Page 8 of 31 FirstFirst ... 56789101118 ... LastLast
Results 106 to 120 of 456

Thread: Jordan Maxwell & Other Paranormal Stories

  1. #106
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    The Absurdaties Of Cryptozoology. Nick Redfern.



    The Absurdities Of Cryptozoology.

    Article by Nick Redfern.

    Source :- http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/0...cryptozoology/

    Now, before anyone starts complaining or ranting, the title of this article – “The Absurdities of Cryptozoology” – is most definitely not an attack on cryptozoology. The subject is, without doubt, one that I am particularly fascinated by – and which I have been fascinated by since my first trip to Loch Ness, Scotland, at the age of six. So, quit yapping before you even start.

    As for those absurdities, they revolve around aspects of the phenomenon that are not addressed anywhere near enough, and which lead me to believe that so many of the so-called cryptids that populate our planet are actually things that should be investigated by people with a deep knowledge of the world of the paranormal, the supernatural, and the occult, and not just zoology or cryptozoology. I’ll begin with the beasts of the aforementioned Loch Ness.




    Loch Ness
    There can be very few people who haven’t heard of the Loch Ness Monster. Its right up there with Bigfoot in terms of infamy. For many, the Nessies are plesiosaurs. For others, they are giant salamanders. Then there are suggestions the creatures might be massive eels. But here’s the absurdity in accepting the creatures as nothing but unknown animals: Loch Ness is teeming with other mysteries.

    I have no less than seven reports of so-called “Alien Big Cats” seen at Loch Ness, in the 21st Century alone. In the 1970s, a “Man in Black” was encountered at the loch by Nessie-seeker, Ted Holiday. Significant UFO sightings over the waters have been reported. There is the story of a restless, World War Two-era, ghostly airman at the loch. None other than Aleister Crowley lived at Loch Ness – at Boleskine House, and from where all sorts of occult activity was undertaken. Witch-covens, sightings of nothing less than fairy-like creatures, and even encounters with hairy man-beasts, are all staple parts of the Loch Ness controversy.

    Then there is the issue of the appearance of the Nessies: while the long-necked, humped description is the one that most people can relate to, the beasts have been reported as (a) tusked, (b) camel-like, (c) resembling a giant frog; and (d) crocodile-like. If the Nessies were the only odd residents of Loch Ness, I would suggest that, yes, they very likely are something purely for the domain of cryptozoology.
    But, when we see how much additional weirdness is going on at the loch (and has for many a moon), I find it absurd to place the Nessies in purely a flesh and blood camp.
    A definitive shape-shifter would be more likely. And I find it absurd that people should hope to snare a Nessie in much the same way one might snare a catfish or a sturgeon. Loch Ness is not the home of plesiosaurs.

    It’s one of John Keel’s “window areas,” where just about anything and everything can happen. And does!

    With that said, onto what have become known as “flying humanoids.” Their legendary names include Mothman, Owlman, the Houston Batman, and many more. They have become staple parts of cryptozoology. But, there are certain things that make me conclude their origins are far more in the world of the supernatural than the domain of unclassified animals. There is, as one might guess, the matter of their wings.

    I have a lot of reports of flying humanoids on file, and there is one thing that often stands out: the wings of the creatures are nowhere near of a size that would be required to allow a six to seven foot tall humanoid creature to take to the skies. In some cases, wings are seen, but the beast simply climbs vertically into the sky – in a similar fashion to a helicopter – without even a single beat of those ridiculously undersized wings.

    Flying humanoids undoubtedly exist; the phenomenon is, without doubt, a genuine one. But, the appearances of the creatures so often seem stage-managed: the encounters are “performed” for the benefit of the witness by supernatural actors, ones who present themselves as we expect them to appear. But, so many of them are aerodynamically absurd.
    Mothman and Owlman are not unknown, flesh and blood animals. They are clearly something that should be investigated from the perspective of them being paranormal.



    Bigfoot-also known as Sasquatch
    Now to Bigfoot.
    It’s one thing to talk about Sasquatch in the Pacific northwest forests, the Yeti in the vast Himalayas, or the Yeren in China. But what about Bigfoot in the land I grew up in: the UK? I can tell you, for sure, that the UK is overflowing with reports of Bigfoot. I know, as in 2007 I wrote a book on the subject of the British Bigfoot. Its title: Man-Monkey.

    The reports from the British witnesses are no less credible than those from the United States, or from the aforementioned China or the Himalayas. People in the UK tell their stories in lucid, level-headed fashion. But (and here comes that word again…) it’s 100 percent absurd to think that colonies of Bigfoot could live in somewhere so small as the UK. But people see them – regularly, too. The reports aren’t in the dozens, they are in the hundreds.

    As with the flying humanoids, the phenomenon of Bigfoot in the UK is not one that should fall into the arena of cryptozoology. However one might define the word “paranormal,” that’s most assuredly what the British Bigfoot is. And as in the US, I know of two cases in the UK where farmers shot at a Bigfoot. Good luck with that; it never works. Everyone knows Bigfoot can’t be killed with bullets! Also like more than a few US Bigfoot, the British beast has the ability to vanish in the flash of an eye. And so on, and so on.

    This all brings me back to the title of this article. Before anyone squeals like a little girl, stamps their feet, or complains like a spoiled brat, I am not saying that the field of cryptozoology is absurd. And I’m not saying that the people in the subject are absurd. Quite the opposite: some of my closest friends are cryptozoologists. So there can be no mistake, what I am saying is this: it’s the creatures of cryptozoology that are absurd.

    They live where they simply cannot not live and still remain hidden from society – the British Bigfoot demonstrates that. They dwell in specific, enclosed areas that are populated by a massive range of additional supernatural oddities – the Nessie phenomenon shows that. And, on the matter of the flying humanoids, they are often as aerodynamically unsound as a drunken, blindfolded, elephant parachuting out of a 747 at 30,000 feet.
    In some strange fashion, all of these things exist; I absolutely, fully believe that. Bigfoot is real. Mothman is real. The Houston Batman is real. And the Nessies are real. But they’re not animals as we understand the term. They’re something else. And we need to start treating them as something other than just unclassified animals.
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 26th March 2015 at 13:23.

  2. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    Altaira (28th February 2015), jimmer (1st March 2015), mojo (1st March 2015), Ria (28th February 2015), samos (28th February 2015), sandancer (2nd March 2015), Sebastion (2nd March 2015)

  3. #107
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Shropshire Man Monkey 1879.




    Source :- http://phantomsandbeasts.blogspot.co...an-monkey.html

    Britain's Man-Monkey

    Researcher Nick Redfern has generously sent in a guest blog detailing the first known report of what he calls the Man-Monkey:

    Nick Redfern talks about the Man-Monkey:

    In her 1883 book, Shropshire Folklore, Charlotte S.Burne wrote: "A very weird story of an encounter with an animal ghost arose of late years within my knowledge. On the 21st of January 1879, a labouring man was employed to take a cart of luggage from Rantonin Staffordshire to Woodcock, beyond Newport in Shropshire, for the ease of a party of visitors who were going from one house to another.

    He was late in coming back; his horse was tired, and could only crawl along at a foot's pace, so that it was ten o'clock at night when he arrived at the place where the highroad crosses the Birmingham and Liverpool canal. Just before he reached the canal bridge, a strange black creature with great white eyes sprang out of the plantation by the roadside and alighted on his horse's back. He tried to push it off with his whip, but to his horror the whip went through the thing, and he dropped it on the ground in fright."

    The creature duly became known to superstitious and frightened locals as the Man-Monkey. Between 1986 and early 2001, I delved deeply into the mystery and legend of the strange creature of that dark stretch of canal, and uncovered a wealth of "British Bigfoot" style stories of hairy wildmen inhabiting the darker corners of some of Britain's larger woods and forests.

    During the course of my investigations, I often found myself asking the questions: Is Britain really home to a Bigfoot-style entity? Does the creature have supernatural origins? Or is it something else entirely?

    Today, I'm still not really sure; but there is no doubt that the story of the Man-Monkey is the strangest cryptozoological mystery I have ever delved into.For more details on Nick Redfern's investigation of Britain's Man-Monkey, see:

    http://monsterusa.blogspot.com/

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the past decade or so, Britain has had numerous reports of Bigfoot-like creatures, usually centered around a location known as Cannock Chase, an area of countryside in Straffordshire, England. The Chase has long been a center of strange phenomena, with reports coming from the area of UFOs, ghosts, big cats, strange clouds, werewolf-like beings, and of course, the British Bigfoot reports.

    The first known modern British Bigfoot report was in 1995, by a Jackie Houghton, who witnessed a large, hair-covered beast near the village of Slittingmill, located right in the heart of Cannock Chase. Similar reports followed in 1998, 2003, and 2004, with all of the witnesses reporting similar Sasquatch-like creatures either in or around the area of the Chase. Some of the reports were very detailed, as in the case of the 1998 witness:

    "It was a star filled night, clear, but dark and we were all in the car driving home, happily chatting and joking. Suddenly we all fell dead serious, the people in the back sat forward and we all pointed to the same shape. It was a tall man-like figure, sort of crouching forward. As we passed, it turned and looked straight at us. In my own words I would describe it as around six feet eight inches tall, legs thicker than two of mine, very strong looking and with a darkish, blacky [sic]-brown coat. I just could not explain it and I still get goose bumps thinking of it."

    Do Bigfoot-like creatures really roam the forests and back woods of Great Britain? There are only two possible explanations for the reports (besides the skeptical argument that all sightings are hoaxes, hallucinations, or misidentifications) is that either a population of flesh and blood creatures exists in Great Britain and is incredibly elusive, or the beings have a paranormal origin.

