Today we’re looking at places that are associated with superstitions—all over the place we’ll go to find some SUPERstitions

Did you know that Blacksmiths were once believed to have magical powers because they worked with fire, iron and horses—and some smiths were Blood charmers—they could heal the living. and while I didn’t find any healers I did find a great site where the blacksmiths make beautiful things This is in Cornwall and if you go back on this blog: to entries in June 2016 you’ll see bunches of pictures and stops about the area that I made when I stayed there—but never unfortunately here :

The Old Forge

Allerford Near Minehead,

Allerford,

Exmoor National Park

TA24 8HN, England

And while we don’t find anything scary here the craft they have and the resulting offerings they produce is well worth a visit or a view on line…..Cornwall has it’s share of things that go bump in the night, but here those sounds are probably going to result in a fish (see above) rather than a ghost or goblin.

Back to the USA where while we don’t have healing we do have drinks, which heals a lot of ills—and it’s in a town know for it’s spooky things to see and do as well as lots and lots of drinks—I had my first Zombie here in the French quarter

the drink not the scary kind—though they have both been known to eat brains.

and I may well have stopped here—it look like a place I would enjoy—

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop –

http://www.lafittesblacksmithshop.com/Homepage.html

941 Bourbon St,

New Orleans, LA 70116-

https://www.neworleans.com/things-to-do/

It was built some time in the late 18th century and has the distinction of (probably) being the oldest structure used as a bar in the US (in the rest of the world something this old wouldn’t have gotten an honorable mention).

According to the Web site: “The structure and fence are in the old French Provincial Louis XV or Briquette-Entre-Poteauxe style used in French Louisiana.” It has a slate roof that is credited with saving it from two fires. It is also credited as being a site for a smuggling enterprise by two brothers and a wealthy creole patron who did business here rather than his family home–being New Orleans one always figures there’s at least a grain of truth in the fun yarn. Oh and by the way the rich patron who according to another legend, has haunted the place since his death in 1823 is Jean Lafitte, which even the least historically literate of you out there just may have heard of. But he isn’t lonely, there’s also a female spirit who is thought to be a young woman who died on the property and if that doesn’t float your boat—(Lafitte was a pirate Ha Ha) there is also said to be a demonic creature that lights up the place with his/her (?) red glowing eyes.

OK so we found a real black smith which was noteworthy for it’s craft in Cornwall. Then we found a bar that used to be a blacksmith shop used as a fence for stolen pirate goods….and now haunted by all manor of things, but no blacksmith. so here we go one more time

Gay City State Park

Route 85,

Hebron, CT 06447

https://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2716&q=325202

Hebron, CT

https://bestthingsct.com/hebron-ct/

This Park site includes remnants from a former town, including the mill and other structures of Gay City, which was built in the late 18th century and named after John Gay who was one of the founders. The reason given for abandonment include (from assorted sources) a fire that burned down the mill that was the towns big money maker—and which had burned twice before the final decision not to rebuild as well as a series of “mysterious murders that occurred”. Now you can wander the paths thru the spooky ghost town and maybe sight something spooky as several people have been said to have seen the ghost of the murdered victims. But the reason this gets included in this Blacksmith section is that someone was said to have seen a headless blacksmith, hanging on to his dismembered piece (i.e. head), and running through the forest.

Oh and I wanted to add something spooky in Cornwall—and I found a site in Exmoor—where the Blacksmith’s Shop is:

Dunster Castle on Exmoor

has a reputation for eerie goings on and with 1,000 years of history, it has plenty of great stories to tell.. The last family to live here, the Luttrells, moved in in 1376 and out in 1976, and changed a medieval stronghold into a family home

9 Dunster ghost tales that prove it’s one of the spookiest places on Exmoor

Check them out here:

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/9-dunster-ghost-tales-prove-679268

Rusty Wallace Fan Club and Other items

$16.00

https://www.etsy.com/listing/703316267/rusty-wallace-fan-club-and-other-items?ref=shop_home_active_1

Actors are notorious for being superstitious–but did you know that the play Macbeth is considered exceeding unlucky? It is said that bad things happens to not only the players, but the crew, as well as everyone else associated with the production. Stories abound with everything from outbreaks of fire to the most serious I saw, which was the death of Lilian Baylis that occurred when the play was being given at the Old Vic

The Old Vic

https://www.oldvictheatre.com/
The Cut, London
SE1 8NB
0844 871 7628*

Oh and by the way this theater built in 1818 is still said to be inhabited by the ghost of that same Lillian Baylis who managed the Theatre during her lifetime and died during the production of Macbeth. Oh and the reason for all this trouble is believed to the Witches Song which is reputed to work Evil.

Theater attendants like Actor have their own superstitions—for instance it’s a good sign if the first person that buys a seat in a new production is old and will give the play a long run and of course bad if they’re young.

Ford’s Theater

https://www.fords.org/

511 10th St NW,

Washington, DC 20004

was built in 1863 and became infamous in 1865 when John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln’s death the theater was immediately shut down. It was was purchased by the national government and used for various purposes including storage, a museum and a Library. In 1887 it became a War Department’s clerk’s office. Then death struck again when in 1893 several floors collapsed and killed 22, injuring 100 more. After all this that it went back to a storage building again. After 1931 it sat empty.
Finally in 1964, restoration was begun and in 1968 it once again opened its doors as a theatre with a museum dedicated to Lincoln in the basement. And of course the past remain with unexplained sounds and sightings of Mary Todd Lincoln and Booth and actors who have worked here since the re-opening complain of an icy cold spots on the stage. Oh as for Lincoln—he is seen at the Petersen House across the street, but he isn’t confined there as he is also seen at the White House.

If you want to read a really great book that deals with Macbeth’s Play being cursed check out Jennifer Lee Carrell’s Haunt Me Still http://jenniferleecarrell.com/haunt-me-still-the-shakespeare-curse/

The author has a Ph.D in English and American Literature from Harvard University as well as other degrees in English literature from Oxford and Stanford Univ. She taught at Harvard and directed Shakespeare for the Hyperion Theatre company. This is a story of a woman–both suspect and future victim, who along with a man who saved her life, race to find a dangerous version of Macbeth said to contain the actual rituals of witchcraft and forbidden knowledge. It’s a great read and will give you more in depth knowledge of the Macbeth superstitions.