands on work and have a lot of passion in my life for animals, law, writing and art. A lot of people who do not succeed in school feel like they are incompetent and will fail in their future endeavors, and that is unfair. Every person is unique in the path that they are going to take. I am not against or above education, but I do not believe that one needs to go to college for extensive years to make a decent living. Many people who do not feel education is needed still go to college because it may believe they will fail in life if they do not. There are many ways to be successful, as long as one has the will to do so.

 

My dad is a very intelligent man, but more importantly the hardest worker I have ever known. While he values education and pushes me and my brothers to succeed in school, he made a career off of his passion and work ethic. He hated school because he had a lot of trouble with boredom and sitting still. Everyday after school and through the weekend, he worked jobs with heavy physical labor because he found it as a outlet and something he excelled in. My parents dated briefly in high school and met again after graduation. He was introduced to the demolition business through my maternal grandfather and his father. With ridiculously long hours, horrible  conditions, demolition is one of the most dangerous, physical jobs there is. From starting as a laborer, he branched off years later into developing his own business. He is now the sole owner one of the largest demolition businesses in New England. He continues to work on job sites almost everyday of his life and does office work as well. Along with my dad, my younger brother, Jake, is fourteen and struggles with severe dyslexia. This dyslexia was likely inherited by my maternal grandfather who was also in the business. School is horrible for him and counts the days until his graduation. Taking after our dad, he works with him and does other odd jobs as much as he can. He wakes up at four or five o'clock in the mornings on the weekends just to go work with him. He plans to follow in our dad's foot steps because demolition work has been his passion since he was young. He very mature and smart and will go on to do great things. He and my father are living proof that school does not define your smarts, abilities or chance at success.