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Not really subsidence, but wood expanding in the heat of your candles. It can often sound like knocking, or even footsteps.
David Farrant's 'Exploring The Supernatural'
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The Ghost of St. Mary's - Dark Journey
This story is from David's book Dark Journey (C) David Farrant 1999
THERE IS an old cemetery in Hull, dating back to the 18th century, which has for a long time been associated with stories of 'ghosts' and other unusual happenings. Situtated in appropriately named 'Skullgate Lane', and adjacent to the church of St. Mary's, this old graveyard is now overgrown and derelict and attracts few visitors; nevertheless its 'ghostly reputation' has alarmed local residents, many of whom will not venture near the area at night. Stories and rumours abound, (indeed, as is the case with much speculation about ghosts) and perhaps inevitably, there will always be an elements' of 'die-hard' people anious to brave some 'ghostly environment' to prove that such things do not exist.
St. Mary's churchyard would seem to be no exception, and if local rumour is to be believed, only a few years ago a group of Hells Angel's used to hold their meetings in the cemetery, and on some occasion, after raiding broken graves, actually 'shot' at several skulls after lining them up on a wall. Supposition or fact remains unclear, but if true, and if the cemetery houses some genuine phenomenon, such actions could hardly be seen to contribute to the cause of serious psychic research.
Another local story has it, that one day, a local man was fishing in a canal that ran alongside the cemetery. His line got caught, and after he 'freed' it, he pulled out a 'half dressed skeleton'. He called the police, but they said the bones were only those of a dog, and they advised him not to 'say anymore about it'.
Perhaps this incident could be based on a factual occurrence. Some fifty years ago, the canal flooded swamping the graveyard, and a lot of the graves had to be moved after their contents were lost in the floodwater; bodies that were recovered were replaced hastily amidst growing concern that many had not been put back in their original graves.
So much is fact - or fact as it has been reported. What did enter this case as a refreshing surprise, however, was a report I received as recently as 1997 from a local resident who swore to some 'tangible presence' that confronted him on an innocent visit to the churchyard - notwithstanding that he was not prepared for the possibility of 'ghosts'...
Paul Grantham, himself relatively new to the area in 1995, decided to visit St, Mary's churchyard late one evening. He had explored the churchyard, but after a seemingly worthless excursion that revealed only a mass of undergrowth and desecrated graves, he sat down on a small wall briefly before leaving. At this point, (and he was at the edge of the churchyard), for no apparent reason, a waver of 'utter sadness' swept over him; so intense, that he was almost in tears.
He decided to leave, but not before he caught sight of a very 'tall dark figure' standing in the churchyard just yards away from where he was sitting. He rushed home, convinced he was being followed, although the streets were empty.
Once home, he went to bed, saying nothing of the night's events to his girlfriend. But that night, he had trouble sleeping, unable to forget this experience. Then, in the early hours, he suddenly found himself wide awake, and again experienced the same feeling of overwhelming sorrow, mixed with a feeling of terror. This increased steadily and he realized that whatever was causing it was in the immediate vicinity, having sensed that 'something' was slowly climbing up the stairs. He lay in bed, unable to move, but he then remembered an old protection symbol a friend had told him about to repel evil forces. He visualized a white pentagram on the bedroom door, and this seemed to make the 'thing' back off. It would appear this measure had some temporary effect; at least, for the remainder of that night.
But the next morning, Paul's girlfriend awoke and promptly vomited, besides his two children being sick and feverish all day. Paul, himself, felt drained of energy, and to add to this, the television and video were switched on and off for no reason. This went on for some while, and even friends who visited the house complained of feeling ill every time they went there.
Eventually, tired of all these occurrences and the gruesome atmosphere that seemed to have taken possession of the house, and not least because of the pleas from his family who were convinced some 'malevolent presence' lingered there, Paul decided to leave the house.
Of course, it is sometimes difficult to define the causation of many psychic phenomena, let alone to be specific about their precise nature or intent. But it may be a fair observation in this particular case, to say that Paul Grantham - albeit unwittingly made contact with some malignant form of psychic energy that 'attached' itself to him, and remained in his house.
Paul Grantham, is now quite phiosophical about events concerning this 'ghost', although he is in no doubt that the actual presence of this entity - which actually caused him to leave his home - remains an undying reality.
This story is from David's book Dark Journey (C) David Farrant 1999
THERE IS an old cemetery in Hull, dating back to the 18th century, which has for a long time been associated with stories of 'ghosts' and other unusual happenings. Situtated in appropriately named 'Skullgate Lane', and adjacent to the church of St. Mary's, this old graveyard is now overgrown and derelict and attracts few visitors; nevertheless its 'ghostly reputation' has alarmed local residents, many of whom will not venture near the area at night. Stories and rumours abound, (indeed, as is the case with much speculation about ghosts) and perhaps inevitably, there will always be an elements' of 'die-hard' people anious to brave some 'ghostly environment' to prove that such things do not exist.
St. Mary's churchyard would seem to be no exception, and if local rumour is to be believed, only a few years ago a group of Hells Angel's used to hold their meetings in the cemetery, and on some occasion, after raiding broken graves, actually 'shot' at several skulls after lining them up on a wall. Supposition or fact remains unclear, but if true, and if the cemetery houses some genuine phenomenon, such actions could hardly be seen to contribute to the cause of serious psychic research.
Another local story has it, that one day, a local man was fishing in a canal that ran alongside the cemetery. His line got caught, and after he 'freed' it, he pulled out a 'half dressed skeleton'. He called the police, but they said the bones were only those of a dog, and they advised him not to 'say anymore about it'.
Perhaps this incident could be based on a factual occurrence. Some fifty years ago, the canal flooded swamping the graveyard, and a lot of the graves had to be moved after their contents were lost in the floodwater; bodies that were recovered were replaced hastily amidst growing concern that many had not been put back in their original graves.
So much is fact - or fact as it has been reported. What did enter this case as a refreshing surprise, however, was a report I received as recently as 1997 from a local resident who swore to some 'tangible presence' that confronted him on an innocent visit to the churchyard - notwithstanding that he was not prepared for the possibility of 'ghosts'...
Paul Grantham, himself relatively new to the area in 1995, decided to visit St, Mary's churchyard late one evening. He had explored the churchyard, but after a seemingly worthless excursion that revealed only a mass of undergrowth and desecrated graves, he sat down on a small wall briefly before leaving. At this point, (and he was at the edge of the churchyard), for no apparent reason, a waver of 'utter sadness' swept over him; so intense, that he was almost in tears.
He decided to leave, but not before he caught sight of a very 'tall dark figure' standing in the churchyard just yards away from where he was sitting. He rushed home, convinced he was being followed, although the streets were empty.
Once home, he went to bed, saying nothing of the night's events to his girlfriend. But that night, he had trouble sleeping, unable to forget this experience. Then, in the early hours, he suddenly found himself wide awake, and again experienced the same feeling of overwhelming sorrow, mixed with a feeling of terror. This increased steadily and he realized that whatever was causing it was in the immediate vicinity, having sensed that 'something' was slowly climbing up the stairs. He lay in bed, unable to move, but he then remembered an old protection symbol a friend had told him about to repel evil forces. He visualized a white pentagram on the bedroom door, and this seemed to make the 'thing' back off. It would appear this measure had some temporary effect; at least, for the remainder of that night.
But the next morning, Paul's girlfriend awoke and promptly vomited, besides his two children being sick and feverish all day. Paul, himself, felt drained of energy, and to add to this, the television and video were switched on and off for no reason. This went on for some while, and even friends who visited the house complained of feeling ill every time they went there.
Eventually, tired of all these occurrences and the gruesome atmosphere that seemed to have taken possession of the house, and not least because of the pleas from his family who were convinced some 'malevolent presence' lingered there, Paul decided to leave the house.
Of course, it is sometimes difficult to define the causation of many psychic phenomena, let alone to be specific about their precise nature or intent. But it may be a fair observation in this particular case, to say that Paul Grantham - albeit unwittingly made contact with some malignant form of psychic energy that 'attached' itself to him, and remained in his house.
Paul Grantham, is now quite phiosophical about events concerning this 'ghost', although he is in no doubt that the actual presence of this entity - which actually caused him to leave his home - remains an undying reality.
A
Anonymous
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Are there any reports of this entity following him to his new house? Or did it leave shortly after manifesting in this way? Any way of knowing if it's still there? What happened to the illnesses displayed by his partner and children?
Sorry to hammer off so many questions. I'm one of these irritating people who always wants to know what happens next!
Sorry to hammer off so many questions. I'm one of these irritating people who always wants to know what happens next!
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Anonymous
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Mysterious Encounter
IT WAS A DARK NIGHT, but various shadows still managed to manifest in the dim moonlight. Little else was visible on the remote hillside; but it was a well-known beauty spot. Most avoided it by night, however, preferring to visit it in the relative comfort of day....
ASHCROFT PARK, near Luton has for long been associated with stories of 'ghosts' and other unexplained happenings; not least, with stories of strange lights in the sky put down by many to be UFO's. Reported by many locals, these 'spasmodic lights' would appear to be closely comparable with similar reports of unexplained lights seen in the skies over the years; particularly at Warminster, a small town located on the Western fringes of Salisbury Plain where mysterious lights reported in the sky are a common occurrence.
These mysterious lights are often seen 'flying' below low cloud; sometimes hovering before disappearing out of view at an unbelievable speed. A strange similarity would appear to relate to Ashcroft Park where similar 'strange lights' have been reported; and as a further point of interest, it could be added, that many sightings of 'ghosts' and other unexplained phenomenon just happen to occur at locations where UFO's have reported to have been seen ...
One instance of UFO's and their possible connection with 'ghostly phenomena' (at least, as we understand these on a material level) came to my attention fairly recently ...
The year was 1975, and a small band of 'bikers' from the district used to meet regularly at Ashcroft Park their focal point being an old recreation centre known as the "Wreckie", in the middle of the Park itself. These meetings were always cordial and friendly, but on one particular night two members of the group had an extraordinary experience on their way to meet the others ...
Andrew Fazekas, from nearby Luton, was with a friend and is convinced to this day that what they both witnessed at Ashcroft all those years ago, was not the product of their imagination ...
They had gone to the park late one Autumn's afternoon when all of a sudden, walking up the long driveway that led to the "Wreckie", both got a distinct impression of 'being watched'. The surrounding area, at least, seemed to have gone cold, and an ominous black cloud was looming on the horizon. Heavy rain seemed imminent but did not appear, although there was a light drizzle.
Suddenly, they looked up attracted by a luminous glow in the sky. They both saw it; an eerie light behind the clouds that seemed to 'pulsate' as they watched. Then they both distinctly saw two 'figures' peering down at them from behind the cloud where they had first noticed the light. They were semi-transparent and were illuminated by the strange light which appeared to emanate from behind the cloud. Their perception of this phenomenon was acute; or rather, their awareness of it had suddenly been seized as if by some 'magnetic attraction'. Slowly but surely, the figures then disappeared behind the cloud and the mysterious light that had illuminated them so clearly slowly vanished as inexplicably as it had appeared.
Needless to say, both Andrew and his friend left the Park as quickly as possible, but yet another encounter at the same location just two days afterwards was to deter them from going near that particular area again ....
They were approaching the "Wreckie" - this time by night - when they both noticed a 'whitish shape' coming towards them along the path. As it got nearer, the distinct outline of a woman in a white dress could be seen, floating above the ground but without any head. It abruptly disappeared but the atmosphere of gloom and melancholy it left behind was unmistakable.
These occurrences (notwithstanding the deep impression they left upon Andrew Fazekas and his friend) would appear to bear out other local stories and superstitions about 'strange events' that occur within the precincts of the Park. There are many well known tales of a 'woman in white' that walks the grounds, for example, but interestingly, Ashcroft Park has for long been reported as a focal point for mysterious lights in the sky and (perhaps like Warminster) been associated with stories of UFO's.
Some of these reports are nebulous, being a mixture of local gossip and counter-fact; but the stories exist and one is only left to wonder if there might be some cause that could give rise to their validity. Forgetting stories about ‘UFO’s’, it could be questioned if there could be any connection between reports of these and other unexplained phenomena that just happen to occur with their alleged vicinity.
Or to put it another way around, whether some ghostly phenomena at some reputedly ‘haunted sites’, may be responsible for ‘projecting energy’ that has been seen or interpreted as ‘UFO’s’?
(c) David Farrant, 1988
IT WAS A DARK NIGHT, but various shadows still managed to manifest in the dim moonlight. Little else was visible on the remote hillside; but it was a well-known beauty spot. Most avoided it by night, however, preferring to visit it in the relative comfort of day....
ASHCROFT PARK, near Luton has for long been associated with stories of 'ghosts' and other unexplained happenings; not least, with stories of strange lights in the sky put down by many to be UFO's. Reported by many locals, these 'spasmodic lights' would appear to be closely comparable with similar reports of unexplained lights seen in the skies over the years; particularly at Warminster, a small town located on the Western fringes of Salisbury Plain where mysterious lights reported in the sky are a common occurrence.
These mysterious lights are often seen 'flying' below low cloud; sometimes hovering before disappearing out of view at an unbelievable speed. A strange similarity would appear to relate to Ashcroft Park where similar 'strange lights' have been reported; and as a further point of interest, it could be added, that many sightings of 'ghosts' and other unexplained phenomenon just happen to occur at locations where UFO's have reported to have been seen ...
One instance of UFO's and their possible connection with 'ghostly phenomena' (at least, as we understand these on a material level) came to my attention fairly recently ...
The year was 1975, and a small band of 'bikers' from the district used to meet regularly at Ashcroft Park their focal point being an old recreation centre known as the "Wreckie", in the middle of the Park itself. These meetings were always cordial and friendly, but on one particular night two members of the group had an extraordinary experience on their way to meet the others ...
Andrew Fazekas, from nearby Luton, was with a friend and is convinced to this day that what they both witnessed at Ashcroft all those years ago, was not the product of their imagination ...
They had gone to the park late one Autumn's afternoon when all of a sudden, walking up the long driveway that led to the "Wreckie", both got a distinct impression of 'being watched'. The surrounding area, at least, seemed to have gone cold, and an ominous black cloud was looming on the horizon. Heavy rain seemed imminent but did not appear, although there was a light drizzle.
Suddenly, they looked up attracted by a luminous glow in the sky. They both saw it; an eerie light behind the clouds that seemed to 'pulsate' as they watched. Then they both distinctly saw two 'figures' peering down at them from behind the cloud where they had first noticed the light. They were semi-transparent and were illuminated by the strange light which appeared to emanate from behind the cloud. Their perception of this phenomenon was acute; or rather, their awareness of it had suddenly been seized as if by some 'magnetic attraction'. Slowly but surely, the figures then disappeared behind the cloud and the mysterious light that had illuminated them so clearly slowly vanished as inexplicably as it had appeared.
Needless to say, both Andrew and his friend left the Park as quickly as possible, but yet another encounter at the same location just two days afterwards was to deter them from going near that particular area again ....
They were approaching the "Wreckie" - this time by night - when they both noticed a 'whitish shape' coming towards them along the path. As it got nearer, the distinct outline of a woman in a white dress could be seen, floating above the ground but without any head. It abruptly disappeared but the atmosphere of gloom and melancholy it left behind was unmistakable.
These occurrences (notwithstanding the deep impression they left upon Andrew Fazekas and his friend) would appear to bear out other local stories and superstitions about 'strange events' that occur within the precincts of the Park. There are many well known tales of a 'woman in white' that walks the grounds, for example, but interestingly, Ashcroft Park has for long been reported as a focal point for mysterious lights in the sky and (perhaps like Warminster) been associated with stories of UFO's.
Some of these reports are nebulous, being a mixture of local gossip and counter-fact; but the stories exist and one is only left to wonder if there might be some cause that could give rise to their validity. Forgetting stories about ‘UFO’s’, it could be questioned if there could be any connection between reports of these and other unexplained phenomena that just happen to occur with their alleged vicinity.
Or to put it another way around, whether some ghostly phenomena at some reputedly ‘haunted sites’, may be responsible for ‘projecting energy’ that has been seen or interpreted as ‘UFO’s’?
(c) David Farrant, 1988
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Anonymous
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GHOST OF ST. MARY'S
Hi Helen, again,
I’m not too sure about what you asked as it is back in 1987/88 that I was in contact with Paul Grantham about his experience at St. Mary’s. I do recall him empathising that there had never been any unusual happenings at the house before he had his experience; and he said that I’d have to contact the new occupants (whom he did not know personally) if I wanted to find out is these strange events were still continuing at the house.
I gave the matter some thought at the time, but later decided against this. It was a question of how I could word a letter to this effect without, perhaps, unduly alarming the new occupants.
I have come across this problem quite a few times in various investigations and unfortunately, have never satisfactorily found a way to get round this problem. It is easy to alarm some people with stories of ‘ghosts’, particularly if they might be of a nervous disposition. If I am approached BY people with ‘ghost information’, then that, of course, is an entirely different matter.
For the moment,
DAVID FARRANT
Hi Helen, again,
I’m not too sure about what you asked as it is back in 1987/88 that I was in contact with Paul Grantham about his experience at St. Mary’s. I do recall him empathising that there had never been any unusual happenings at the house before he had his experience; and he said that I’d have to contact the new occupants (whom he did not know personally) if I wanted to find out is these strange events were still continuing at the house.
I gave the matter some thought at the time, but later decided against this. It was a question of how I could word a letter to this effect without, perhaps, unduly alarming the new occupants.
I have come across this problem quite a few times in various investigations and unfortunately, have never satisfactorily found a way to get round this problem. It is easy to alarm some people with stories of ‘ghosts’, particularly if they might be of a nervous disposition. If I am approached BY people with ‘ghost information’, then that, of course, is an entirely different matter.
For the moment,
DAVID FARRANT
A
Anonymous
Guest
Well, quite. I can just imagine what would happen if a letter arrived on my doorstep, asking if the huge hooded creature still lurked on the balcony at midnight. Might not get the friendliest of responses!
No reports of it following him to his new home then?
No reports of it following him to his new home then?
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With regard to lights in the sky over Ashcroft Park, it's worth remembering that Luton airport is just a few miles away.
Cheers again CathandDavid for these stories.
I have to ask you…. After years of investigations, have you come to any conclusion with paranormal phenomena? Is it just all in the mind? Have you any tips for a wannabe Paranormal Investigator?
Thanks muchly.
MX
I have to ask you…. After years of investigations, have you come to any conclusion with paranormal phenomena? Is it just all in the mind? Have you any tips for a wannabe Paranormal Investigator?
Thanks muchly.
MX
A
Anonymous
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TRY TO ANSWER, MXhaunted
WELL, I’LL TRY!
I will try to reply to your question above Mxhaunted, but you may appreciate that it is quite a loaded one, and a simple answer may well not do it justice However, for space reasons, I will have to keep my reply essentially simple.
In fact, I went into this point at the Fortean Unconvention in 1996 and my explanation basically remains the same:
I have come to realise that there probably exist three basic categories of psychic phenomena or ‘ghosts’ (call these what you like) which all seem to adhere to a regular pattern.
The first category of these is perhaps the most common where ‘phantom images’ are witnessed or sighted. These can involve images of ‘people’, animals, objects (phantom stage-coaches or houses, for example) or maybe perhaps certain landscapes which are no longer extant.
The evidence for such ‘apparitions’ is really overwhelming and, further than this, exists world-wide in this century and in past centuries.
I have come to be reasonably sure, that many of these ‘ghostly images’ are merely reflections of past events which have no kind of intelligence whatsoever but which can - and do - ‘replay themselves’ at certain locations when conditions (such as the existence of the element of water or exact lunar cycles) are right. People that witness them (and, as I said, many do) are only witnessing the replayed image of some past event; perhaps long-since disappeared into history but nevertheless ‘there’, albeit with no more ‘intelligence’ than a replayed television or radio signal can be said to have ‘intelligence’.
I would loosely define the second category as what is termed poltergeist activity. As you probably know, this can include the mysterious, if not definite, movement. of objects, (doors opening and closing, domestic objects either being ‘hurled’ or suspended in confined spaces, etc.) unexplained changes of temperature or other atmospheric conditions, ‘ghostly whisperings’ or voices, and an apparent direct effect upon electrical objects (televisions mysteriously being turned ‘off’ or ‘on’, or lights suddenly fading or being turned out, for example).
I am quite sure that much of this activity is caused by unconscious levels in the human mind itself; albeit this perhaps completely unrecognised by the person, or persons, who are experiencing such activity. If this is correct, it would also explain why much of this ‘ghostly’ activity occurs when people are either asleep, or at least, in a state of very ‘light’ sleep, or have just woken up.
