Citrinitas is an alchemical term for "yellowness." It is one of the four major stages of the alchemical magnum opus. In alchemical...

Opium poppy (Papaver somnifum) is the common source of opium and derivatives such as morphine or heroin. All poppies produce the narcotic...

Tanning hides is practiced in the ancient world since c. 7000 BCE, in the Indus Valley site of Mehgarh. By 2500 BCE, Sumerians of...

Woad ( Isatis tinctoria ) is a plant yielding a blue pigment used in dyes, paint and medicine. A member of the mustard family, it's also...

Spiritual alchemy is a set of methods using mental processes, colors, phases, archetypes, integration, practical application and...

Arsenic (As) has been called the King of Poisons and the Poison of Kings. This silvery metalloid appears abundantly in the Earth and...

Belsnickel comes from the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. Part of the spirit of the season, Belsnickel is male but often dresses...

Holly, yew and mistletoe, the most cheerful and celebrated of seasonal plants, are also the most poisonous. These three toxic beauties...

Legends of a corpse-swiping alchemist, fountain of immortality, witches, treasure and a dragon-killer are part of the history of Castle...

Magic, mystery and sinister plots unfold as the Victorian era infuses European politics and society. Queen Victoria is a German princess...

Käthe Kollwitz (1867 - 1945) is a stellar German artist. A doctor's wife among the less privileged of society, she works with her husband...

In the nineteenth century , Victorians are outdoors more than ever before as health spas flourish, fresh air vacations came into vogue...

Of the many flowers in Germanic folk medicine and herbology, none capture the romantic imagination more than the modest edelweiss (...

Human taxidermy and death photography are ways to keep the loved one close. Science, nature and the occult are at the forefront of...

Trends in natural health, exercise, pets, fashion, the occult, mourning and taxidermy span the nineteenth century. On the British throne,...

Anna Connelly saves countless lives when she invents and patents the first modern fire escape in 1877. After the Civil War, Americans...

Women artists of the late nineteenth century include Elisabet Ney, Anna Peters and Dora Hitz. In the youthful German Empire women's...

German traditions abound at Yuletide season. Sweets and candy are a big part of Christmas in Germany. Candy canes date back to the 17th...

Coffee filters, gummi bears, guide dog school and refrigeration are among the German inventions of the 19th and early 20th centuries,...

Fortune telling, divination and mystic arts gain huge popularity in the European Victorian Era. Nations careen through cycles of progress...