Believe it or Not

So I'm standing there staring at a shrunken head and all of a sudden I feel giddy. A wave of nausea sweeps over me and I hear myself thinking 'I didn't think it was real'. I thought it was just a tale. I can tell I'm not going to vomit or faint but yet the idea is so intense I feel like I'm going insane just standing staring at it. I'm also not quite ready to move on to the rest of the museum. Im facinated and scared out of my mind that a human being could do such a thing to another. This is a photo of one of the three heads I was eyeballing. I could not bring myself to take a photo of the one that set me off.....the shrunken head of an 8 year old boy!!!!! It really happened..... somewhere out there they still do it too! I was looking at these heads and in the background there's a audiovisual on how it was done. My head was swimming. I was trying to think straight and I'm hearing bits and pieces in the background ...something about decorating it and keeping it, pride and joy...or something like that.

I was quite interested in going to Ripley's Museum and did so recently. Y'see I just thought it was a bunch of 'cool' weird and interesting stuff like record breaking weird stuff. Yes. Yes it was all those things but I learnt a bit too. He must of had so many stories. As Ive now been told, Robert Ripley travelled often and came back with these incredibly weird tales. He also brought these things back with him because some things were so incredibly unbelievable you needed to see it to believe it. These days Ripley's Odditorium has a mix of some of his items, wax replicas, photographs, footage of his encounters and a bunch of new stuff and modern day quirky facts that continue in to his now franchised tradition.

I still can't get over that little boys head... it still makes my stomach turn. Here's what it says on Ripleys' website:

"RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! HAS MORE THAN 100 GENUINE SHRUNKEN HUMAN HEADS IN ITS MUSEUMS! THE JIVARO TRIBES OF SOUTH AMERICA WOULD TAKE THE HEADS OF FALLEN ENEMIES, REMOVE THE SKIN WHOLE, AND SHRINK IT TO THE SIZE OF A FIST! RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! FOUNDER ROBERT RIPLEY ACQUIRED HIS FIRST GENUINE HUMAN SHRUNKEN HEAD IN LIMA, PERU, IN 1923.'

YUHHHK. I don't feel so good. If you want to see it yourself you better go check it out.

You can find out more about the kind of stuff you will find at Ripley's Odditoriums anywhere around the world by having a peak at http://www.ripleys.com and maybe even find a location near you.

YuHHHK again.

Putting it to rest now, somehow.....

-Mez