Vila Wolf's Dyslexic Folklorist Ranting

Babylonian Onyx Scepter, Babylon, c. 650 BC

Located in the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin

Egyptian Eye of Horus Amulets, Ptolemaic, C. 323-30 BC

The Eye of Horus or wedjat-eye is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power and good health. The eye is personified in the goddess Wadjet. It is also known as “The Eye of Ra.” The wedjat-eye was supposedly the eye that Seth tore from Horus during a battle over who would lead the gods. Thoth healed the injured eye, returning it to Horus as the “sound one.” Wedjat-eye amulets were used from the Old Kingdom through the Roman Period and whether worn for everyday wear or tucked among mummy wrappings, this amulet was believed to be an effective source of protection and a symbol of strength and perfection.

Made of electrum.

Daily Monster 181: Tailypo

Region of origin: Appalachia, United States

A large cat-like creature with a markedly long tail that was, according to oral traditions and campfire stories, capable of human speech. The most common elements of the stories involve a hunter capturing one and cutting off its tail and, in the night following his return to his cabin, he could hear the creature calling out to him to “return my taily-po,” from the darkness. Over the course of the night, the creature would return several times, calling out and picking off the hunter’s three dogs before finally attacking the man himself, often killing him and in some tellings doing so with enough ferocity to destroy the cabin itself.

Interior of the Silver Bell Saloon, Magdalena, New Mexico

Date: 1900 - 1910? Negative Number 079974

Maggie L. Walker (1864?-1934)

Art by Annie (tumblr)

Born to a formerly enslaved mother at the end of the Civil War, Maggie L. Walker began her working life as a teenage schoolteacher in Reconstruction era Richmond, Virginia.  She soon joined the Independent Order of St. Luke, a black fraternal organization.  Maggie rose to national prominence in 1899 when she was elected Right Worthy Grand Secretary of the national Order of St. Luke. In 1902, Maggie created a newspaper for the group.  A year later, she opened the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, the first US bank chartered by a black woman.  

St. Luke Penny Bank was an important resource for Richmond’s black community.  Between 1903 and 1929, the bank issued over 600 home loans, helping many black families achieve their goal of home ownership.  Although there were other black banks in Richmond, St. Luke’s Penny Bank had particular prominence and Maggie was the first black member of the previously all-white Virginia Banker’s Association.  Under Maggie’s leadership, St. Luke Penny Savings Bank merged with other black owned banks to form Consolidated Bank and Trust in 1931.  Consolidated Bank and Trust ceased operations in 2009 when it was bought by Premiere Bank.

Maggie’s former home is today part of the National Park Service and visitors can tour the site for free.  National Park Service / Facebook

The Largest Extant Minoan Gold Earring, C. 1850-1550 BC

From the Aigina Treasure, decorated with hounds, monkeys, birds and carnelian