The History of Hauntings!

The historian, Tacitus documents an early haunting that occurred 2000 years ago. It happened to the philosopher, Athenodorus, who bought a house and discovered, one evening whilst at work, a ghost shaking chains at him. Dismissing the spectre to return to his work, the ghost eagerly beckoned the philosopher into the courtyard where he vanished. Marking the spot where the spectre stood, Athenodorus dug into the ground and discovered the corpse of a man in chains. The philosopher carefully separated the bones from the chains and conducted a dignified burial. The ghost was seen no more.

The story describes a typical ghost, a person who died with unfinished business and who cannot gain eternal rest until an act of restitution is supplied, in this case, release from the chains that we presume were placed unjustly. When the chains were removed and a proper burial was provided, justice and peace were restored.

In ancient times, many specialised angels were assigned the task of safely helping the dying to find their way into the regions of the spirit world. Many creatures are also said to perform this midwifery role. When people have been revived after clinical death, they frequently tell of a dog they had owned many years before which they see running towards them, tail wagging with delight, then running ahead and looking back to beckon the newly deceased forward on their transitionary journey. 

Dead or Alive! Burial Customs!

Burial Customs to prevent the dead from rising to haunt the living! In 2004, two extraordinary skeletons were discovered in a ditch on the perimeter of an ancient cemetery on the west coast of Ireland. Both skeletons had large stones wedged into their open jaw and had large stone slabs placed over their grave; their limbs were broken and bound. These skeletons were carbon dated to the seventh century when Ireland was becoming Christianised and new stories were told to the pagan people about what would happen in the Afterlife. Traditionally, Christian corpses were buried facing the eastern horizon, so that when the sun rose on the last day, all would stand and immediately see Jesus rising in glory with the dawning of a new day in Heaven. These two bodies, with their head in a ditch, would not greet their saviour along with all others in the cemetery, as they were buried to lie in a NW-SE direction.

Who Stole the Witch's Bowl? - A Story

I was celebrating Beltane 1996 at The North Lodge, Monks Walk, Waverley Lane, Farnham where I was told this extraordinary story that I wrote down that night. When Dr Kathleen Anne Ball read the story on Facebook, she was captivated yet saddened by the ending at first, but then realized, one was free to create any ending they’d like, so she did:

In the sixteen hundreds - so this ancient tale relates - a lone woman, gripped by appalling poverty, strayed onto the Waverley Estate and there took shelter in the ivy covered cave. She had no known family and hence no persons or property to protect here in her infirmity, and gossip quickly arose about her mysterious past. In the local inn, the farm folk spoke in hushed tones, saying that she was a witch who had murdered her husband and children, and that she carried the plague as a punishment for her sins. Within days, farm hands drove her from the cave, accusing her of blighting their crops. Children threw stones at her, many causing open wounds that failed to heal. Warts spread across her unwashed face and lice tormented her days and nights, and she thought maybe their taunts were true. She gleaned what she could from the footpath verges, collecting hazel twigs to make a broom to sweep away the leaves from the entrance to her den within a hedge of thick hazel. A small cat took shelter with her and they huddled together for warmth and companionship. Occasionally, the cat brought a gift of vermin, frog or bird to add to her gruel and prevent total starvation. Her comb broke under her matted hair and her skirt became torn and tattered exposing her scratched legs. The humiliation of such deprivation and her solitary situation gave her much distress. She longed to attend St Andrews church but she had no clothes, money or status, so she watched from afar and she got to know the townsfolk and those who worked and raised their family and livestock in the surrounding hills. She knew the fancy lives of the Lord and Lady who owned the great estate, though she would never trespass on their extensive and rich pastures or she would have been shot by the gamekeeper without question. One evening, she collected earth from the Downs that she fashioned into a small vessel and in this bowl she collected water from the river. Over a small fire, built of fallen twigs, she warmed meagre fayre. In the cold and dark abode she kept a few windfallen fruits which fermented and made a drink to aid sleep - for the pain in her bones was fierce and sleep was always fitful.

Soul Rescue - Spirit Release - Exorcism book extract

Soul rescue is occasionally conducted in selected Spiritualist and mediumship groups and is the expertise of the Brazilian Spiritist movement. Not all earthbound spirits move quickly into the light. Some need help crossing over. There is a threshold area between this world and the next. It is a transition sometimes described as a tunnel, a bridge, a doorway, a stairway or similar. When a spirit is unaware that they are in the spirit realms or unable to let go of an attachment to the physical world, they seek a host person to live vicariously through. This makes soul rescue necessary. Many lost spirits are  disorientated and confused. They have often had a shock and returned to Spirit very quickly, without any preparation. Victims of traumatic violence, such as murder, accidents, war victims, etc., commonly need rescue, as do distressed children, elderly people who are upset, the mentally ill, or those who did not want to leave the physical world due to unfulfilled plans.

