MOTHMAN FLUTTERINGS

Fantasy artist Frank Frazetta passed away on May 10th of this year; as many bloggers, such as Tina Sena, and Loren Coleman, have noted. Frazetta created Mothman images; more can be seen at Loren’s site and elsewhere. Frazetta also did other fantastic art .. he gave us so much and it is sad to know he’s gone.

I saw it; have been looking forward to this episode ever since a producer from the show contacted me several months ago in preparing for the program. I think I put her off; for I went into an esoteric direction (a la Andrew Colvin, who, I noticed, the show did not mention) and she nervously-laughingly said she didn’t want the government following her, dismissing anything to do with all that. I didn’t think much of the program, even though Nick Redfern was on, which was great. But overall, didn’t think much of it and Coleman makes a good point: where was the historical background? However, of all the things that annoyed me the most was the inclusion of uber-skeptic (“I’m not a scientist, I have an English Lit degree, but I play one on TV” Joe Nickell) who smirked non-stop while gleefully cutting out plywood Mothman figures to test the accuracy of witnesses. This man has an intriguing fixation with owls; for, after all, not only are owls the explanation for Mothman sightings, owls are the explanation for the Flatwoods creature, and the Kelly Hopkinsville entities, says Nickell.

Here’s Coleman’s review on his blog Cryptomundo.

Greg Taylor, who runs the awesome site The Daily Grail, published a journal last year of great articles on the occult, the esoteric, the Fortean. Writers like Nick Redfern, Greg, and many others contributed. Fortunately, Greg has just published Volume 2 of Darklore, which include an article on Mothman by me! I am very honored to be in such fantastic company. Volume 2 contains articles by Nick Redfern, Theo Paijmans, Taylor, Jon Downes, and many more.

You can find Darklore Vol 2 on Amazon.com as well as The Daily Grail site.

Mothman Pottery Mound and Sacred Datura, by Gary David for Viewzone. The article focuses on finds of mounds and pottery and artwork in Mexico, some of which share a seemingly esoteric commonality with Mothman:

Some of the most unusual murals, however, are those that depict what we today call the Mothman. One shows the creature with a red body, white sash, black kilt with geometric designs, and a red headdress. His translucent wings are crosshatched and painted with a few lavender spots. One wing’s lower edge has three red spots on a white jagged background.

The other figure in basically the same pose has a yellow body and a brown and yellow headdress. This one has star symbols on his wings and a couple of dragonfly symbols beneath him. With his left hand he is grasping a lightning bolt emanating from a bowl balanced on a maiden’s head. (She is not seen in the this picture, but she is, by the way, holding a macaw in each hand.) Both of the Mothman figures have a coiled or curved proboscis.

You may or may not agree with the perspectives given here, but it’s an expertly written piece with great detail and information; definitely worth reading.

Nick Redfern has a bit of “shamless self promotion” on his blog There’s Something in the Woods about his new book by the same name. The book focuses on Thunderbirds. I like what Nick says in his post about witnesses in the Nevada desert, who, wile on peyote, saw giant flying things:

Some might say “hallucination.” Me? I prefer to think it’s all about opening gateways to other realms…

Of course you can see things that “aren’t there” under those conditions, but, as shamans and indigenous peoples, etc. know very well, the point of taking these “drugs” in the first place is to open those gateways . . .
There’s a lot out there about “aliens,” beings from other dimensions, and encounters with them while in this state by authors such as Terrence McKenna, etc. Anyway…
Looking forward to reading Nick’s book. My only complaint about Redfern is that he has too many books out! I can’t get to them fast enough.
THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WOODS: A Transatlantic Hunt for Monsters and the Mysterious