Urban Legends

[TriBel]

The second wave started to spike when the universities were reopened.

I'm honestly not sure...though only an idiot would deny the impact of reopening universities. Certainly we saw the effect in Manchester/Greater Manchester (which has a student body of over 100,000) and Liverpool (70,000) and similarly Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield (all have at least two unis) but I don't think the causality is straightforward. You have to add in factors such as schools, retail and hospitality opening up. London has the biggest student population in the UK and they were behind the North in terms of infections/deaths. One reason is thought to be the wealth divide (the North has more people in lower status jobs where they're more likely to come into contact with each other).

I think the virus might be starting to burn itself out. Covid is supposedly spreading faster this wave

Is it (genuine question)? I wouldn't like to make a comparison in terms of infection rates because the figures are skewed by the disparity in the number of tests carried out now and at the beginning of the year. Hospital admissions are probably a good indicator. Deaths maybe less so because of comorbidity. Maybe excess deaths is a good marker?

it runs out of people to infect which sort of kills it off because people develop immunity.

I suspect this depends on how "stupid" the virus is and its ability to mutate. A strain that's killing its host is a bit "thick" because it can't reproduce. This leaves the field open to mutations that don't easily kill the host and so do reproduce - in Darwinian terms, "fitter". I'm not sure where we're up to with the number of strains (13 was the last figure I saw). That aside, isn't the jury out on immunity?

It occurs to me that responses to Covid - and I mean by the populace rather than Governments - could well fall under the label of "Urban Myth" (@Sparky beat me to it). Why the "debunking" of science? Why the rise in "conspiracy" theories? I'll be perfectly frank...I'm usually loath to accept anything Boris says as truth but I'd take his word over and above that of someone like David Icke. Myths and legends happen for a reason...myth was the way the ancients made sense of the world. Science and the Enlightenment were meant to free us from the irrationality of myth (though I'm quite happy to take the stance that Enlightenment itself is another form of myth). In short, and trying to keep this as apolitical as possible, why do people "believe"? Personally, I'd have to take a massive leap of faith to subscribe to the NWO, Bill Gates, mark of the beast etc. etc. narrative.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

It occurs to me that responses to Covid - and I mean by the populace rather than Governments - could well fall under the label of "Urban Myth" (@Sparky beat me to it).

I never said that! I was talking about that movie.

 

[TriBel]

I never said that! I was talking about that movie.

You said:

I think Covid-23 is could turn into an urban legend. I have trouble believing that songbird is real.

Talk me through it (please).

 

[Skanky Vamp]

You said:

Talk me through it (please).

the movie songbird talks about covid-23, hence my post. I can't believe the made that movie let alone that they will actually release it.

 

[nightshade]

Can't we please get back to the topic, rather than debating Covid

 

[TriBel]

the movie songbird talks about covid-23, hence my post. I can't believe the made that movie let alone that they will actually release it.

Ah...thanks.

Can't we please get back to the topic, rather than debating Covid

We can but I think it's kinda on topic (provided it stays apolitical) because it's about how (and why) myth is made.

 

[Anyanka Bunny Slayer]

No, it really not on topic.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Homey D Clown from In Living Color driving around Chicago in the 90s trying to lure, with candy and money, kids into his white van. There were numerous reported sightings of Homey prowling around elementary schools.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

I came across this on a dogpath I occasionally use which is out of the way and gets little traffic. It appears to be some sort of ceremonial altar but it doesn't correspond to anything I have seen or heard of before and my daughter, who has a Master's in mythology, hasn't run into it before either. She said it may have been just built by children but I think this is too elaborate and time-consuming for children. There are no stains as you would get from sacrifices and the tree trunk at the focus of it is about 15 inches high and a foot in diameter. The crossed cuts look like they are from a circular saw but it would have to be battery-powered because there is no electrical outlet within several hundred feet. The first picture is facing west (approximately):

