Pitlane Magazine

Black cats are surrounded by myths and mystery.  Almost all cultures have some kind of superstition about black cats, some are positive and some are negative but there’s always some kind of myth about them.   Supposedly witches kept black cats as familiars.  A familiar is a sort of companion to a witch but not

The Vampire Disease, or porphyria in scientific term, is a set of genetic disorders characterized by the malfunction of the hemoglobin production. It is a rare disease that is said to originate from the intermarriages of the European nobility. The good news is, it is not contagious. Unfortunately, it is not curable. While the term

Have you ever watched Teen Titans? One of the characters is called the Beast Boy, he transforms into different animals, from wolf to bear or coyote to birds and others. Pop culture uses skin walkers in many ways as to maybe introduce the culture and beliefs of Native Americans. Skin walkers believed to be associated

In the Roman mythology Saturnus and Ops are mentioned as Hestia’s parents. To the Greeks, these were Kronos and Rhea. Vesta was honored as the First Mother of Rome. She was first portrayed as a flame, or someone with a flame. Later on, the sign of Vesta became a schematic shape of an altar with

Stories about mermaids are going very very far back in antiquity. The mythical creature of the mermaid/merman finds its roots from the Babylonians and Sumerians. They knew the god Ea or Enki, the god of the sweet waters, which is according to the mythology the creator and savior of man. He was depicted with a

Why do superstitions exist?  Why are we sometimes superstitious from time to time?  Do superstitions have any basis in fact?  These questions continue to persist through the ages, and I’ve asked them myself periodically. Personally, superstitions have entertained my psyche when I can’t make a decision, or when I can’t figure something out.  And people

Superstitions concerning numbers have been around for centuries. Numbers have long been associated with good and bad luck around the world. The best known of all the superstitious numbers is the number 13. However, there are many more numbers that contain superstitious connotations. The number 13 This number is feared almost world-wide. Some believe the

Utnapishtim was the world’s oldest man in Sumerian and Babylonian mythology.  He survived the Great Flood and knew the secret of life and death.  His name means “He who saw life”.  He is also known as Atrachasis, “the exceptional wise one.”  Depending on the version of the myth, he was either a priest-king of Shurrupak, one of the

El Chupacabra, The Goat-Sucker in Spanish, is a legendary cryptid. It seizes and kills livestock, bleeding them dry through small round holes. First heard of in Puerto Rico, it is now reported from Maine to Tierra del Fuego. Biologists consider its existence improbable, but then, they would. Description The Chupacabra is about the size of

Considering the diseases, science experiments, epidemics and pandemics that are rampaging the daily news headlines, a future with flesh-eating, decomposing and bloody undead humans could be nearby. Worse, these undead folks or zombies, as they are popularly termed, could be stronger and scarier than what movies portray them to be and unlike the usual insane

Calchas was the son the Thestor of Megara and the grandson of Idmor. He was the prophet in the Ilias (War of Troy) written by Homeros. He was consulted by the Greeks when they felt helpless and needed advice. He was described by Homeros as the wisest one regarding the reading of bird movements in

Everyone knows the myth that zombies are reanimated corpses or at least they should have heard of the myth.  It is probably the most commonly accepted myth about these fictional creatures.  After all the stigmata of a corpse walking among the living is probably one of the most terrifying tales that can be passed along. 

Pecos Bill was the ultimate Texas cowboy. He was the strongest and meanest of them all, and could ride anything. The first tall tales about him were published in 1916, and collected in a book in 1923. The author, Edward O’Reilly, claimed that these were part of the oral tradition of southwestern cowboys, but they

Apollo is to young men as Ares is to war, Hera to marriage, and Hades to the dead. He is principally the patron god of young men among numerous others, including archery, music, and prophecy. Today, he is most commonly recognized as the Sun god. However, this is a title which only passed to him

Vampires are created in several ways, depending on what you mean by a vampire. FICTIONVampires are created by writing a story about them. There is no such thing as a vampire. Those few unfortunates who suffer from porphyria or other congenital or mental defects that mimic vampirism are to be pitied, but they are not

Since the earliest times people all over the world have put their faith in the power obtained from gems, crystals and precious metals, and the have also relied on them for their ailments. Today the Chinese still use powdered pearls, corals and gems in their medicines, and various Native American Indian Tribes place great medicinal

Hestia is the Greek Goddess of Hearth and Home. It seems rather strange at first, considering she was a female that vowed to never marry. She indeed kept that pledge. She is also known as the First and the Last. As with all Greek mythology, how she came to be these things is riddled with

It is possible that the concept of the vampire originated from the persecution of those few unfortunates with a congenital illness like porphyria, or from mental illnesses. The pervasiveness of the vampire trope, a blood-thirsty undead creature who survives by drinking the blood of the living is a stubborn and prevalent myth that spans cultures