This could perhaps be clarified more easily, if it were understood that the conscious mind (that is the everyday thinking mind) actually acts as a ‘barrier’ to allowing these deeper levels to operate. It also depends, of course, on the make-up or psyche of a person concerned; such levels being more likely to become ‘active’ in (or from) some people than they are in others.
There is a third category of unexplained phenomena which I have always been highly guarded about discussing. This is the apparent existence of so-called ‘outside entities’ which are apparently capable of having a direct affect on their human counterparts; even sometimes, said to ‘attack’ them by employing some psychic means. In other words, alleged phenomena that could not be seen to fit safely into these far more common categories.
I make no attempt to go into this latter category here, Mxhaunted. For one thing, I have reached no reasonable conclusions about these as yet but for another, space would simply not permit it!
DAVID FARRANT
WELL, I’LL TRY!
I will try to reply to your question above Mxhaunted, but you may appreciate that it is quite a loaded one, and a simple answer may well not do it justice However, for space reasons, I will have to keep my reply essentially simple.
In fact, I went into this point at the Fortean Unconvention in 1996 and my explanation basically remains the same:
I have come to realise that there probably exist three basic categories of psychic phenomena or ‘ghosts’ (call these what you like) which all seem to adhere to a regular pattern.
The first category of these is perhaps the most common where ‘phantom images’ are witnessed or sighted. These can involve images of ‘people’, animals, objects (phantom stage-coaches or houses, for example) or maybe perhaps certain landscapes which are no longer extant.
The evidence for such ‘apparitions’ is really overwhelming and, further than this, exists world-wide in this century and in past centuries.
I have come to be reasonably sure, that many of these ‘ghostly images’ are merely reflections of past events which have no kind of intelligence whatsoever but which can - and do - ‘replay themselves’ at certain locations when conditions (such as the existence of the element of water or exact lunar cycles) are right. People that witness them (and, as I said, many do) are only witnessing the replayed image of some past event; perhaps long-since disappeared into history but nevertheless ‘there’, albeit with no more ‘intelligence’ than a replayed television or radio signal can be said to have ‘intelligence’.
I would loosely define the second category as what is termed poltergeist activity. As you probably know, this can include the mysterious, if not definite, movement. of objects, (doors opening and closing, domestic objects either being ‘hurled’ or suspended in confined spaces, etc.) unexplained changes of temperature or other atmospheric conditions, ‘ghostly whisperings’ or voices, and an apparent direct effect upon electrical objects (televisions mysteriously being turned ‘off’ or ‘on’, or lights suddenly fading or being turned out, for example).
I am quite sure that much of this activity is caused by unconscious levels in the human mind itself; albeit this perhaps completely unrecognised by the person, or persons, who are experiencing such activity. If this is correct, it would also explain why much of this ‘ghostly’ activity occurs when people are either asleep, or at least, in a state of very ‘light’ sleep, or have just woken up.
This could perhaps be clarified more easily, if it were understood that the conscious mind (that is the everyday thinking mind) actually acts as a ‘barrier’ to allowing these deeper levels to operate. It also depends, of course, on the make-up or psyche of a person concerned; such levels being more likely to become ‘active’ in (or from) some people than they are in others.
There is a third category of unexplained phenomena which I have always been highly guarded about discussing. This is the apparent existence of so-called ‘outside entities’ which are apparently capable of having a direct affect on their human counterparts; even sometimes, said to ‘attack’ them by employing some psychic means. In other words, alleged phenomena that could not be seen to fit safely into these far more common categories.
I make no attempt to go into this latter category here, Mxhaunted. For one thing, I have reached no reasonable conclusions about these as yet but for another, space would simply not permit it!
DAVID FARRANT
Thanks again David F
Sorry about the loaded question. I momentarily forgot about what they taught me on an ASSAP training day. Bad me. *slaps wrist*
So, in ways, letting oneself relax and experience instead of searching, you are more likely to come across something of paranormal nature. Much like children who don’t have such a preconceived notion of what is around them that they experience paranormal things without even knowing it.
So with what you say, it sounds like the best way to do a vigil is to relax and not really look for anything and just let whatever happens, happens.
Sorry about my questioning. I’m just trying to work out a few things before I go on my first proper vigil.
Cheers again
MX
Sorry about the loaded question. I momentarily forgot about what they taught me on an ASSAP training day. Bad me. *slaps wrist*
So, in ways, letting oneself relax and experience instead of searching, you are more likely to come across something of paranormal nature. Much like children who don’t have such a preconceived notion of what is around them that they experience paranormal things without even knowing it.
So with what you say, it sounds like the best way to do a vigil is to relax and not really look for anything and just let whatever happens, happens.
Sorry about my questioning. I’m just trying to work out a few things before I go on my first proper vigil.
Cheers again
MX
A
Anonymous
Guest
ASSAP's probably right
MXhaunted
Thanks Mxhaunted. Sorry not to have got back before now, but two or three things have been happening all at once. Nothing supernatural about them; just ordinary mundane things that have to be dealt with.
Anyway, I can’t really add much to what you said and what ASSAP have apparently come to conclude.
Obviously, during psychic investigations there is a lot of preliminarily yet essential work to be done but I feel it is essential to keep the conscious mind ‘distracted’ from psychic phenomena to some extent or this can actually act as a barrier to understanding these things - perhaps more accurately, of being able to be receptive to them.
Nobody can honestly know how these unknown Laws operate; or if they do, they are usually repeating some text book theories or, perhaps more honestly, deluding themselves. I always try and leave an open mind to these things. I don’t mean a state of mind that is ‘blank’ - just one that is maybe in an objective state of receptivity.
Well, thank you again for your observations.
DAVID FARRANT
MXhaunted
Thanks Mxhaunted. Sorry not to have got back before now, but two or three things have been happening all at once. Nothing supernatural about them; just ordinary mundane things that have to be dealt with.
Anyway, I can’t really add much to what you said and what ASSAP have apparently come to conclude.
Obviously, during psychic investigations there is a lot of preliminarily yet essential work to be done but I feel it is essential to keep the conscious mind ‘distracted’ from psychic phenomena to some extent or this can actually act as a barrier to understanding these things - perhaps more accurately, of being able to be receptive to them.
Nobody can honestly know how these unknown Laws operate; or if they do, they are usually repeating some text book theories or, perhaps more honestly, deluding themselves. I always try and leave an open mind to these things. I don’t mean a state of mind that is ‘blank’ - just one that is maybe in an objective state of receptivity.
Well, thank you again for your observations.
DAVID FARRANT
A
Anonymous
Guest
HAUNTED RAM INN - Second Vigil, Pt. 1
THE ANCIENT RAM INN, (SECOND NIGHTLY VIGIL) Part 1
THE SECOND TIME I visited the Ancient Ram Inn, was not with Ross Gage this time but with members of the Black Country Paranormal Society from Wolverhamption. This visit in fact took place one Saturday night in early November, 2002. I'd obviously been in contact with John Humphries previously and arranged it, and I traveled down there with Dave Milner - independent coordinator for BPOS investigations and activities - by train.
The original intention was to hire a car so we could take more equipment with us and for reasons of convenience. But, due to some difficulty at the car hire place in the West End, we were unable to hire one - something to do with having to pay for an extra day as we could not return it on a Sunday. Whatever, this additional price was astronomical for what amounted to a day’s non-useage, so we decided to take a train. Accordingly, we met the other BCPS members at Wotton-under-Edge arriving about 5 p.m. These included Wayne Pickerell, Founder Member of the BCPS, his wife Heidi, Anne and her husband Jeff, and Wayne's brother Mark and his girlfriend, Vicky. In fact, they gone in two cars down there, which they needed having quite a lot of investigative equipment. We'd arranged to meet at the church and they'd already arrived by the time Dave Milner and myself got there. The church was chosen because they were reluctant to introduce themselves to John Humphries without my being there; simply because I had already met him and arriving in a complete group made them feel more at ease. We arrived at the Ram around 6 p.m.
Another vigil like the first one took place but this time we obviously had more equipment with us which, obviously, took longer time to set up. But again, we all went out and had a meal first, arriving back at the Inn around 11 O'clock in the evening.
Wayne Pickerell set up highly sophisticated night-video equipment in the Bishop's Room. We sealed the door but we had a monitor outside so we could sit and watch for any signs of any potential in there. In turn, this was videoed on long -play tape, so should anything unusual or untoward have happened, it would have been recorded.
The other room adjacent to the Bishop's Room, the one which was also reputedly quite haunted, was also similarly wired up; only in this case, to an audio cassette recorder that might potentially ‘capture‘ any unusual sounds. Again, the door was sealed; mainly to prevent any extraneous sounds affecting the microphone, but also to prevent any member of the group accidentally walking in there. (It should be remembered that we were, by choice, working under very dim light; apart from which, BCPS members were working in unfamiliar territory.) Obviously, one person had to keep a permanent eye on the monitor (we agree to take this in hourly shifts as it was quite a laborious task) and this also applied to the audio tape to make sure it kept running smoothly. While this was going on, the rest of us thoroughly explored the place, in particular looking for any distinct changes in temperature or other signs, such as any changes in dust patterns that might have betrayed the movement of objects.
I do remember that before this particular vigil I had sustained a foot injury, so I was unwilling - if not unable - to go up into the attic. It had been difficult enough to get up the partially broken staircase that led to the Bishop's Room, let alone to attempt to climb the hazardous almost vertical steps that led to the attic. Two of the others, however, went up into the attic and spent a vigil there in the dark. One of these, Wayne's brother, Mark, was later to claim that he'd heard some strange inexplicable sounds up there. I do know that after hearing these he took a couple of random photographs up there in the direction of the strange noises. Now, I believe, although I haven't actually yet seen the picture myself, that when it was later developed, there were some strange light formation appearing on it.
I should add that before all this took place, that is before all this equipment was set up and we'd sealed the two rooms, we took quite a few pictures in the Bishop's room and elsewhere with our own cameras. Dave Milner had a digital camera and he took some pictures of the whole group before the vigil started. He took some outside the Inn and we all took pictures of the "sacrificial grave" which had still not been covered up by this time, and the old fireplace which supposedly had a secret passage leading to the church. I remember that Dave Milner took a picture of myself alone in the Bishop's Room before the vigil proper had begun, mainly for the purposes of a souvenir. When some of these photographs were later developed, they showed what appeared to be distinct spheres of light which were moving around. They were only still photographs, but some were taken in quick succession and you could see these distinct although indiscernible transparent balls of light, had moved position; although they were moving across the frame in front of the people, but they weren't actually visible to anybody being photographed. But they certainly came out on film.
We should perhaps remember that John Humpheries had first mentioned these ‘orbs of light’ when I’d first visited the Ram with Ross Gage and Dave Holland in 1998, but I’d learned in the meantime that these ‘orbs’ that Dave Milner had caught on film had also been photographed by other independent people visiting the Inn using totally unrelated cameras. As a matter of interest John Humphries later sent me some of these photographs which are still in my possession taken on another occasion by another psychical research group from the North of England whose address I have on file, and they too showed identical orbs of light to the ones that had come out on our photographs. They were obviously not taken in exactly the same place, but the point being here is that these were taken by a group completely unknown to us, at a different time and with completely different cameras.
In fact, the photograph Dave Milner took of myself in the Bishop's Room showed three or four orbs of light; and again, these hadn't actually been visible to myself at the time when the picture was taken, but they came out on the film. It would seem that while the existence of these "orbs of light" can not 'proved' irrefutably, it can be reasonably stated that there may be some sort of unknown energy operative the effects of which can be ‘captured’ on film.
© DAVID FARRANT 2004
THE ANCIENT RAM INN, (SECOND NIGHTLY VIGIL) Part 1
THE SECOND TIME I visited the Ancient Ram Inn, was not with Ross Gage this time but with members of the Black Country Paranormal Society from Wolverhamption. This visit in fact took place one Saturday night in early November, 2002. I'd obviously been in contact with John Humphries previously and arranged it, and I traveled down there with Dave Milner - independent coordinator for BPOS investigations and activities - by train.
The original intention was to hire a car so we could take more equipment with us and for reasons of convenience. But, due to some difficulty at the car hire place in the West End, we were unable to hire one - something to do with having to pay for an extra day as we could not return it on a Sunday. Whatever, this additional price was astronomical for what amounted to a day’s non-useage, so we decided to take a train. Accordingly, we met the other BCPS members at Wotton-under-Edge arriving about 5 p.m. These included Wayne Pickerell, Founder Member of the BCPS, his wife Heidi, Anne and her husband Jeff, and Wayne's brother Mark and his girlfriend, Vicky. In fact, they gone in two cars down there, which they needed having quite a lot of investigative equipment. We'd arranged to meet at the church and they'd already arrived by the time Dave Milner and myself got there. The church was chosen because they were reluctant to introduce themselves to John Humphries without my being there; simply because I had already met him and arriving in a complete group made them feel more at ease. We arrived at the Ram around 6 p.m.
Another vigil like the first one took place but this time we obviously had more equipment with us which, obviously, took longer time to set up. But again, we all went out and had a meal first, arriving back at the Inn around 11 O'clock in the evening.
Wayne Pickerell set up highly sophisticated night-video equipment in the Bishop's Room. We sealed the door but we had a monitor outside so we could sit and watch for any signs of any potential in there. In turn, this was videoed on long -play tape, so should anything unusual or untoward have happened, it would have been recorded.
The other room adjacent to the Bishop's Room, the one which was also reputedly quite haunted, was also similarly wired up; only in this case, to an audio cassette recorder that might potentially ‘capture‘ any unusual sounds. Again, the door was sealed; mainly to prevent any extraneous sounds affecting the microphone, but also to prevent any member of the group accidentally walking in there. (It should be remembered that we were, by choice, working under very dim light; apart from which, BCPS members were working in unfamiliar territory.) Obviously, one person had to keep a permanent eye on the monitor (we agree to take this in hourly shifts as it was quite a laborious task) and this also applied to the audio tape to make sure it kept running smoothly. While this was going on, the rest of us thoroughly explored the place, in particular looking for any distinct changes in temperature or other signs, such as any changes in dust patterns that might have betrayed the movement of objects.
I do remember that before this particular vigil I had sustained a foot injury, so I was unwilling - if not unable - to go up into the attic. It had been difficult enough to get up the partially broken staircase that led to the Bishop's Room, let alone to attempt to climb the hazardous almost vertical steps that led to the attic. Two of the others, however, went up into the attic and spent a vigil there in the dark. One of these, Wayne's brother, Mark, was later to claim that he'd heard some strange inexplicable sounds up there. I do know that after hearing these he took a couple of random photographs up there in the direction of the strange noises. Now, I believe, although I haven't actually yet seen the picture myself, that when it was later developed, there were some strange light formation appearing on it.
I should add that before all this took place, that is before all this equipment was set up and we'd sealed the two rooms, we took quite a few pictures in the Bishop's room and elsewhere with our own cameras. Dave Milner had a digital camera and he took some pictures of the whole group before the vigil started. He took some outside the Inn and we all took pictures of the "sacrificial grave" which had still not been covered up by this time, and the old fireplace which supposedly had a secret passage leading to the church. I remember that Dave Milner took a picture of myself alone in the Bishop's Room before the vigil proper had begun, mainly for the purposes of a souvenir. When some of these photographs were later developed, they showed what appeared to be distinct spheres of light which were moving around. They were only still photographs, but some were taken in quick succession and you could see these distinct although indiscernible transparent balls of light, had moved position; although they were moving across the frame in front of the people, but they weren't actually visible to anybody being photographed. But they certainly came out on film.
We should perhaps remember that John Humpheries had first mentioned these ‘orbs of light’ when I’d first visited the Ram with Ross Gage and Dave Holland in 1998, but I’d learned in the meantime that these ‘orbs’ that Dave Milner had caught on film had also been photographed by other independent people visiting the Inn using totally unrelated cameras. As a matter of interest John Humphries later sent me some of these photographs which are still in my possession taken on another occasion by another psychical research group from the North of England whose address I have on file, and they too showed identical orbs of light to the ones that had come out on our photographs. They were obviously not taken in exactly the same place, but the point being here is that these were taken by a group completely unknown to us, at a different time and with completely different cameras.
In fact, the photograph Dave Milner took of myself in the Bishop's Room showed three or four orbs of light; and again, these hadn't actually been visible to myself at the time when the picture was taken, but they came out on the film. It would seem that while the existence of these "orbs of light" can not 'proved' irrefutably, it can be reasonably stated that there may be some sort of unknown energy operative the effects of which can be ‘captured’ on film.
© DAVID FARRANT 2004
A
Anonymous
Guest
HAUNTED RAM INN - second vigil, PT. 2
THE ANCIENT RAM INN, (SECOND NIGHTLY VIGIL) Part 2
A good part of the night was spent monitoring the Bishop's room and the adjacent room hoping to pick up any, shall we say, supernatural occurrences. Actually, the original idea was for Dave Milner to sleep in the Bishop's Room, and he could be monitored, whether he actually managed to sleep or not, lying on the bed. He was a bit reluctant at first, but he agreed to do it but only on the understanding that we all went downstairs first to have some tea from flasks and get warm by the calour gas fire John Humphries had left on for us. In other words, for everybody to take a short break away from the gloom and despairing atmosphere that seemed to permeate the upstairs of the building. The idea was that, after this short respite in the investigation, Dave Milner could act as a firsthand witness to any unusual psychic activity in the Bishop's Room in the event of any unusual occurrences as - and as seemed to have proved the case going by its past history - the Ram’s ghosts seemed to become more active in the presence of human witnesses.
Anyway, it seemed a more plausible alternative as opposed to rather just continuing to monitoring the room empty. And if it was the case that psychic energy might be in some way be activated by some "living presence" in the room - in this case Dave Milner - if anything happened it could be recorded on film and produce some sort of evidence of psychic activity.
After having discussed the matter downstairs for an hour or so and comparing notes in the still relatively depressing atmosphere that seemed to envelop the entire Inn after dark, I remained downstairs with Dave Milner, trying to grab as much available heat as possible, whilst Wayne went upstairs with the others to check the equipment and make sure it was ready for the next stage of the vigil. He said he would send somebody down to get us once the preparations were complete. Although Dave was set to get into the bed, I would be watching the monitor and checking around with the others. About twenty minutes after this, there seemed to be a slight commotion, movements of the others moving around upstairs which seemed at variance with a previous "organised silence".
I went upstairs to find out what was happening, only to find Wayne packing up the equipment. He said he was sorry but they had to leave; not because of any "psychic anomalies" in the Inn itself, but because Heidi was feeling really unwell, an escalation of a condition that she'd had for over a week or more. I could tell this was no idle excuse. I had come to know Heidi quite well and realised she was not one who would easily give in to any effects of physical sickness, unless its results were real enough and she only longed the comfort of her own home and the warmth of her own bed. You could tell by looking at her that she looked drained by the temporary "bug" that had attached itself to her; indeed, even at dinner earlier before that vigil had even commenced, she looked slightly pale and had not been her normal talkative self. Wayne with his typical concern for other people, and notwithstanding that he was a dedicated psychic investigator himself who had frequently endured far more potent places than the Ancient Ram Inn, just wanted to take her back to Wolverhamption as quickly as possible, and had no wish to aggravate her condition by making her endure yet more hours in the cold, damp environment of the Inn.
So, after loading up the equipment, Wayne and the rest of his group left in their two cars at approximately a quarter to four that morning leaving Dave Milner and myself tired, but relatively comfortable, downstairs. Dave covered himself with blankets on a tattered settee and fell into a light sleep, probably relived no longer to be expected to try and sleep in the cold Bishop's Room upstairs. I curled up on another sofa; cold and "sleepless" but hugging the warmth of the small calour gas fire.
Lying there in the dim light, my eyes absorbing the numerous strange objects and ornaments that cluttered the room, I suddenly became aware that something seemed "different". I didn't know what it was; only that there was just something 'different' in the room.
I had been idly watching an old grandfather-clock; not so much consciously, but because it commanded my line of vision on the wall opposite and it had almost an hypnotic effect in the undisturbed stillness. An orange glow reflected from the light of the gas fire, which by itself, seemed to reflect unreal images in a semi-real environment. You could see the light move across the yellowed glass; strange images, I thought, yet consoled by the fact the cause was only a gas container. It would have been easy to let imagination to wander in the confines of the Inn; but it was more an hypnotic effect, like fleeting illusions that seemed to be trying to defy reality.
