The Suicide Forest at Aokigahara on Mt Fuji

At the foot of Mt. Fjui lies the suicide forest named Aokigahara or Sea of Trees as it is sometimes known, it is a notorious place where people who wary of life can exhale their last breath. Frighteningly a large number of people travel there making the foot of Fuji their final resting place. This popular spot is filled with strange masses of moss and volcanic rock, it is the world's second most popular suicide location after San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

Since the 1950s, more than 500 people have lost their lives inside the forrest. In 2002, 78 bodies were found within it, replacing the previous record of 73 in 1998. By May of 2006, at least 16 new suicides had been reported and more than a few of them were carrying Wataru Tsurumi's bestselling book The Complete Manual of Suicide, who quotes "The perfect place to die." In the depths of the forest warning signs are nailed to trees reading "Please reconsider" and "Please consult the police before you decide to die!" The locals can always tell the difference between who is planning a nature walk and those who are on a macabre journey to death.

Jyukai, The Sea of Trees Behind Mt. Fuji was made about the forest, by director Takinoto Tomoyuki. The film was based on four people who commited suicide at the forest. During production the director reported he found a wallet that had 170,000 yen ($3,760).  

Legends surround the land, one being that underground iron deposits can cause compasses to go haywire, trapping innocents along with the purposely suicidal. Spiritualits say that the trees are filled with malevolent energy built up from centuries of suicides. Aokigahara is considered the most haunted location in all of Japan, for the unsettled ghosts of Japan howl in the winds. Bodies have been found in various states of decomposition, usually hanging from trees or partically eaten by animals.

It is a place filled with the supernatural calling to the living, hopelessly ending their melancholy lives… it is believed to be very bad luck if the corpse is left along, for the "yurei" (ghost) of the suicide will scream throughout the night, and the body will move itself on its own.

"Aokigahara", Wikipedia. January 19, 2010.

Hawkins, Craig. "Aokigahara", MP Most Paranormal: Information & Resource. February 28, 2009.

"Aokigahara Suicide Forest", Atlas Obscura: A Compendium of the World's Wonder, Curiosities and Esoterica. 

Black 13 Collection

Amongst all the intriguing predictions of 2012, this be all, end all of doomsday has stimulated me to create a becoming jewelry collection called Black 13, inspired by Armageddon, mourning, death, destruction and the Book of Revelations. Over the past year I have begun collecting wonderful vintage pieces that relate to the symbolism in the Book of Revelations and even scientific predictions of natural disasters. Recently I've listed four pieces from this collection, and hope to have more soon!

Currently I am working on piece that revolves around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, they symbolize the evils to come at the end of the world. The figure representing conquest rides a white horse, the red horse is war; famine is the black horse; and plague is the pale horse. I've found this lovely vintage brooch in a gold with four horses riding, I'm in the works of making it much darker and blackened.

~ Blood For Blood Necklace: In the coming rivals of man, a reign of blood is birthing in the depths. A talisman of sorts to lead the way through troubled times and blood against blood and for survival of man. Features three swooping chains, a unique amulet pendant and hidden religious medal.

~ Cosmic Madness Rhinestone Necklace: An explosion of the cosmic galaxies of fire and destruction, fire red rhinestones and dying stars of extinction. A vintage rhinestone brooch has been transformed into a bold pendant that radiates blood red and white light, it truly reminds me of a gamma ray burst or the exploding milky way.

~ Midnight Mourning Earrings: Dark talismans in jet black of a mementos past; of a soul lost brings faded happy memories and a token of ticking life.

~ Armageddon Empire Necklace: The final battle between God and Satan, the end of the world cometh. An end to the world for 1000 years, a glorious explosion of stars and a twinkle of their death. Clear rhinestones embedded into a black enamel pendant, a sparkle of infinity.

Stay tuned for more pieces! ~ You can read my original posting on my thoughts and some interesting articles plus websites, called Doomsday 2012.

Meet the New Family!

I'd like to introduce some new members to the Skeleton Krew, they are in their true state and yet haven't been initiated into the death yet, but they are quite astonishing, unpleasant looks from holding still for so long or perhaps heartbroken thoughts seep out from within?

I went rummaging around the Main Street Antique store the other day before dinner and me being obsessed with Victorian and early portraits, I bought seven new portraits for my Skeleton Krew Collection (plus I have my eye on a large portrait of a gypsy woman in a wooden frame with convex glass that I will be picking up this weekend). I just love the intricate borders around their faces and am just mad about tin types as well. The first SK portrait I ever did was on a tin type and the outcome was overly macabre, I cannot wait to paint these miniature faces.