    It seems highly unlikely that a breeding population of such creatures could exist in Great Britain very long without being discovered, especially not in a country that is only about the size of Texas. The only other logical explanation is that the creatures are paranormal entities of some sort, which I hesitate to endorse as a solution to the mystery because of the problems with the theory, not the least of which is that obtaining physical evidence becomes problamatic, if not impossible, should the creatures prove to be paranormal.

    Whatever the explanation is, Nick's book is an important part of an area in cryptozoology that has remained largely neglected by most cryptozoology and Fortean researchers.
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 25th March 2015 at 16:55.

  4. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (1st March 2015), mojo (1st March 2015), samos (28th February 2015), sandancer (2nd March 2015), sandy (2nd March 2015)

  5. #108
    Retired Member
    Join Date
    13th September 2013
    Location
    Rockies Foothills
    Posts
    4,982
    Thanks
    9,075
    Thanked 18,116 Times in 3,777 Posts
    really enjoying this paranormal investigative thread.

    one of the best at TOT.

    stay on it, frances!

  6. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to jimmer For This Useful Post:

    Frances (1st March 2015), mojo (1st March 2015), samos (1st March 2015), sandancer (2nd March 2015), sandy (2nd March 2015)

  7. #109
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts
    Thank you Jimmer, I have been a bit distracted as of late.
    Series 3 House Of Cards, is back on Netflix. ('~')
    Frances.

  8. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    mojo (1st March 2015), samos (1st March 2015), sandancer (2nd March 2015), sandy (2nd March 2015)

  9. #110
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Aleister Crowley & Boleskine House. Scotland.



    Source :- http://whofortedblog.com/2011/04/11/...anger-monster/

    Article by Greg Newkirk.

    The Boleskine House: Loch Ness’ Other, Stranger Monster.

    Did Aleister Crowley unwittingly summon the Loch Ness Monster?

    One might not ever have a reason to compare Nessie with the infamous occultist Aliester Crowley, unless of course to make the point that they’ve both been called monsters, but the two may have more in common than you think. In fact, if the mystics and monster hunters are to be believed, Crowley and the odd events at a house on the South-Eastern shore of Loch Ness in the early 1900′s may be responsible for the appearance of the legendary beast.

    As a young man, Aleister Crowley’s interest in alchemy led him to be introduced to a member of the Hermetic Society of the Golden Dawn, a magical order in Great Britain that shaped the the world of Western occult beliefs in the 20th century. In no time at all, Crowley had been initiated into the society by it’s leader, Samuel Lidell MacGregor Mathers. Having the fortune of being born to a wealthy family, Crowley had the time and resources to devote to his pursuits of magical enlightenment, a journey that led him to Loch Ness in search of a spirit that he called his “Holy Guardian Angel”, or Higher Self. What Crowley didn’t know at the time is that his impending attempt at contacting this spirit would long be considered an occult disaster by any magical practitioner worth his blessed salt.



    Young Aleister Crowley

    In 1889, looking for a suitable place to perform an ancient summoning ritual from The Book of Scared Magick of Abra-Melin the Mage, Crowley purchased the Boleskine House in Loch Ness. The house was considered perfect for the ceremony due to it’s relative seclusion, because, as Crowley put it, “one must have a house where proper precautions against disturbance can be taken; this being arranged, there is really nothing to do but to aspire with increasing fervor and concentration, for six months, towards the obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.” The house also sported the necessary opening to the North, where Crowley built a terrace adorned with fine river sand, a place where, as proof of the ritual’s progress, the footprints of spirits were to appear. Crowley considered this building to be the Thelemic Kiblah, a kind of esoteric Mecca or a focal point for mystical energy, making it a powerful center for performing intense magical rituals. When the preparations had been set, Crowley began the ritual, citing in his personal diary a promise not to offend God or work ill against his neighbors.

    His intentions for the ceremony were simple, if misunderstood by many. Crowley intended to evoke what he called the Lords of Darkness in a painstaking six month ritual that would compel them to serve the forces of Good, a process hopefully culminating in contact by the Higher Self, a “guardian angel” of sorts, who would see Crowley through to “enlightenment”. As one can imagine, these so-called dark forces would not take kindly to being bound to the light, and were expected to put up a fight. In his diary, Crowley describes some of the odd effects the ritual was having on the property as it was performed:

    “One day I came back from shooting rabbits on the hill and found a Catholic priest in my study. He had come to tell me that my lodgekeeper, a total abstainer for twenty years, had been raving drunk for three days and had tried to kill his wife and children. I got an old Cambridge acquaintance to take Rosher’s place; but he too began to show symptoms of panic fear.”

    Crowley even tells of a local man he had hired for general labor going mad and attempting to kill him, and a local butcher accidentally cutting off his own hand while reading one of Cowley’s notes. Despite these “clear signs”, Crowley continued to work on the ritual, going so far as to deny visits from friends for fear of their safety.

    Meanwhile, in London, the members of the Golden Dawn had become increasingly unsatisfied with Mathers’ leadership and his growing friendship with Crowley. The adepts were tired of relying on Mathers to contact the Secret Chiefs, the ancient cosmic authorities who dictate the order of the universe. The members were anxious to contact these beings themselves, to form their own temples, and to rid themselves of Mathers’ autocratic rule. Feeling the pressure building, Mathers’ sent for the assistance of Crowley, who had previously promised his financial and social resources should the need ever arise. Despite his better judgement, Crowley dropped the lengthy ritual and traveled to Paris in order to assist his friend and mentor. Interrupting his magical ceremony would later prove to be a grave mistake.



    The infamous Boleskine House

    Shortly after Crowley left for Paris, the locals began to murmer about the dark black clouds hanging in the skies around the Boleskin house, many residents going far out of their way to avoid traveling near the building. Upon his return to Boleskin, Crowley immediately felt the changes in his estate; even his protege had fled the property while he was gone. He again, went to his diary:

    “Besides these comparatively explicable effects on human minds, there were numberless physical phenomena for which it is hard to account. While I was preparing the talismans, squares of vellum inscribed in Indian ink, a task which I undertook in the sunniest room in the house, I had to use artificial light even on the brightest days. It was a darkness which might almost be felt. The lodge and terrace, moreover, soon became peopled with shadowy shapes, sufficiently substantial, as a rule, to be almost opaque. I say shapes; and yet the truth is that they were no shapes properly speaking. The phenomenon is hard to describe. It was as if the faculty of vision suffered some interference; as if the objects of vision were not properly objects at all. It was as if they belonged to an order of matter which affected the sight without informing it.”

    The Beginning of the End

    Crowley spent little more time at the house, instead leaving shortly for New York, and then Egypt, where he would again attempt to contact his Holy Guardian Angel, this time claiming success. The Boleskine house then changed hands many times, the various owners all reporting strings of terrible luck. One prominent owner, British film star George Sanders, sought to build a pig farm on the property. The venture failed, his partner was sent to jail, and the animals starved to death. Another owner, a retired Army Major, committed suicide in Crowley’s old bedroom.

    Anna MacLaren, his former house-keeper, describes the scene:

    “When I came up, and went in the front door there was this little bone at the front door, and they had this little doggie, Pickiwig was his name. And I said, ‘where did you get that, Pickiwig,’ because they had this huge fridge and there was nothing in it. I took the bone and I just threw it. I went to look and there (the Army Major) was in front of the big mirror and his head off. So, I was so scared that I did run.. quite a distance.. and I said, ‘the Major’s shot himself!’ Anyway, the detectives, I told the detectives this, and (they said) the bone was of his skull.”



    The "Surgeon Photo", taken in 1934

    This kind of strangeness went on for years, leading believers of the mystical and the occult to believe that the house had become a sort of portal, the unfinished ceremony leaving an open gateway to worlds unknown, spreading the activity from beyond the confines of the house itself, and into the surrounding area. It was around this time in 1933 that the Loch Ness Monster began to rear it’s long, reptilian head.

    Frederick William Holiday, one of the most well-publicized Loch Ness monster investigators, having published two books dedicated to the search for the creature, made an assessment in the 70′s that the monster acted itself much like a supernatural creature, leading him to re-think his stance on it’s origin. Instead, Holiday postulated that the creature’s apparent self-concealing phenomena was evidence that it could possibly be related to the aftermath of Crowley’s preternatural f### up.

    Strangely enough, the first recorded appearance of the Loch Ness Monster coincides with the beginning of the end of Crowley’s legacy.

    In 1934, Crowley was declared bankrupt after attempting to sue an artist who called him a black magician. Addressing the jury, the judge said that in all his years in law, he had ”never heard such dreadful, horrible, blasphemous and abominable stuff as that which has been produced by the man (Crowley) who describes himself… as the greatest living poet.” In decade that followed, Crowley became addicted to heroine, and died of a respiratory infection at the age of 72. His nurse and another witness reported his last words to be, “Sometimes I hate myself.”

    The Legacy

    The paranormal happenings in the house did not cease after Crowley’s death. In fact, word of the Boleskine House’s notoriety began to spread like wildfire. One of Crowley’s most famous admirers, Led Zeppelin guitarist and occult enthusiast Jimmy Page, purchased the house in the early seventies, knowing the importance the property had played in the formative years of the magician’s career. In 1975, he gave an interview to Rolling Stone Magazine where he described some of the “bad vibes” he got from the building.