Ironically, I was wide awake, but my attention was somehow drawn to the clock for no apparent reason.
I lay watching the minutes on the clock, casually "ticking these off" as it gradually approached daylight, when it suddenly dawned on me that what had taken five minutes on the clock, seemed to have taken more like half an hour. Its difficult to describe it more precisely than that. I never wore a watch, and Dave Milner was asleep, so I didn't want to compare time by waking him up. But what was strange was, this went on for the next five minutes, and then the next five; it seemed to be an eternity. Eventually, what should have been about an hour or so, had only registered on the clock as about five minutes.
Then, all of a sudden, my attention was distracted by something else and I looked at another area in the room (as it was this turned out to be irrelevant; I had heard a ‘scratching noise’ but I assumed this to be a genuine rat or something) but when I looked back at the clock, I realised that something was ‘different’. The clock had actually stopped ticking. Before, its monotonous ticking sound had been almost a part of the background but now, after I had been distracted by the noise of the ‘rat‘, there was just an overbearing silence. I lay staring at the clock-face and could swear its hands were still moving forward. But this almost ‘hypnotic’ focusing’ caused me to fall into a ‘half-sleep’, and when I awoke fully it was light and I realised the clock had started ticking again. Dave Milner eventually woke up and I learned the exact time and, much to my surprise, the actual time registered on the clock was dead right. I was convinced these mysterious ‘time lapses’ - or perhaps more accurately ‘time-delays’ - had not been my imagination. Like most people, I was perfectly capable of being able to discern normal time spans; at least, be aware of the difference between lengthy periods and those accompanying only a minute or two. But another careful look at the clock confirmed that it hadn't lost any time whatsoever.
We remained till the morning, and again, being a Sunday, there were no buses. But John Humphries called us a taxi and, once again, I watched the Ram Inn merge back into its virtual hiding place on the hill; an encapsled shrine in the bleak countryside that seemed to be in no hurry to give away its innermost secrets ...
©DAVID FARRANT, 2004.
THE ANCIENT RAM INN, (SECOND NIGHTLY VIGIL) Part 2
A good part of the night was spent monitoring the Bishop's room and the adjacent room hoping to pick up any, shall we say, supernatural occurrences. Actually, the original idea was for Dave Milner to sleep in the Bishop's Room, and he could be monitored, whether he actually managed to sleep or not, lying on the bed. He was a bit reluctant at first, but he agreed to do it but only on the understanding that we all went downstairs first to have some tea from flasks and get warm by the calour gas fire John Humphries had left on for us. In other words, for everybody to take a short break away from the gloom and despairing atmosphere that seemed to permeate the upstairs of the building. The idea was that, after this short respite in the investigation, Dave Milner could act as a firsthand witness to any unusual psychic activity in the Bishop's Room in the event of any unusual occurrences as - and as seemed to have proved the case going by its past history - the Ram’s ghosts seemed to become more active in the presence of human witnesses.
Anyway, it seemed a more plausible alternative as opposed to rather just continuing to monitoring the room empty. And if it was the case that psychic energy might be in some way be activated by some "living presence" in the room - in this case Dave Milner - if anything happened it could be recorded on film and produce some sort of evidence of psychic activity.
After having discussed the matter downstairs for an hour or so and comparing notes in the still relatively depressing atmosphere that seemed to envelop the entire Inn after dark, I remained downstairs with Dave Milner, trying to grab as much available heat as possible, whilst Wayne went upstairs with the others to check the equipment and make sure it was ready for the next stage of the vigil. He said he would send somebody down to get us once the preparations were complete. Although Dave was set to get into the bed, I would be watching the monitor and checking around with the others. About twenty minutes after this, there seemed to be a slight commotion, movements of the others moving around upstairs which seemed at variance with a previous "organised silence".
I went upstairs to find out what was happening, only to find Wayne packing up the equipment. He said he was sorry but they had to leave; not because of any "psychic anomalies" in the Inn itself, but because Heidi was feeling really unwell, an escalation of a condition that she'd had for over a week or more. I could tell this was no idle excuse. I had come to know Heidi quite well and realised she was not one who would easily give in to any effects of physical sickness, unless its results were real enough and she only longed the comfort of her own home and the warmth of her own bed. You could tell by looking at her that she looked drained by the temporary "bug" that had attached itself to her; indeed, even at dinner earlier before that vigil had even commenced, she looked slightly pale and had not been her normal talkative self. Wayne with his typical concern for other people, and notwithstanding that he was a dedicated psychic investigator himself who had frequently endured far more potent places than the Ancient Ram Inn, just wanted to take her back to Wolverhamption as quickly as possible, and had no wish to aggravate her condition by making her endure yet more hours in the cold, damp environment of the Inn.
So, after loading up the equipment, Wayne and the rest of his group left in their two cars at approximately a quarter to four that morning leaving Dave Milner and myself tired, but relatively comfortable, downstairs. Dave covered himself with blankets on a tattered settee and fell into a light sleep, probably relived no longer to be expected to try and sleep in the cold Bishop's Room upstairs. I curled up on another sofa; cold and "sleepless" but hugging the warmth of the small calour gas fire.
Lying there in the dim light, my eyes absorbing the numerous strange objects and ornaments that cluttered the room, I suddenly became aware that something seemed "different". I didn't know what it was; only that there was just something 'different' in the room.
I had been idly watching an old grandfather-clock; not so much consciously, but because it commanded my line of vision on the wall opposite and it had almost an hypnotic effect in the undisturbed stillness. An orange glow reflected from the light of the gas fire, which by itself, seemed to reflect unreal images in a semi-real environment. You could see the light move across the yellowed glass; strange images, I thought, yet consoled by the fact the cause was only a gas container. It would have been easy to let imagination to wander in the confines of the Inn; but it was more an hypnotic effect, like fleeting illusions that seemed to be trying to defy reality.
Ironically, I was wide awake, but my attention was somehow drawn to the clock for no apparent reason.
I lay watching the minutes on the clock, casually "ticking these off" as it gradually approached daylight, when it suddenly dawned on me that what had taken five minutes on the clock, seemed to have taken more like half an hour. Its difficult to describe it more precisely than that. I never wore a watch, and Dave Milner was asleep, so I didn't want to compare time by waking him up. But what was strange was, this went on for the next five minutes, and then the next five; it seemed to be an eternity. Eventually, what should have been about an hour or so, had only registered on the clock as about five minutes.
Then, all of a sudden, my attention was distracted by something else and I looked at another area in the room (as it was this turned out to be irrelevant; I had heard a ‘scratching noise’ but I assumed this to be a genuine rat or something) but when I looked back at the clock, I realised that something was ‘different’. The clock had actually stopped ticking. Before, its monotonous ticking sound had been almost a part of the background but now, after I had been distracted by the noise of the ‘rat‘, there was just an overbearing silence. I lay staring at the clock-face and could swear its hands were still moving forward. But this almost ‘hypnotic’ focusing’ caused me to fall into a ‘half-sleep’, and when I awoke fully it was light and I realised the clock had started ticking again. Dave Milner eventually woke up and I learned the exact time and, much to my surprise, the actual time registered on the clock was dead right. I was convinced these mysterious ‘time lapses’ - or perhaps more accurately ‘time-delays’ - had not been my imagination. Like most people, I was perfectly capable of being able to discern normal time spans; at least, be aware of the difference between lengthy periods and those accompanying only a minute or two. But another careful look at the clock confirmed that it hadn't lost any time whatsoever.
We remained till the morning, and again, being a Sunday, there were no buses. But John Humphries called us a taxi and, once again, I watched the Ram Inn merge back into its virtual hiding place on the hill; an encapsled shrine in the bleak countryside that seemed to be in no hurry to give away its innermost secrets ...
©DAVID FARRANT, 2004.
A
Anonymous
Guest
DEVIL'S STONES
THE DEVIL'S STONES
There is a secret place that lies almost concealed just yards to the side of the A35 that leads between Dorchester and Brigport. Well, it is not really that secret because it is listed as an Ancient Monument, although it is quite difficult to find by car; the almost oblique English Heritage sign heralding it being difficult to spot if you are looking for it from a vehicle. The traffic speeds so mercilessly along this main road that you can be forgiven for missing its marked location upon any map; really, apart from approaching it from secluded footpaths marked upon Ordinance Survey maps, the only other quick way is to trace it from the main road, the location turning out to be literally only a few yards a portrayed on a map.
This secluded place is marked by an almost hidden ring of a stone Circle known as “The Devil’s Nine Stones” and here, or nearby, the engines of several cars and trucks have mysteriously ‘cut out’ whilst driving past it.
This ancient stone Circle (once you can locate it) consists of nine almost ‘gigantic’ stones plus a few lesser ones) but the feeling within this Circle of stones, almost defies description .. .
Entering it, it may almost appear cold and oblique, but once finally inside, there is a sense of ‘timelessness’, that almost defies description . . .
There was a feeling of almost total distraction from the world outside; a feeling (and this is where it is hard to describe) that the place had no normal relationship with reality; there was a ‘strange quietness‘ that seemed to be a secret part of the circle and which was somehow ‘trapped’ by the stones themselves.
Certainly, when I visited the place in 1994, such an impression was overwhelming. Luckily, being remote and almost hidden thus not being track down, the site remains fairly safe from casual vandalism. There is no reason why it should not continue to remain that way for the next few centuries.
DAVID FARRANT
THE DEVIL'S STONES
There is a secret place that lies almost concealed just yards to the side of the A35 that leads between Dorchester and Brigport. Well, it is not really that secret because it is listed as an Ancient Monument, although it is quite difficult to find by car; the almost oblique English Heritage sign heralding it being difficult to spot if you are looking for it from a vehicle. The traffic speeds so mercilessly along this main road that you can be forgiven for missing its marked location upon any map; really, apart from approaching it from secluded footpaths marked upon Ordinance Survey maps, the only other quick way is to trace it from the main road, the location turning out to be literally only a few yards a portrayed on a map.
This secluded place is marked by an almost hidden ring of a stone Circle known as “The Devil’s Nine Stones” and here, or nearby, the engines of several cars and trucks have mysteriously ‘cut out’ whilst driving past it.
This ancient stone Circle (once you can locate it) consists of nine almost ‘gigantic’ stones plus a few lesser ones) but the feeling within this Circle of stones, almost defies description .. .
Entering it, it may almost appear cold and oblique, but once finally inside, there is a sense of ‘timelessness’, that almost defies description . . .
There was a feeling of almost total distraction from the world outside; a feeling (and this is where it is hard to describe) that the place had no normal relationship with reality; there was a ‘strange quietness‘ that seemed to be a secret part of the circle and which was somehow ‘trapped’ by the stones themselves.
Certainly, when I visited the place in 1994, such an impression was overwhelming. Luckily, being remote and almost hidden thus not being track down, the site remains fairly safe from casual vandalism. There is no reason why it should not continue to remain that way for the next few centuries.
DAVID FARRANT
A
Anonymous
Guest
THEY COME BT NIGHT
THEY COME BY NIGHT
THROUGHOUT TIME there have been reports of evil spirits known as incubi and succubae - male and female demons respectively - that visit sleeping people by night and are reported to have sex with them, although sometimes they are content to merely take possession of their chosen victims.
Symptoms of such visitations are invariably the same: people suddenly being awakened to find themselves completely paralyzed by some alien life force that has taken possession of their bodies. Unable to move, or even scream, unfortunate victims can only lie in their abruptly awakened state totally at the mercy of demonic entity that has rendered them power-less. Sometimes such visitations last only seconds (a tempo-rary nightmare some would argue), but in many cases such visitations last for several minutes, and may reoccur with relentless persistency …
Cases of such ‘nightly visitations’, in fact, can be traced back for many centuries. In ancient Greece, for example, such spirits were said to be the servants of the God Dionysus, a Deity associated with ‘material pleasures’ - not least, by demanding that his worshippers drank copious quantities of wine and fresh blood and took part in licentious orgies. It is perhaps not surprising that this powerful Greek god came to be identified almost exclusively with the element of sex. (Not that such activity was frowned upon or even considered “debase” by that particular culture, any more than many kinds of commercialized sex are considered immoral in today’s society.)
Later still, during the now almost legendary witch trials which peaked during the 17th century, cases of incubi and succubae possession reached the bounds of hysteria when it was claimed that the unfortunate witches accused had had sexual intercourse with these cohort spirits sent by the devil.
Sex, itself, still appears to be an important factor in identi-fying the continuing reports that accompany the appearances of these malevolent phenomena, although, it is fair to say, perhaps many cases of these demonic visitations have escaped notice due to embarrassment (mainly concerning the sexual implications) on the part of the witnesses themselves. Perhaps it is one thing to admit to having sexual fantasies, quite another, when having to justify or explain these as being the result of ‘sexual attacks’ caused by visiting spirits or demons: however, it is not always the case that such visitations invariably involve the element of sex. Sometimes there just seems to be some unexplained intent to control or take posses-sion of the human body or mind on the part of these ‘over-powering’ entities - call them what you will - and such visita-tions can have equally terrifying consequences.
In 1993, one witness was positive that a series of terrifying occurrences that awoke him while he slept, were the result of ‘visitations’ from some demonic entity.
Mr. Brian Price, who moved into a house in Enfield with his family in 1973, can recall many chilling experiences in a ‘haunted bedroom’ where he slept, not least, by being awak-ened on several occasions at night by a ‘suffocating pressure’ kneeling on his chest. He tried to move, but couldn’t, and was immobilized by some ‘invisible force’. Once, this ‘sat’ on his back pushing his head into the pillow with such tremendous force that he felt he was about to suffocate; he could hardly breathe - indeed he felt was about to die - when just as suddenly, whatever it was, it disappeared.
“It finally got off me. I got out of bed and went to the door and looking downstairs, there was a very bright blue light. Something told me not to go down there so I went back to bed and nothing further happened that night.”
But events at the house were far from over; indeed, Brian Price (a man who did not even previously believe in ‘ghosts’ or the possibility of ‘visiting spirits’) was yet to recall further experiences with this formidable entity …
“After a while, I started to see a woman in the bed, but could never see her face. I could feel her but every time I tried to turn her over (she always had her back to me), she just vanished. The final crunch came when my teenage daughters wanted to swap rooms with me. Lo and behold, the same thing happened to my youngest daughter and ‘it’ reappeared and just laid on her. She was really shaken up …”
Of course, the fact that Brian Price sensed that his nightly ‘visitor’ was feminine, would be a strong indication that the entity itself was succubus; although perhaps understandably, he stopped short of assuming that this ‘visiting wraith’ may have had any of its more ‘stereotyped’ intentions.
The occurrences did worry him sufficiently, however, to seek the advice of a local priest, who in turn, quite adamantly asserted that he had come into contact with some wayfaring demon … (Well, of course, he would say that, wouldn’t he?)
To be continued . . .
© DAVID FARRANT
THEY COME BY NIGHT
THROUGHOUT TIME there have been reports of evil spirits known as incubi and succubae - male and female demons respectively - that visit sleeping people by night and are reported to have sex with them, although sometimes they are content to merely take possession of their chosen victims.
Symptoms of such visitations are invariably the same: people suddenly being awakened to find themselves completely paralyzed by some alien life force that has taken possession of their bodies. Unable to move, or even scream, unfortunate victims can only lie in their abruptly awakened state totally at the mercy of demonic entity that has rendered them power-less. Sometimes such visitations last only seconds (a tempo-rary nightmare some would argue), but in many cases such visitations last for several minutes, and may reoccur with relentless persistency …
Cases of such ‘nightly visitations’, in fact, can be traced back for many centuries. In ancient Greece, for example, such spirits were said to be the servants of the God Dionysus, a Deity associated with ‘material pleasures’ - not least, by demanding that his worshippers drank copious quantities of wine and fresh blood and took part in licentious orgies. It is perhaps not surprising that this powerful Greek god came to be identified almost exclusively with the element of sex. (Not that such activity was frowned upon or even considered “debase” by that particular culture, any more than many kinds of commercialized sex are considered immoral in today’s society.)
Later still, during the now almost legendary witch trials which peaked during the 17th century, cases of incubi and succubae possession reached the bounds of hysteria when it was claimed that the unfortunate witches accused had had sexual intercourse with these cohort spirits sent by the devil.
Sex, itself, still appears to be an important factor in identi-fying the continuing reports that accompany the appearances of these malevolent phenomena, although, it is fair to say, perhaps many cases of these demonic visitations have escaped notice due to embarrassment (mainly concerning the sexual implications) on the part of the witnesses themselves. Perhaps it is one thing to admit to having sexual fantasies, quite another, when having to justify or explain these as being the result of ‘sexual attacks’ caused by visiting spirits or demons: however, it is not always the case that such visitations invariably involve the element of sex. Sometimes there just seems to be some unexplained intent to control or take posses-sion of the human body or mind on the part of these ‘over-powering’ entities - call them what you will - and such visita-tions can have equally terrifying consequences.
In 1993, one witness was positive that a series of terrifying occurrences that awoke him while he slept, were the result of ‘visitations’ from some demonic entity.
Mr. Brian Price, who moved into a house in Enfield with his family in 1973, can recall many chilling experiences in a ‘haunted bedroom’ where he slept, not least, by being awak-ened on several occasions at night by a ‘suffocating pressure’ kneeling on his chest. He tried to move, but couldn’t, and was immobilized by some ‘invisible force’. Once, this ‘sat’ on his back pushing his head into the pillow with such tremendous force that he felt he was about to suffocate; he could hardly breathe - indeed he felt was about to die - when just as suddenly, whatever it was, it disappeared.
“It finally got off me. I got out of bed and went to the door and looking downstairs, there was a very bright blue light. Something told me not to go down there so I went back to bed and nothing further happened that night.”
But events at the house were far from over; indeed, Brian Price (a man who did not even previously believe in ‘ghosts’ or the possibility of ‘visiting spirits’) was yet to recall further experiences with this formidable entity …
“After a while, I started to see a woman in the bed, but could never see her face. I could feel her but every time I tried to turn her over (she always had her back to me), she just vanished. The final crunch came when my teenage daughters wanted to swap rooms with me. Lo and behold, the same thing happened to my youngest daughter and ‘it’ reappeared and just laid on her. She was really shaken up …”
Of course, the fact that Brian Price sensed that his nightly ‘visitor’ was feminine, would be a strong indication that the entity itself was succubus; although perhaps understandably, he stopped short of assuming that this ‘visiting wraith’ may have had any of its more ‘stereotyped’ intentions.
The occurrences did worry him sufficiently, however, to seek the advice of a local priest, who in turn, quite adamantly asserted that he had come into contact with some wayfaring demon … (Well, of course, he would say that, wouldn’t he?)
To be continued . . .
© DAVID FARRANT
A
Anonymous
Guest
THEY COME BY NIGHT
THEY COME BY NIGHT, Part 2
IT IS PERHAPS TO BE EXPECTED, that the alleged existence of the incubus and the succubus, is usually either attributed to the activities of demons by their unsuspecting victims, or equally explained away by sceptics - if they accept such ‘attacks’ at all - as being the result of repressed desires in the human psyche which have somehow manifest in a person’s imagination.
One lady who resided in north London in 1992 is certainly in little doubt that a series of ‘psychic encounters’ which she had experienced in this respect, were absolutely genuine: interestingly, that they might have had some connection with some sort of vampiristic activity.
Events were first brought to the author’s attention in the summer of that year when he received a letter from a 25-year-old lady who was living in the Wood Green area of North London at the time. She had been experiencing a sequence of unexplained occurrences at her flat - usually during the night after she had fallen asleep. She described being visited by a ‘tall dark figure’ that almost invariably rendered her totally paralyzed during its visitations; visitations which she preferred to refer to as ‘attacks’. She wrote:
“For the past five and a half years. I have suffered from unac-countable fits both at night - and during the day - but always when lying in bed. Throughout 1987 I saw several doctors and numerous tests were taken to find any cause for these attacks, but these out-ruled epilepsy, brain tumors and other possible causes.
The fits usually occurred just a few minutes after I had retired to bed and was still wide awake. They would start with a tingling sensation in my legs -rather like pins - and - needles - and then, within seconds, I’d find myself paralyzed from head to toe, with a sort of humming noise buzzing in my ears. Every inch of my body felt weighted down by a ton of pressure. I cannot say for how long I was unable to move or even breathe, but the sheer terror of it made it seem like an eternity. I couldn’t scream, though I tried I did, and always felt certain that if these ‘fits’ lasted any longer, I would surely die.
