Wanda Lou Willis

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About Wanda Lou Willis
Wanda Lou Willis is a folklore historian who specializes in Hoosier folktales and historic research.
She is the author of Haunted Hoosier Trails and More Haunted Hoosier Trails and soon to be published Ghosthunting Indiana: America’s Haunted Roadtrip.
She is a former features writer for the Indianapolis Star’s “Seniority Counts” section and contributor to the SouthernIN on-line magazine and the Suite 101 – Folklore site. Currently she writes for Country Roads: Southeastern Indiana’s Lifestyle Magazine.
Willis also made regular appearances on Fox 59’s Early Morning show and has been on numerous local and international radio shows.
For many years she taught folklore at IUPUI and through the OASIS system and is a popular presenter at schools, universities, libraries, clubs and historical societies. She also was a guest hostess on the South Florida radio show, Magick Mind.
Recently she has added acting to her list of accomplishments appearing in Central State: Asylum for the Insane (2006) and Ghost Stories: Walking with the Dead (2007).
Willis, a fifth generation Hoosier, lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. For several years she shared her life with Joy, her beloved Belgian Shepherd, until her untimely passing in 2007 due to tainted dog food. Though her Joy is gone she has Hope, a young beautiful loving foxy Foxhound.
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Blog postVintage Is In By: Wanda L. Willis Vintage is in. This is the year for the return of bell bottom
s and needlepoint. Runway fashion shows and celebrities are rocking it with bell bottom pants and needlepoint decorated clothing.
Needlepoint is a form of embroidery worked on open-mesh canvases. It can be purchased as completed items such as pillows, or as a do-it-yourself projects with a hand-painted canvas or a computer-generated kit or with the main feature completed and the ba7 years ago Read more -
Blog postSaturday, August 8 2015, at 12:00pm – 4:00pm
3801 Madison Ave, Indianapolis, Indiana 46227
https://www.facebook.com/events/634345680008928/
The post Annual Paranormal Meet & Greet appeared first on Wanda Lou Willis.
7 years ago Read more -
Blog postFolklore Features By Wanda Lou Willis The season is nearly upon us when leaf covered yards are filled with headstones and skeletons. It is a time when witches and zombies and all things that go bump in the night suddenly appear from the darkness and walk through our neighborhoods. A glimpse of a headless horseman might be seen galloping through the night. Or, in your local graveyard sheet-draped ghosts can be seen weaving their way through and around the moon shadowed gravestones and monumen7 years ago Read more
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Blog postWedding Traditions And Folklore By Wanda Lou Willis Several wedding customs observed today are merely echoes of the past. Though the specific meanings and origins may be lost, old world customs are a part of our marriage customs because they are traditional and ritualistic. The engagement ring represents a binding contract. Some engagement rings had […]
The post Wedding Traditions And Folklore appeared first on Wanda Lou Willis.
7 years ago Read more -
Blog postStrange Indiana by Wanda Willis Are there or have there been strange creatures living in Indiana? Monsters, “sea” serpents, Loup Garou (werewolves) or, how about BIGFOOT? Evidently there have been and still are!
Let’s begin with sightings of BIGFOOT. Sightings of the creature have been reported in numerous counties throughout the state. Some of these are Blackford, Brown, Davies, Dearborn, Fountain, Harrison, Knox, Owen, Marion, Martin, Parke, Ohio, Sullivan, and Vermillion. The desc7 years ago Read more -
Blog postSPRING BEAUTIES by Wanda Willis At last spring is here and the birds sing merrily. The sun warms the land and our hearts and souls. Mother Nature’s fresh new palette of colors can be seen throughout the awakening land as we watch a kaleidoscope of spring flowers come to life.
Many yards are filled with purple, gold, orange, and white of what is generally considered the first flower of the spring season, the crocus.
The name of this small springtime wonder is derived from the7 years ago Read more -
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Blog postDouble Wedding Ring Quilt By Wanda Lou Willis On June 6 my great nephew, Johnathon Willis married Tisha in Nashville, IN.
What could be more romantic as a wedding gift than a double wedding ring quilt? The name inspires thoughts of love, romance and marriage. Thus, I presented them with a vintage hand pieced and quilted double wedding ring quilt.
There is a folklore belief that if the newly weds receive a double wedding ring and sleep under it they will be protected from bad7 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe Language of Flowers Wanda’s article for the April/May 2008 issue of Country Roads Magazine: The word “Victorian” brings to mind visions of flowers. This was the period when flowers adorned everything from wallpaper and Valentine cards to clothing and young girls’ samplers. During this period an elaborate style of communication was created using flowers as […]
The post Language of Flowers appeared first on Wanda Lou Willis.
7 years ago Read more -
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Blog postAn Irish Blessing May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
The post An Irish Blessing appeared first on Wanda Lou Willis.
7 years ago Read more -
Blog postIrish Wishes And now I’ll leave you with two Irish wishes and an Irish blessing – golden nuggets from the hearts of the Leprechauns.
I wish for you Leprechauns,
castles, good luck and laughter
Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after
Poems and songs with pipes and drums
A thousand welcomes when anyone comes!
May you have walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain,
And drinks beside the fire-
Laughter to cheer you
And those you love7 years ago Read more -
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