I am often drawn to photographs of young children, perhaps their innocence calls to me, as I grow older I never want those magical moments of my childhood to disappear. I often imagine what it was like during their time periods, how they played or if anything tragic happened to them growing up. These delicate expressions are forever frozen in time.

Growing up I've always been into the darker things in life, in my teens years, vampires and horror were always of interest but as I grew as a woman in my 20s I had experienced death of a close loved one. That has opened my eyes to mourning processes, the true darker things in life and viewing our bodies as ticking machines that will eventually stop. I often look at these portraits and think how these people may have died……our body in the end, is made of many apparatus' that all work together breathing our souls, eventually our bodies end to decompose back into the ground, where life is reborn. With the brevity and fragility of human life in the face of God and nature, one must live like there is no tomorrow!

My Past Life Regression

Last year, a friend of mine Becca from The Caravan and I were talking about the concept of Past Life Regression, I've seen some shows about this technique of going into a hypnosis to reveal old memories or being reborn from past lives. This kind of thing really fascinates me, one day I wish to get this done professionally. However, Becca and I did a little research on how to tap into these memories yourself. Months before I tried this experiment, Becca did it herself and said she had visions of syringes and strange men with masks holding her down in a garden of some kind. Pretty bizarre! She later revealed that for the longest time she has always been afraid of needles. From there I truly was intrigued!

TAP INTO YOUR PAST LIFE

Before you do this meditation, you want to be in the right state of mind, find a time when you are aware but not overly tired, lay down in a relaxing place with no distractions. Once you are comfortable, you can try this technique I did: envision yourself walking down a flight of stairs while counting down from 100, once you reach the bottom you will envision a door that you will open. The time may vary for different people in which you will fall into the trance, with my experience I sort of fell in a light sleep but I was still conscious, this took me about 4-5 minutes. I chose a time in the mid-afternoon laying on my floor. 

My PERSONAL VISION:

It was nothing I've ever experienced before, after I opened my door during the exercise, I saw a pink Victorian house surrounded by a sunny sky, bright green grass on a neighborhood street right out of the early 1900s. There were tall palm trees that lined the street and I could see short white fencing. From my perspective, it seemed as if I was across the street taking on the fullness of the house, in the front yard was a little girl in a short dress with white apron. I couldn't make out features but more of her silhouette. My next vision was a black long looking car that pulled up to the house and parked in front of the house for a moment then drove away. I was really anxious to see inside, but the windows were jet black and the driver was hidden.

From that point, the vision jumped to a backyard or from my point of view I saw nothing but the blue sky looking up. There were four children standing in a line looking at me. The whole time there were no sounds, just images flashing. I tried looking at myself to do reality check, but I wasn't able to see myself. Right after I looked up, I saw a middle aged woman maybe mid 40s, she was in all black, could've been mourning clothes, but hard to tell from the vision, however she had really long hair ,but she didn't reveal her face to me. Abruptly my perspective changed…I was inside a box or wall looking out, I saw a hand reach in and pull out an old style hand gun. I was really confused at this point, but the sense of sadness fell over me.

The beginning of my experience in the trance was very innocent and reminded me of childhood, the children standing together really reminds me of my brothers and how we always stuck together. But later after seeing the woman I had this overwhelming feeling of grieving, were those that woman's children or was it me who died? The vision of the gun was really disturbing and depressing, like something tragic happened. Now that I look back to the beginning maybe the car could of been some kind of of hearse passing or a sign of death to the house. I couldn't tell you what the meanings were, could that that woman have been me? To tell you the truth, whenever I am around small children, I often get really teary eyed for some reason; very bizarre. I really want to do more of these sessions, and to try and get a connection of similar places or feelings, it was truly an amazing experience that lasted only about 15 minutes, but it is something that is truly unforgettable. 

Fast forwarding about five years…I did another session that wasn't as detailed but more of a mystery at this point. I had a vision during a meditation dream session where the perspective was me next to a horse or perhaps riding a horse. It's a real cropped in image of a brown horse very close on the mane. I can see the dark chocolate hair with a brown reins. Perhaps it was my horse, though I've never owned a horse. A very short image and so cropped in – the feel was happiness unlike the previous session I did.

