Hidden Auvergne: The Chastel Burial Complex
Sometimes it does one good to wander among the tombs. Autumn is preferable for such meditative ambles. One needs the wind, the fog, a spray-like rain, and — above all — a farrago of red, orange, and yellow leaves to set the imagination loose. Then the mind, temporarily unshackled from worldly cares and any sense […]
The Vampire Countess of Auvergne
She had in her service valets who were tasked with stealing children, whom she killed to drink their blood and stay eternally young… -Victor Favyé If, as I have often contended, Auvergne is the “Transylvania of France”, it must be the home of bloodthirsty hellbeasts, castled landscapes that howl on windy nights, and at least one […]
The Body Snatcher of Cournon
Body snatching is one of the oldest illicit businesses on Earth. In the Middle Ages, shrewd adventurers plundered out-of-the-way tombs and cemeteries for bones and passed off their spoils as the relics of saints. For centuries, they smuggled these “relics” to churches across Europe, raking in fortunes. Similarly roguish black marketeers also indulged in this kind […]
Haunted Auvergne: Castle Apchon
In Auvergne, when it comes to the Devil and his minions, there is one haunted place that ranks above all others: Castle Apchon.
Occult Auvergne: A Sorcerer on Trial
A closer look at the trial of an accused sorcerer from Auvergne and a glimpse into the centuries-old tradition to which he allegedly belonged.
Auvergne Folklore: A Werewolf in Cantal
In this 19th-century werewolf tale, set in the mountains of Cantal, villagers come face-to-face with the Devil himself.
Count Montlosier: The Wizard of Auvergne
My life has been…full of events; yet no event, not even the Revolution, has left me with insights so precise and impressions so vivid as magnetism…I found myself producing by my will what, according to ordinary understanding, generally seems impossible… -François-Dominique, Count Montlosier When ambling along one of the many trails that start in Randanne […]
The Spirit of Lake Pavin: A Ghost Tale
If any one is bold enough to cast a stone into the black gulf beyond the clear borders…the waves rise higher and higher, and presently a tempest bursts forth of hideous violence…and the villagers below tremble; for they know that the Spirit of Lake Pavin has been insulted, and is taking his revenge. -Louisa Stuart […]
Literary Notes on Auvergne Sculptures: The “Faun” of Ponteix
Those of you who know me know of my passion for fountain grotesques and mascarons, which I see as contemporary genii locorum (“spirits of the place”). When we look into their stony, goblinesque eyes, we are — if only for a moment — drawn upwards into the world of imagination. New thoughts then rush into […]
Occult Auvergne: A Werewolf in Puy-de-Dôme
What happens when you see a werewolf in Puy-de-Dôme? Here’s a fascinating account from a 19th-century travel memoir.
