I love this article, scientists doing their best to debunk an old superstition.
The Mercury 20 Jun 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29960104
The scientists assembled all the ingredients necessary to perform this bit of black magic; the bat’s blood, the top of a mountain, a full moon, a maiden pure of heart and mind, all in order to magic themselves up ‘a youth of surpassing beauty’.
I know that they were sure they were out there proving that science trumps magic but I wonder how many of the scientists were secretly hoping for that extremely good-looking youth to appear before them?
I’ve got to feel sorry for the maiden though. She was pure of heat and mind but obviously just not pretty enough. The scientists were happy to sacrifice her in order to get a better looking version. Poor bugger….
Obviously the Brocken was the kind of place that make it easy for people to believe a bit of the otherworld seeps through. I have did a post last year about the Spectre of the Brocken, a pine tree wielding monster stalking about the mountain.
It is a pity the Spectre didn’t make an appearance during this experiment. I can just imagine the crowd scattering before it, all thoughts of magical appearances abandoned, and the pure maiden just left there all alone, still tied to the sacrificial altar. 
I love how the story ends up with the crowd greeting “the results with derision.” What does that mean, do you think? Were they jeered? Run out of the copse? Was the gal a local gal? So many questions! You have an especial knack for the weird, Metan!
I expect that there would have been a fair bit of heckling going on throughout the entire procedure. Once the magical youth failed to make an appearance can you imagine how thrilled the crowd were to have real ammunition!
Oh my!
I’m thinking the maiden pure of heart and mind was probably the goat and how can you be sure what she was thinking? No wonder it all went Kaput. Why, I bet the cauldron wasn’t even at the right temperature.
There is no mention of wart-nosed hags either, how on earth did they think the spell would work without them!
I hadn’t thought of a goaty maiden who was pure of heart, maybe they just had a barbeque once the spell failed? Poor old maiden never had a chance…..
Good one, Metan – very amusing story! Although I’m not sure I’m quite comfortable with the scientists’ experimental procedure – the mere fact that they weren’t able to conjure up a fetching youth doesn’t prove anything except that they weren’t all that great at the black magic thang.
Their procedure does leave a little bit to be desired. Maybe they should have tried it on a different mountain, perhaps the Spectre had sucked up all the available magic on that one.
Hehehe, exactly!
Nothing changes, there’s always someone trying to debunk something in their own interests, usually 5 minutes of fame, or money… then the crowd went back to their usual superstitious lives
I would love to know what the crowd were shouting to them too. I wonder if the goat was carried triumphantly down the mountain, or sacrificed anyway?
So they actually sacrificed the goat? Poor bloody goat
Well, it doesn’t say that the goat was sacrificed but what is a good black magic story without a still-beating heart being triumphantly held aloft? Goat is quite yum too, and the crowd were restless, maybe a conciliatory bbq to calm the mood?
lmao – I think what you have is black humour :p
Well, I hope they put the bats blood to good use and marinated the goat in it before firing up the barbie..
Goat in bats blood marinade… mmmm…. yummy
And maybe some chips and salad as well.
Mmmmm… now I’m craving a bit of dinner from Nikos in Ringwood…. yum!
Oh thanks for reminding me! Tonight is takeaway night. -dance-
Now we’re talking!
Would I be thrown out on my ear if I suggested a nice, homemade garlic vinaigrette to go with that salad?
Oooh, not thrown out at all! Yum!
Right! Consider it done.
Awwww… thanks. I have been accused of much worse in the past
-grin- does Metan go over to the dark side now and then? >>cue Darth Vader type breathing<<
More now than then, I think the Man would say
-grin- So is he the Obi of the family?
More Chewbacca I think! A large, hairy enforcer
Don’t tell him I said that though!
lmao – too late! It’s out on the net and you can never take it back now. :p Just tell him Chewie was always my favourite Star Wars character so it’s actually a compliment!
At least the only time I hear “Arrrrrr.. arrrr…. arrrrrr… grrrrrr” is when the hairy one is getting up for work in the morning, the Man is far more articulate than Chewy… most of the time
P.S. Yoda is my favourite, I even have a Lego Yoda hanging on my car keys!
LOL! That sounds like me before the caffeine hits. And you have a thing for small, green, bald men huh?
Backwards talking, I love. Master Yoda my hero is.
Han Solo was the most desirable character though, Luke was too much of a bratty teenager!
Oh I don’t know… I was always partial to black and heavy breathing
Darth Vader rules!
I always though his voice was great
We have The Padawan Menace short movie on dvd. It combines two of my favourite things, Lego and Star Wars. Here is one of my favourite scenes that just happens to have both Master Yoda and Darth Vader
James Earl Jones has the most beautiful voice and he’s a great actor too.
lmao – just saw this wacky little scene – very funny. Who’s the ‘director’ supposed to be?
George Lucas! The director of Star Wars.
That whole Lego movie is so funny and cute with lots of little jokes all the way through. I love it
Seriously? Wow! After seeing one episode of the prequels I was sure he didn’t have a sense of humour.
Sometimes it’s nice to be wrong 
I think that those prequels were created by an alternate reality George Lucas. The one who created the originals was my favourite one….
Yes, or a clone with a few mistakes. I definitely prefer the original myself.
Same here. We took the kids to see Episode 1 at the cinema a while ago (they were too little to see any of them at the movies when they came out originally) they were so excited although I have to admit that I nearly fell asleep!
Wait! I always get the names wrong – Episode one is the first of the prequels… right? I just can’t imagine you going to sleep for the original 1978 movie.
Definitely the prequel, I could never fall asleep when Han/Harrison is on the screen!
-giggles- I didn’t think so :p