    Page outside Boleskine in the early 70′s

    “..there were two or three owners before Crowley moved into it. It was also a church that was burned to the ground with the congregation in it. And that’s the site of the house. Strange things have happened in that house that had nothing to do with Crowley. The bad vibes were already there. A man was beheaded there and sometimes you can hear his head rolling down. I haven’t actually heard it, but a friend of mine, who is extremely straight and doesn’t know anything about anything like that at all, heard it. He thought it was the cats bungling about. I wasn’t there at the time, but he told the help, “Why don’t you let the cats out at night? They make a terrible racket, rolling about in the halls.” And they said, ‘The cats are locked in a room every night.” Then they told him the story of the house. So that sort of thing was there before Crowley got there. Of course, after Crowley there have been suicides, people carted off to mental hospitals..”

    When the interviewer went on to clarify that Page himself never had contact with the spirits, Page cut in with, “I didn’t say that. I just said I didn’t hear the head roll.” He went on to tell the interviewer that he preferred not to discuss the issue further.

    Though never actually residing in the building for long periods of time, Page instead had it lived in by a long time school friend by the name of Malcom Dent. Malcom describes the living situation as a constant and “definite feeling of a strong presense trying to get into you.” Despite this, Malcom lived, and raised a family in the house, while simultaneously ignoring as much of the strange activity as possible and fending off the weirder groups of Crowley devotees who would creep onto the property at all hours of the night.



    Jimmy Page sold the Boleskine House in 1992, and it was, for a time, used as a Bed & Breakfast. Either the strange occurrences in the building have since settled, or the latest batch of property owners have been decidedly quiet about the activity. Likewise, the sightings of the Loch Ness Monster have dwindled to very few since their heyday in the 1900′s, culminating in the BBC’s confident proclamation of disproving the myth in 2003. But what if, as Holiday thought, that the Monster in the loch was a different kind of monster completely? Could the legendary creature have been a consequence of Crowley’s failure to properly end the ritual he had started? And further, what exactly became of the Boleskine House and it’s mystical energies?

    Undoubtedly, the true believers will continue to whisper about the dark history of the house, and in turn, the skeptics will dismiss the story outright, paying it no attention. These are their respective jobs, after all. But consider for a moment a fair compromise on the matter. Perhaps Crowley did envoke something not quite understood by many. Perhaps what he invoked was a sense of hysteria that had very real effects on the reality of those that fell into it’s grasp. Living with and around the so-called “wickedest man in the world” is bound to start a few sweeping rumors. Like the scary old man who lived in the dilapidated house at the edge of town, Crowley and his experiences, whether you believe them or not, are the kinds of stories that leave ripples through time, affecting a place and the people who visit it in ways that may only be in the head, but have a tangible way of manifesting themselves in reality.

    Sure, the Loch Ness Monster could have existed, it very well may still. It could have even been a projection of some dark magic that we can’t possibly comprehend. Whatever the case, I’m fairly certain of the reason many more know of the monster than of the bizarre happenings in the Boleskin House: It’s far easier to commercialize a skittish water creature than it is to commercialize the odd misdoing of a bisexual, recreational drug using libertine.

    Then again, David Bowie has had a fine career..
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 25th March 2015 at 17:00. Reason: Adding photos.

  10. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (2nd March 2015), samos (3rd March 2015), sandancer (2nd March 2015), sandy (3rd March 2015), Sebastion (2nd March 2015)

  11. #111
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    The Kelpie.



    Source :- http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/s...re/kelpie.html

    Article by Daniel Parkinson.

    Kelpie.

    The Kelpie is the supernatural shape-shifting water horse that haunts the rivers and streams of Scotland. It is probably one of the best known of Scottish water spirits and is often mistakenly thought to haunt lochs, which are the reserve of the Each Uisge.

    The creature could take many forms and had an insatiable appetite for humans; its most common guise was that of a beautiful tame horse standing by the riverside - a tempting ride for a weary traveller. Anybody foolish enough to mount the horse - perhaps a stranger unaware of the local traditions - would find themselves in dire peril, as the horse would rear and charge headlong into the deepest part of the water, submerging with a noise like thunder to the travellers watery grave.

    The Kelpie was also said to warn of impending storms by wailing and howling, which would carry on through the tempest. This association with thunder - the sound its tail makes as it submerges under water - and storms, may be related to ancient worship of river and weather deities by the ancient Celts, although this is difficult to substantiate.

    One of the other forms assumed by the Kelpie was that of a hairy humanoid, who would leap out from the riverside vegetation to attack passing travellers. Their grip was said to be like that of a vice, crushing the life out of anybody unfortunate enough to come within the Kelpies clutches.

    The Kelpie was thought to inhabit rivers throughout Scotland, and one is recorded as being banished by St Columba from the River Ness, which later became associated with the Loch Ness Monster. Another Kelpie abode was the river Conon (Conan) in Perthshire, which was treacherous in flood, and associated with other dangerous water spirits.

    There was one way in which a Kelpie could be defeated and tamed; the Kelpies power of shape shifting was said to reside in its bridle, and anybody who could claim possession of it could force the Kelpie to submit to their will. A Kelpie in subjugation was highly prized, it had the strength of at least 10 horses and the endurance of many more, but the fairy races were always dangerous captives especially those as malignant as the Kelpie. It was said that the MacGregor clan were in possession of a Kelpies bridle, passed down through the generations from when one of their clan managed to save himself from a Kelpie near Loch Slochd.

    As I have mentioned above many of these water spirits may be related to ancient worship passed down in the diluted form of folk tales and legends. The wide distribution of the tales and the similarity in nature of water spirits lends weight to this argument. Water must have had a duel nature to our ancestors as a life giver but also a life taker reflected in the treachery of water spirits.



    The creature could take many forms and had an insatiable appetite for humans; its most common guise was that of a beautiful tame horse standing by the riverside - a tempting ride for a weary traveller.

    Anybody foolish enough to mount the horse - perhaps a stranger unaware of the local traditions - would find themselves in dire peril, as the horse would rear and charge headlong into the deepest part of the water, submerging with a noise like thunder to the travellers watery grave. The Kelpie was also said to warn of impending storms by wailing and howling, which would carry on through the tempest.

    This association with thunder - the sound its tail makes as it submerges under water - and storms, may be related to ancient worship of river and weather deities by the ancient Celts, although this is difficult to substantiate.

    One of the other forms assumed by the Kelpie was that of a hairy humanoid, who would leap out from the riverside vegetation to attack passing travellers. Their grip was said to be like that of a vice, crushing the life out of anybody unfortunate enough to come within the Kelpies clutches. The Kelpie was thought to inhabit rivers throughout Scotland, and one is recorded as being banished by St Columba from the River Ness, which later became associated with the Loch Ness Monster.

    Another Kelpie abode was the river Conon (Conan) in Perthshire, which was treacherous in flood, and associated with other dangerous water spirits. There was one way in which a Kelpie could be defeated and tamed; the Kelpies power of shape shifting was said to reside in its bridle, and anybody who could claim possession of it could force the Kelpie to submit to their will. A Kelpie in subjugation was highly prized, it had the strength of at least 10 horses and the endurance of many more, but the fairy races were always dangerous captives especially those as malignant as the Kelpie.

    It was said that the MacGregor clan were in possession of a Kelpies bridle, passed down through the generations from when one of their clan managed to save himself from a Kelpie near Loch Slochd. As I have mentioned above many of these water spirits may be related to ancient worship passed down in the diluted form of folk tales and legends. The wide distribution of the tales and the similarity in nature of water spirits lends weight to this argument. Water must have had a duel nature to our ancestors as a life giver but also a life taker reflected in the treachery of water spirits.

    Authorship Image Copyright: Daniel Parkinson.
    Frances
    Last edited by Frances, 25th March 2015 at 22:18.

  12. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (2nd March 2015), samos (3rd March 2015), sandancer (2nd March 2015), sandy (3rd March 2015), Sebastion (2nd March 2015)

  13. #112
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Leprechauns.


    Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIT_ov0lOXo


    Video 3:54 short clip.

    Darby O'Gill And The Little People.
    Sean Connery was 29 years old when he made this film.

    Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe) is the aging caretaker of Lord Fitzpatrick's (Walter Fitzgerald) estate in the small Irish town of Rathcullen, where he lives in the gatehouse with his lovely, almost grown, daughter Katie (Janet Munro).
    Darby spends most of his time in the town pub, regaling his friends with tales of his attempts to catch the leprechauns, in particular, their king, Brian Connors (Jimmy O'Dea). Darby is past his prime as a laborer, so Lord Fitzpatrick decides to retire him on half-pay and give him and Katie another cottage to live in, rent-free, and give his job to a young Dubliner named Michael McBride (Sean Connery).

    Darby begs Michael not to tell Katie that he is being replaced, to which Michael reluctantly agrees. That very night, Darby is captured by the leprechauns while chasing Cleopatra, his runaway horse (he is actually led astray by a Pooka), on top of the fairy mountain Knocknasheega. Darby learns that King Brian has brought him into the mountain so that Darby can avoid the shameful admission to Katie about losing his job.

    However, Darby tricks the leprechauns into embarking on a fox hunt by playing "The Fox Chase" for them on a beautiful Stradivarius violin, loaned to him by King Brian. The leprechauns mount their tiny white horses and leave through a large crack in the mountainside wall, from which Darby escapes.

    A Walt Disney production 1959.
    I remember my mother taking us to the pictures (cinema) when I was a young lass to see this film.
    I Loved it then, so I bought it online from that big DVD company and took a trip down memory lane.
    Still as magical as when it was first released.

    The tricksters are very evident, there is much more information on line about it but I did not want to spoil the plot.
    Frances.

