(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Like several of the other creatures discussed this October and last, angels are, in the strict sense, a very culture-specific concept. They’re a key element of the Abrahamic religions — … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) It’s an easy slide from being part animal to being able to transform between human and animal. In the West, our minds most immediately go to werewolves: people who transform … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Technically a chimera is a specific creature. Not a chimera, but the Chimera: a monster from Greek mythology, commonly described as being part lion, part goat, and part snake or … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Sometimes the things you most need to protect aren’t objects, people, or places: they’re pieces of information. There are three primary ways to do this. The first is to hide … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) I’ll admit it: this particular essay is kind of a grab bag of random techniques and technologies people have historically used to protect their belongings. But I think they merit … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Keeping a place or an object secure largely consists of three elements: first, you want to discourage or prevent people from getting in; second, you want to know when they … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Anybody who’s played a rogue in Dungeons & Dragons is familiar with “thieves’ tools” as an essential item of equipment, with which one can pick locks and disarm traps. But … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) In my anthropology and folklore classes I dealt with a pair of terms I think have some utility to the writer of speculative fiction: emic and etic. … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Last week’s discussion of opium leads us naturally around to another category of drugs, which is hallucinogens. These have a long and venerable history, and also a rather bad reputation … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Pain sucks. And unfortunately, we have a limited number of ways of dealing with it. Willow, myrtle, and a few other plants are naturally occurring sources of salicylates like aspirin, … Continue reading
