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Oddity Central

Macabre Rituals – The Annual Cleaning of the Dead at Pomuch Cemetery
LOTR Fans’ Fantastic Real-Life Hobbit House
Nit Wit Ridge – A Mansion Built Entirely from Junk

Macabre Rituals – The Annual Cleaning of the Dead at Pomuch Cemetery

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 02:48 AM PST

It's fascinating how bizarre the rituals of the dead can get. The latest we've discovered is from Pomuch, Campeche, a small Mayan town in Mexico. In Campeche, the day of the dead, which is not unlike Spring Cleaning, is honored each year. On this particular day, families visit the cemetery to participate in the ritual cleaning of the bones of their loved ones. The squeaky-clean remains are then placed on display along with flowers and a new cloth for veneration.

The custom applies to anybody who dies in Campeche, ranging from young to old. Every corpse is buried for three years and then, on the Day of the Dead, the bones are dug up, cleaned and transferred to a wooden crate. The waiting period of 3 years is important because the bones need that time to dry out. The wooden crate is placed on permanent display in the cemetery. From then on, people go to the cemetery to pay their respects and clean the remains every year. Nov 1^st is the day dedicated to dead children, known as the Dia de los Niños (Day of the Innocents), and Nov 2^nd is for everyone else. The custom of cleaning the remains of dead relatives is said to date all the way back to Mayan practices – when the skulls of ancestors were retained and worshipped. The significance behind the ritual is to help people deal with the pain of losing a loved one. It is also believed to keep families together. The most important belief, however, is that a relative whose remains are poorly taken care of can become angry and wander through the streets.

Photo via Atlas Obscura

The rest of Mexico also celebrates Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, every year on 2^nd Nov, a celebration that is well known throughout the world. The day is spent in cemeteries telling stories about dead relatives and friends, and sugar-and-bread skulls are eaten. But the celebrations in Pomuch seem to be taking the love for the deceased to a whole new level. Interestingly, the cemetery remains locked for a large part of the year, and is open only from mid-October to early in November. In this short time, the residents of Pomuch visit graves – some as new as 2005, and others as old as 1930.

Photo: AP

Those who rest at the cemetery with no one to care for them aren't forgotten either. The workers at the cemetery make sure that they clean at least 90% of the bones. There exists a small percentage of bones that are never cleaned, belonging to those whose families choose not to disturb the remains. Tus Chi, who has worked at the cemetery for 15 years, says he has learned over time which bones to take care of and which to leave alone. He also says that travelers from all over the world come to visit the small-town cemetery. This year, he says, "there were some Chinese here. They spoke great Spanish. I've seen Germans, French, Africans, last year some guys from Spain came to shoot a movie here." So you know where to be next year around Halloween!

Source: Institute for International Journalism

Macabre Rituals – The Annual Cleaning of the Dead at Pomuch Cemetery was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

LOTR Fans’ Fantastic Real-Life Hobbit House

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 02:08 AM PST

Now here's a house that all you LOTR fans out there wouldn't mind spending a few nights in. Or maybe, the rest of your lives. If you've been an admirer of the hobbits who inhabited Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world, this house is something you've got to see. The 600 sq.ft. dwelling was built by architect Peter Archer for his clients – a Chester County couple with grown kids. Lifelong fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, they wanted the house as a worthy shrine for the rare books and Tolkien-inspired memorabilia collected over a period of 30 years of travel in the U.S. and abroad. The stone cottage is tucked away into the Pennsylvania countryside, a picturesque location befitting the hobbit-style house.

Before he took up the project, Archer wasn't too well versed with the nature of Tolkien's works, but he caught on rather quickly. "Upon starting the project I read the book The Hobbit and watched the Lord of the Rings movies, but more importantly, looked at the range of writings by Tolkien, including amazing sketches he had done to illustrate his work," Archer says. "I remember at the start saying that we would be happy to design the structure but we were not going to do a Hollywood interpretation. We wanted it to be timeless. It was built in 2004 but looking at it, you could think it was from 1904 or 1604." Working closely with another Pennsylvania architect Mark Avellino, he was able to "interpret Tolkien and create the beautiful details that make this such a special building." He also credits the host of builders and landscape artists who put in every effort possible into the making of what has come to be known as the 'Hobbit House'.