  14. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (4th March 2015), Ria (2nd March 2015), samos (3rd March 2015), sandancer (2nd March 2015), sandy (3rd March 2015)

  15. #113
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    The Green Children Of Woolpit.




    Source :- http://m.unknowncountry.com/news/wee...ien-visitation

    The Green Children of Woolpit - Allegory for an Alien Visitation?

    There is an unassuming village in the South-East of England that may have played host to one of the most intriguing potential alien visitations ever recorded.

    Woolpit, in Suffolk, is the setting for an ancient legend dating back to the 12th century, which describes an encounter with two strange beings known as "The Green Children of Woolpit."

    According to the myth, residents of the village were shocked when the two green-skinned children, a boy and a girl, appeared mysteriously on the edge of a field in Woolpit and were found by reapers working in the fields at harvest time.

    The children, who were dressed in a strange garb, could not explain where they were from or how they came to be there as they spoke in a strange language, but a local landowner, Sir Richard de Caine at Wilkes took pity on them and took care of them. The children initially refused food even though they appeared to be malnourished, but the villagers eventually found a food that they would eat in the form of recently harvested beans.
    This formed their only diet for months, and the children quickly became very ill and sickly, with the result that the boy later died, however, the young girl survived and remained in the village for years. She thrived and eventually lost the greenish hue to her skin.

    She eventually learned how to communicate with her new guardians, and was able to describe her homeland which she said was called "St. Martin's Land", a shadowy place where the green-skinned residents lived in a permanent crepuscular atmosphere as there was no sun and the people lived underground. She also described that another luminous land, that was visible across a river from St. Martin's Land.

    The girl was able to describe how she and her brother arrived at Woolpit: she explained that they were tending her father's flock when they discovered a cave. Intrigued, they entered and walked along a dark tunnel until they eventually emerged into unfamiliar bright sunlight, whereupon they were discovered by the reapers. Some accounts of the story say that she took the name of "Agnes Barre" and eventually married a man from the neighboring county of Norfolk.

    The original records of the encounter were documented by two well-known chroniclers of the time: Ralph of Coggestall, who was an abbot at the Cistercian monastery in Coggeshall, and William of Newburgh (1136-1198 AD), an English historian and canon at the Augustinian Newburgh Priory in Yorkshire, who recorded the details of the Green Children in his primary work, Historia rerum Anglicarum (History of English Affairs).

    As with all ancient legends, versions of events often differ and some testimonies allege that the Green Children encounter took place during the reign of King Stephen (1135-54) whilst others suggest it occurred during the reign of King Henry II (1154-1189). Prosaic explanations to account for the odd appearance of the children are convincing, and include one theory that the children were orphans who had been poisoned with arsenic, accounting for their greenish color, and left to die. Others suggest that they were suffering from Hypochromic Anemia, originally known as Chlorosis (coming from the Greek word Chloris, meaning greenish-yellow), a condition caused by inadequate nutrition. It affects the color of the red blood cells and results in a very distinctive green shade of the skin.

    Some testimonies do support this theory as they indicate that the surviving child did return to a normal color after being fed properly. If the children were indeed malnourished, then their perceptions of their original surroundings could have been distorted, and some researchers, including Paul Harris writing in Fortean Studies 4 (1998) suggest that the children could have been Flemish orphans from nearby Fornham St. Martin (St. Martin's Land?), which was separated from Woolpit by the River Lark. This would also tie in with the girl's account of being able to observe another apparently sunny land across the river from her original homeland.

    Certainly there had been an influx of Flemish immigrants at that time and these poor unfortunate souls had been persecuted, causing them to flee to the safety of Thetford forest, a huge, densely wooded area where the sun would rarely have been able to penetrate through the thick forest canopy. If the children had been living here, it would have seemed to be a very dim environment. Their Flemish language and clothing would have been unfamiliar to the Suffolk peasants, and they would have seemed very alien indeed. There are also numerous caves in the area into which the children may have strayed.

    The children's benefactor, Sir Richard de Caine, was a very well-educated man, however, who would have immediately recognised the Flemish language and dress, so this explanation may not be as convincing as it would first appear. Many myths and legends have some truth at their root, and some people believe that this tale is a description of a genuine alien encounter, either that, or they were children who had emerged accidentally from some subterranean world. There are tales of underground civilisations woven into the folklore of almost every country and culture in the world, and descriptions of similar encounters worldwide abound. In his book, "The Lost World of Agharti," Alec MacLellan describes some of these; the twilight worlds, often lit by a strange greenish light, seem to be consistent in many of the accounts.

    Other testimonies of the event add fuel to the "other-worldly" theories: Robert Burton suggested in his 1621 book , The Anatomy of Melancholy, that the green children "fell from Heaven", which is highly suggestive of an extraterrestrial encounter. Another article from 1996 by astronomer Duncan Lunan took this theory to its limits and proposed that the children hailed from another planet that was trapped in a very rigid orbit that provided only a limited band of habitable area, a "twilight zone," and that they had somehow been transported to Earth by accident.



    The true facts may never be known, but the strange encounter has provided brain-fodder for historians and researchers for the past eight centuries. The village of Woolpit itself still commemorates the event in its village sign, which shows the two children hand in hand.
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 22nd July 2015 at 12:11.

  16. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (4th March 2015), Ria (2nd March 2015), samos (3rd March 2015), sandancer (4th March 2015), sandy (3rd March 2015)

  17. #114
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Fairies.



    Source :- http://www.themystica.com/mystica/ar...f/fairies.html

    Fairies.

    These are supernatural beings and spirits that can be either good or bad. It is believed by many who believe in fairies that they reside in a place somewhere between earth and heaven; however, many think fairies dwell on earth. Others believe they are mythical beings possessing magical powers and sometimes being close to human beings on earth.

    They are said to appear in various shapes being dressed in different customs. Typically a dwarf creature has green clothes and hair, lives in underground or in stone heaps, and characteristically exercises magical powers to benevolent ends. Or, a fairy might be thought of as a diminutive, delicate feminine creature dressed in white clothing who lives in a fairyland, but intervening in human lives with good intentions.

    Then there is the Irish leprechaun. This tiny fairy usually wearing a cocked hat and apron can be good or bad. A cobbler by trade, his tapping makes others aware of his presence. Supposedly he possesses a hidden crock of gold, which the whereabouts he is not about to divulge unless his capturer threatens him with bodily harm. He might then divulge the whereabouts of his treasure if his capturer constantly watches him. But, he usually tricks his capturer in looking away briefly when the tiny man vanishes.

    The belief in fairies seems to reach back into ancient times, being traceable both in written and oral tradition. Traces stem from the Sanskrit gandharva (semidivine celestial musicians) to the nymphs of the Greeks and Homer, the jinni of Arabic mythology, and other folk characters of the Samoans, Arctic, and other indigenous Americans. A common conception of fairies today, especially in children's fairytales, rests largely upon their depiction in old folklore tradition where they were generally described as serious and sinister.

    The exceptions include the tooth fairy, the fairy godmother in Cinderella, and Snow White and the seven dwarfs. The word "fairy" is derived from the Latin fata, or fate, referring to the mythical Fates, three woman who spin and control the threads of life. The archaic English term for fairies is fays, which means "enchanted" or "bewitched." Since the belief in fairies is universal because they are known by various folkloric names including brownie (English and Scottish folklore), elf (German folklore), dwarf (Teutonic and Germanic folklore), troll (Norse folklore), gnome (Europe, popularized by Paracelsus), pooka (Irish folklore), kobold (German folklore), leprechaun (Irish folklore), and banshee (Irish and Celtic folklore).

    Fairy lore is thought to exist in almost every culture and is most prevalent in Europe and the British Isles. It spread to America during the colonization period and is still strong in the Appalachians, Ozarks, and other remote mountainous regions. More generally fairies are believed to lived in a land where time does not exist. This Land of the Fairy, or Fairyland or Elfland, as it is called, is accessed through barrows and mounds. Fairies come to the land at night to folic and make mischief. Stories are told that they are eager to kidnap human women for wives and human children, which are more attractive than fairy children, or changelings, that they leave behind in exchange.

    Other fairies generally live in small groups along rivers, lakes, or in woods and forests. They resemble the elementals and devas. This Fairyland, or Elfland, resembles the pre-Christian abodes for the dead. Fairyland is sometimes referred to as the Land of the Ever Young, which is eternal and beautiful. People carried off to fairyland cannot return if they eat or drink there. Fairy and human lovers can marry, though only with restrictions whose violation ends the marriage, and often, the life of the human.

    Some female fairies are deadly to human lovers. Fairies may resemble humans in size, but can decrease to three inches (7.5 cm) or less. Female fairies may be fortune tellers, particularly prophesying at births and foretelling deaths. The fairies were aristocratic and had monarchs; for example, in County Galway, Fin Bheara and Nuala were the king and queen. In Whales, king and queen of the fairies-known there as the Tylwyth Teg-were Gwydion ab Don and Gwenhidw. Shakespeare records the fairy-rulers in A Midsummer Night's Dream as Oberon and Titania.

    These are some of the theories that speculate the origins of fairies: Fairies are unbaptized souls. They are souls caught up in a netherland land, not good enough to enter heaven, nor bad enough to deserve hell. Such a place is frequently referred to as limbo. Fairies are the fallen angels (see Book of Enoch). Fairies were among the angels loyal to Lucifer. They were cast out of heaven with him to plunge into hell, but suddenly God stopped them in mid-flight and condemned them to remain where they were. Some were in the air, some in the earth and some in the seas and rivers.

