Historia Naturalis Mythica #6: Of the Fox (vulpis)
In the medieval bestiary, the fox is deception made flesh. It rolls in red earth until it looks bloodstained, lies still, holds its breath with tongue out. Birds descend, mistaking it for carrion. Evil deception.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
In the medieval bestiary, the fox is deception made flesh. It rolls in red earth until it looks bloodstained, lies still, holds its breath with tongue out. Birds descend, mistaking it for carrion. Evil deception.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
July 5, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Historia Naturalis Mythica #6: Of the Fox (vulpis)
In the medieval bestiary, the fox is deception made flesh. It rolls in red earth until it looks bloodstained, lies still, holds its breath with tongue out. Birds descend, mistaking it for carrion. Evil deception.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
In the medieval bestiary, the fox is deception made flesh. It rolls in red earth until it looks bloodstained, lies still, holds its breath with tongue out. Birds descend, mistaking it for carrion. Evil deception.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
Historia Naturalis Mythica #16: The Seeds of Death
In David H. Keller’s 1931 Weird Tales story, red seeds resembling pomegranate seeds germinate inside people. Their roots consume the body, then erupt as grotesque orchids that flower and produce new seeds.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica #WeirdTales
In David H. Keller’s 1931 Weird Tales story, red seeds resembling pomegranate seeds germinate inside people. Their roots consume the body, then erupt as grotesque orchids that flower and produce new seeds.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica #WeirdTales
August 28, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Historia Naturalis Mythica #16: The Seeds of Death
In David H. Keller’s 1931 Weird Tales story, red seeds resembling pomegranate seeds germinate inside people. Their roots consume the body, then erupt as grotesque orchids that flower and produce new seeds.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica #WeirdTales
In David H. Keller’s 1931 Weird Tales story, red seeds resembling pomegranate seeds germinate inside people. Their roots consume the body, then erupt as grotesque orchids that flower and produce new seeds.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica #WeirdTales
Historia Naturalis Mythica #8: Catoblepas
The catoblepas had a head so heavy that its deadly eyes remained lowered, sparing humankind. Later writers made it a beast that accidentally ate its feet, which became a metaphor for writers who consume their own lives to create.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
The catoblepas had a head so heavy that its deadly eyes remained lowered, sparing humankind. Later writers made it a beast that accidentally ate its feet, which became a metaphor for writers who consume their own lives to create.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
July 13, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Historia Naturalis Mythica #8: Catoblepas
The catoblepas had a head so heavy that its deadly eyes remained lowered, sparing humankind. Later writers made it a beast that accidentally ate its feet, which became a metaphor for writers who consume their own lives to create.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
The catoblepas had a head so heavy that its deadly eyes remained lowered, sparing humankind. Later writers made it a beast that accidentally ate its feet, which became a metaphor for writers who consume their own lives to create.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
Historia Naturalis Mythica #7: Mandrake
Half plant, half buried body, the mandrake blurred medicine, poison and magic. Its forked root seemed human; its shriek could kill; a dog was tied to pull it free. Plants, in medieval hands, had a voice—and they screamed.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
Half plant, half buried body, the mandrake blurred medicine, poison and magic. Its forked root seemed human; its shriek could kill; a dog was tied to pull it free. Plants, in medieval hands, had a voice—and they screamed.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
July 9, 2026 at 11:29 PM
Historia Naturalis Mythica #7: Mandrake
Half plant, half buried body, the mandrake blurred medicine, poison and magic. Its forked root seemed human; its shriek could kill; a dog was tied to pull it free. Plants, in medieval hands, had a voice—and they screamed.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
Half plant, half buried body, the mandrake blurred medicine, poison and magic. Its forked root seemed human; its shriek could kill; a dog was tied to pull it free. Plants, in medieval hands, had a voice—and they screamed.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
Historia Naturalis Mythica #4: Manticore
A blood-red lion’s body. A human face. Blue-grey eyes. A scorpion tail. The manticore came from India, whistled like pipes and was said to eat people — its name ultimately means “man-eater.”