Here are some sites that are very insightful about Past Life Regression:

~ Past Forward Exercise: Self Guided Life Regression

~ Crystal Links: Past Life Regression

~ Free Hemi Sync Guided Meditation

~ 8 Steps to Initiating an Outer Body Experience

Odd & Beautiful Souls

I find that whenever strange happenings occur in my life or when death takes someone close, I turn to my nexus of time or what I like to call my 150 year old brick townhouse filled with my obsessions and collections. It is a world filled with creaking rocking chairs and enchanting immaculate faces amongst the darker side of things.

The beginning of this month is quite a mystery to me, I sort of had these same feelings about a year ago and began doing more painting and hoarding of odd relics, but only to embody them in my wooden cabinet of curiosities. I like to bring them out every now and then, but most of the time they sit behind glass as if I were an observer in an underground museum in New Orleans.

My miniature dark museum holds hand made relics in apothecary bottles, frozen memories all nestled together, a glass eye looks up at you as you observe animal skulls and tiny assemblages amongst anatomy books, ahhh a safe home filled with tragedy and romance.

I have a new relic to be added to my collection for the time being, until someone comes along to give it a new story, this Memento Mori Relic Locket is time capsule of life and death, beginnings and ends to memories that have left my soul and new ones that the future hold. A skeleton key stands as its comrade to lock in dark forbidden forces and for fate to birth a new dawn.

To old endings with the turn of the screw, and to new light upon the horizon…

For now my dark side has escaped and I welcome it kindly.

An Untimely Death

There are three parts of life, the beginning, middle and end. There are glimpses that appear outside my life that give hints death will someday come. Tonight I saw the result of true love being taken away from a kind loving mother and wife, who lost her one and only, her soul mate of over 50 years. 

Last week my step father's father died. My step dad Lloyd, was a brother amongst seven other brothers and sisters and was also a twin. The Layfield family grew up in Newcastle and years later his mother and father spent the rest of their lives there, still in the same brick house. Until recently his father Leroy was doing alright, getting old but going places, I was honored that he was able to attend my wedding, his wife told me that was his last official formal outing. It was taking a huge toll on her, but how could you not take care of someone you love that deeply?

Tonight was the viewing for the immediate family, usually I'm not to nervous about funerals. However, only five minutes from my work I took the ride and my heart was just beating like crazy. I knew this was going to be so hard to see this family go through this again. About five or so years back my step fathers sister Lori, well her daughter was killed in a car crash and about a year later youngest child was killed in another crash. So hard, she was left with a her son Bobby, however fate had it that he would almost be taken as well. Late last year he was in a car crash and almost died but he recovered after many surgeries and so forth. I just amazes me that, that kind of thing would happen to a mother more than once, a child being taken twice and almost a third; is there no mercy? So you now know why I was a little nervous. 

It is always hard walking to the funeral home door, there are certain aspects of death that don't bother me, it is more the mourning process that takes a little getting used to. No one wants to have to go through it, and it is so different for everyone. I think the hardest part is seeing everyone have to go through heart ache. It is one thing to think and go over things in your head, but when people express sadness in person I can't take it. So getting back to walking to the door, I was welcomed by Bobby sitting outside, I said hey stranger! What a miracle that kid is!

I finally made it in, and it was so somber, just like a weight dropped on my chest, it is so hard to know what to do, I just came in a sat with my mom and two brothers and turned back and said hi to my step dad. At one point Lorraine, mom mom as we call her, had gone up to the casket and god it was horrible, she was talking to her sweetie and caressing his hand and his gray white mustache with her fingers. She had just fell apart up there sobbing out louad, I felt so awkward and I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I can't imagine loosing a close loved one, but loosing my husband. They spent everyday together for over 50 some years, gone through so much together. I was laying in bed the other night, Bruce my husband had already fell asleep, I was just praying and thinking about her, their lives were infested in each other and now he is gone. She had to make the decision to let him go, I think the past two weeks were so hard, he had not been functioning cognitively and his body was shutting down. I remember seeing this same situation with my beloved grandmother Sarah Elizabeth in her last week on earth, the last time I saw her alive was Christmas of 2007, yet she wasn't totally there, two days later she had passed away in the hospital with her close family and friends next to her, we had played her favorite song from our cell phones, "Memories" by Elvis Presley. Those were the last days of her life and the last days of Lee's life, he died in his house along with his wife and children, I can't imagine that scene. I wasn't ever really too close to him, but the situation is all too real, so many memories ya know.