The symptoms always disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared, leaving me completely exhausted. But, during each of these occurrences, I felt that something or somebody was standing beside my bed; being completely paralyzed I could never turn my head to look at it, but once - last year - it occurred during daylight hours. I was lying on my back, I didn’t need to turn my head, and I saw ‘It’.
The memory of it still fills me with dread, although I’m still not exactly sure as to what I’d seen … Its best described as a large “dark shape” with big red eyes inducing an unbelievable terror in me.
It vanished. But I’m not ashamed to say that I didn’t just scream, but also couldn’t help crying for a long time afterwards.
I am not a superstitious or religious person and always tended to take such matters with a ‘pinch of salt’; that is, until I expe-rienced these occurrences and actually saw what I did.
I know the description of what I saw sounds like the obvious Horror Movie cliché; especially the eyes, but I can give you my word - the word of a pretty sane and not easily frightened woman - that what I saw was real. It is certainly a problem that I hope does not recur for the rest of my life.”
Further investigation into this case, revealed that the lady in question began to have a series of nightmares ((usually just before an attack began), started sleepwalking regularly and developed an aversion to bright light. As well as this, she also became anemic and found it almost impossible to eat.
Eventually, events culminated in her visits to several doctors (although more than in desperation than in expectation), but, whilst confirming her anemia and an adverse reaction to bright light, no physical cause could be found to account for her alleged experiences.
But notwithstanding the confirmation of her physical symptoms,, this did little to allay in ultimate fear that eventu-ally she would have to sleep, and that the ghoulish entity would be nearby … waiting.
In fact, this indeed proved to be the case, until contact with a certain occult Circle in the autumn of 1992, finally enabled her to escape the clutches of this malevolent entity.
To be continued . . .
© DAVID FARRANT
THEY COME BY NIGHT, Part 2
IT IS PERHAPS TO BE EXPECTED, that the alleged existence of the incubus and the succubus, is usually either attributed to the activities of demons by their unsuspecting victims, or equally explained away by sceptics - if they accept such ‘attacks’ at all - as being the result of repressed desires in the human psyche which have somehow manifest in a person’s imagination.
One lady who resided in north London in 1992 is certainly in little doubt that a series of ‘psychic encounters’ which she had experienced in this respect, were absolutely genuine: interestingly, that they might have had some connection with some sort of vampiristic activity.
Events were first brought to the author’s attention in the summer of that year when he received a letter from a 25-year-old lady who was living in the Wood Green area of North London at the time. She had been experiencing a sequence of unexplained occurrences at her flat - usually during the night after she had fallen asleep. She described being visited by a ‘tall dark figure’ that almost invariably rendered her totally paralyzed during its visitations; visitations which she preferred to refer to as ‘attacks’. She wrote:
“For the past five and a half years. I have suffered from unac-countable fits both at night - and during the day - but always when lying in bed. Throughout 1987 I saw several doctors and numerous tests were taken to find any cause for these attacks, but these out-ruled epilepsy, brain tumors and other possible causes.
The fits usually occurred just a few minutes after I had retired to bed and was still wide awake. They would start with a tingling sensation in my legs -rather like pins - and - needles - and then, within seconds, I’d find myself paralyzed from head to toe, with a sort of humming noise buzzing in my ears. Every inch of my body felt weighted down by a ton of pressure. I cannot say for how long I was unable to move or even breathe, but the sheer terror of it made it seem like an eternity. I couldn’t scream, though I tried I did, and always felt certain that if these ‘fits’ lasted any longer, I would surely die.
The symptoms always disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared, leaving me completely exhausted. But, during each of these occurrences, I felt that something or somebody was standing beside my bed; being completely paralyzed I could never turn my head to look at it, but once - last year - it occurred during daylight hours. I was lying on my back, I didn’t need to turn my head, and I saw ‘It’.
The memory of it still fills me with dread, although I’m still not exactly sure as to what I’d seen … Its best described as a large “dark shape” with big red eyes inducing an unbelievable terror in me.
It vanished. But I’m not ashamed to say that I didn’t just scream, but also couldn’t help crying for a long time afterwards.
I am not a superstitious or religious person and always tended to take such matters with a ‘pinch of salt’; that is, until I expe-rienced these occurrences and actually saw what I did.
I know the description of what I saw sounds like the obvious Horror Movie cliché; especially the eyes, but I can give you my word - the word of a pretty sane and not easily frightened woman - that what I saw was real. It is certainly a problem that I hope does not recur for the rest of my life.”
Further investigation into this case, revealed that the lady in question began to have a series of nightmares ((usually just before an attack began), started sleepwalking regularly and developed an aversion to bright light. As well as this, she also became anemic and found it almost impossible to eat.
Eventually, events culminated in her visits to several doctors (although more than in desperation than in expectation), but, whilst confirming her anemia and an adverse reaction to bright light, no physical cause could be found to account for her alleged experiences.
But notwithstanding the confirmation of her physical symptoms,, this did little to allay in ultimate fear that eventu-ally she would have to sleep, and that the ghoulish entity would be nearby … waiting.
In fact, this indeed proved to be the case, until contact with a certain occult Circle in the autumn of 1992, finally enabled her to escape the clutches of this malevolent entity.
To be continued . . .
© DAVID FARRANT
A
Anonymous
Guest
THEY COME BY NIGHT
THEY COME BY NIGHT, Part 3
Of course, whilst the experiences of just two witnesses does not on its own stand as irrefutable evidence as to the existence of the incubus and the succubus, it should perhaps be remem-bered hat these cited cases are typical of many others which have not only been reported world-wide, but which have been reported down through the centuries. Moreover, whatever the circumstances of these reports, the basic symptoms accompa-nying such visitation appear to be - indeed are - the same.
To remind ourselves briefly of the effects of so-called incubus and succubus visitations, they seem to adhere o the following pattern:
People are suddenly awakened in the night to find them-selves completely paralyzed, often with a tremendous pressure on their chest, that ‘pins’ them to the bed. They are unable to move, even scream, and can only lie helplessly completely subject to the entity’s will. These visitations often occur with persistent frequency and victims find themselves growing physically weaker, becoming anemic and developing an aver-sion to bright light (particularly sunlight.) They also become prone to bouts of sleep-walking either soon before, or not long after, the ‘attacks’. As well as this, of course, there is a common tendency for ‘victims’ to experience vivid dreams or nightmares throughout the duration of these visitations; dreams that can often seem to take on a fearsome reality.
From the above, it may be seen that the circumstances - or rather resulting effects - of alleged incubus and succubus visi-tations share remarkably similar characteristics. Though this, of course, is not the essential point; and in any event, it is a point that remains totally academic.
The real issue here must surely be, the effects of such visita-tions - if true - and how these might be comparable to other universal manifestations that have somehow become embedded in the human psyche.
The myth of the ‘vampire’ , for example, seems to show that much earlier characteristics attributed to incubus and succubus phenomena have been borrowed to embellish - even make out the ‘vampire myth’ itself. The hypnotic influence of the incubus and succubus itself (rendering a ‘victim’ tempo-rarily immobile), sleep-walking (often in an hypnotic state), aversion to bright light (sunlight), loss of appetite, not to mention the sexual element involved, all seem to point to the idea that the whole vampire myth itself derived from, or was based upon, facts that had already long since been in existence.
Much evidence for this points towards where the ‘vampire myth’ as we know it really began; no less than in the pages of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, who was almost certainly influ-enced by myths and legends of the incubus and succubus that were already in existence, which almost certainly inspired him to apply their attribute (blood-draining included) to his mythical Count Dracula. The ingredients, at least, were all there, and once committed to consistent print, were merely ‘ripe pickings’ for Hollywood a few decades later; notwith-standing that all the gory sex and colour scenes came more recently and early cinema viewers had to be content seeing the vampire myth portrayed in black and white.
But if incubus and succubus visitations did indeed inspire Bram Stoker in the writing of his sensational novel, this in itself would only solve the problem of ‘original inspiration’ or idea; not the original mystery.
For if these nightly visitations (themselves commonplace world-wide and which share such a long history) are true in their own right, then it begs the question, just what are these formidable ‘nightly entities’ that seem bent on visiting, if not ‘sexually influencing’, their human counterparts?
It would seem such an answer would be equally evasive. It may have something to do with an inherent trait in human nature to fear and ultimately condemn things that cannot be comprehended by the human mind, while such fear itself (whether consciously realized or unrecognized) may para-doxically actually serve to feed ‘intelligence’s that otherwise lie dormant, or at least evade, everyday conceptions of normal reality.
FIN
DAVID FARRANT
THEY COME BY NIGHT, Part 3
Of course, whilst the experiences of just two witnesses does not on its own stand as irrefutable evidence as to the existence of the incubus and the succubus, it should perhaps be remem-bered hat these cited cases are typical of many others which have not only been reported world-wide, but which have been reported down through the centuries. Moreover, whatever the circumstances of these reports, the basic symptoms accompa-nying such visitation appear to be - indeed are - the same.
To remind ourselves briefly of the effects of so-called incubus and succubus visitations, they seem to adhere o the following pattern:
People are suddenly awakened in the night to find them-selves completely paralyzed, often with a tremendous pressure on their chest, that ‘pins’ them to the bed. They are unable to move, even scream, and can only lie helplessly completely subject to the entity’s will. These visitations often occur with persistent frequency and victims find themselves growing physically weaker, becoming anemic and developing an aver-sion to bright light (particularly sunlight.) They also become prone to bouts of sleep-walking either soon before, or not long after, the ‘attacks’. As well as this, of course, there is a common tendency for ‘victims’ to experience vivid dreams or nightmares throughout the duration of these visitations; dreams that can often seem to take on a fearsome reality.
From the above, it may be seen that the circumstances - or rather resulting effects - of alleged incubus and succubus visi-tations share remarkably similar characteristics. Though this, of course, is not the essential point; and in any event, it is a point that remains totally academic.
The real issue here must surely be, the effects of such visita-tions - if true - and how these might be comparable to other universal manifestations that have somehow become embedded in the human psyche.
The myth of the ‘vampire’ , for example, seems to show that much earlier characteristics attributed to incubus and succubus phenomena have been borrowed to embellish - even make out the ‘vampire myth’ itself. The hypnotic influence of the incubus and succubus itself (rendering a ‘victim’ tempo-rarily immobile), sleep-walking (often in an hypnotic state), aversion to bright light (sunlight), loss of appetite, not to mention the sexual element involved, all seem to point to the idea that the whole vampire myth itself derived from, or was based upon, facts that had already long since been in existence.
Much evidence for this points towards where the ‘vampire myth’ as we know it really began; no less than in the pages of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, who was almost certainly influ-enced by myths and legends of the incubus and succubus that were already in existence, which almost certainly inspired him to apply their attribute (blood-draining included) to his mythical Count Dracula. The ingredients, at least, were all there, and once committed to consistent print, were merely ‘ripe pickings’ for Hollywood a few decades later; notwith-standing that all the gory sex and colour scenes came more recently and early cinema viewers had to be content seeing the vampire myth portrayed in black and white.
But if incubus and succubus visitations did indeed inspire Bram Stoker in the writing of his sensational novel, this in itself would only solve the problem of ‘original inspiration’ or idea; not the original mystery.
For if these nightly visitations (themselves commonplace world-wide and which share such a long history) are true in their own right, then it begs the question, just what are these formidable ‘nightly entities’ that seem bent on visiting, if not ‘sexually influencing’, their human counterparts?
It would seem such an answer would be equally evasive. It may have something to do with an inherent trait in human nature to fear and ultimately condemn things that cannot be comprehended by the human mind, while such fear itself (whether consciously realized or unrecognized) may para-doxically actually serve to feed ‘intelligence’s that otherwise lie dormant, or at least evade, everyday conceptions of normal reality.
FIN
DAVID FARRANT
A
Anonymous
Guest
The Hooded Spectre of Netley Abbey
The Hooded Spectre Of Netley Abbey
OF THE MANY GHOSTS reputed to haunt modern Hampshire, perhaps none holds as much interest as ‘the mysterious nocturnal figure’ that has been seen in the ruins of Netley Abbey, some five miles from Southampton.
This ancient Cistercian abbey, laid in 1239 by Henry III and a thriving religious community until its dissolution in 1536, has long been reputed to house buried treasure, jealously guarded by the ghost of a ‘hooded monk’.
Nothing much is known about the origins of this phantom figure, (known by some as ‘Blind Peter’) although he has been witnessed on many occasions over the years around full moon and at Halloween, sometimes ‘hovering menacingly’ at the Abbey sacristy (the place where sacred vessels and vestments were kept), but ore often, choosing to manifest by means of a ‘hostile presence’ that confronts any foolish enough to wander into the ruins at night. To this end, the ghost is well known locally, although accounts and descriptions of its appearances vary.
However, tales of a ‘hostile presence’ are by no means confined to the present day, or for that matter, applicable only to the ghost of a monk. Indeed, since the Abbey’s dissolution in 1536, many stories have been handed down, one of which involves the existence of a ‘secret chamber’, or vault - the spot where the treasure supposedly lies and where a ‘renegade nun’ was bricked up alive.
The poet and romantic, Thomas Gray, seemed to be in little doubt about some ‘supernatural power’ that guarded the sanctity of Netley Abbey. Following a visit there in 1764 he remarked that the ferryman who had conveyed him across Southampton Water had said he “would not for all the world” go near the abbey at night for “there were things seen near it”, and a “power of money was hidden there”.
It should perhaps be remembered, that at this time the abbey had been standing derelict and overgrown for over 200 years and was situated in the midst of dense woodland, so from the point of view of stimulating the imagination, it must have looked an eerie sight indeed.
A tale with perhaps a more plausible basis, dates back to the 18th century and involves not only a phantom guardian of the abbey’s treasure, but a curse that befalls any who might be inclined the abbey ruins.
Someone who seemingly chose to ignore this ‘portent of doom’ was a certain Walter Taylor who then brought the land rights to Netley and proceeded with the demolition of the abbey on the promise of a handsome profit. Taylor abandoned the project prematurely, however, when one of his workmen was critically injured by a piece of falling masonry that lodged itself precariously close to his brain. He died under surgery, although there was little doubt to all concerned that his death was due to the abbey’s ‘deadly curse’.
Yet more recently, events have occurred that would appear to confirm the presence of some ‘lurking supernatural’ at the abbey.
In 1981, two people who had cause to camp out in the abbey ruins one night with their dog, were awakened in the early hours by a ‘sinister force’ that drastically reduced the temperature and appeared to linger around their tent. The dog growled incessantly and, when enticed to seek out the unwanted visitor, made a hasty retreat.
A similar experience befell two nuns who had occasion to visit the abbey during this period - in this instance by day. Both sensed what appeared to be a ‘distinct presence’ in the vicinity of the sacristy and the area turned unaccountably cold. Again, the presence seemed decidedly hostile.
It would seem from these comparatively recent accounts, that the ghostly monk of Netley Abbey (or ghostly ‘something’ that haunts the ruins) is still active. But an even more vital report comes from a local resident who, in 1970, actually claims to have seen the hooded monk in person…
Mrs Neal, of Netley, was conducting a dowsing experiment with a friend in the grounds of Abbey House, just adjacent to the abbey, one summer’s day in 1970.
After a while, the dowsing stick reacted violently and followed a given course for several yards before abruptly pointing to the right. Ahead, Mrs Neal saw the tall lean figure of a monk dressed in a dark brown cloak wit a loose-fitting hood which shaded the face.
The figure beckoned twice using its right hand with a slow and deliberate movement, then pointed in the direction of the abbey. Mrs Neal was unable to tell exactly how long this confrontation lasted; it seemed like several minutes, although she later thought it was probably in the region of fifteen to twenty seconds. What she does recall vividly, is that throughout the duration of her experience, it seemed that she’d temporarily become ‘entrapped’ in some other dimension where time and tenable reality ceased to matter.
Interestingly enough, Mrs Neal did not pick up any sense of evil from the figure; rather, it was trying to convey some message about the abbey. Her friend, whilst not actually seeing the figure herself, did sense the ‘potent atmosphere’.
All these stories and sightings, of course, could well comprise a mixture of imagination based upon outdated legend and superstition, but it is hard to doubt that some common cause - whether supernatural or otherwise - has not given rise to them, as such accounts today seem just as commonplace as the stories and legends that plague the abbey’s history.
It could be that the existence of the ‘treasure’ is a feasible possibility; at least, that the abbey’s accumulated wealth was possibly hidden or disposed of rapidly at the time of the Dissolution, despite Netley Abbey officially declared its total revenue to be less than one hundred pounds in its final year in 1536, a considerable sum then.
Hidden treasure aside, for over two hundred years, Netley Abbey has had more than its fair share of ghostly tales, some of which would seem to give some credence to the ‘hooded monk’s’ authenticity.
(C) David Farrant
The Hooded Spectre Of Netley Abbey
OF THE MANY GHOSTS reputed to haunt modern Hampshire, perhaps none holds as much interest as ‘the mysterious nocturnal figure’ that has been seen in the ruins of Netley Abbey, some five miles from Southampton.
This ancient Cistercian abbey, laid in 1239 by Henry III and a thriving religious community until its dissolution in 1536, has long been reputed to house buried treasure, jealously guarded by the ghost of a ‘hooded monk’.
Nothing much is known about the origins of this phantom figure, (known by some as ‘Blind Peter’) although he has been witnessed on many occasions over the years around full moon and at Halloween, sometimes ‘hovering menacingly’ at the Abbey sacristy (the place where sacred vessels and vestments were kept), but ore often, choosing to manifest by means of a ‘hostile presence’ that confronts any foolish enough to wander into the ruins at night. To this end, the ghost is well known locally, although accounts and descriptions of its appearances vary.
However, tales of a ‘hostile presence’ are by no means confined to the present day, or for that matter, applicable only to the ghost of a monk. Indeed, since the Abbey’s dissolution in 1536, many stories have been handed down, one of which involves the existence of a ‘secret chamber’, or vault - the spot where the treasure supposedly lies and where a ‘renegade nun’ was bricked up alive.
The poet and romantic, Thomas Gray, seemed to be in little doubt about some ‘supernatural power’ that guarded the sanctity of Netley Abbey. Following a visit there in 1764 he remarked that the ferryman who had conveyed him across Southampton Water had said he “would not for all the world” go near the abbey at night for “there were things seen near it”, and a “power of money was hidden there”.
It should perhaps be remembered, that at this time the abbey had been standing derelict and overgrown for over 200 years and was situated in the midst of dense woodland, so from the point of view of stimulating the imagination, it must have looked an eerie sight indeed.
A tale with perhaps a more plausible basis, dates back to the 18th century and involves not only a phantom guardian of the abbey’s treasure, but a curse that befalls any who might be inclined the abbey ruins.
Someone who seemingly chose to ignore this ‘portent of doom’ was a certain Walter Taylor who then brought the land rights to Netley and proceeded with the demolition of the abbey on the promise of a handsome profit. Taylor abandoned the project prematurely, however, when one of his workmen was critically injured by a piece of falling masonry that lodged itself precariously close to his brain. He died under surgery, although there was little doubt to all concerned that his death was due to the abbey’s ‘deadly curse’.
Yet more recently, events have occurred that would appear to confirm the presence of some ‘lurking supernatural’ at the abbey.
In 1981, two people who had cause to camp out in the abbey ruins one night with their dog, were awakened in the early hours by a ‘sinister force’ that drastically reduced the temperature and appeared to linger around their tent. The dog growled incessantly and, when enticed to seek out the unwanted visitor, made a hasty retreat.
A similar experience befell two nuns who had occasion to visit the abbey during this period - in this instance by day. Both sensed what appeared to be a ‘distinct presence’ in the vicinity of the sacristy and the area turned unaccountably cold. Again, the presence seemed decidedly hostile.
It would seem from these comparatively recent accounts, that the ghostly monk of Netley Abbey (or ghostly ‘something’ that haunts the ruins) is still active. But an even more vital report comes from a local resident who, in 1970, actually claims to have seen the hooded monk in person…
Mrs Neal, of Netley, was conducting a dowsing experiment with a friend in the grounds of Abbey House, just adjacent to the abbey, one summer’s day in 1970.
After a while, the dowsing stick reacted violently and followed a given course for several yards before abruptly pointing to the right. Ahead, Mrs Neal saw the tall lean figure of a monk dressed in a dark brown cloak wit a loose-fitting hood which shaded the face.
