A will-o'-the-wisp (/ˌwɪləðəˈwɪsp/), will-o'-wisp (/ˌwɪləˈwɪsp/), or ignis fatuus (/ˌɪɡnᵻsˈfætʃuːəs/; Medieval Latin: "foolish fire") is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. It resembles a flickering lamp and is said to recede if approached, drawing travellers from the safe paths. The phenomenon is known by a variety of names, including jack-o'-lantern, friar's lantern, hinkypunk, and hobby lantern in Englishfolk belief, well attested in English folklore and in much of European folklore.
Etymology
The term "will-o'-the-wisp" comes from "wisp", a bundle of sticks or paper sometimes used as a torch, and the name "Will": thus, "Will-of-the-torch". The term jack-o'-lantern "Jack of [the] lantern" has a similar meaning.
In the United States, they are often called "spook-lights", "ghost-lights", or "orbs" by folklorists and paranormal enthusiasts.
Folk belief attributes the phenomenon to fairies or elemental spirits, explicitly in the term "hobby lanterns" found in the 19th century Denham Tracts. Briggs' A Dictionary of Fairies provides an extensive list of other names for the same phenomenon, though the place where they are observed (graveyard, bogs, etc.) influences the naming considerably. When observed on graveyards, they are known as "ghost candles", also a term from the Denham Tracts.
Ignis Fatuus, or Ghost Ship, is a horror attraction on the Mariner's Landing Pier at Morey's Piers amusement park. It is the most recent and only attraction that uses real actors within it, has spectators walk around the attraction and ride in the cart. It is covers 15,000 square feet (1,400m2) of the pier, and lasts 15 minutes; making one of the biggest and longest running attractions in the park. The ride is intended for kids 10 and up due to its intensity ; such as grotesque medical experiments, blood, radiation scars, facial deformities, and the involvement of a claustrophobia room. While a strict no running policy is enforced, the attraction does have a series of "sissy exits" placed throughout the attraction if the ride becomes too intense.
Frost in a churchyard, silent falls the snow Silent on gravestones cold, on stories old So softly spoken, whispers from below Heard by a searching ear A mocking voice calls, calls from Limbo's gloom "In time the living die, the dead remain" The snow will cover living men and dead All in its pure white cloak
According to local lore, the strange lights are said to appear around midnight and are most prominent during the winter months ... Ignis Fatuus - Zurumati, a painting by George Catlin, shows a 'will-of-the-wisp' orb in an area of the Amazon ... Pictured ... .
Songs “Ignis Fatuus” and “Hadal,” were originally conceptualized as two movements of a larger composition. “Ignis Fatuus” is a pensive and introspectively improvised piece that follows a written form.
The question, then, is how many new GOP voters can Rolli bring to the runoff? The ignis fatuus, or idea, of a conservative takeover of city government has always rested in large part on the imagined ...
Slogans for the future!. • SEVEN years on, take back control Brexit obsequies updates. New trisyllable slogans for the next election?. – fons et origo (the source or origin); ... – a ignis fatuus (a misleading idea); ... ....
In Competition No ... Ardour has its place. Yet how incautious we are if we jump at the promptings of what may well be an ignis fatuus – that is, a strong but ephemeral attraction, one might even say a gamble – such as the social mix inevitably throws up.
. The photograph made the front page of the Daily Telegraph, no less ...AliceSullivan ... The idea of ‘overturning the settlement’ still dances ahead of him like an ignis fatuus – and we know where they lead travellers in folklore ... .
Who knew wholesale conversion to completely untested and radically inefficient energy sources – simply to fall in line with fanatics following their progressive ignis fatuus further into the ...
