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Stories
No. 030
What Does a Skull and Dagger Mean? Death Before Dishonor and More
What does a skull and dagger mean? Usually mortality and danger, and in WWII flash, Death before Dishonor. Variations, military daggers and the prison meaning.
No. 029
Raven and Skull Meaning
A raven and skull usually mean mortality, mourning or mystery. See Poe's 1845 Raven, Odin's Huginn and Muninn, Irish crow goddesses and the tattoo today.
No. 028
Owl and Skull Meaning
An owl and a skull together usually mean wisdom facing mortality. See Athena's owl, owl death omens, vanitas art, tattoo meanings and owl skull law.
No. 027
What Does a Winged Skull Mean? New England Gravestones, Tattoos and Insignia
A winged skull on a New England gravestone is a death's head, a Puritan memento mori. See dated stones, the carvers, the cherub shift, squadron badges and tattoos.
No. 026
Gothic Skull Meaning
Why are skulls gothic? From Gothic novels and mourning jewelry to Bauhaus and the Batcave, what skulls mean in goth fashion, music and decor, and to the people who wear them.
No. 025
What Is a Memento Mori Coin? Meaning, Stoic Roots and History
A memento mori coin is a pocket medallion that prompts you to remember death and live well now. Its Stoic roots, Charles I memorial medals and the Bible question.
No. 024
The Death's-Head Hawkmoth
The death's-head hawkmoth is three Acherontia moths with a skull on the thorax. Why it squeaks, how it steals honey, whether it is rare or poisonous, and its Silence of the Lambs role.
No. 023
The Jewett City Vampires
In 1854 the Ray family of Jewett City burned two dead sons, and in Griswold a skeleton was laid out as a skull and crossbones. The real story, J.B. 55 and tuberculosis.
No. 022
The Skeleton in the Tree on the New Haven Green
In 2012 Hurricane Sandy toppled the Lincoln Oak on the New Haven Green and exposed colonial burials. Who they were, what researchers learned and who lies beneath.