The figure beckoned twice using its right hand with a slow and deliberate movement, then pointed in the direction of the abbey. Mrs Neal was unable to tell exactly how long this confrontation lasted; it seemed like several minutes, although she later thought it was probably in the region of fifteen to twenty seconds. What she does recall vividly, is that throughout the duration of her experience, it seemed that she’d temporarily become ‘entrapped’ in some other dimension where time and tenable reality ceased to matter.
Interestingly enough, Mrs Neal did not pick up any sense of evil from the figure; rather, it was trying to convey some message about the abbey. Her friend, whilst not actually seeing the figure herself, did sense the ‘potent atmosphere’.
All these stories and sightings, of course, could well comprise a mixture of imagination based upon outdated legend and superstition, but it is hard to doubt that some common cause - whether supernatural or otherwise - has not given rise to them, as such accounts today seem just as commonplace as the stories and legends that plague the abbey’s history.
It could be that the existence of the ‘treasure’ is a feasible possibility; at least, that the abbey’s accumulated wealth was possibly hidden or disposed of rapidly at the time of the Dissolution, despite Netley Abbey officially declared its total revenue to be less than one hundred pounds in its final year in 1536, a considerable sum then.
Hidden treasure aside, for over two hundred years, Netley Abbey has had more than its fair share of ghostly tales, some of which would seem to give some credence to the ‘hooded monk’s’ authenticity.
(C) David Farrant
A
Anonymous
Guest
Veiled Existence
BY DAVID FARRANT
GHOST STORIES may be as ‘old as the hills’, literally just that, yet certainly few of these provide any clues to account for their origins or authenticity.
It is, of course, possible to over-react to stories of ‘ghostly phenomena’ when assertions about their existence - or non-existence - are frequently diametrically opposed to each other, and when invariably such assertions, being the result of human theories, will inevitably contradict one another. Consequently, theories about ghostly phenomena abound, and are usually limited by pre-formed ideas or conceptions about the Unknown, or ‘Unknowable’. Certainly such theories and ideas about ‘ethereal existence’ - or the possibility of it - far out-weigh the very subject matter that it would otherwise try to comprehend.
It would be an ‘over-simplification’, of course, (if not a grave mistake) to use the word ‘ghost’ to describe the whole nebulous spectrum of unexplained phenomena. For one thing, the word itself is far too vague to be specific; for another, it commands interpretation on the part of numerous people.
Usually cases evolve around the visible presence of ‘phantom figures’ - but not always, and sometimes only the effects of such ‘presences’ are sensed or heard. None-the-less, these kinds of ‘ghostly visitations’ seem to be as equally common as actual visual appearances and are sometimes taken by given witnesses to be very real indeed. But although ‘ghosts’ may not always chose to appear in a visual sense, their appearances can often be ‘picked up’ by means of other sense impressions; impressions which themselves might be far removed from everyday understanding. This aside, the question must surely be asked, whether ‘ghosts’ really do appear to ‘frighten’ or communicate with the living, or are the numerous accounts about their appearances merely the result of some inherent urge in the human psyche itself (whether consciously realised or not) to want to accept or believe in something beyond the confines of life and death which are ultimately a part of everyday existence? Whatever the answer, one thing remains certain. Too many genuine accounts of psychic phenomena - or ‘ghosts’ - remain on record (many from reliable witnesses), to dismiss them all with arrogant flippancy.
Of course, it would perhaps be too easy to continue putting forward explanations - or suggestions - about psychic phenomena in general, when entrenched attitudes about the existence of ‘ghosts’ - whether for or against them - tend to cloud perceptions that might otherwise provide a valuable insight into their actual validity. In fact, it is not really a question of providing an explanation for the possible existence of ‘ghosts’ or numerous other cases of psychic phenomena reported worldwide; that point really becomes academic when a reversal of popular beliefs or conceptions, may be a far more reliable way of arriving at any answer …
One of the popular beliefs about ‘ghosts’ for example, (and it is a universally accepted one) is that if they indeed exist, they must be spirits (either ‘good’ or ‘bad’) of those deceased that have returned to the earth in some way to haunt a certain place, and that perhaps want to convey some message or instruction to their human counterparts.
But this conception - that Man contains a ‘spirit’ that is released and can even be seen after death - is itself, perhaps a misguided one. At least, when it is used to explain the existence of ‘outside spirits’ and the nebulous world in which they supposedly dwell. For it is a common belief that such ‘spirits’ exist; and not only ‘exist’ but preserve their same life-time qualities, and can even be contacted and convey messages to the living. It is but a short step for many to assume, that witnessed apparitions must be the appearances of such spirits; at least, offer some proof as to their form or embodiment.
The problem with this assumption, however, is that it contains one fatal flaw, in that it makes no provision for the possibility of alternative explanation. Upholding the tradition of blind belief, such a dogma, has itself, invariably become one.
Thus we are left with the conventional belief (that is, for those who accept their existence in the first place), that ‘ghosts’ must be the manifestation of some departed spirits; often not only resembling their former human forms but retaining some - if not all - of their human intelligence.
Although whilst applying this criteria to the many cases of ‘ghostly entities’ that have been - and continue to be so -- widely reported, it should perhaps be emphasized here that this common explanation to explain ‘ghosts’ is by no means exclusive to ‘them’… For as has already been pointed out, this general principal - that the human spirit is capable of remaining earthbound after death and can communicate with the living - is a universal one and in one form or another has become an irrevocable part of human dogma. The growth of spiritualism as an accepted religion, can itself confirm this view; not to mention the claims of numerous mediums who attest to proving ‘spiritual existence’
But to deal with cases of unexplained phenomena themselves; would perhaps be to enter into an entirely different field… For notwithstanding the accounts of mediums themselves - who are inevitably bound by their own beliefs and terminology - one important question seems to have been invariably left out of the equation…
Why is it that human psyche is so dependent on the existence of ‘outside spirits’ or ‘ghosts’ in the first place? Why can it not let such ideas drop into the superstitious realms of belief from which they whence came? Why try to question and subsequently try to answer such important questions from a ‘mental standpoint’, when such a sphere might be far-removed from realms that could provide any possible answer.
That is not to say that questions into the realms of ‘ghosts’ and their ilk are not ‘answerable’, just that the very asking of them, is usually based upon very human conceptions or stand-points which themselves invariably act as barriers to understanding the very phenomena they are out to question.
But if we are to put aside the popular notion that ‘ghosts’ - should they exist - must be some oblique manifestation of the human spirit, the question inevitably remains… then what exactly are they?
© David Farrant
To be continued …
BY DAVID FARRANT
GHOST STORIES may be as ‘old as the hills’, literally just that, yet certainly few of these provide any clues to account for their origins or authenticity.
It is, of course, possible to over-react to stories of ‘ghostly phenomena’ when assertions about their existence - or non-existence - are frequently diametrically opposed to each other, and when invariably such assertions, being the result of human theories, will inevitably contradict one another. Consequently, theories about ghostly phenomena abound, and are usually limited by pre-formed ideas or conceptions about the Unknown, or ‘Unknowable’. Certainly such theories and ideas about ‘ethereal existence’ - or the possibility of it - far out-weigh the very subject matter that it would otherwise try to comprehend.
It would be an ‘over-simplification’, of course, (if not a grave mistake) to use the word ‘ghost’ to describe the whole nebulous spectrum of unexplained phenomena. For one thing, the word itself is far too vague to be specific; for another, it commands interpretation on the part of numerous people.
Usually cases evolve around the visible presence of ‘phantom figures’ - but not always, and sometimes only the effects of such ‘presences’ are sensed or heard. None-the-less, these kinds of ‘ghostly visitations’ seem to be as equally common as actual visual appearances and are sometimes taken by given witnesses to be very real indeed. But although ‘ghosts’ may not always chose to appear in a visual sense, their appearances can often be ‘picked up’ by means of other sense impressions; impressions which themselves might be far removed from everyday understanding. This aside, the question must surely be asked, whether ‘ghosts’ really do appear to ‘frighten’ or communicate with the living, or are the numerous accounts about their appearances merely the result of some inherent urge in the human psyche itself (whether consciously realised or not) to want to accept or believe in something beyond the confines of life and death which are ultimately a part of everyday existence? Whatever the answer, one thing remains certain. Too many genuine accounts of psychic phenomena - or ‘ghosts’ - remain on record (many from reliable witnesses), to dismiss them all with arrogant flippancy.
Of course, it would perhaps be too easy to continue putting forward explanations - or suggestions - about psychic phenomena in general, when entrenched attitudes about the existence of ‘ghosts’ - whether for or against them - tend to cloud perceptions that might otherwise provide a valuable insight into their actual validity. In fact, it is not really a question of providing an explanation for the possible existence of ‘ghosts’ or numerous other cases of psychic phenomena reported worldwide; that point really becomes academic when a reversal of popular beliefs or conceptions, may be a far more reliable way of arriving at any answer …
One of the popular beliefs about ‘ghosts’ for example, (and it is a universally accepted one) is that if they indeed exist, they must be spirits (either ‘good’ or ‘bad’) of those deceased that have returned to the earth in some way to haunt a certain place, and that perhaps want to convey some message or instruction to their human counterparts.
But this conception - that Man contains a ‘spirit’ that is released and can even be seen after death - is itself, perhaps a misguided one. At least, when it is used to explain the existence of ‘outside spirits’ and the nebulous world in which they supposedly dwell. For it is a common belief that such ‘spirits’ exist; and not only ‘exist’ but preserve their same life-time qualities, and can even be contacted and convey messages to the living. It is but a short step for many to assume, that witnessed apparitions must be the appearances of such spirits; at least, offer some proof as to their form or embodiment.
The problem with this assumption, however, is that it contains one fatal flaw, in that it makes no provision for the possibility of alternative explanation. Upholding the tradition of blind belief, such a dogma, has itself, invariably become one.
Thus we are left with the conventional belief (that is, for those who accept their existence in the first place), that ‘ghosts’ must be the manifestation of some departed spirits; often not only resembling their former human forms but retaining some - if not all - of their human intelligence.
Although whilst applying this criteria to the many cases of ‘ghostly entities’ that have been - and continue to be so -- widely reported, it should perhaps be emphasized here that this common explanation to explain ‘ghosts’ is by no means exclusive to ‘them’… For as has already been pointed out, this general principal - that the human spirit is capable of remaining earthbound after death and can communicate with the living - is a universal one and in one form or another has become an irrevocable part of human dogma. The growth of spiritualism as an accepted religion, can itself confirm this view; not to mention the claims of numerous mediums who attest to proving ‘spiritual existence’
But to deal with cases of unexplained phenomena themselves; would perhaps be to enter into an entirely different field… For notwithstanding the accounts of mediums themselves - who are inevitably bound by their own beliefs and terminology - one important question seems to have been invariably left out of the equation…
Why is it that human psyche is so dependent on the existence of ‘outside spirits’ or ‘ghosts’ in the first place? Why can it not let such ideas drop into the superstitious realms of belief from which they whence came? Why try to question and subsequently try to answer such important questions from a ‘mental standpoint’, when such a sphere might be far-removed from realms that could provide any possible answer.
That is not to say that questions into the realms of ‘ghosts’ and their ilk are not ‘answerable’, just that the very asking of them, is usually based upon very human conceptions or stand-points which themselves invariably act as barriers to understanding the very phenomena they are out to question.
But if we are to put aside the popular notion that ‘ghosts’ - should they exist - must be some oblique manifestation of the human spirit, the question inevitably remains… then what exactly are they?
© David Farrant
To be continued …
A
Anonymous
Guest
Veiled Existence Part 2
As a psychic investigator, I have spent many years looking into the possibilities surrounding this profound question, and although my findings have been frequently published (both privately and amongst professional circles), still there frequently remains the very human inability to side-step traditional ideas and conventionalism when trying to understand them.
Basically, I have put forward the notion that generally, psychic phenomena can be divided into three main categories (which themselves can be divided in sub-categories). The first category - which is certainly the most common - concerns the possibility that many psychic phenomena (whether these consist of ghostly ‘people’, animals, or even ‘material’ objects) are merely images of past events or places that can be replayed at certain times under certain conditions. These include planetary alignments, lunar cycles, geographical locations and, perhaps most important of all, atmospheric conditions. Water appears to be an essential ingredient that aids the manifestation of many psychic phenomena; but invariably these images - or ‘pictures’ - have no intelligence, any more than a television picture can be said to have intelligence.
A second category of unexplained phenomena involves what is commonly known as the poltergeist. Here we find objects apparently moving (sometimes violently) of their own accord, inexplicable drops of temperature, or direct interference with material objects; such as light bulbs mysteriously fading or glasses or cups being suddenly shattered.
Invariably, such activity is put down to the existence and intervention of some kind of outside ‘intelligence’s or spirits (spirits that can sometimes be exorcised and made to depart), though whilst this remains the prevailing view, and whilst such occurrences can and do frequently occur, these events may have nothing to do with ‘outside spirits’.
For it is often overlooked that many ‘supernatural’ occurrences are caused by unconscious levels in the human mind itself; forces - or ‘energy’ - that can operate completely independently of the everyday thinking mind. The degree to which such energy can be operative, it in turn dependent on the extent it may have developed in any particular person. It is certainly true that such energy ( I term it ‘energy’ for want of a better word) appears to be far more active in the case of adolescents and young children.
But the suggestion that unconscious forces in the human mind are responsible for many cases of unexplained phenomena which are otherwise termed spirits or ‘ghosts’; or the previously expounded observation that many supernatural phenomena are merely ‘unintelligent pictures’, is not intended to be a ‘neatly tied up’ explanation for the existence of ghosts.
There are too many other factors to be taken into account when dealing with cases of unexplained phenomena, not least, a third category of unexplained phenomena that seem to have as their cause the actual existence of some kind of ‘outside intelligence’s’.
Perhaps the best known is the supposed existence of the incubus and succubus - male and female demons respectively - that visit sleeping people by night and are reported to have sex with them; although sometimes they are content to merely take possession of their chosen victims.
The symptoms of such visitations are invariably the same; people being suddenly awakened to find themselves completely paralysed by some alien force that has taken possession of their bodies. Unable to move, or even scream, unfortunate victims can only lay in their abruptly awakened state totally at the mercy of the demonic entity that has rendered them powerless. In many cases such visitations may recur with relentless persistency; and just as frequently chosen victims become anaemic and develop an allergy to bright sunlight.
It would be temping, of course, to use examples of incubi and succubae visitations (and these have been reported for centuries world-wide) as ‘evidence’ that intelligent outside entities really do exist, but on the other hand, ‘proving’ such a concept would be impossible as proving the existence of the human spirit; a potential that lies beyond present-day human consciousness.
But one factor that does present itself from examples of such ‘demonic’ visitations (and I have many on file that represent accounts from completely logical and sane people), is the manner in which many psychic phenomena can be distorted beyond means by misunderstanding and a very human trait to attribute fantasy to, and exaggerate, those things ‘unknowable’…
A prime example must surely be the legend of the vampire. For here we find a glamorised myth that has its sole foundation, accounts and legends about incubi and succubae activity. The hypnotic control upon a chosen victim; the draining or loss of blood; an aversion to sunlight, and the sexual implications, all showing how platonic myth is capable of being born from earlier legend or accounts about supernatural activity that were already in existence. Seized upon by earlier authors, (and later to be expounded by Hollywood and others), the possible existence of the incubus and succubus came to be distorted out of all proportion from its probable occurrence.
In the case of the ‘vampire’, (and I have always maintained that these only exist in their literal sense as ‘just pure fiction’), we are left with a glamorised ‘occult dream’; but one that should not be left to overshadow - or even be seen to invalidate - cases of genuine psychic activity.
FIN
© David Farrant
As a psychic investigator, I have spent many years looking into the possibilities surrounding this profound question, and although my findings have been frequently published (both privately and amongst professional circles), still there frequently remains the very human inability to side-step traditional ideas and conventionalism when trying to understand them.
Basically, I have put forward the notion that generally, psychic phenomena can be divided into three main categories (which themselves can be divided in sub-categories). The first category - which is certainly the most common - concerns the possibility that many psychic phenomena (whether these consist of ghostly ‘people’, animals, or even ‘material’ objects) are merely images of past events or places that can be replayed at certain times under certain conditions. These include planetary alignments, lunar cycles, geographical locations and, perhaps most important of all, atmospheric conditions. Water appears to be an essential ingredient that aids the manifestation of many psychic phenomena; but invariably these images - or ‘pictures’ - have no intelligence, any more than a television picture can be said to have intelligence.
A second category of unexplained phenomena involves what is commonly known as the poltergeist. Here we find objects apparently moving (sometimes violently) of their own accord, inexplicable drops of temperature, or direct interference with material objects; such as light bulbs mysteriously fading or glasses or cups being suddenly shattered.
Invariably, such activity is put down to the existence and intervention of some kind of outside ‘intelligence’s or spirits (spirits that can sometimes be exorcised and made to depart), though whilst this remains the prevailing view, and whilst such occurrences can and do frequently occur, these events may have nothing to do with ‘outside spirits’.
For it is often overlooked that many ‘supernatural’ occurrences are caused by unconscious levels in the human mind itself; forces - or ‘energy’ - that can operate completely independently of the everyday thinking mind. The degree to which such energy can be operative, it in turn dependent on the extent it may have developed in any particular person. It is certainly true that such energy ( I term it ‘energy’ for want of a better word) appears to be far more active in the case of adolescents and young children.
But the suggestion that unconscious forces in the human mind are responsible for many cases of unexplained phenomena which are otherwise termed spirits or ‘ghosts’; or the previously expounded observation that many supernatural phenomena are merely ‘unintelligent pictures’, is not intended to be a ‘neatly tied up’ explanation for the existence of ghosts.
There are too many other factors to be taken into account when dealing with cases of unexplained phenomena, not least, a third category of unexplained phenomena that seem to have as their cause the actual existence of some kind of ‘outside intelligence’s’.
Perhaps the best known is the supposed existence of the incubus and succubus - male and female demons respectively - that visit sleeping people by night and are reported to have sex with them; although sometimes they are content to merely take possession of their chosen victims.
The symptoms of such visitations are invariably the same; people being suddenly awakened to find themselves completely paralysed by some alien force that has taken possession of their bodies. Unable to move, or even scream, unfortunate victims can only lay in their abruptly awakened state totally at the mercy of the demonic entity that has rendered them powerless. In many cases such visitations may recur with relentless persistency; and just as frequently chosen victims become anaemic and develop an allergy to bright sunlight.
It would be temping, of course, to use examples of incubi and succubae visitations (and these have been reported for centuries world-wide) as ‘evidence’ that intelligent outside entities really do exist, but on the other hand, ‘proving’ such a concept would be impossible as proving the existence of the human spirit; a potential that lies beyond present-day human consciousness.
But one factor that does present itself from examples of such ‘demonic’ visitations (and I have many on file that represent accounts from completely logical and sane people), is the manner in which many psychic phenomena can be distorted beyond means by misunderstanding and a very human trait to attribute fantasy to, and exaggerate, those things ‘unknowable’…
A prime example must surely be the legend of the vampire. For here we find a glamorised myth that has its sole foundation, accounts and legends about incubi and succubae activity. The hypnotic control upon a chosen victim; the draining or loss of blood; an aversion to sunlight, and the sexual implications, all showing how platonic myth is capable of being born from earlier legend or accounts about supernatural activity that were already in existence. Seized upon by earlier authors, (and later to be expounded by Hollywood and others), the possible existence of the incubus and succubus came to be distorted out of all proportion from its probable occurrence.
In the case of the ‘vampire’, (and I have always maintained that these only exist in their literal sense as ‘just pure fiction’), we are left with a glamorised ‘occult dream’; but one that should not be left to overshadow - or even be seen to invalidate - cases of genuine psychic activity.
FIN
© David Farrant
A
Anonymous
Guest
HAUNTED COTTAGE?
- by David Farrant -
President of the British Psychic and Occult Society
PERHAPS ONE REASON so few ghost stories have emerged from Wales compared to the flood of stories and legends hailing from other parts of the country, is a definite suspicion in some rural communities of 'outsiders' who, by posing 'alien' questions, are seen to pose a threat to intimate, if not the guarded, lifestyles of some people. Perhaps it follows that anyone pursuing enquiries of a supernatural nature - enquires which in turn may be seen to intrude upon the privacy of both those living and dead, are often treated with disdain, if not with cold indifference or outright hostility.
Such at least, proved to be the case during a visit by the author to North Wales, though it should be said that patience and persistence revealed an unique haunting and one which had hitherto escaped written documentation.
For some years a ruined cottage near Deiniolen in the Swowdonia valley has been linked with stories of supernatural happenings and a wandering shadowy figure that emanates an aura of intense evil and despair. Blackbird Cottage as it is known, lies secluded near the bottom of a deep mountain slope, its stone walls intact, the broken roof still withstanding despite persistent falls of rain.
