Flight of the Soul From Mortal Man

The spiked iron gate
Grasps feebly at darkened trees -
Graveyard moon rises
~ Morpheus

It's no secret that I love graveyards, as I've posted on them multiple times in the past and I will continue to do so today and in the future. I love to photograph in them...especially if they are a.) Old and b.) Atmospheric.

One of the more infamous cemeteries in New England is The Old Burying Point in Salem, Massachusetts. Also known as the Charter Street Cemetery, it is Salem's oldest resting place, started in 1637. Although there are some notable historical figures buried here, you will not find the final resting places of many of the notorious Witches who were executed during Salem's Witch Trials. This is because many were buried not far from the site of their hangings, and sadly without headstones.

Now although this cemetery does meet the criteria of OLD...I don't personally find it to be very atmospheric at all. Well actually, the first time I ever saw it, was at night about 5 years or so ago, while on a walking 'Ghost Tour' around Salem. It was later in the evening and the sky was dark, but lit ominously by a big full moon and it was quite cold outside. I remember viewing the moon through the stark branches of a bare tree, and clouds were covering the moon just perfectly to look like the best ones you've seen in any good horror movie. And the fallen leaves were being blown about on the blustery wind, whipping around our ankles as we stood there on this hallowed ground. It was very atmospheric at first, in the dark...so much so that I was certain a ghost would want to come forth on a night like that. Then reality reared its ugly head.

For you see, our 'tour guide' that evening quickly squelched any remaining fragments of delusion by the mere fact that he was the WORST tour guide in the history of the planet. In fact, bestowing the title of 'Tour Guide' on that guy should be an arrestable offense. He may have worn a top hat, and at first looked the part...but as soon as he opened his mouth we realized that we'd just been robbed. He was just some young punk collecting a paycheck to walk around with a bunch of goofy tourists for the night. He couldn't remember where the places were to visit, he got us lost, he would start telling an account and then forget the majority of the facts and just skim over it. The guy couldn't field any questions because he didn't know any answers, and he'd just stop in mid sentence and say in a Jeff Spicoli voice, "yeah, so like I think that's it for this spot unless any of you like, know of anything else to add." Uh...NO! If we already knew the story we wouldn't have just paid that moron good money to tell us. Aaarrggh!

But the cemetery also lacks atmosphere because it's located right next to these buildings where the 'Haunted Happenings' take place. In this little section of Salem, frequented by teenagers, you will find such cheesy things as women in witch get-ups trying to sell you tickets to a spell casting, a really bad museum and a haunted house that I can't vouch for. Here you can also get your fill of 'fair food' like funnel cakes and cotton candy etc. It has a definite 'carnival' vibe and you can literally see the backside of it all while you're standing in this very small cemetery. It doesn't have a lot of stately trees, or moss hanging down, so photographically speaking, it does nothing for me, except.....

It is old, and as such, it has some really awesome headstones. I loved the art on the headstones so much that I photographed them, but I really would have loved to have paper and graphite so I could sit there and make rubbings from them. The Frog Queen had posted a series of posts during the summer, about the meaning of these images on the graves and it's really interesting. Personally I think my favorite is a Winged Skull. This is obvious because most of these shots are of stones with a winged skull on them, each having a slight variation. But also note that these are all different headstones, so I think it's safe to say that the winged skull was a popular motif of the time as well. I looked up the meaning and it means "Flight of the Soul from Mortal Man"! I think that sums it up quite well. So what image would you choose to be on your tombstone?
All Images © 2006 Wendy A.