Occult Auvergne: How to Become a Werewolf
Obtained by a 19th-century physician, this ritual from Auvergne tells you how to become a become a werewolf.
What to See in Beast of Gévaudan Territory
It was in Gévaudan that this wild beast had established his everyday encampment…Nevertheless, this monster repeatedly made incursions into Auvergne, especially in the region of Saint-Flour, where it devoured numerous victims. And to save themselves, the parishes of Auvergne joined forces with those of the Gévaudan… -François Fabre The isolated highlands of pre-Revolution Gévaudan and […]
Occult Auvergne: Witches and Fatsillères
I fancied that Auvergne was a country far, very far off, where strange things were to be seen, and where one could not travel but with great danger and under the safeguard of the Mother of God. -François René de Chateaubriand In many ways, Old Auvergne was the “Transylvania of France”, a realm that — […]
Occult Auvergne: 5 Spine-Chilling Legends
“Among the Auvergnats a host of tales and legends has grown up, including circumstantial accounts of wizard meetings on the puy de Dôme, stories of curious and unaccountable phenomena of earthquakes, each attributed to some occult power and giving rise to bloodcurdling narrations about ghosts and ghouls…” -E.C. Vansittart In his iconic Gothic novel Dracula […]
Wolves in Auvergne: A Thrilling Tale from the 19th Century
Auvergne was once home to man-eating wolves. This 19th-century tale describes a thrilling encounter with these creatures of the night.
A Visit to the Puy de Dôme…in 1879
What was visiting the puy de Dôme like in the 19th century? Here’s an account from writer and feminist Matilda Betham-Edwards.
Is Le Puy the Most Picturesque Place in the World?
For us, therefore, wandering in a “fairyland of travel,” there was something of the joy of the discoverer when the forgotten cathedral town, to which work was our guide, turned out to be “the most picturesque place in the world,” something of the pride of the pioneer when we settled down and made ourselves at […]
The Mysterious Lake Pavin
It was out of the ‘bottomless’ Lac Pavin that the sorcerers conjured wind and storm by casting a stone into its enchanted waters… -Margaret Roberts Situated inside a volcanic crater in the Dore Mountains, Lake Pavin is the deepest lake in Auvergne. Its entrancing appearance, which has been a subject of interest for travel writers and geographers […]
Why Algernon Charles Swinburne Loved Auvergne
In August 1869, the English poet Algernon Charles Swinburne — one of the leading figures of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood — visited Auvergne with his friend, the adventurer Sir Richard Burton. Among other places, they stopped at Vichy — known for for its natural spas — and Clermont-Ferrand. Captivated by Auvergne’s rustic beauty, Swinburne quickly fell […]
Superstitions of Auvergne: Part 2
“In Auvergne, too, you will find again the homely farms, with great hearths and cupboard-beds…the strange superstitions and beliefs; the markets, the picturesque processions and dances, the music, the songs, the stories.” -Frances M. Gostling This is the second part of our abridged version of Antoinette Bon’s list of Auvergne superstitions: If one on his way […]