    Such belief is widespread in fairy lore of Ireland, Scotland, and Scandinavia. Fairies are nature spirits. Somewhat analogous to the fallen-angel theory, this theory holds that fairies are among the many spirits that populate all things and places in the earth. Fairies are diminutive human beings. There is evidence that small-structured races populated parts of Europe and the British Isles in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, before the spread of the Celts. In Ireland, they were known as the Thuathe de Danaan.

    They resided in barrows and in shelters burrowed under hills and mounds. They were hard working but shy, and, as stronger peoples invaded their land and captured their iron weaponry, they retreated to the woodlands to live a secretive life. Being pagan, they continued to worship the pagan deities. They were in union with nature and possessed keen psychic senses. Their skills and trades allowed them to lead somewhat normal lives while raising diminutive cattle and horses. There was sporadic guerilla warfare against invaders as described in the legends of Robin Hood and Rob Roy.

    Originally the elusive fairy races were regarded with suspicion by larger races. Belief in them was thought to be superstitious. However, gradually more people began endowing these little people with magical characteristics. The races such as the Lapps, Picts and Romano-British-Iberian peoples, were not so small as to be unable to mingle with the Celts, Normans and Saxons. Although many became servants and serfs, others married and mixed bloodlines. Until the 13th century, having fairy blood was admired.

    There is much evidence of fairy lore in relation to witchcraft. The British anthropologist Margaret A. Murray and other historians state that the real "little people" gradually became identified with witches. During the 16th and 17th centuries, when belief in fairies was at its peak, the activities of fairies and witches were frequently combined. Both cast and broke spells; they both healed people, and divined lost objects and the future. (see Divination) Both danced and sang beneath the moon-often together-and were said to have trafficked with the Devil. Both practiced metamorphosis, flying and levitation, and could cause others to levitate. As well, both supposedly stole unbaptized babies, poisoned people, and stole horses that they rode hard and fast to their sabbats in the night. Both avoided salt and were repelled by iron.

    King James I of England, in Daemonologie, his book about witches, called Diana, the goddess of witches, and the "Queen of Fairie." Oberon, the name of the King of Fairies, also was the name of a demon summoned by magicians. Fairies were also claimed to be familiars of witches. Therefore, it is not difficulty to see why fairies figured into witch trails. The trails richest in details occurred in the British Isles. Currently Neo-Pagan Witches believe in fairies and some see them clairvoyantly. Some Witches say their Craft was passed down by fairies through the generations of their families.

    Fairy lore is particularly prevalent in Ireland, Cornwall, Wales, and Scotland. Fairies are common in literature from the Middle Ages on and appear in the writings of the Italians Matteo Boiardo and Ludovico Ariosto, the English poet Edmund Spenser, the Frenchman Charles Perrault, and the Dane Hans Christian Andersen, among others. A.G.H.
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 25th March 2015 at 22:28.

  18. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (4th March 2015), lift the veil (3rd March 2015), samos (3rd March 2015), sandancer (4th March 2015), sandy (3rd March 2015)

  19. #115
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Incubus.



    Source :- http://www.trueghoststories.co.uk/Wh...%20Incubus.htm

    What is an Incubus?

    For centuries, men and women have reported sexual attacks by unseen entities as they lie in their beds at night. Are they the victims of psychological or medical disturbances, or is there a more demonic force at work here? Well, if all these attacks can actually be attributed to a demonic entity, the creature often suspected to be behind all these sexual assaults is the incubus.

    An incubus - which comes from the Latin verb "incubo", "incubare" or "to lie upon" - is a mythological demon who takes the form of a male. According to some legendary traditions, the incubus lasciviously preys upon sleeping people, particularly females, with a view to having sexual intercourse with them. Its female counterpart is, of course, the succubus. An incubus usually forges sexual relations with a woman in order to father a child, as in the legend of Merlin, the wizard of King Arthur's court. According to religious tradition, constant intercourse with an incubus or succubus may culminate in serious damage to health, or even death.

    Medieval accounts of such diabolical couplings claim that intercourse with these fiends is usually painful and unpleasant, yet women often find incubi irresistibly seductive despite the physical agony. Elders often warn against such blasphemous liaisons, believing that to indulge in sexual intercourse with an incubus is the "quickest path to hell."

    One of the earliest occurrences of incubus activity comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian King List, ca. 2400 BC, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu. It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their sexual dreams. Two other similar demons appear as well: Ardat lili, who visits men nocturnally and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and visits women by night and begets from them. These demons were originally known as storm demons, but

    they eventually became regarded as night demons because of an error with the etymology.

    Discussions about these demons began early in the Christian tradition. St. Augustine referred to them in De Civitate Dei ("The City of God"). There were too many attacks by incubi to deny their existence, he claimed. Debates about the reproductive capabilities of the demons went on. Hundreds of years later, it became universally acknowledged that there was little difference between the incubi and succubi, considering their frightening power to switch between male and female forms, and to prey on people as they were sleeping peacefully in their beds at night. A succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Even though sperm and egg originally came from humans, the spirits' offspring were often regarded as the spawn of a supernatural entity, and even as being in league with the Devil himself!

    Although there have been many stories over the years claiming that the incubus is bisexual, others suggest that it is mostly heterosexual and regards attacking a male victim as either unpleasant or detrimental. There are also numerous reports involving the attempted exorcism of incubi or succubi who have possessed, respectively, the bodies of males or females. Incubi are sometimes said to possess the ability to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is sometimes referred to as a cambion, the most famous legend of such a case being that of Merlin, the famous wizard from King Arthur's Court.

    According to the Malleus Maleficarum, (the famous treatise on the prosecution of witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer), exorcism is one of the five methods to combat incubi assaults, the others being Sacramental Confession, the Sign of the Cross (or recital of the Angelic Salutation), moving the victim to another location, and by excommunication of the attacking entity. On the other hand, some clergyman have even stated that incubi can remain defiant and impervious towards exorcists, and have no fear of holy rituals whatsoever, which again seems to suggest that in some cases, these demons may even be drawing on the powers of Satan himself in their determination to maintain their sexual grip on their victim.

    The incubus has come in many different forms around the world, and has been given many different names. For instance, the alp of Teutonic or German folklore is the most famous. In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa targets mostly men, and generally behind closed doors. "The Trauco", according to the traditional mythology of the Chilo, Province of Chile, is a monstrously deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women before seducing them. The Trauco is reported to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women.

    Victims of possible incubi attacks may have been experiencing waking dreams or the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. Nocturnal emission or arousal could be attributed to creatures causing otherwise guilt-producing behaviour. On the other hand, victims of incubi could well have been the victims of actual sexual assault. Rapists may have blamed demons for the sexual violation of sleeping women in order to escape a jail sentence. A friend or relative is one of the prime suspects in such cases, and would be kept secret by the intervention of 'spirits.' The victims and, in some cases, the magistrates, may have found it easier to explain the attack as supernatural rather than entertain the idea that the attack was perpetrated by an actual human being.

    The incubi were said to seduce unsuspecting women by appearing to them in the form of their husbands or lovers, and not surprisingly, the incubi played a significant role in the history of the Inquisition. Even pious nuns appeared before the tribunals, attesting to their affliction by persistent incubi that attempted to force them to break their vows of chastity. Epidemics of demonic possession and erotomania broke out in such convents as Loudon (The 1971 film The Devils, which starred Oliver Reed as Urbain Grandier, was based on this case), Louviers, Auxonne, and Aixen-Provence.

    Although occurrences of incubi attacks are mostly associated with past centuries, especially the Middle Ages, there are still hundreds of cases of apparent incubi activity being reported even to this day. Whether any of these cases has any solid foundation in reality is open to speculation. However, whilst some experts have dismissed these cases as being mere symptoms of sleep paralysis (or the "Old Hag" syndrome), other, more spiritually inclined people have strongly believed that they really do bear out the fact that these night demons actually do exist.
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 20th July 2015 at 16:48.

  20. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (4th March 2015), lift the veil (3rd March 2015), samos (3rd March 2015), sandancer (4th March 2015)

  21. #116
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Succubus.



    Source :- http://www.trueghoststories.co.uk/Wh...20Succubus.htm

    What is a Succubus?

    According to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon or supernatural entity that appears in dreams. It takes the form of a human female in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. Its male counterpart is the incubus. Religious teachings maintain that constant sexual intercourse with a succubus may culminate in the general deterioration of health, or even death.

    The first actual mention of Succubus comes from the 1300's. The official procedure for dealing with succubi was set out in the Malleus Maleficarum (the so-called, Hammer of the Witches). Exorcism and confession were considered the two best methods for disposing of succubi. Indeed, many clergymen and paranormal experts still believe in the existence of these female demons, and seek out or offer exorcisms to get rid of them.

    In modern fictional representations, a succubus may or may not appear in dreams, and is often depicted as a luscious seductress or enchantress; whereas, in the past, succubi were generally depicted as frightening and demonic.

    The word succubus is derived from Late Latin succuba "paramour" (from succub), "to lie under" (suc- "under" + cubare "to lie" + -a), used to describe the supernatural being as well. The word is first attested from 1387.

    According to Zohar and the Alphabet of Ben Sira, Lilith was Adam's first wife who later became a succubus. She left Adam and refused to return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael. In Zoharistic Kabbalah, there were four succubi who mated with the archangel Samael. There

    were four original queens of the demons: Lilith, Mahalath, Agrat Bat Mahlat, and Naamah.

    A succubus often takes the form of a beautiful young girl, but on closer inspection, certain deformities may be discernible on their bodies, such as bird-like claws or serpentine tails. It is said that the act of sexually penetrating a succubus is akin to entering a cavern of ice. There are also reports of succubi forcing men to perform oral sex on them.