Photo: Emma Lee/NewsWorks

For now, the couple that owns the house lives a short walk away. A flat stone path leads the way to an English style garden, and then the cottage which is constructed with stones taken from a long-collapsed section of an 18-century low wall running through the center of the property. Archer envisioned from the beginning to make it look as though the house had risen from the wall. And so, when you look at it, it is stepped downward to follow the grade of the land, giving the impression that it has grown organically out of the stone wall. All the other materials were chosen for their colors and textures, timelessness and compatibility with the stone. The hobbit house is a single structure, and in Archer's words, "a relaxing place that is diminutive in scale, for the owner to come and hang out and just be in solitude with his collection." The perfectly round main door itself is a masterpiece, made from Spanish cedar. It opens with a single hand forged iron hinge and the knob rests right in the center, just as Tolkien had described it. Hanging the 150-pound door on just one hinge was a bit of a problem, but a blacksmith from Maryland managed it on the very first try.

Photo: Emma Lee/NewsWorks

The indoor wood-work was done by a Delaware cabinet-maker – the mahogany windows and the large, arched 'butterfly' window. This particular window was derived from Tolkien's own sketches. The window, when open, resembles a butterfly because the two halves are pushed outward from a center hinge. The roof of the cottage is covered with handmade clay tiles from France. Curved arches and rafters indoors are made from Douglas fir. The fireplace is finished in stucco and accented with thin slices of clay tiles. Shelves and ledgers are in abundance, for the owner to store his books and display all his Hobbit figurines, Gandalf’s staff, chess sets, chalices and hooded capes. And of course, no house of Bilbo Baggins can be complete without the One Ring. Custom light fixtures in the reception area lend a period flavor. Outside, a low, whimsical stone bridge can be found arching over a drainage ditch. According to Archer, "Once the building was designed, the clients fell in love with it and wanted to go further and create walls and gardens befitting a hobbit." What's fascinating is that the house has all the modern conveniences too, like heating, cooling, electricity and security systems. But it's all hidden cleverly by the rustic design.

Photo: Emma Lee/NewsWorks

As enchanting as the Hobbit House of Pennsylvania is, the owner doesn't want to convert it into a tourist attraction. So he has taken steps to ensure that it stays hidden – the location of the house has never been revealed in public, and the one time he did give an interview last year, he did so under a pseudonym.

Source: The Associated Press/New York Daily News

LOTR Fans’ Fantastic Real-Life Hobbit House was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Nit Wit Ridge – A Mansion Built Entirely from Junk

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 01:08 AM PST

Nit Wit Ridge is such a whimsical name for a house. And I must say, the place completely lives up to its name. The 90-year-old two-and-a-half acre ramshackle home on the outskirts of Cambria, California is a Historic Landmark in the area and a fine example of folk art. It is located just a few miles down the road from another famous landmark, the Hearst Castle. Nit Wit Ridge is one-of-a-kind because it was built using millions of bits and pieces of recycled trash, and took over 50 years to complete. Arthur Harold Beal, a.k.a. Captain Nit Wit or Der Tinkerpaw, was a local trash hauler and loved all things rubbish. He basically suffered from the inability to throw anything away, collecting everything that the Cambrians threw away. So he used all his collections over the years, along with natural materials on the property to build the house, an effort that took him nearly a lifetime to complete, given his self-taught construction skills.

Photo: Eric Fitzpatrick

Beal started working on his project in 1928, with just a pickaxe a shovel, and of course, a strong back. He began by laying the most unusual of foundations – he dug a 2.5 acre hollow on a hillside in Cambria and filled it with all kinds of trash. Over this, he used more trash to make an intricate network of terrace gardens, ornamental stone arches, buildings, fountains and walkways. Nit Wit Ridge stands three stories tall and is made from materials like abalone shells, used rocks, beer cans, car parts, old stoves, washer drums and tiles. Basically, anything that he could get his hands on. Well, from the outside the house looks exactly as it should, as derelict as ever. But admirers of this type of architecture see a unique beauty in it that is unmatched by any modern home.

Photo: Eric Fitzpatrick

Beal died in 1992 after prolonged illness, at the age of 96. In accordance with his wishes, his ashes were spread around his favorite redwood on Nit Wit Ridge. Since 1999, the house has belonged to Michael and Stacey O'Malley. Thankfully, they are equally enthusiastic about the place and do conduct in-depth tours of the house and gardens by appointment, so its wonders aren't lost to those who admire Nit Wit Ridge. The house now lives on as a memorial to Beal's cosmic humor and zest for life.