Ancient Spirit of the Crossroads

In the days of ancient Greece, crossroads were dedicated to Hecate, Goddess of the Underworld, who was said to have 3 faces, each to observe the three way crossroads. Representations of her as a pole with 3 masks were placed where 3 roads met and cakes with candles were left so the ghosts that followed her would be fed and not haunt the living. Diana, Roman Goddess of the Witches was also Goddess of the Crossroads and a small altar was placed there for the protection for travellers who left gifts in return for good luck. In India, Rudra, the God of the Crossroads also ruled ghosts and evil powers, in Africa,  Elegua opened and closed all paths and carried a forked stick made of the guava tree. In Russia, vampires were said to lurk at crossroads, in Sweden witches were reported to dance at the crossroads in order to summon the devil.

World Superstitions

The Latin root of the word ‘superstition’ means ‘to stand over in awe’ and relates to irrational belief that defies a logical explanation. Many primitive beliefs date back a thousand years and more. They were created to try to overcome fear of the unknown and the loss of control over life and death events. Many people believed that the future was influenced by ordinary, everyday mistakes and that the future could be foretold by carefully watching simple actions of daily living. These odd ideas were deeply embedded in the minds of people across the globe. Once a belief becomes part of the tradition of a country, it is almost impossible to remove it. Education has eliminated many of these customs from our culture as we now live in a society that requires demonstration, proof, argument and understanding, for belief to survive.

Famous Superstitions - Part 1

The root of the word ‘superstition’ is Latin and means ‘to stand over in awe’. It relates to an irrational belief that defies a logical explanation. Many primitive beliefs date back a thousand years and more. They were originally created to try to overcome fear of the unknown and the loss of control over life and death events. Many people believed that the future was influenced by ordinary, everyday mistakes and that the future could be foretold by carefully watching simple actions of daily living. These odd ideas were deeply embedded in the minds of people across the globe. Many superstitions in North America were taken by early settlers from Britain and Ireland. Once a belief becomes part of the tradition of a country, it is almost impossible to remove it.

The Hole in the Boat - A Story

A man was asked to paint a boat. He painted the boat a bright red, as the owner asked him. While painting, he noticed a small hole in the hull, and repaired it.

When he finished painting, he received his money and left. The next day, the owner arrived and gave the painter another cheque for more money. The painter was surprised and said “You've already paid me for painting the boat!”

“But this money is not for the paint job. It's for repairing the hole in the boat.”

“Ah! But it was a small service... it's not worth paying me such a high amount for something so insignificant.”

“But you do not understand. Let me tell you what happened:

“When I asked you to paint the boat, I forgot to mention the hole.

“When they children took the boat out this morning, they did not know that there was a hole. I was not at home at that time and when I returned, and noticed they had taken the boat out and I was desperate because I remembered that the boat had a hole in it. Imagine my relief and joy when I saw them returning from fishing.

Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole!

Repetition Compulsion

 

What is Repetition Compulsion?  This is a Freudian term. When we had trauma, we didn't develop a good way to deal with it, so in our adult life, we unconsciously recreate the same situation in order to work through it to a good outcome, learning how to deal with it well. 

Templars!

The Templars had great success in defeating the poor peasants of the Holy Land, but Templars were trained warriors who fought on large and heavy armoured horses. The Crusaders wielded expensive swords and wore expensive armour, how could the poor people of these areas fight and win against them? God was said to support the Crusaders as they rode through the countryside, many hundreds of miles, taking from local peasantry whatever they needed in terms of food and other necessities, sometimes they returned home with great stolen luxuries! Over the course of 200 years, the local people gathered and trained themselves to fight against these Crusading intruders. Losses occurred, and God no longer supported Crusader successes! This would lead to the downfall of the Templars. 

The Templars honoured St John the Baptist and also Mary Magdalene, who were saints, but neither featured in the Christian Creed. Templars were dedicated to both these prominent saints but not instead of Jesus the Christ or his mother, Mary the Theotokos, Mother of God. There were two pillars of the church, John the Baptist and Jesus. Both had a powerful ministry.