I am asking any druids, pagans or practitioners of the wiccan arts to let me know what this is, if in fact, it is of any origin you know about. The general comma/paisley shape of the enclosure does not seem to correspond to anything me or my daughter know about. I would appreciate it if any of you could tell me the origin of this or if it corresponds to anything you know. This is not an urban legend in itself, but it appears to be the source of one: we have practitioners of some pagan arts who gather in the forest to celebrate some sort of ritual when no one is looking.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

I doubt them photo's would ever be anything to do with an Urban Legend.
A nature based religion did that? There are a few recognized religions who don't need a 'church' building.
The look of how the lengths of sticks are laid don't scream an Urban Legend.
As for no electrical outlet, ever heard of a portable generator? And the cuts in the top of the stump appear to be to poor quality for anything.

But your final comment show it to be a joke.
You state, "we have" so are you one of those practitioners?
How do you know you have practitioner who gather in the forest to celebrate some form of ritual when no one is looking, it might be Methodists on a day out.
In the 2nd to last piccy there seems to be a roof nearby, and a sealed road! Ever seen how they build a road like that?

See reply #25

 

[thrasherpix]

I came across this on a dogpath I occasionally use which is out of the way and gets little traffic. It appears to be some sort of ceremonial altar but it doesn't correspond to anything I have seen or heard of before and my daughter, who has a Master's in mythology, hasn't run into it before either. She said it may have been just built by children but I think this is too elaborate and time-consuming for children. There are no stains as you would get from sacrifices and the tree trunk at the focus of it is about 15 inches high and a foot in diameter. The crossed cuts look like they are from a circular saw but it would have to be battery-powered because there is no electrical outlet within several hundred feet. The first picture is facing west (approximately):

I am asking any druids, pagans or practitioners of the wiccan arts to let me know what this is, if in fact, it is of any origin you know about. The general comma/paisley shape of the enclosure does not seem to correspond to anything me or my daughter know about. I would appreciate it if any of you could tell me the origin of this or if it corresponds to anything you know. This is not an urban legend in itself, but it appears to be the source of one: we have practitioners of some pagan arts who gather in the forest to celebrate some sort of ritual when no one is looking.

I can't say, but if I were to investigate I'd want to know what kind of tree that was (before it was a stump). IF it were occult related at all (which might be of a native variety), the type of tree could prove significant.

In magic (at least both East and West and plenty of shamanism, though they quibble on details), direction is very important. Each direction represents an element (and also an angel, planet, time of day, tarot card, etc.--not that all groups subscribe to this, but this is known as the correspondences). That could give more insight into its symbolism (and thus whoever made it).

(On a side note, does it align with the sun? To find out, put a rod or shovel in the ground and wait. Does the cross parallel the shadow as the shadow of the instrument goes by the rising or setting sun? As the sun sets in the west, the shadow will grow to the east. If so, it could be a simple way to get compass points, as pointless as it seems today, and also just doesn't feel right with the rest of the structure. Just saying, it might be worth checking out.)

There's also this:

Sun cross - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I know that both Celtics and Nordics can use a cross of that nature, which usually has some theme of elements, the All (the 4 quarters of the day which include dusk and midnight as well as dawn and noon, the 4 seasons, etc), and an "in between" place (which even a literal crossroads can represent) is considered magically significant. Normally they use more complex symbols, but if you're gonna saw it into a stump then probably best to keep it simple.

It seems to me that if pagans set it up that they'd want to protect it better, to keep it from "being polluted" or something. But maybe it's just so they know when they've arrived at some meeting place. Many traditions have ways of "purifying" an area before rituals even if the public walks all over it.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

@Ethan Reigns,
many apologies, but on the other hand I often wondered where the tale of the giant at the top of the beanstalk actually came from!
If that is right you got a damned good Urban Legend there.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

The Blair witch? 🧙‍♀️

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Oh good grief @HowiMetdaSlayer, never admit that you was being silly, make up some other excuse; such as you were making a comment on #29 about the technical details of the pattern of the leaves between the rows of sticks.
Or something like that.