Its history is relatively unknown but it has somehow acquired a fearsome reputation, sufficient it would appear, to prevent most villagers visiting the area at night. Although some have lent their testimonies to the existence of something "very sinister" lurking in the vicinity, most displayed a marked reluctance to recount details of any given experiences, making consecutive accounts hard to track down.
But despite the local 'veil of secrecy' that seemed to envelop the case, eventually research led to two young ghost hunters who actually claimed to have encountered a ghostly figure at the cottage first hand and (perhaps in refreshing contrast to others interviewed) did not mind relating their experience.
Paula Haywood of Tyn-y-Gerdd, Deiniolen and Jemima Mitchell of Bordorgan, Anglesea, both claimed to have seen the ghostly figure on two occasions after deciding to explore the ruins for evidence of its ghost.
Their first visit took place during the day and before long they both sensed an overbearing sense of melancholy inside the cottage and a distinct feeling of being watched from one of the back rooms. It was a mild day with a gentle breeze blowing from the mountains but inside the temperature seemed to have dropped to the extent it was 'like being inside a refrigerator'. They decided to leave but glancing back they both saw a 'shadowy figure' coming towards them from out of the back room. The ghost hovered motionlessly before suddenly disappearing into a bare stone wall one side of the corridor.
Shaken but undeterred by the incident, Paula and Jemina returned about a week later, this time at night and accompanied by a male companion. There was a bright moon and as they approached the cottage, all three clearly saw a dark figure standing beside a stone wall outside. They walked away rapidly as the figure appeared decidedly menacing , but they were horrified to see the figure following them as if in pursuit. It stopped at intervals down the mountain slope and did not disappear from view until they reached the roadway.
Asked to describe the figure in more detail, Paula said it was about six feet tall in the shape of a man although it was not possible to make out any discernible features. But it looked 'solid' despite being without positive features and it made no sound whatsoever. She added that there was no question that the figure could have been a human being; for one thing they noticed that it cast no shadow despite the bright moonlight, and on the first occasion they had actually seen it disappear.
From a psychic point of view, there obviously arises the question as to what the nature of the entity was, and whether it was really 'intelligently malign' as described, or whether it was merely some earthbound phantom taken out of all context from a relatively innocuous appearance.
For it is sometimes the case, that relatively harmless phenomena are judged to be entities having some terrible intent, when in reality, they might only be reflections of some past event, shadows or unintelligent pictures that might be witnessed by the human senses.
This would otherwise help to establish if some 'intelligent' force or being lurked - indeed, still lurks - within the confines of the cottage or if this was merely just an unintelligent picture of some long forgotten past event capable of being witnessed spasmodically who happened to be in the vicinity at a given time.
Intrigued by these accounts of the ghostly figure, it was decided to conduct a nightly vigil at Blackbird Cottage to see if some contact could be made with the entity. This vigil was conducted by members of the British Psychic and Occult Society in March 1985, and also present were Paula and Jemina, occult medium Colette Sully and the author.
From the onset, it was impossible not to be aware of the distinctively cold temperature inside the cottage (which was well below that of outside) and an almost uncanny atmosphere of 'trapped isolation' that seemed desperately alien to the world outside. A small fire was lit in a derelict fireplace and everyone settled down to await developments.
For almost an hour everything was quiet, but then a distinct change came over the atmosphere and a 'heavy tension' descended on the room whilst simultaneously a fleeting figure was seen in the doorway, similar to a movement caught quickly from the corner of the eye before having been brought properly into focus; although this had occurred in most peoples' direct line of vision. Only seconds after this, the cottage was illumined by a bright white light passing overhead that cast eerie shadows through the broken timbers of the roof. Probably, most people present assumed that this was a distant helicopter or reflections from an overhead plane; although strangely, there was no sound accompanying this light.
Almost immediately following this, a loud crashing noise' came from above and large pieces of bricks and rubble fell down the chimney obliterating the log fire and causing the room to be filled with a dense collection of dislodged soot and smoke. There was also a strange 'breathing sound' that seemed to accompany this; although this could have been that wind howling down the presumably unblocked chimney.
Whatever the cause of this, nobody seemed inclined to investigate further: the prospect of no fire, freezing temperature and torches that made virtually no impact in the dense smoke, persuading everyone present that it would better to postpone the vigil.
In fact, as it turned out, there would have been no alternative to this decision, for just after leaving the cottage, a local police patrol car arrived and two policemen - after having been enlightened for the reason for our presence - warned us that, aside from the possibility of trespass - it was unsafe to enter derelict buildings on the mountainside at night.
Pressed about stories and sightings of the black figure, the police confirmed that the cottage was indeed reputedly haunted and, interestingly enough, the conversation led to local reports about mysterious lights in the sky. They said these were numerous, and added that they had seen one only some ten minutes before they approaching the cottage. They would not be drawn further than this, although later enquiries to locals revealed that the extent these mysterious lights had been officially reported, had not been exaggerated by the two policemen.
In fact, for some reason, local people seemed far more willing to discuss these lights (which many referred to as UFO's) than they did to discuss cases of ghosts - probably because they were commonly known and this reduced the risk of potential ridicule.
From a personal point of view, however, the mysterious lights seen in the sky over Snowdonia (in this particular instance, perhaps over the cottage), raised another potential to this investigation ...
Could it have been a feasible possibility, perhaps, that the light seen momentarily through the cottage 's broken roof, was in some way connected with the appearances of the ghostly figure? And to speculate a step further, was the cottage itself perhaps situated upon a earth energy line (a ley line) along which such lights and other ghostly phenomena had been reported over other parts of the country?
Following the police intervention at Blackbird Cottage, however, there seemed little point in holding another nightly vigil there. It was fairly obvious that the cottage would now be under police observation, not to mention the possibility of a hostile reaction from locals if word of any further nightly vigil came to light.
But the investigation into Blackbird Cottage had not been entirely without success. We had managed to catalogue what we considered two definite sightings. and, of course, the nightly vigil had also brought limited results - at least, in suggesting the possibility that 'non-worldly' forces may have been connected with events at the ruin.
It had not been possible to establish the exact nature or cause of this phenomenon, but what remained of importance was, that we had reasonably established that some psychic force - or 'forces' - were active in and around Blackbird Cottage.
- by David Farrant -
President of the British Psychic and Occult Society
PERHAPS ONE REASON so few ghost stories have emerged from Wales compared to the flood of stories and legends hailing from other parts of the country, is a definite suspicion in some rural communities of 'outsiders' who, by posing 'alien' questions, are seen to pose a threat to intimate, if not the guarded, lifestyles of some people. Perhaps it follows that anyone pursuing enquiries of a supernatural nature - enquires which in turn may be seen to intrude upon the privacy of both those living and dead, are often treated with disdain, if not with cold indifference or outright hostility.
Such at least, proved to be the case during a visit by the author to North Wales, though it should be said that patience and persistence revealed an unique haunting and one which had hitherto escaped written documentation.
For some years a ruined cottage near Deiniolen in the Swowdonia valley has been linked with stories of supernatural happenings and a wandering shadowy figure that emanates an aura of intense evil and despair. Blackbird Cottage as it is known, lies secluded near the bottom of a deep mountain slope, its stone walls intact, the broken roof still withstanding despite persistent falls of rain.
Its history is relatively unknown but it has somehow acquired a fearsome reputation, sufficient it would appear, to prevent most villagers visiting the area at night. Although some have lent their testimonies to the existence of something "very sinister" lurking in the vicinity, most displayed a marked reluctance to recount details of any given experiences, making consecutive accounts hard to track down.
But despite the local 'veil of secrecy' that seemed to envelop the case, eventually research led to two young ghost hunters who actually claimed to have encountered a ghostly figure at the cottage first hand and (perhaps in refreshing contrast to others interviewed) did not mind relating their experience.
Paula Haywood of Tyn-y-Gerdd, Deiniolen and Jemima Mitchell of Bordorgan, Anglesea, both claimed to have seen the ghostly figure on two occasions after deciding to explore the ruins for evidence of its ghost.
Their first visit took place during the day and before long they both sensed an overbearing sense of melancholy inside the cottage and a distinct feeling of being watched from one of the back rooms. It was a mild day with a gentle breeze blowing from the mountains but inside the temperature seemed to have dropped to the extent it was 'like being inside a refrigerator'. They decided to leave but glancing back they both saw a 'shadowy figure' coming towards them from out of the back room. The ghost hovered motionlessly before suddenly disappearing into a bare stone wall one side of the corridor.
Shaken but undeterred by the incident, Paula and Jemina returned about a week later, this time at night and accompanied by a male companion. There was a bright moon and as they approached the cottage, all three clearly saw a dark figure standing beside a stone wall outside. They walked away rapidly as the figure appeared decidedly menacing , but they were horrified to see the figure following them as if in pursuit. It stopped at intervals down the mountain slope and did not disappear from view until they reached the roadway.
Asked to describe the figure in more detail, Paula said it was about six feet tall in the shape of a man although it was not possible to make out any discernible features. But it looked 'solid' despite being without positive features and it made no sound whatsoever. She added that there was no question that the figure could have been a human being; for one thing they noticed that it cast no shadow despite the bright moonlight, and on the first occasion they had actually seen it disappear.
From a psychic point of view, there obviously arises the question as to what the nature of the entity was, and whether it was really 'intelligently malign' as described, or whether it was merely some earthbound phantom taken out of all context from a relatively innocuous appearance.
For it is sometimes the case, that relatively harmless phenomena are judged to be entities having some terrible intent, when in reality, they might only be reflections of some past event, shadows or unintelligent pictures that might be witnessed by the human senses.
This would otherwise help to establish if some 'intelligent' force or being lurked - indeed, still lurks - within the confines of the cottage or if this was merely just an unintelligent picture of some long forgotten past event capable of being witnessed spasmodically who happened to be in the vicinity at a given time.
Intrigued by these accounts of the ghostly figure, it was decided to conduct a nightly vigil at Blackbird Cottage to see if some contact could be made with the entity. This vigil was conducted by members of the British Psychic and Occult Society in March 1985, and also present were Paula and Jemina, occult medium Colette Sully and the author.
From the onset, it was impossible not to be aware of the distinctively cold temperature inside the cottage (which was well below that of outside) and an almost uncanny atmosphere of 'trapped isolation' that seemed desperately alien to the world outside. A small fire was lit in a derelict fireplace and everyone settled down to await developments.
For almost an hour everything was quiet, but then a distinct change came over the atmosphere and a 'heavy tension' descended on the room whilst simultaneously a fleeting figure was seen in the doorway, similar to a movement caught quickly from the corner of the eye before having been brought properly into focus; although this had occurred in most peoples' direct line of vision. Only seconds after this, the cottage was illumined by a bright white light passing overhead that cast eerie shadows through the broken timbers of the roof. Probably, most people present assumed that this was a distant helicopter or reflections from an overhead plane; although strangely, there was no sound accompanying this light.
Almost immediately following this, a loud crashing noise' came from above and large pieces of bricks and rubble fell down the chimney obliterating the log fire and causing the room to be filled with a dense collection of dislodged soot and smoke. There was also a strange 'breathing sound' that seemed to accompany this; although this could have been that wind howling down the presumably unblocked chimney.
Whatever the cause of this, nobody seemed inclined to investigate further: the prospect of no fire, freezing temperature and torches that made virtually no impact in the dense smoke, persuading everyone present that it would better to postpone the vigil.
In fact, as it turned out, there would have been no alternative to this decision, for just after leaving the cottage, a local police patrol car arrived and two policemen - after having been enlightened for the reason for our presence - warned us that, aside from the possibility of trespass - it was unsafe to enter derelict buildings on the mountainside at night.
Pressed about stories and sightings of the black figure, the police confirmed that the cottage was indeed reputedly haunted and, interestingly enough, the conversation led to local reports about mysterious lights in the sky. They said these were numerous, and added that they had seen one only some ten minutes before they approaching the cottage. They would not be drawn further than this, although later enquiries to locals revealed that the extent these mysterious lights had been officially reported, had not been exaggerated by the two policemen.
In fact, for some reason, local people seemed far more willing to discuss these lights (which many referred to as UFO's) than they did to discuss cases of ghosts - probably because they were commonly known and this reduced the risk of potential ridicule.
From a personal point of view, however, the mysterious lights seen in the sky over Snowdonia (in this particular instance, perhaps over the cottage), raised another potential to this investigation ...
Could it have been a feasible possibility, perhaps, that the light seen momentarily through the cottage 's broken roof, was in some way connected with the appearances of the ghostly figure? And to speculate a step further, was the cottage itself perhaps situated upon a earth energy line (a ley line) along which such lights and other ghostly phenomena had been reported over other parts of the country?
Following the police intervention at Blackbird Cottage, however, there seemed little point in holding another nightly vigil there. It was fairly obvious that the cottage would now be under police observation, not to mention the possibility of a hostile reaction from locals if word of any further nightly vigil came to light.
But the investigation into Blackbird Cottage had not been entirely without success. We had managed to catalogue what we considered two definite sightings. and, of course, the nightly vigil had also brought limited results - at least, in suggesting the possibility that 'non-worldly' forces may have been connected with events at the ruin.
It had not been possible to establish the exact nature or cause of this phenomenon, but what remained of importance was, that we had reasonably established that some psychic force - or 'forces' - were active in and around Blackbird Cottage.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Wicca - A lost Age?
WICCA - A LOST AGE?
Among the many myths surrounding the Old Religion of Wicca (or “witchcraft” as it was subsequently dubbed by the early Church and later became known), was a prophecy that predicted the coming of a “golden Age”.
This prophecy originally told of the arrival of a Golden Age when mankind would come into its own to live in peace and unity, and have as its Godhead a universal Deity. It further told that this new religion was not to be totally monotheistic, but that a supreme Goddess would form an equal part of the Godhead. Together with the God of Light, She would reign as true redeemer of the universe; Her adherents being the Children of Light - one of her aspects being the prevailing forces of Nature … Before this revelation was to come about however, a Dark Age would first ensue in which mankind would smother and forget all original religious Truth and Knowledge and none but a few would remain to give testimony to these original ancient beliefs. It was to be an age of religious conflicts, bloodshed and unrest; yet, through it, purged of all hypocrisy, would emerge the chosen religion of mankind.
All this, of course, may be no more than a reflection of what witches - white witches, that is - have believed throughout the Ages; but to take such legends and beliefs too literally as a means to assessing any hidden truth, could be to miss the real point. For the real question that arises here, (indeed, is one that is applicable to penetrating the shell of all contemporary religions, including Christianity), is not whether such beliefs are literally “true”, but whether they may contain some hidden implication or meaning that could supply a clue to some Truth that may have been lost or forgotten.
It perhaps follows that when searching for any hidden Truth or deep religious meaning that might underlie this ancient prophecy, it is first of primary importance to examine facts and events throughout history; events that might indicate some fulfilment of its original Decree.
The first, and perhaps most obvious of such facts, was the witches’ conviction that their religion was to suffer fervent oppression which, by its very severity, would eventually lead to its absolute suppression where it would remain until the dawning of the New Age when it would finally emerge as the chosen religion of mankind. From the events of history, it cannot be denied that at least the first part of this prophecy has been proved to be correct.
Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries the Inquisition and its resulting persecutions were so severe that literally thousands of witches were tortured and put to death, and the Cult of Wicca, in reality, a religion based on Nature worship and the recognition of a Mother Earth, was declared by the Church to be an evil sect that worshipped the devil which had to be annihilated without compassion or mercy at all costs.
It is not surprising, perhaps, that as a result of this decree, Wicca was forced underground and its intrinsic rites and practices became shrouded in secrecy to protect its adherents from a hostile populace who, in the light of the comparatively new teachings of the Church, were no longer prepared to accept them.
Nevertheless, such forms of religious persecution proving ultimately ineffective, the remaining Cults continued to survive; if anything becoming even more closely integrated and acquiring a new inner strength and understanding in order to overcome the overwhelming odds which threatened them.
Thus, by actual events of history, the prophecies contained in Wicca’s secret Writings foretelling the persecution of the Initiated, would appear to have been fulfilled.
Wicca virtually disappeared (outwardly at least) until a mere 45 years ago when Gerald Gardner, himself an initiated witch of a High Degree. Broke many of the traditional rules of secrecy and published an all but detailed account of the workings of his Coven disclosing, among other things, the use of sex in some of his initiation ceremonies. His book perhaps expectedly caused a storm of protest. Conversely, Gardner and his associates did not seem to care. But perhaps the fact that the Witchcraft Act had been repealed in 1951 had something to do with that.
(There was of course, a huge revival of the occult in the late 18th century; although this was concerned primarily with magic and spiritualism - not Wicca, which is often confused between the two).
Today, despite the veil of secrecy still surrounding it, (at least around its genuine beliefs and practices), Wicca perhaps enjoys more tolerant recognition; although there are still many - nay a majority - who labour under an inherent apprehension that devil worship and clandestine orgies form an active part of its practices.
Yet ironically, much of the animosity still directed towards Wicca by a misinformed public, is often no more than an emotional outlet for a subconscious fear of the Unknown; the witch being seen as symbolic of the latter becoming a convenient scapegoat on whom to blame a neurosis that is undoubtedly more applicable to an “accusers” own state of mind.
The basic tenets of Wicca then - notwithstanding that I have expounded only cautiously on the acceptance of a Mother Goddess and the importance of Nature worship as part of its beliefs - may be seen to be far removed from popular conception and perhaps certainly should not be judged by those not yet ready and unwilling to understand them.
It is a paradox, perhaps, (though one that contains a simplistic clarity), but it is only when fear and suspicion towards the Unknown and Unknowable disappear from human nature, that the true adherents of Wicca may chose to “come back into the open” and teach the people the way to Knowledge and peace through what they see as an ultimatum given by Divine Right.
If such is true, then the dawning of a Golden Age foretold so long ago by its ancient harbingers, would almost certainly become a reality.
Sadly, however, it seems that at the moment, a world filled with so much hatred and unrest, is still not ready to accept them …
© David Farrant, President of The British Psychic and Occult Society
Posted by Catherine Fearnley
WICCA - A LOST AGE?
Among the many myths surrounding the Old Religion of Wicca (or “witchcraft” as it was subsequently dubbed by the early Church and later became known), was a prophecy that predicted the coming of a “golden Age”.
This prophecy originally told of the arrival of a Golden Age when mankind would come into its own to live in peace and unity, and have as its Godhead a universal Deity. It further told that this new religion was not to be totally monotheistic, but that a supreme Goddess would form an equal part of the Godhead. Together with the God of Light, She would reign as true redeemer of the universe; Her adherents being the Children of Light - one of her aspects being the prevailing forces of Nature … Before this revelation was to come about however, a Dark Age would first ensue in which mankind would smother and forget all original religious Truth and Knowledge and none but a few would remain to give testimony to these original ancient beliefs. It was to be an age of religious conflicts, bloodshed and unrest; yet, through it, purged of all hypocrisy, would emerge the chosen religion of mankind.
All this, of course, may be no more than a reflection of what witches - white witches, that is - have believed throughout the Ages; but to take such legends and beliefs too literally as a means to assessing any hidden truth, could be to miss the real point. For the real question that arises here, (indeed, is one that is applicable to penetrating the shell of all contemporary religions, including Christianity), is not whether such beliefs are literally “true”, but whether they may contain some hidden implication or meaning that could supply a clue to some Truth that may have been lost or forgotten.
It perhaps follows that when searching for any hidden Truth or deep religious meaning that might underlie this ancient prophecy, it is first of primary importance to examine facts and events throughout history; events that might indicate some fulfilment of its original Decree.
The first, and perhaps most obvious of such facts, was the witches’ conviction that their religion was to suffer fervent oppression which, by its very severity, would eventually lead to its absolute suppression where it would remain until the dawning of the New Age when it would finally emerge as the chosen religion of mankind. From the events of history, it cannot be denied that at least the first part of this prophecy has been proved to be correct.
Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries the Inquisition and its resulting persecutions were so severe that literally thousands of witches were tortured and put to death, and the Cult of Wicca, in reality, a religion based on Nature worship and the recognition of a Mother Earth, was declared by the Church to be an evil sect that worshipped the devil which had to be annihilated without compassion or mercy at all costs.
It is not surprising, perhaps, that as a result of this decree, Wicca was forced underground and its intrinsic rites and practices became shrouded in secrecy to protect its adherents from a hostile populace who, in the light of the comparatively new teachings of the Church, were no longer prepared to accept them.