    Throughout history, many clergymen - including Hanina Ben Dosa and Abaye, attempted to combat the scourge that the succubi had over humans. Contrary to popular belief, however, not all succubi were malevolent. According to Walter Mapes in De Nugis Curialium (Trifles of Courtiers), Pope Sylvester II (946 -1003) - was involved with a succubus named Meridiana, who was instrumental in helping him to achieve his high status in the Catholic Church. Just before he died, he confessed his sins and died with a clear conscience.

    Succubi were also reported as having the ability to reproduce. For example, according to the Kabbalah and the school of Rashba, the original three queens of the demons, Agrat Bat Mahlat, Naamah, Eisheth Zenunim, and all their cohorts conceived children, except Lilith. According to other legends, the children of Lilith are called Lilin. The Malleus Maleficarum, or "Witches' Hammer", written by Heinrich Kramer in 1486, states that a succubus collects semen from the men she seduces. The incubi or male demons then use the semen to impregnate human females, thus explaining how demons could apparently sire children despite the traditional belief that they were incapable of reproduction. Children born in such circumstances , cambions, were supposed to be those that were born deformed, or more susceptible to supernatural influences. This same incarnation retained the absence of breath or a pulse until seven years of age, but was said to also have been incredibly heavy and to have cried when touched. The book, however, does not explain why a human female impregnated with the semen of a human male would not produce a normal human child.

    In the field of medicine, it has often been said that the stories pertaining to encounters with succubi bear close resemblance to the contemporary phenomenon of people reporting alien abductions, which has been attributed to the disorder known as sleep paralysis. This has given much weight to the theory that historical accounts of people experiencing encounters with succubi may rather have been symptoms of sleep paralysis, with the hallucination of the said creatures coming from their contemporary culture: Qarinah.

    In Arabian mythology, the qarnah is a spirit very similar to the succubus, whose origins are steeped in ancient Egyptian religion or in the animistic beliefs of pre-Islamic Arabia. A qarnah is said to sleep with the person and has relations during sleep, and is known by the dreams. They are said to be invisible to the naked eye, but are perceptible to people with "second sight", and often appear in the form of a household pet, like a cat or a dog. Many African myths claim that men who have similar experiences with succubi in dreams find themselves drained of all energy as soon as they wake up, and spiritual activity is often suspected as being the cause of this state. Local rituals are often performed in order to appeal to the gods for divine protection and intervention.

    In India, the Succubus is known as the seductress "Mohini", who takes on the form of a lone lady draped in a White Saree, with untied long hair. She is said to haunt lonely roads or paths. Indian legend has it that she died from being ill treated by a male, and as a consequence of this, she now forever roams the earth, seeking to exact a bitter revenge on any male unfortunate enough to cross her path.

    Due to the widespread prevalence of these myths, many anthropologists and psychologists believe them to be supernatural explanations for sleep paralysis and hallucinations. A recurrent factor in these stories is the inability to move, which is a common feature of sleep paralysis. They also speculate that in religions with sexual taboos like Christianity, the demons offered a convenient "devil made me do it" excuse. Unwanted pregnancies, incest, and nocturnal emissions could be attributed to incubi or succubi. The sleep paralysis and sexual encounters bear some similarity to what is sometimes regarded today as alien abduction. Victims of such abductions often report being frozen in bed, and sexual reproduction with aliens, or probing, is also a common occurrence. The general psychological experience is likely to have been very similar, but explained away by whatever was most culturally relevant at the time: in older times, demons, and in more modern times, aliens.
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 20th July 2015 at 16:46.

  22. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (4th March 2015), lift the veil (3rd March 2015), Ria (3rd March 2015), sandancer (4th March 2015)

  23. #117
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Lilith.



    Source :- http://www.trueghoststories.co.uk/Li...20Succubus.htm

    Lilith, The First Succubus

    The most infamous name in all of Succubi history is Lilith. In addition to being mentioned a lot in various historical texts, Lilith has also popped up quite often in horror fiction, including an appearance in the popular TV show Supernatural. But who was Lilith?

    Lilith was said to be a beautiful demonic entity, and was believed to have been Adam's first wife, or in other traditions, a fantasy wife created to alleviate his loneliness before Eve came on the scene. Lilith is a white-eyed demon who was once human. Most evil beings know her as the first demon to ever be created. Lucifer corrupted her soul as an act of rebellion against God after he was expelled from heaven. She was the leader of many demons before her death. Her demise was the last of the 66 Seals. She has also been described as being "the first succubus", and even referred to as “the Queen of the Succubi”. Lilith also loves to possess young girls, then tormenting and killing the victim’s family. She also likes to drink the blood of newborn babies. Lilith claims to make a deal with her will take a sexual act instead of a kiss, but this may simply be her preference.

    Lilith (Hebrew: lilit, or lilith) is a Hebrew name for a being in Jewish mythology, developed earliest in the Babylonian Talmud, who is generally thought to be in part derived from a class of female demons Liliu in Mesopotamian texts of Assyria and Babylonia. In later Jewish texts, there is plenty of information about entities like Lilith, although little has been found pertaining to the original Akkadian and Babylonian perception of these demons. The relevance of two sources previously used to connect the Jewish Lilith to an Akkadian Lilitu—the Gilgamesh appendix and the Arslan Tash amulets—are now both disputed by recent scholarship.

    The first mention of the Hebrew term Lilith occurs in Isaiah 34:14, either singular or plural according to variations in the earliest manuscripts, though in a list of animals. In the Dead Sea Scrolls Songs of the Sage, the term first occurs in a list of monsters. In Jewish magical inscriptions, on bowls and

    amulets from the 6th century CE onwards, Lilith is identified as a female demon and the first visual depictions appear.

    In Jewish folklore, from the 8th–10th centuries Alphabet of Ben Sira onwards, Lilith becomes Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time and from the same earth as Adam. This contrasts with Eve, who was created from one of Adam's ribs. The legend was spread during the Middle Ages, in the tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar and Jewish mysticism. In the 13th Century writings of Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen, for example, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael. Consequently, this Lilith legend is still regularly used as source material in modern Western culture, literature, satanism and horror.

    The concept of the she-demon Lilith idea originates from extra-biblical Jewish legends possibly derived from Babylonian/Assyrian demoness Lilit/Lilu. Moreover, not all rabbinic traditions subscribe to the idea that she was Adam’s first wife, for some say she bore Adam demonic offspring after Adam supposedly separated from Eve.

    Being a fascinating figure to both magicians and feminists for centuries, Lilith, or Lilitu ('wind-spirit' in Assyrian-Babylonian mythology) was an unbridled sexual creature. She was either created as Adam's Siamese twin, or was made from the scum of the earth. Either way, Lilith always demanded equality with Adam.

    Lilith’s sex life soon underwent a most dramatic turn. She had voracious erotic liaisons with various fallen angels, and together they spawned many demons called the lilim, entities very similar to the succubi of Christian demonology. In Muslim lore, however, Lilith copulated with Satan, and together they gave birth to the djinn, or genies.

    Because Lilith left before the Fall, she wasn't touched by the curse of death that God placed upon Eve and Adam. Consequently, she went on to become a demon in her own right, or even an avenging angel. She wanted to exact a bitter revenge for the deaths of her children, and to this end, she focused her hostility on mostly women in childbirth, and on newborn babies. And if that newborn baby happened to be a boy – well, she was all the more eager to wreak as much damage as she could on that unfortunate infant and, sometimes, its mother. Nevertheless, she was forced by three angels to swear she would not harm mothers and children protected by certain amulets. These amulets were named Sanvi, Sansanvi, and Semangelaf. In the 18th century, many mothers and children availed themselves of the vital protection these amulets offered. It was also imperative that certain charms and rituals had to be performed when using these amulets, so as to fully protect mothers and infants from the vengeful power of Lilith. Baby girls were considered vulnerable in their first three weeks of life. Boys were believed to be vulnerable for longer periods of time, however. Any boy under the age of eight was a prime target for the she-demon Liltih, and had to be watched over virtually 24 hours a day.

    In an effort to protect their children, parents drew a charcoal or natron circle of protection on a wall of the child's bedroom. Inside the circle was written 'Adam and Eve, barring Lilith,' 'protect this child from harm,' or 'Adam and Eve. Out, Lilith!' The names of Sanvi, Sansanvi, and Semangelaf were written on the door. Amulets with these inscriptions were placed in every area of the bedchamber. If a child happened to laugh in its sleep, it denoted that Lilith was present in the room. Tapping the child on the nose would drive the demon away.

    But it wasn’t just women and children who were afraid of Lilith, for men too began to fear that there was something more sinister, more supernatural, behind the seminal emissions they were having whilst they were asleep. The revenge sought by Lilith in response to her children's deaths was especially aimed at men who slept alone, a fact which must have sent many a shock wave through any vulnerable single male who happened to live on his own!

    Men who experienced wet dreams often believed they had been seduced by Lilith in their sleep. This fear often prompted them to recite incantations in order to prevent any resulting offspring from becoming demons. However, some men weren't so fortunate, for they ended up having all their blood sucked out of their bodies. In perpetrating this evil act, the insatiable Lilith, along with the equally ancient Lamia, displayed vampiric as well as demonic tendencies. As queen of the succubi, Lilith was said to have been assisted in her nocturnal endeavours by her minions, in particular her demon lover Samael, who would cavort with Lilith and the succubi near the mountains of darkness.
    Lilith has even featured in vampire lore, either as the first and most omnipotent of the vampires, or as their queen. She is sometimes depicted as either the daughter or the consort of the vampire lord himself, Dracula. As a succubus, she has a powerful control of nightmares and erotic dreams. She also rules a horde of other succubi and incubi.