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
#NaturalHistory
A blood-red lion’s body. A human face. Blue-grey eyes. A scorpion tail. The manticore came from India, whistled like pipes and was said to eat people — its name ultimately means “man-eater.”
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
#NaturalHistory
June 28, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Historia Naturalis Mythica #4: Manticore
A blood-red lion’s body. A human face. Blue-grey eyes. A scorpion tail. The manticore came from India, whistled like pipes and was said to eat people — its name ultimately means “man-eater.”
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
#NaturalHistory
A blood-red lion’s body. A human face. Blue-grey eyes. A scorpion tail. The manticore came from India, whistled like pipes and was said to eat people — its name ultimately means “man-eater.”
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
#NaturalHistory
Historia Naturalis Mythica #3
H. G. Wells’s 1894 “The Flowering of the Strange Orchid” turns orchid mania into botanical horror: an exotic hothouse prize blooms, perfumes the air and feeds on its collector with leech-like roots.
Image: The Pall Mall Budget 1894
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
H. G. Wells’s 1894 “The Flowering of the Strange Orchid” turns orchid mania into botanical horror: an exotic hothouse prize blooms, perfumes the air and feeds on its collector with leech-like roots.
Image: The Pall Mall Budget 1894
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
June 25, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Historia Naturalis Mythica #3
H. G. Wells’s 1894 “The Flowering of the Strange Orchid” turns orchid mania into botanical horror: an exotic hothouse prize blooms, perfumes the air and feeds on its collector with leech-like roots.
Image: The Pall Mall Budget 1894
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
H. G. Wells’s 1894 “The Flowering of the Strange Orchid” turns orchid mania into botanical horror: an exotic hothouse prize blooms, perfumes the air and feeds on its collector with leech-like roots.
Image: The Pall Mall Budget 1894
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
Historia Naturalis Mythica #2
In 1664, Jesuit Louis Nicolas reached New France. His Codex Canadensis shows a human-headed fish supposedly killed in the Richelieu River: a New World “sea monster” drawn remarkably similar to the Old World tradition of the sea monk.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
In 1664, Jesuit Louis Nicolas reached New France. His Codex Canadensis shows a human-headed fish supposedly killed in the Richelieu River: a New World “sea monster” drawn remarkably similar to the Old World tradition of the sea monk.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
June 21, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Historia Naturalis Mythica #2
In 1664, Jesuit Louis Nicolas reached New France. His Codex Canadensis shows a human-headed fish supposedly killed in the Richelieu River: a New World “sea monster” drawn remarkably similar to the Old World tradition of the sea monk.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
In 1664, Jesuit Louis Nicolas reached New France. His Codex Canadensis shows a human-headed fish supposedly killed in the Richelieu River: a New World “sea monster” drawn remarkably similar to the Old World tradition of the sea monk.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
Historia Naturalis Mythica #1: Upas Tree
In early modern natural history, the upas tree of Java was a botanical nightmare: a tree so poisonous that animals fell dead from its vapors. The sap is dangerous enough to lace poison arrows, but not as toxic as its legend.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
In early modern natural history, the upas tree of Java was a botanical nightmare: a tree so poisonous that animals fell dead from its vapors. The sap is dangerous enough to lace poison arrows, but not as toxic as its legend.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
June 18, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Historia Naturalis Mythica #1: Upas Tree
In early modern natural history, the upas tree of Java was a botanical nightmare: a tree so poisonous that animals fell dead from its vapors. The sap is dangerous enough to lace poison arrows, but not as toxic as its legend.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica
In early modern natural history, the upas tree of Java was a botanical nightmare: a tree so poisonous that animals fell dead from its vapors. The sap is dangerous enough to lace poison arrows, but not as toxic as its legend.
#HistoriaNaturalisMythica