Nevertheless, such forms of religious persecution proving ultimately ineffective, the remaining Cults continued to survive; if anything becoming even more closely integrated and acquiring a new inner strength and understanding in order to overcome the overwhelming odds which threatened them.
Thus, by actual events of history, the prophecies contained in Wicca’s secret Writings foretelling the persecution of the Initiated, would appear to have been fulfilled.
Wicca virtually disappeared (outwardly at least) until a mere 45 years ago when Gerald Gardner, himself an initiated witch of a High Degree. Broke many of the traditional rules of secrecy and published an all but detailed account of the workings of his Coven disclosing, among other things, the use of sex in some of his initiation ceremonies. His book perhaps expectedly caused a storm of protest. Conversely, Gardner and his associates did not seem to care. But perhaps the fact that the Witchcraft Act had been repealed in 1951 had something to do with that.
(There was of course, a huge revival of the occult in the late 18th century; although this was concerned primarily with magic and spiritualism - not Wicca, which is often confused between the two).
Today, despite the veil of secrecy still surrounding it, (at least around its genuine beliefs and practices), Wicca perhaps enjoys more tolerant recognition; although there are still many - nay a majority - who labour under an inherent apprehension that devil worship and clandestine orgies form an active part of its practices.
Yet ironically, much of the animosity still directed towards Wicca by a misinformed public, is often no more than an emotional outlet for a subconscious fear of the Unknown; the witch being seen as symbolic of the latter becoming a convenient scapegoat on whom to blame a neurosis that is undoubtedly more applicable to an “accusers” own state of mind.
The basic tenets of Wicca then - notwithstanding that I have expounded only cautiously on the acceptance of a Mother Goddess and the importance of Nature worship as part of its beliefs - may be seen to be far removed from popular conception and perhaps certainly should not be judged by those not yet ready and unwilling to understand them.
It is a paradox, perhaps, (though one that contains a simplistic clarity), but it is only when fear and suspicion towards the Unknown and Unknowable disappear from human nature, that the true adherents of Wicca may chose to “come back into the open” and teach the people the way to Knowledge and peace through what they see as an ultimatum given by Divine Right.
If such is true, then the dawning of a Golden Age foretold so long ago by its ancient harbingers, would almost certainly become a reality.
Sadly, however, it seems that at the moment, a world filled with so much hatred and unrest, is still not ready to accept them …
© David Farrant, President of The British Psychic and Occult Society
Posted by Catherine Fearnley
A
Anonymous
Guest
Ghosts The Water Connectin Part 1
Ghosts The Water Connection Part 1 by David Farrant
This is a short article taken from David Farrant's book, Dark Journey (C) David Farrant 1999
GHOSTS, THE WATER CONNECTION
~BY DAVID FARRANT~
WHEN INVESTIGATING haunting and other types of para-normal activity, or speaking to witnesses who may have experienced them, it is surprising how many cases share remarkably similar characteristics, notwithstanding that many given incidents occur many mils apart and the witnesses are unknown to each other. Not all cases are identical, of course, but it can be said that the symptoms of given cases seem to share a common effect.
One factor that seems to link many cases of ghostly phenomena is a sudden change of temperature that often precedes - or accompanies - outbreaks of psychic activity; another is the frequent tendency of ‘ghosts’, or the psychic energy present, to affect electrical systems or even move material objects.
As most psychic investigators know, the ability of many animals to sense preternatural ‘presence’s’ is fairly well known, but one aspect that might not be generally realised is that many sightings of ghosts and other apparitions tend only to occur under certain climatic conditions. The humid atmosphere preceding a thunder storm, for example, when the air is charged with electricity, has brought many a report of ghostly sightings and it is worthy to note that a large proportion of ghostly phenomena reported world-wide occur in conditions conducive to a damp atmosphere or in the immediate vicinity of water.
Perhaps water - or damp conditions - is an essential ingredient that can actually activate psychic energy and ‘replay’ it to be seen in the form of ghostly images or pictures. More likely, any possible connection between the tangible and intangible, is likely to evade description. Nonetheless, the following are just a few cases of ghostly phenomena that appear to be directly linked to the element of water…
Datchworth is a small village, three miles from Welwyn, in Hertfordshire, and here, more precisely in the vicinity of a small lake opposite Mardlebury Manor, the ghostly figure of a woman has been seen on the roads at night suddenly emerging from the darkness and disappearing in the paths of approaching cars. She is also seen disappearing into the lake.
According to legend, the ghost is that of a young woman drowned in the lake some 200 years ago after attending a grand party at the manor house. As she was leaving the party in her carriage, her coachman (who was possibly drunk) lost control of the horses and veered into the lake. Since this time, she appeared spasmodically to lonely travellers, and in more recent times, to startled motorists who have swerved violently to avoid hitting her.
Research into this case turned out to be especially interesting; especially as it corresponded uncannily with a number of other cases that involved ghostly figures confronting motorists on roads at night, seemingly, with the intention of causing death or serious injury. Whatever, circumstances prompted members of the British Psychic and Occult Society to spend an entire night by the lake, hoping to view and possibly photograph this apparition. This vigil took place in January 1984 on the night of the full moon - a time when psychic forces can be especially active.
Nothing untoward happened, although in the early hours of the morning, a definite ‘whitish mist’ was seen ‘hovering’ over the water at the far end of the lake. An attempt was made to photograph this ‘apparition’ but when later developed, the negatives were blank.
In an attempt to obtain further information, an appeal was made to a local newspaper requesting any first hand accounts from anyone who might have witnessed this apparition. This request was rewarded when one local resident, Mr Gratham Young from Welwyn, stated that a few years before, in 1978, he had actually ‘hit’ a ghostly lady in his car one night, although he had kept quiet about this for fear of being ridiculed. He wrote …
“About five years ago in the late summer, I was driving home from my girlfriend’s house in Tewin to my parents house in Knebworth. Around 11:30p.m., at the bottom of Whitehorse Lane (near Mardlebury Manor), a woman ran in front of my car. I hit her steered off the road and ploughed into an old oak tree on the left hand side of the road. I rushed back to the spot where I had ‘hit’ the lady, only damage to the passenger side-wing where I had hit the tree. Even to this day, there is a chunk out of the tree where I had hit it.”
When asked if there were any details he might have overlooked, Mr Young replied…
“All I can remember after turning a bend at the bottom of the land, is running into a low mist and then this figure ran from right to left across the path of my car. The figure was that of a lady and I seem to recall that she was wearing a flowing gown or some sort of cape.”
An almost identical account of this ghostly figure, came from another local resident in 1990. After learning about Gratham Young’s experience, Mrs Mollie Cummings from Stevenage told me …
“I thought at first you were referring to an experience that happened to my husband and myself in 1978. In May of that year, we were driving home to Stevenage from Knebworth when, at about 2am, along Watton Lane, a lady in a grey cloak stepped out in front of the car. My husband slammed on the brakes and shouted, ‘I’ve hit her’; at the same time I screamed out, also believing her to be hit. He jumped out of the car to go to her aid while I sat rigid in the car. There was no one there! But as I sat waiting for him to get back into the car, I saw the grey lady float through the bonnet of the car and walk clean through the trees on the embankment! I can tell you the hair stood up on the back of my neck and my husband said, ‘Lets get out of here’.
The next morning, after telling our son about our experience, he asked us both to draw what we saw independently. We did, and found that we had both drawn the same lady.
As an afterthought, my husband remarked he thought it strange that, although the road was very wet, the car had not skidded when he had slammed on the brakes.”
Part Two to follow shortly...
Ghosts The Water Connection Part 1 by David Farrant
This is a short article taken from David Farrant's book, Dark Journey (C) David Farrant 1999
GHOSTS, THE WATER CONNECTION
~BY DAVID FARRANT~
WHEN INVESTIGATING haunting and other types of para-normal activity, or speaking to witnesses who may have experienced them, it is surprising how many cases share remarkably similar characteristics, notwithstanding that many given incidents occur many mils apart and the witnesses are unknown to each other. Not all cases are identical, of course, but it can be said that the symptoms of given cases seem to share a common effect.
One factor that seems to link many cases of ghostly phenomena is a sudden change of temperature that often precedes - or accompanies - outbreaks of psychic activity; another is the frequent tendency of ‘ghosts’, or the psychic energy present, to affect electrical systems or even move material objects.
As most psychic investigators know, the ability of many animals to sense preternatural ‘presence’s’ is fairly well known, but one aspect that might not be generally realised is that many sightings of ghosts and other apparitions tend only to occur under certain climatic conditions. The humid atmosphere preceding a thunder storm, for example, when the air is charged with electricity, has brought many a report of ghostly sightings and it is worthy to note that a large proportion of ghostly phenomena reported world-wide occur in conditions conducive to a damp atmosphere or in the immediate vicinity of water.
Perhaps water - or damp conditions - is an essential ingredient that can actually activate psychic energy and ‘replay’ it to be seen in the form of ghostly images or pictures. More likely, any possible connection between the tangible and intangible, is likely to evade description. Nonetheless, the following are just a few cases of ghostly phenomena that appear to be directly linked to the element of water…
Datchworth is a small village, three miles from Welwyn, in Hertfordshire, and here, more precisely in the vicinity of a small lake opposite Mardlebury Manor, the ghostly figure of a woman has been seen on the roads at night suddenly emerging from the darkness and disappearing in the paths of approaching cars. She is also seen disappearing into the lake.
According to legend, the ghost is that of a young woman drowned in the lake some 200 years ago after attending a grand party at the manor house. As she was leaving the party in her carriage, her coachman (who was possibly drunk) lost control of the horses and veered into the lake. Since this time, she appeared spasmodically to lonely travellers, and in more recent times, to startled motorists who have swerved violently to avoid hitting her.
Research into this case turned out to be especially interesting; especially as it corresponded uncannily with a number of other cases that involved ghostly figures confronting motorists on roads at night, seemingly, with the intention of causing death or serious injury. Whatever, circumstances prompted members of the British Psychic and Occult Society to spend an entire night by the lake, hoping to view and possibly photograph this apparition. This vigil took place in January 1984 on the night of the full moon - a time when psychic forces can be especially active.
Nothing untoward happened, although in the early hours of the morning, a definite ‘whitish mist’ was seen ‘hovering’ over the water at the far end of the lake. An attempt was made to photograph this ‘apparition’ but when later developed, the negatives were blank.
In an attempt to obtain further information, an appeal was made to a local newspaper requesting any first hand accounts from anyone who might have witnessed this apparition. This request was rewarded when one local resident, Mr Gratham Young from Welwyn, stated that a few years before, in 1978, he had actually ‘hit’ a ghostly lady in his car one night, although he had kept quiet about this for fear of being ridiculed. He wrote …
“About five years ago in the late summer, I was driving home from my girlfriend’s house in Tewin to my parents house in Knebworth. Around 11:30p.m., at the bottom of Whitehorse Lane (near Mardlebury Manor), a woman ran in front of my car. I hit her steered off the road and ploughed into an old oak tree on the left hand side of the road. I rushed back to the spot where I had ‘hit’ the lady, only damage to the passenger side-wing where I had hit the tree. Even to this day, there is a chunk out of the tree where I had hit it.”
When asked if there were any details he might have overlooked, Mr Young replied…
“All I can remember after turning a bend at the bottom of the land, is running into a low mist and then this figure ran from right to left across the path of my car. The figure was that of a lady and I seem to recall that she was wearing a flowing gown or some sort of cape.”
An almost identical account of this ghostly figure, came from another local resident in 1990. After learning about Gratham Young’s experience, Mrs Mollie Cummings from Stevenage told me …
“I thought at first you were referring to an experience that happened to my husband and myself in 1978. In May of that year, we were driving home to Stevenage from Knebworth when, at about 2am, along Watton Lane, a lady in a grey cloak stepped out in front of the car. My husband slammed on the brakes and shouted, ‘I’ve hit her’; at the same time I screamed out, also believing her to be hit. He jumped out of the car to go to her aid while I sat rigid in the car. There was no one there! But as I sat waiting for him to get back into the car, I saw the grey lady float through the bonnet of the car and walk clean through the trees on the embankment! I can tell you the hair stood up on the back of my neck and my husband said, ‘Lets get out of here’.
The next morning, after telling our son about our experience, he asked us both to draw what we saw independently. We did, and found that we had both drawn the same lady.
As an afterthought, my husband remarked he thought it strange that, although the road was very wet, the car had not skidded when he had slammed on the brakes.”
Part Two to follow shortly...
Re: Wicca - A lost Age?
Thousands of people accused of witchcraft were executed - this doesn't mean that they were actually witches.
No, Wicca didn't disappear until then because it appeared from Gardner's imagination fully formed (with some help from Margaret Murray's equally enthusiastic imagination), and nothing more.
CathandDavid said:
Thousands of people accused of witchcraft were executed - this doesn't mean that they were actually witches.
No, Wicca didn't disappear until then because it appeared from Gardner's imagination fully formed (with some help from Margaret Murray's equally enthusiastic imagination), and nothing more.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Ghosts The Water Connection Part Two
Another person who witnessed the apparition was Mrs June Godshaw of Tewin Wood, which is near Mardlebury Manor. Especially interesting, was that her sighting took place in daylight and she was able to give a detailed account of her encounter.
Mrs Godshaw was washing her car in the driveway one warm sunny afternoon when she noticed a young lady, slightly built and deathly pale, who had appeared at the end of the drive. She was weraing a grey hooded cloak of soft draped material which partially covered her face and her dress was old-fashioned. A small hand clutched the front of her cloak holding it together, and she stood perfectly still looking down the drive.
Suspecting nothing much out of the ordinary, other than a strong impression that the girl was desperately trying to attract her attention, Mrs Godshaw spoke to her 'visitor' asking if she could be of any help. The girl looked directly at her and just 'dissolved' before her eyes.
Perhaps not surprisingly, not many people believed June Godshaw when she later told of her experience, and even her husband was hard to convince that she had really seen this melancholy figure.
It is perhaps relevant to emphasise here, that although these ghostly sightings occurred relatively close to each other, there is no evidence to suggest they all involved the same apparition. The point, however, is probably academic considering the apparition's appearances can be directly linked to the element of water.
Another tragic maiden haunts the grounds of Minster Lovell Hall, near Oxford, a picturesque ruin of 15th century Manor House on the banks of the river Windrush. Built upon the site of a Norman Priory, Minster Lovell has two romantic legends that accompany its ruins.
The first concerns Lord Lovell. He fought on the side of Richard III against Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth, but when Richard was killed he managed to escape and went into hiding. On the run, in fear for his life, he returned to Minster Lovell hall where a faithful servent hid him in a secret chamber concealed behind the walls. Unfortunately for Lord Lovell, how-ever, this trusty servant died unexpectedly holding the only key and Lord Lovell was left to die of starvation, locked within his secret prision. Some 250 years later, when much of Minster Lovell was being demolished to suit the requirements of a wealthy landowner, workmen discovered the secret room and the remains of Lord Lovell who was seated at a desk cluttered with papers, his pet dog lying at his feet. In a matter of seconds - or so the story goes - on exposure to the air, everything crumbled to dust, and inevitably perhaps, Lovell's ghost now haunts the ruins.
The other local legend concerns the 'Misteltoe Bough Bride', which is remarkably similar in its end content ... Apparently, to escape an arranged marriage, the unfortunate girl hid in a truck in the hall on the eve of her wedding, but she was unable to get out and suffocated to death. Since then, her ghost has been seen in the grounds gliding silently across a spacious lawn before disappearing by the river.
Tentative enquiries in the area by the author in 1985, in fact revealed one lady who had personally encountered this sad appariton. It was a warm summer's evening the previous year, and she had distinctly seen the figure of a woman standing on the banks of the river. At first she had taken her for a real person, but then 'she' glided across the river and disappeared abruptly above the water.
This lady is not alone in her experience at Minster Lovell Hall. A parish priest in the area confirmed that several visitors to the ruins had told of seeing a ghostly figure, particularly near the river.
Of course, it may be coincidence that the reported apparition is usually seen by the river, but taken in conjunction with numerous other sightings of apparitions that materialise near water - or sometimes in water - the possibility of 'coincidence' must be considerably lessened.
There is another ghostly lady (one bearing a striking resemblance to the Datchworh Grey Lady) that haunts a lonely stretch of road near Llanidloes in central Wales. For some miles here the road itself runs virtually parallel to the river Severn, and it is along this stretch of the road that the ghostly shape of a woman has been reported gliding across the road in front of approaching cars.
Remaining with the possibility that many ghostly apparitions could be directly linked to the element of water, it may be relevant to mention here two well known legends which - although unsubstantiated - appear to show a persistent connection between tales of ghosts and water.
Isolated Cranmere Pool that is situated in a 'Danger Area' on North Darmoor, has for long said to be haunted by a 17th centruy figure that glides to the edge of the pool and disappears. (The pool itself is now 'dry', and probably has been since the early 1800's, but as the source of the river Taw certainly contains much water at unknown depths). Nothing much is known about the origins of this phantom figure, (except there is a rather ridiculous story that the ghost is that of a former magistrate of Oakhampton whose earthbound spirit was doomed to empty the pool with a limpet shell as a penance for his wicked dealings in life) but it has nonetheless become a part of Darmoor's spooky traditions.
Bodmin Moor has its own haunted lake, although unlike Cranmere Pool its haunting is connected with a legend of King Arthur...
Desolate Dosmary Pool looms up unexpectedly from the mists of Bodmin Moor. Dosmary Pool is said to be very deep, even bottomless, (although as a point of interest the author was assured by a local farmer that in the abesence of floodwater it was possible to wade accross the lake) and it was here, or so legend tells, that King Arthur was brought dying after his last great battle and in his last moments, threw his trusted sword Excalibur into the waters. It was caught by a 'phantom hand' that slowly drew the sword beneath the surface. In later centuries, the lake was said to be haunted by a 'water wraith' whose transparent figure was seen gliding across the surface before fading into the water; indeed, this story persists in the present time.
In conclusion, and accounting for the relatively few cited cases, it may be said that many ghostly apparitions (whether these relate to stories or legends from the past or take the form of actual present-day sightings), could be seen to have a strange affinity with water.
Of course, it is not suggested that all ghostly phenomena automatically fit into this category (there are too many other factors to be taken into account when dealing with phenomena that seem to defy the definable), although it might be reasonabley to state, that there exists convincing evidence to suggest there is a direct link between many cases of reported ghostly apparitions and the element of water.
(C) David Farrant 1999
Posted by Catherine Fearnley
Another person who witnessed the apparition was Mrs June Godshaw of Tewin Wood, which is near Mardlebury Manor. Especially interesting, was that her sighting took place in daylight and she was able to give a detailed account of her encounter.
Mrs Godshaw was washing her car in the driveway one warm sunny afternoon when she noticed a young lady, slightly built and deathly pale, who had appeared at the end of the drive. She was weraing a grey hooded cloak of soft draped material which partially covered her face and her dress was old-fashioned. A small hand clutched the front of her cloak holding it together, and she stood perfectly still looking down the drive.
Suspecting nothing much out of the ordinary, other than a strong impression that the girl was desperately trying to attract her attention, Mrs Godshaw spoke to her 'visitor' asking if she could be of any help. The girl looked directly at her and just 'dissolved' before her eyes.
Perhaps not surprisingly, not many people believed June Godshaw when she later told of her experience, and even her husband was hard to convince that she had really seen this melancholy figure.
It is perhaps relevant to emphasise here, that although these ghostly sightings occurred relatively close to each other, there is no evidence to suggest they all involved the same apparition. The point, however, is probably academic considering the apparition's appearances can be directly linked to the element of water.
Another tragic maiden haunts the grounds of Minster Lovell Hall, near Oxford, a picturesque ruin of 15th century Manor House on the banks of the river Windrush. Built upon the site of a Norman Priory, Minster Lovell has two romantic legends that accompany its ruins.
The first concerns Lord Lovell. He fought on the side of Richard III against Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth, but when Richard was killed he managed to escape and went into hiding. On the run, in fear for his life, he returned to Minster Lovell hall where a faithful servent hid him in a secret chamber concealed behind the walls. Unfortunately for Lord Lovell, how-ever, this trusty servant died unexpectedly holding the only key and Lord Lovell was left to die of starvation, locked within his secret prision. Some 250 years later, when much of Minster Lovell was being demolished to suit the requirements of a wealthy landowner, workmen discovered the secret room and the remains of Lord Lovell who was seated at a desk cluttered with papers, his pet dog lying at his feet. In a matter of seconds - or so the story goes - on exposure to the air, everything crumbled to dust, and inevitably perhaps, Lovell's ghost now haunts the ruins.