    Lilith enjoyed something of a revival in literature beginning in the mid 19th century. Generally, she signifies the dark side of femininity (the part that men secretly fear). Carl Jung used her as prime expression of the anima in men, and the best monograph on her still belongs to one of Jung's disciples: Siegmund Hurwitz. In his book Lilith, The First Eve, Jung presents case material from his analytical practice which imbeds Lilith in the everyday problems of contemporary life.
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 26th March 2015 at 13:36.

  24. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (4th March 2015), lift the veil (3rd March 2015), Ria (3rd March 2015), sandancer (4th March 2015)

  25. #118
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Old Hag Syndrome.




    Source :- http://paranormal.about.com/od/human...g-Syndrome.htm

    Article by Stephen Wagner.

    The "Old Hag" Syndrome

    You wake up unable to move, barely able to breathe... you feel an oppressive weight on your chest... and you sense some evil presence in the room... The old hag strikes!

    A reader writes:

    About a year and a half ago, I was awoken in the night by a strong, warm breeze. I could not move and could not scream. It lasted about 30 seconds and was gone. I saw nothing. Last week it happened again. I was lying in bed and again was awoken. I felt a very strong force holding me down. I could not sit up. I tried to scream for my daughter and could not get any noise to come out. I tried to hit the wall with my arm and this force would not let me. It again lasted about 30 seconds and was over. I really don't believe in ghosts and didn't see anything at all. I am just really scared and confused.

    Have you ever had a similar experience? The above incident is a classic example of what has become known as the "old hag" syndrome and is one of many such letters I receive from readers each month. The victims awake to find that they cannot move, even though they can see, hear, feel and smell. There is sometimes the feeling of a great weight on the chest and the sense that there is a sinister or evil presence in the room. And like the above reader, they are often quite frightened about what is happening to them.

    The name of the phenomenon comes from the superstitious belief that a witch - or an old hag - sits or "rides" the chest of the victims, rendering them immobile. Although that explanation isn't taken very seriously nowadays, the perplexing and often very frightening nature of the phenomenon leads many people to believe that there are supernatural forces at work - ghosts or demons.

    The experience is so frightening because the victims, although paralyzed, seem to have full use of their senses. In fact, it is often accompanied by strange smells, the sound of approaching footsteps, apparitions of weird shadows or glowing eyes, and the oppressive weight on the chest, making breathing difficult if not impossible. All of the body's senses are telling the victims that something real and unusual is happening to them. The spell is broken and the victims recover often on the point of losing consciousness. Fully awake and well, they sit up, completely baffled by what just happened to them since now the room is entirely normal.

    Confronted with such a bizarre and irrational experience, it's no wonder that many victims fear that they have been attacked in their beds by some malevolent spirit, demon or, perhaps, an alien visitor.

    The phenomenon occurs to both men and women of various ages and seems to happen to about 15 percent of the population at least once in a lifetime. It can occur while the victim is sleeping during the day or night, and it is a worldwide phenomenon that has been documented since ancient times.

    "In the 2nd century, the Greek physician Galen attributed it to indigestion," according to The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Ellen Guiley. "Some individuals suffer repeated attacks over a limited period of time; others have repeated attacks for years."

    Another example:

    I am a 27 year old female and have been suffering for the past 12 or so years. It started just being unable to move, like someone was on top of me, pinning me down. And although I was trying with all my might to move or to scream, all I could do was barely wiggle my toes and faintly murmur. In the beginning it was very frightening and I would try with all my might to wake up. Upon waking I would be unable to resume sleep for at least a few hours. Now I have become somewhat used to them. Sometimes I even lie back and see how long I can take that awful, overpowering feeling. In the end, I always try to wake myself up.

    Over the years this "thing" has kind of metamorphosized into a dark being, something who is doing this deliberately to me for some reason. I guess this is something that I may have invented in my head to deal with it. I am not really sure. After I got used to it, I never really questioned it. It still occurs about every 2 months or so. Sometimes once a night, other times it can happen several times in one night.

    What's going on? Is there a rational explanation for these freaky experiences?

    THE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION

    The medical establishment is quite aware of this phenomenon, but has a less sensational name than "old hag syndrome" for it. They call it "sleep paralysis" or SP (sometimes ISP for "isolated sleep paralysis").

    So what causes it? Dr. Max Hirshkowitz, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Houston, says that sleep paralysis occurs when the brain is in the transition state between deep, dreaming sleep (known as REM sleep for its rapid eye movement) and waking up. During REM dreaming sleep, the brain has turned off most of the body's muscle function so we cannot act out our dreams - we are temporarily paralyzed.

    "Sometimes your brain doesn't fully switch off those dreams - or the paralysis - when you wake up," Hirshkowitz told ABC News. "That would explain the 'frozen' feeling and hallucinations associated with sleep paralysis." According to his research, the effect only really lasts from a few seconds to as long as a minute, but in this half-dream half-awake state, to the victim it can seem much longer.

    In her article, "Help! I Can't Move!,"Florence Cardinal writes: "Sleep paralysis is often accompanied by vivid hallucinations. There may be a sense someone is in the room, or even hovering over you. At other times, there seems to be pressure on the chest, as though someone or something perched there. There may even be sexual attacks associated with the hallucinations. The sound of footsteps, doors opening and closing, voices, all can be a very frightening part of sleep paralysis. These are known as Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Experiences and they are what make people dread an episode of sleep paralysis."

    For all their explanations, however, the sleep experts still do not know what causes the brain to screw up like this, or why some people experience it more than others. But there are some theories:

    "Episodes of paralysis can occur when the body is in any position, but happen most frequently when the sleeper is lying flat on his or her back. Intense fear is common, but sometimes other strong emotions, such as sadness or anger, are present," says Florence Cardinal in "The Terror of Sleep Paralysis."
    For some, sleep paralysis is often brought about by not getting enough sleep or being overtired. Likewise, disrupted sleep schedules or circadian rhythm disturbances can produce an episode of sleep paralysis.
    It is more common in people who suffer from severe anxiety or bipolar disorder. Some research shows that sleep paralysis is five times more likely to occur with people who are taking such anti-anxiety drugs as Xamax or Valium.
    A study found that 35 percent of subjects with isolated sleep paralysis also report a history of wake panic attacks unrelated to the experience of paralysis.
    How can you prevent sleep paralysis? According to clinical research, you may be able to minimize the episodes by following good sleep hygiene:

    get enough sleep
    reduce stress
    exercise regularly (but not too close to bedtime)
    keep a regular sleep schedule.
    "For some people this may not be possible, however," says Florence Cardinal, "so instead let's look at ways to escape from the grip of sleep paralysis. The best remedy is to will yourself to move, even if it's only the wiggling of your little finger. This is often sufficient to break the spell. If you can manage it, scream! Your roommate may not appreciate it, but it's better than suffering through a long and fear-filled episode. If all else fails, seek professional help."

    Sounds like good advice. The bottom line is that you really have nothing to fear, in a paranormal sense, from sleep paralysis. That old hag you feel perched on your chest may be nothing more than the anxiety of living in a stressful world.
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 26th March 2015 at 13:38.

  26. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (4th March 2015), sandancer (4th March 2015)

  27. #119
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Black Eyed Kids.



    Source :- http://paranormal.about.com/od/human...or-or-Hoax.htm

    Article by A. Milhorn.

    Dark Visitors: Black-Eyed Kids - Horror or Hoax?

    Does the black-eyed kids phenomenon have a basis in fact, or is it a product of our misperceptions and fears?

    In the ten years of being a paranormal researcher, I have run across certain urban legends and folktales that have achieved a twisted sense of immortality despite their concocted convoluted nature. People love to believe a good story and, more important, they love to be scared. Terrified, in fact.

    It's a perverse pleasure we all take. There are monsters of every shape and size, acts of violence and terror that would chill even the hardiest soul to the bone. Sometimes however, the monster comes in a guise that appears innocent but in fact is so insidious as to set every hair on our heads and bodies on end as a raging ice storm of a chill shoots down our spine to our toes and our mental alarm bells begin to scream: Run!

    One of the most infamous instances of such a creature of urban legend are the black-eyed kids. The black-eyed kids are supposedly otherwise normal-looking children ranging in ages from five or six to their mid-teens. Some have been described as wearing white bed clothes, normal attire, or as having pale skin with the pallor of death upon it. One key feature, however, remains constant about the appearance of these creatures: their eyes. Their eyes always appear as jet black pools of inky darkness with no discernable sclera (whites), iris or pupil.

    According to the urban legends, these black-eyed creatures appear to the unwary, often late at night, knocking on doors and windows, asking in monotonous voices to be let in or giggling in a high-pitched tone, as if they know something funny that would most likely curdle your blood. The most repeated advice to those who are rapt in attention to the tale of the black-eyed kids, or BEKs as they are called, is to ignore them, slam the door in their faces and walk away, as it would imperil your very soul to acquiesce to their siren call. In 2013, the number of reports and stories of BEKs spiked like Walmart sales on Black Friday: through the roof.

    ORIGINS

    So what are black-eyed kids? Is there a rational explanation for them? If not, then what could be the source of these creepy little ghouls?