My mom had called me up on the phone last Thursday and told me the news. The funny thing is that same day we had found out my brother Mark got married in South Korea, so strange. The interesting part that night when he died was that they didn't call the undertaker for several hours, the family just sat by his side and later called the undertaker over and cooked him dinner. He was close member of the family, the same undertaker that did Ronnie and Jamie's funeral. I guess you get close to these kinds of people when the situation comes. I heard someone say tonight, I am so sorry we have to keep meeting like this.

Tomorrow is the funeral and so many people will be there to honor him, it is one of those things where you have to go through the same emotions again. Alot of people were talking about what they were going to wear to the funeral, a couple people said black but Lorraine, his wife said I am going to wear blue, because Lee loved that color and that was the color of his bright blue eyes. How romantic!

I can't imagine my soul mate being taken from me, I couldn't go on living in the same house or not part with his things, even Bruce's comics or blanket. It is so weird how we perceive death when we are young, my husband already has a list of what he wants to be buried with, his mustard yellow blanket, his Danzig shirt, Spiderman 17 and a copy of the Talisman. I don't think I could part with some of his things, I dunno these kinds of things get me down, I should stop thinking about that. I know death will come one day, could be tomorrow for all I know. Sometimes I think I will go in a car crash, I always think that when I am driving, ok this could be the day. I am curious to know if everyone thinks like that? Tomorrow is another day and we must live for that day, spend those days with the ones we love and tell them too. 

Reach for the sky because tomorrow may never come.

Back From the Dead

The other day I was moving some old books around on my desk, and what do you know, I found two lost Skeleton Krew portraits that I've been searching for the past year. I also found an unfinished painting in the book as well. The two macabre ladies are back from the dead and are newly listed in my shop.

~ Skeleton Krew™ portrait no.009 this woman finally has peace, parts of her face have been painted to look like stitches, if only she had that smooth porcelain skin she once had before her accident. The portrait is an antique cabinet card painted with gouache and ink.

~ Skeleton Krew™ portrait no.010, a thin face with hungry eyes and fear of death; poor starved soul. This tinotype is surrounded by a cream paper and a pink border.

If your on myspace, stop by the Red Heart Cult for more from the Skeleton Krew™ Collection.

Black 13 Collection

Amongst all the intriguing predictions of 2012, this be all, end all of doomsday has stimulated me to create a becoming jewelry collection called Black 13, inspired by Armageddon, death, destruction and the Book of Revelations.

My original goal was to launch the collection in my shop Red Heart 13 in February, but since my brain has all these fabulous ideas I am thinking of launching in March.

I have begun collecting wonderful vintage pieces that relate to the symbolism in the Book of Revelations and even scientific predictions of natural disasters. I plan on doing lockets, necklaces, bracelets, brooches and earrings. 

You can read my previous posting on my thoughts and some interesting articles plus websites called Doomsday 2012.

Currently I am working on piece that revolves around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, they symbolize the evils to come at the end of the world. The figure representing conquest rides a white horse, the red horse is war; famine is the black horse; and plague is the pale horse.

Some other pieces that I have collected are this fabulous encrusted rhinestone brooch, it reminds me of the Milk Way or a gamma ray burst. I also found this awesome vintage hour glass that will count down the to Armageddon and the second coming of Christ. This swirling moon pendant is a sign of the three lunar eclipses that are supposed to happen in 2012.

Some other ideas I have in mind are etchings on rings and have some talismans of faith in the works too. I will have more to come on the collection soon, for now you can enjoy another painting from my Sweet Heart Collection just in time for Valentines Day. I should be posting the vampress in a day or so. 

The Skeleton Krew is Back!

SK no.0017, antique cabinet card painted with gouache and signed / numbered on the back.

We have two new unveilings from my Skeleton Krew Collection: The Backbone to the Dead. These macabre family portraits are finally back!

Skeleton Krew portrait no.0017 is surely sweet with a twist of madness. What is behind this child's eyes? This lovely little girl stares at the viewer, and is painted with black gouache. There are no markings on the back of this photo but I believe it is circa early 1900s. You can purchase this portrait at Red Heart 13. Take home a part of this collection!

This lonely boy reminded me of Damien from the Omen, so innocent yet there is evil behind those eyes, or was his soul lost in a tragic accident. Stare into his piercing eyes and imagine how he lived in the 1800s. Did he have a brother or maybe a twin? SK no.0018 will be arriving in my shop in a week or so, I am in search of a odd frame to put him in. If you would like to reserve this portrait, please feel free to contact me and I can put him on hold. 