The other local legend concerns the 'Misteltoe Bough Bride', which is remarkably similar in its end content ... Apparently, to escape an arranged marriage, the unfortunate girl hid in a truck in the hall on the eve of her wedding, but she was unable to get out and suffocated to death. Since then, her ghost has been seen in the grounds gliding silently across a spacious lawn before disappearing by the river.
Tentative enquiries in the area by the author in 1985, in fact revealed one lady who had personally encountered this sad appariton. It was a warm summer's evening the previous year, and she had distinctly seen the figure of a woman standing on the banks of the river. At first she had taken her for a real person, but then 'she' glided across the river and disappeared abruptly above the water.
This lady is not alone in her experience at Minster Lovell Hall. A parish priest in the area confirmed that several visitors to the ruins had told of seeing a ghostly figure, particularly near the river.
Of course, it may be coincidence that the reported apparition is usually seen by the river, but taken in conjunction with numerous other sightings of apparitions that materialise near water - or sometimes in water - the possibility of 'coincidence' must be considerably lessened.
There is another ghostly lady (one bearing a striking resemblance to the Datchworh Grey Lady) that haunts a lonely stretch of road near Llanidloes in central Wales. For some miles here the road itself runs virtually parallel to the river Severn, and it is along this stretch of the road that the ghostly shape of a woman has been reported gliding across the road in front of approaching cars.
Remaining with the possibility that many ghostly apparitions could be directly linked to the element of water, it may be relevant to mention here two well known legends which - although unsubstantiated - appear to show a persistent connection between tales of ghosts and water.
Isolated Cranmere Pool that is situated in a 'Danger Area' on North Darmoor, has for long said to be haunted by a 17th centruy figure that glides to the edge of the pool and disappears. (The pool itself is now 'dry', and probably has been since the early 1800's, but as the source of the river Taw certainly contains much water at unknown depths). Nothing much is known about the origins of this phantom figure, (except there is a rather ridiculous story that the ghost is that of a former magistrate of Oakhampton whose earthbound spirit was doomed to empty the pool with a limpet shell as a penance for his wicked dealings in life) but it has nonetheless become a part of Darmoor's spooky traditions.
Bodmin Moor has its own haunted lake, although unlike Cranmere Pool its haunting is connected with a legend of King Arthur...
Desolate Dosmary Pool looms up unexpectedly from the mists of Bodmin Moor. Dosmary Pool is said to be very deep, even bottomless, (although as a point of interest the author was assured by a local farmer that in the abesence of floodwater it was possible to wade accross the lake) and it was here, or so legend tells, that King Arthur was brought dying after his last great battle and in his last moments, threw his trusted sword Excalibur into the waters. It was caught by a 'phantom hand' that slowly drew the sword beneath the surface. In later centuries, the lake was said to be haunted by a 'water wraith' whose transparent figure was seen gliding across the surface before fading into the water; indeed, this story persists in the present time.
In conclusion, and accounting for the relatively few cited cases, it may be said that many ghostly apparitions (whether these relate to stories or legends from the past or take the form of actual present-day sightings), could be seen to have a strange affinity with water.
Of course, it is not suggested that all ghostly phenomena automatically fit into this category (there are too many other factors to be taken into account when dealing with phenomena that seem to defy the definable), although it might be reasonabley to state, that there exists convincing evidence to suggest there is a direct link between many cases of reported ghostly apparitions and the element of water.
(C) David Farrant 1999
Posted by Catherine Fearnley
A
Anonymous
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LEY LINES
© DAVID FARRANT
TAKEN FROM DARK JOURNEY 1999
THE 20TH CENTURY might have heralded a turning point in scientific knowledge, discovery and intention, but virtually none of this ‘human knowledge’ (because humans we are, and humans we remain) seems to have come one iota closer to solving or understanding the numerous cases of unexplained phenomena world-wide which just will not seem to ‘go away’.
Amongst multiple categories of these can be included … UFO’s, crop circles, (the strange appearance of precise geometric formations that appear in isolated fields overnight, precognition) an ability by some people to ‘see’ - through vivid dreams or visions - events that have yet to take place) and telekinesis, another faculty possessed by some that enables them to move objects without the aid of any physical contact.
There are numerous other examples of unexplained phenomena, of course, which from a material or scientific point of view can neither be understood or explained, and these include the psychic abilities of some mediums and clairvoyants whose ‘powers’ apparently enable them to make people contact with spirits and forces unseen. There are too, of course, the numerous sightings of ghostly apparitions (whether of ‘people’, animals or even scenes of places or landscapes which have long since disappeared into history) which, over the years have been witnessed and reported by so many people.
The possibility that ‘ghosts’ might exist in their quite literal sense is one, in fact, often seized upon by vehement sceptics who seem to want to ‘debunk’ the entire field of psychic research. Assuming that all witnessed cases of unexplained phenomena must automatically relate to figures in white sheets that go around ‘groaning’ or ‘clanking chains’, or even ‘carry their heads’, materialists frequently use this misguided criteria as an example of the absurd and argue, perhaps understandably, that if these portray typical examples of ghosts and the unknown; then all similar legends and reports can safely be based on nonsense.
They would be absolutely right, of course; but only if such an assumption was based upon a supposition that was correct in the first place.
Fortunately however, the workings of genuine psychic research and the opinions and conclusions of those involved in it, do not quite work that way! In fact, dedicated psychic investigators would almost certainly be in full agreement with hardened materialists in that the whole concept of spookily-clad figures ‘wailing in the night’ can be ascribed to sheer fantasy.
But it is only a brief meeting point for, leaving more frivolous types of ghosts aside, dedicated researchers are aware that there is much more to the field of psychic research; not least its quest to understand unknown Laws in the Universe than could possibly be responsible for the numerous unexplained phenomena reported world-wide which, so far, no physical laws or any amount of material theories or reasoning, have been able to explain…
The possible existence of ley lines, (which, as already explained, are ‘lines of energy’ that cross the earth’s surface and might be responsible for the occurrence of many psychic phenomena), could be cited as just one example where modern science or ‘intellectual reasoning’ has entrapped itself within material boundaries and left behind ‘jewels of knowledge’ rich in potential wisdom, but luckily, not so easy for the taking.
A discourteous statement? Perhaps not. For if the protagonists of scientific research with all its available computerised technology, ever came to dream that there might exist some nebulous energy outside the scope of their text books, they would be among the first to try and exploit it, would they not?
Ley lines are, in fact, lines of energy that run in exact form across the earth’s surface and although the secrets of this energy are now all but lost, they were known (at least, to a much higher degree) to ancient mankind who were much more dependent on natural forces in Nature and within the earth itself.
Accordingly, far more advanced in the understanding of this potent - though natural - energy, ancient man was instinctively drawn to ley lines, building his settlements and early places of worship on or around them, using them for navigation purposes when travelling or hunting game and to utilise their qualities for his spiritual well-being. Essentially, ancient man was ‘drawn’ to these invisible lines understanding that they contained great wealth and power; indeed, they were so important to his life-style that he ‘mapped’ them with stone markers and monuments over vast areas of terrain, and this, with the awareness that an understanding of Nature’s secret forces could help determine his very survival.
Ley lines usually run in precise alignment across the earth’s surface and although many have been seemingly ‘lost’ among the teeming vicissitudes of the 21st century (many of their markers having long since vanished into obscurity or lines themselves buried deep beneath the concrete jungles of modern civilisation) they are nevertheless still ‘there’ and no amount of human theories or conjecture can in any way affect their validity.
But perhaps what is not so well known about ley lines, and the mysterious forces associated with them, is that many cases of ‘ghosts’ - or ghostly phenomena - and other unexplained happenings just happen to occur along the course of ley lines.
To take just one example of ley lines and their possible connection with ghostly phenmonena, one only has to look at the famous case of Borley Rectory which was said to be ‘considerably haunted’; not, least by the well known psychic investigator Harry Price.
Indeed, from the 1920’s until well into the mid 1930’s, Borley Rectory acquired a fearsome reputation of being haunted by several different ghosts, in particular, by a phantom nun and a poltergeist that had a habit of immobilising physical objects in the air in direct view of witnesses; bottles of wine rising mysteriously from shelves and bricks and being suspended in mid air before suddenly crashing to the ground. ‘Phantom footsteps’ were frequently heard at night and sometimes a ‘goblin-like’ figure was seen inside the Rectory, whilst outside the grounds, a ghost nun was frequently witnessed by several different people. Events and sightings such as these continued unabated for many years, until the Rectory was eventually destroyed by a mysterious fire in 1939.
Whatever the truth behind all these tales (and most of these have been so well documented that further repetition would be unnecessary) is now impossible to tell. But it is an interesting fact that Borley Rectory itself was situated directly on a spot where at least two ley lines converged; indeed, still do.
Speculation or fact? Well, as its name might suggest “Borley” (a “bore” literally meaning a “tidal wave of great force”) was obviously originally named thus because of its position on a ley line and it is reasonable to assume (as is the case with many ancient monuments and sites) that the significance - if not importance - of ley lines was recognised by early architects and planners - even later architects and planners. (It is a matter of fact that when Borley Rectory was built in 1042, and before this, a Benedictine Abbey was said to stand on the site.) That is understanding was later lost is really academic, for, like a meandering wave on a stormy sea, the energy in ley lines is never actually ‘lost’; although it can remain in a dormant state.
The Borley story is, of course, well known but, despite its destruction all these years hence, stories of ghostly phenomena still abound there. One of these is the ghostly nun who is still reported gliding along a certain walk-way which fell within the grounds of the old Rectory; while adjacent Borley Church only yards from the Rectory site, has been plagued with stories of ghostly phenomena, even in years just gone.
Yet perhaps all this is not so surprising if we remain in the context that a good number of ghostly figures might have a connection with ley lines; or rather, that such lines may be directly responsible for numerous cases of ghostly phenomena reported on and around them.
© DAVID FARRANT
TAKEN FROM DARK JOURNEY 1999
THE 20TH CENTURY might have heralded a turning point in scientific knowledge, discovery and intention, but virtually none of this ‘human knowledge’ (because humans we are, and humans we remain) seems to have come one iota closer to solving or understanding the numerous cases of unexplained phenomena world-wide which just will not seem to ‘go away’.
Amongst multiple categories of these can be included … UFO’s, crop circles, (the strange appearance of precise geometric formations that appear in isolated fields overnight, precognition) an ability by some people to ‘see’ - through vivid dreams or visions - events that have yet to take place) and telekinesis, another faculty possessed by some that enables them to move objects without the aid of any physical contact.
There are numerous other examples of unexplained phenomena, of course, which from a material or scientific point of view can neither be understood or explained, and these include the psychic abilities of some mediums and clairvoyants whose ‘powers’ apparently enable them to make people contact with spirits and forces unseen. There are too, of course, the numerous sightings of ghostly apparitions (whether of ‘people’, animals or even scenes of places or landscapes which have long since disappeared into history) which, over the years have been witnessed and reported by so many people.
The possibility that ‘ghosts’ might exist in their quite literal sense is one, in fact, often seized upon by vehement sceptics who seem to want to ‘debunk’ the entire field of psychic research. Assuming that all witnessed cases of unexplained phenomena must automatically relate to figures in white sheets that go around ‘groaning’ or ‘clanking chains’, or even ‘carry their heads’, materialists frequently use this misguided criteria as an example of the absurd and argue, perhaps understandably, that if these portray typical examples of ghosts and the unknown; then all similar legends and reports can safely be based on nonsense.
They would be absolutely right, of course; but only if such an assumption was based upon a supposition that was correct in the first place.
Fortunately however, the workings of genuine psychic research and the opinions and conclusions of those involved in it, do not quite work that way! In fact, dedicated psychic investigators would almost certainly be in full agreement with hardened materialists in that the whole concept of spookily-clad figures ‘wailing in the night’ can be ascribed to sheer fantasy.
But it is only a brief meeting point for, leaving more frivolous types of ghosts aside, dedicated researchers are aware that there is much more to the field of psychic research; not least its quest to understand unknown Laws in the Universe than could possibly be responsible for the numerous unexplained phenomena reported world-wide which, so far, no physical laws or any amount of material theories or reasoning, have been able to explain…
The possible existence of ley lines, (which, as already explained, are ‘lines of energy’ that cross the earth’s surface and might be responsible for the occurrence of many psychic phenomena), could be cited as just one example where modern science or ‘intellectual reasoning’ has entrapped itself within material boundaries and left behind ‘jewels of knowledge’ rich in potential wisdom, but luckily, not so easy for the taking.
A discourteous statement? Perhaps not. For if the protagonists of scientific research with all its available computerised technology, ever came to dream that there might exist some nebulous energy outside the scope of their text books, they would be among the first to try and exploit it, would they not?
Ley lines are, in fact, lines of energy that run in exact form across the earth’s surface and although the secrets of this energy are now all but lost, they were known (at least, to a much higher degree) to ancient mankind who were much more dependent on natural forces in Nature and within the earth itself.
Accordingly, far more advanced in the understanding of this potent - though natural - energy, ancient man was instinctively drawn to ley lines, building his settlements and early places of worship on or around them, using them for navigation purposes when travelling or hunting game and to utilise their qualities for his spiritual well-being. Essentially, ancient man was ‘drawn’ to these invisible lines understanding that they contained great wealth and power; indeed, they were so important to his life-style that he ‘mapped’ them with stone markers and monuments over vast areas of terrain, and this, with the awareness that an understanding of Nature’s secret forces could help determine his very survival.
Ley lines usually run in precise alignment across the earth’s surface and although many have been seemingly ‘lost’ among the teeming vicissitudes of the 21st century (many of their markers having long since vanished into obscurity or lines themselves buried deep beneath the concrete jungles of modern civilisation) they are nevertheless still ‘there’ and no amount of human theories or conjecture can in any way affect their validity.
But perhaps what is not so well known about ley lines, and the mysterious forces associated with them, is that many cases of ‘ghosts’ - or ghostly phenomena - and other unexplained happenings just happen to occur along the course of ley lines.
To take just one example of ley lines and their possible connection with ghostly phenmonena, one only has to look at the famous case of Borley Rectory which was said to be ‘considerably haunted’; not, least by the well known psychic investigator Harry Price.
Indeed, from the 1920’s until well into the mid 1930’s, Borley Rectory acquired a fearsome reputation of being haunted by several different ghosts, in particular, by a phantom nun and a poltergeist that had a habit of immobilising physical objects in the air in direct view of witnesses; bottles of wine rising mysteriously from shelves and bricks and being suspended in mid air before suddenly crashing to the ground. ‘Phantom footsteps’ were frequently heard at night and sometimes a ‘goblin-like’ figure was seen inside the Rectory, whilst outside the grounds, a ghost nun was frequently witnessed by several different people. Events and sightings such as these continued unabated for many years, until the Rectory was eventually destroyed by a mysterious fire in 1939.
Whatever the truth behind all these tales (and most of these have been so well documented that further repetition would be unnecessary) is now impossible to tell. But it is an interesting fact that Borley Rectory itself was situated directly on a spot where at least two ley lines converged; indeed, still do.
Speculation or fact? Well, as its name might suggest “Borley” (a “bore” literally meaning a “tidal wave of great force”) was obviously originally named thus because of its position on a ley line and it is reasonable to assume (as is the case with many ancient monuments and sites) that the significance - if not importance - of ley lines was recognised by early architects and planners - even later architects and planners. (It is a matter of fact that when Borley Rectory was built in 1042, and before this, a Benedictine Abbey was said to stand on the site.) That is understanding was later lost is really academic, for, like a meandering wave on a stormy sea, the energy in ley lines is never actually ‘lost’; although it can remain in a dormant state.
The Borley story is, of course, well known but, despite its destruction all these years hence, stories of ghostly phenomena still abound there. One of these is the ghostly nun who is still reported gliding along a certain walk-way which fell within the grounds of the old Rectory; while adjacent Borley Church only yards from the Rectory site, has been plagued with stories of ghostly phenomena, even in years just gone.
Yet perhaps all this is not so surprising if we remain in the context that a good number of ghostly figures might have a connection with ley lines; or rather, that such lines may be directly responsible for numerous cases of ghostly phenomena reported on and around them.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2002
- Messages
- 13,692
Cath and David - all of these posts are very interesting . However, we already have threads elsewhere on pretty much every topic you discuss here.
I'm quite happy to extract the relevant posts from here and merge them with existing threads - I did try to PM you about this. You'll appreciate it's difficult to get an interactive discussion going when the topic of the thread changes with every other post.
. However, we already have threads elsewhere on pretty much every topic you discuss here.I'm quite happy to extract the relevant posts from here and merge them with existing threads - I did try to PM you about this. You'll appreciate it's difficult to get an interactive discussion going when the topic of the thread changes with every other post.
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Anonymous
Guest
For: Stu Neville
To be personally honest with you, your PM was not received for one reason or another. I personally cannot really confirm that as other people deal with the ‘e-mail side of things’ for me and, sometimes, these things get lost or go astray.
I can only say that I am sorry if any of my articles seem to ‘conflict’ with any similar threads on your site/s as I was really not aware of this. I was just trying to re-produce supernatural cases as I have found them to be - nothing else.
If other people have written about these same subjects, then really, that is their prerogative and I would respect their views. Having said that, I cannot really change anything I have written, just for the sake of ‘non-personalised’ clarification which you seem to be trying to say.
I might have got this wrong; but could you please be a little more specific about what it is you are trying to say?
Yours, DAVID FARRANT, President. BPOS_THVS
To be personally honest with you, your PM was not received for one reason or another. I personally cannot really confirm that as other people deal with the ‘e-mail side of things’ for me and, sometimes, these things get lost or go astray.
I can only say that I am sorry if any of my articles seem to ‘conflict’ with any similar threads on your site/s as I was really not aware of this. I was just trying to re-produce supernatural cases as I have found them to be - nothing else.
If other people have written about these same subjects, then really, that is their prerogative and I would respect their views. Having said that, I cannot really change anything I have written, just for the sake of ‘non-personalised’ clarification which you seem to be trying to say.
I might have got this wrong; but could you please be a little more specific about what it is you are trying to say?
Yours, DAVID FARRANT, President. BPOS_THVS
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2002
- Messages
- 13,692
They don't conflict at allCathandDavid said:
. All I'm saying is that there are numerous other threads on this site which deal with the specific incidents you highlight - my suggestion is that I remove the appropriate posts from this thread, and slot them in to these relevant threads elsewhere, where they may add to the dedicated discussion therein.Again, I'm not asking that you change anything that you've written: if you use the search function on this board before you post, you'll probably find that the passage you wish to post already has a dedicated thread: you can then add the passage to that thread, rather than placing it all in one long tract such as this one with such a diverse selection of subjects (the nature of which means that meaningful discussion about any topic becomes difficult, as the subject keeps changing
).As the basic purpose of this forum is the discussion of Fortean subjects (apparently
), surely you would agree that individual cases deserve their own individual space? I'm sure you have much to add to many of our subjects, and confining them to one place makes deeper discussion quite difficult .
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Anonymous
Guest
REPLY
FOR STU NEVILLE
Thank you for reply. I certainly agree with you that one or two of the articles on our thread, could be placed on similar threads dealing with particular topics. Probably, my article on Wicca (“Wicca- a Lost Age?”) might be better placed on another appropriate thread, while the two on ley lines (“Leys - a Mysterious Myth or” etc and “The Devil’s Stones”) and the one titled “Mysterious Encounter” which mentions the possibility of a UFO, might be more appropriate on others.
The problem is, I have no idea how you can do this (though obviously I know how to re-copy them) so it might be better left to you if you don’t mind.
All I ask is, could you tell me the names of the three threads you think appropriate, so at least then I can know where they are!
Yours etc., David Farrant.
FOR STU NEVILLE
Thank you for reply. I certainly agree with you that one or two of the articles on our thread, could be placed on similar threads dealing with particular topics. Probably, my article on Wicca (“Wicca- a Lost Age?”) might be better placed on another appropriate thread, while the two on ley lines (“Leys - a Mysterious Myth or” etc and “The Devil’s Stones”) and the one titled “Mysterious Encounter” which mentions the possibility of a UFO, might be more appropriate on others.
The problem is, I have no idea how you can do this (though obviously I know how to re-copy them) so it might be better left to you if you don’t mind.
All I ask is, could you tell me the names of the three threads you think appropriate, so at least then I can know where they are!
Yours etc., David Farrant.