Skeleton Krew portrait no.0018, antique photo 3.5" w x 5" h, gouache paint.

I love doing these portraits, and often never want to let them go. I wonder how these people once lived, are they still living or have they passed on to another dimension in which they try to connect with us by these little pieces of evidence from their lives. If you would like to see more from the Skeleton Krew Collection please click here! 

Nightmare no.1

I don't know where it came from, I was invited into a nightmare that I awoke from an intense heart beating panic, a dream of good verses evil, a dream of a demon that pushed me to the end. The dream is only remembered in pieces, memories of the dark evil verses rays of light from myself as an angel.

The dream started out with my husband and I in a car driving up through a the small town of Avondale, this road happens to be where my grandmother had her funeral about eight months ago. It just so happens, a friend of my father's car broke down right outside the funeral home two days before her funeral. It was the dead of night, no one was on the road, we were in a beat up gray car, Bruce was driving and I was the passenger listening to his silly jokes. We got up the hill and saw two young men walking in the road, as if their bones being broken. Bruce pounded the horn; no change. All of a sudden, fire was thrown at our windshield by garbage on fire. Our car went in flames, I couldn't get out, the locks were frozen, I wanted to help Bruce but couldn't. I looked at him with horror and in a spilt second he turned into my father. His face slowly formed into a demon like red creature with dark spots, its eyes dark as charcoal. I then was outside my body looking at myself morphing into angelic figure. No wings but soft blue skin with harsh edges. Blinding rays of blue light started projecting out my head, I could see bright red blazing out of the demon creature to my side. Quick images of evil statues were flashing, frozen small children of sorrow and demons hovering over me, them watching me as I entered a southern church from the ghosts of mississippi. There were dark hymnals and sweaty faces of a church congregation. Dark low drones with religious a chorus was in the background along with voices of angry men and woman matched with an old pipe organ. An exorcism of my body, no control as I a woke in a tense position face up, hands clenched, numb to to the touch and my heart wanted to explode in my chest. I finally came out of it, the morning was still dark with a little light coming through the cracks from the air conditioner. I looked over to my left at Bruce laying next to me, laying face up like me; sleeping....or couldn't wake up from a nightmare?

DREAM SYMBOLISM:

~Evil: Dreaming that something evil, such as the devil, is trying to harm you or is coming after you can mean

~Angel: An angel or spirit guide can represent the idea of receiving guidance, support, comfort, etc., or that you would like to.
~Blue: spirituality
~Red: The color red can represent stimulating, exciting, exotic, full of life or vigor, or anger. Red can also appear in a dream to highlight something important.
~Illuminating Light: Hope, goodness, or assistance—especially when it appears in the darkness
~Fire: A flame or fire can represent light or life, heat, destruction, cleansing, or getting rid of the old before bringing in the new.
~Music:
Hearing music can represent the idea of someone, or your own intuition or spiritual guidance, trying to give you a message. Think about what they lyrics say, and if there are no lyrics, pay attention to the mood of the music and what it might be saying. 
~Statue: A particular person or a public figure, The inability to respond or move, In idea that the statue conveys, such as religion, war, freedom, etc.

The Heart Chronicles

Dear Cult Followers,

There is a new season approaching and new plans for The Red Heart Cult. We are starting a monthly newsletter called The Heart Chronicles®. It is your ticket to updated news from RHC, including featured artists from RHC Findings, new collections and the latest jewelry designs and relics from our etsy shop, Red Heart 13.

We are still in the works for developing the details, but if you would like to subscribe to it, please contact me with your email address. Our first newsletter will probably be created with a pdf so viewing should be simple to start out. Our plans for the end of the year is to develop it into an email blast if possible. We hope you look forward to next coming haunting months. 

Speaking of ghouls and witchery, I am in the creation process of my "haunting" plaques. Get ready for ghouls, bats and the macabre. The one featured below is of death and misery; it has a paper coffin that sits on a dark wooden plaque with angry trees filled with bats and blood red brush. The plaque can be hung on a wall or added to your personal cabinet of curiosities. Also stayed tuned for a collaborative plaque made from darkness created from Gregory's writing from The Method Learned. You can find the below featured plaque at redheart13.etsy.com 

Ghouls and Coffin Plaque ©Leila Marvel 2008.