    The origin of the tale of the black-eyed kids is very hard to pin down to an exact origin point or a single source. The stories about them began slowly at first back in the mid- to late-1990s across internet message boards, which were at the time the Facebook or MySpace of the day. For years, the message boards were lit up with stories of encounters, and as the internet grew in scope, becoming more and more integrated into our lives, it also began to shape our experiences and the frames of reference in which we put things into.

    While difficult to pin down the exact origin of the black-eyed kids stories, one source might have been the story of Brian Bethel, an Internet blogger/journalist who claims his was the first black-eyed kid encounter. It happened in 1996 in Abilene, Texas. Bethel's encounter took place in the spring or summer of that year he reports:

    I had gone down to the former site of Camalott Communications, one of the area's original Internet providers, to pay my bill. At the time, Camalott was near the movie theater. I was using the light of the theater's marquee to write out my check, which I planned to put in Camalott's night drop-slot. Involved in my work, I never heard them approach.

    There was a knock on my drivers side window. Two young boys, somewhere between nine to 12 years old and dressed in hooded pullovers, stood outside. I cracked the window a bit, anticipating a spiel for money, but I was immediately gripped by an incomprehensible, soul-wracking fear. I had no idea why.

    A conversation ensued between one boy, a somewhat suave, olive-skinned, curly-headed young man, and myself. The other, a red-headed, pale-skinned, freckled young man, stayed in the background. The spokesman, as I've come to think of him, told me that he and his companion needed a ride. They wanted to see a movie, Mortal Kombat, but they left their money at their mother's house. Could I give them a ride?

    Plausible enough. But all throughout this exchange, the irrational fear continued and grew. I had no reason to be frightened of these two boys, but I was. Terribly. After a bit more conversation, I looked up at the theater marquee and down at the digital clock display in my car. Mortal Kombat's last show of the night had already started. By the time I could have driven the boys anywhere and back, it would practically have been over.

    All the while, the spokesman uttered assurances: It wouldn't take long. They were just two little kids. They didn't have a gun or anything. The last part was a bit unnerving. In the short time I had broken the gaze of the spokesman, something had changed, and my mind exploded in a vortex of all-consuming terror. Both boys stared at me with coal-black eyes. Soulless orbs like two great swathes of starless night.

    I full-on freaked out inside while trying to appear completely sane and calm. I made whatever excuses came to mind, all of them designed to get me the hell out of there. I wrapped my hand around the gearshift, threw the car into reverse, and began to roll up the window, apologizing all the while.

    My fear must have been evident. The boy in the back wore a look of confusion. The spokesman banged sharply on the window as I rolled it up. His words, full of anger, echo in my mind even today: We can't come in unless you tell us it's okay. Let us in!

    I drove out of the parking lot in blind fear, and I'm surprised I didn't sideswipe a car or two along the way. I stole a quick look in my rearview mirror before peeling out into the night. The boys were gone. Even if they had run, I don't believe there was any place they could have hidden from view that quickly. (Bethel, 2013).

    From that single seed that Bethel let loose in 1998 on a ghost hunter forum two years after his experience, the legend of the BEK was released onto the world. For a time, reports seemed to flood into every ghost hunters inbox. Was this the result of increased sightings and encounters or simply a paranoid overreaction to everyday events? Strangely, the evidence isn't clear either way.

    There has never been a shred of physical evidence to suggest that BEKs are physically present in any way, if they exist, nor has there ever been anyone to my knowledge that has been caught engaging in a hoax to scare unknown people by putting in contacts and running around asking to be let in. So if we cannot say the BEK are real due to lack of evidence that supports their existence, what else is there?

    PRIMING AND PAREIDOLIA

    What else could a black-eyed kid be? There are several interesting possibilities. The first, of course, would be an over-reaction on the part of the witness who had been prepared mentally for such an event. This preparation is called "priming". Priming is where a pre-suggestion has already been placed into the mind and only an activator stimulus that is appropriately vague in the right circumstances sets off the connection between the knowledge in your brain and your senses, making a false connection between the two and leading you to a flawed conclusion that isn't supported by evidence (Kolb & Whishaw, 2008).

    This happens quite a bit with so-called EVPs and photos purported to be paranormal. If I played for you a low-class EVP and not tell you anything about it, you wouldn't hear any coherent voice or statement from the recording nine times out of ten. But if I did the same thing and said, "There is a male voice there saying, 'Get out'," and then played the recording for you, nine times out of ten you would suddenly hear, "Get out"!

    If I showed you a photo of wood grain and said what do you see, you would say, "Nothing but wood." But if I did the same thing with a photo and pointed to certain areas and said, a person took this and says, "Jesus is right there, his face is. See here is his beard, etc." you would most likely see the face of Jesus. Is it really there? Of course not.

    Priming is tied to pareidolia, which is the unification of sensory data into a familiar subject based on the perception of complex lines, patterns, gradations, sounds, or random colors (Voss, Federmeier & Paller, 2012). Our perceptions of the everyday world work the exact same way.

    Frame of reference and context are everything. For example, if you visit an old rundown place in the middle of the day and hear stories about it being haunted and you probably won't be scared at all. Visit the same place in the dead of night or during a thunderstorm, and your perceptions will change drastically.

    After Bethel's experience was reported, as mentioned above, the numbers of BEK reports spiked. The encounters almost always had certain factors in common: it was almost always late at night, storming, with normal activities being engaged in when suddenly these BEKs appear, extreme fear being experienced and then the witness running away just in time, surviving to tell the story. These are all hallmarks of urban legends.

    Why the sudden spike in 2013 in black-eyed kids reports? Are they multiplying? Hardly. This year was ripe with black-eyed kid movies, stories and appearances in the media.

    From Snopes: ".Black-eyed children fever hit the Internet in February, 2013, when a two-minute video episode of Weekly Strange, featuring a look at these strange, putative beings was posted to the entertainment section of the MSN web site. Not surprisingly, the appearance of the black-eyed children video on MSN coincided with the release of Black-Eyed Kids, an urban legend-based horror film." (Mikkelson, 2013).

    So in short, priming, pareidolia, frame of reference (fictional movies, books), and context all play important roles in how we perceive events and experiences, even other people, and all of these things can combine together to create one helluva scary experience, even if by the light of day we would dismiss such an idea out of hand for its ridiculousness.

    CAUSES FOR BLACK EYES

    Could black-eyed kids really exist as real flesh-and-blood people? What could possibly cause such a thing to be seen if, for the sake of argument, we discount priming and all the other stuff?

    Since we've looked at the perception of the witness and how psychology impacts it, let's look at medical causes that, combined with the above discussed psychological factors and environmental parameters of the reported experiences, could present a situation to one's mind as a BEK encounter.

    The dilation of the pupil in the human eye is called mydriasis. This term is often used when referring to pupil dilation that is not the result of a physiological condition or cause, such as drugs, illness, or injury. Normally, the pupil enlarges or constricts based on the amount of light entering the eye at any given time. Besides light, arousal, either negative or positive (such being about to get into a fight or sexual arousal) can cause the pupil's to dilate, often noticeably. There are several conditions that can cause a pupil to expand beyond what most people have seen in another human being or display other abnormal behavior. Some of them are:

    Blown pupil: This is an informal term referring to when a set of pupils is dilated beyond normal limits due to possible and likely increased intracranial pressure (brain hemorrhaging for example).
    Adie's Tonic Pupil: A condition where one pupil is noticeably larger than the other often mismatched in size. In this condition, the one pupil gradually grows smaller and smaller until it appears to be permanently in that state however, it will expand to light, but far slower than a natural reaction will, but will respond normally to what is called the "near reflex," the instinctive automatic pupilary response to stimuli too close to the face that moves suddenly.
    Drugs: phenylephrine (found in sudafed and decongestants), adrenaline, ephinepherin, antimuscarinics (atropine, Atropen, etc), tricyclic antidepressants, amfetamines and ecstasy.
    Traumatic iris damage, third cranial nerve palsy, pharmacological dilation (ie dilating drops), iris rubeosis. (Paitient UK, 2013).
    While none of these presents as a full-blown black-eyed kid appearance (i.e. totally black eye including no iris, no visible pupil and no sclera, nothing but black), if combined with the right atmospheric parameters and/or primed conditioning, such as being a paranormal enthusiast or a believer in the unexplained, it may cause the brain to make a connection between confusing and unknown sensory data (not many people are familiar with the anatomy and conditions of the eye or pharmacological effects) and information held in long term memory, creating an experience where there really isn't one.

    WHAT ABOUT HOAXES?

    Teenagers and kids are among the most internet idiotic and the most internet savvy people at the same time. This contradictory existence enables kids to do what they have always done: be exquisite pranksters. As time has went on, information on the internet became easier and easier to obtain, easier to fake, and easier to decimate, making the problem of priming and pareidolia all the more invasive. A kid with a mischievous streak could easily read a story by a "witness" of a BEK and think "this would be funny!" and order a certain kind of contact lens called a "sclera contact" that covers the entire eye.

    These sclera contacts are relatively expensive (if made professionally) and often are custom made (again if made professionally and legally). They have a variety of uses from theater and special effects in movies to medical treatment. Just because of the price, many people have discounted it as a possibility for modern kids to buy them. This would be an extremely illogical idea because there is precedent for kids getting access to special contact lenses, price be damned.

    It is illegal under United States law to sell any contact lens corrective or cosmetic without a prescription, yet they are available from a variety of dicey websites for as little as twenty dollars a pair. If people are selling cheap contact lenses, why could they not be selling cheap (and dangerous) sclera lenses as well? Take, for example, my results in searching for cheap sclera lenses. I found a website in less than forty seconds that offered them for about $126. That may seem expensive, but remember we are talking about an age group especially the 15 to 16 year old ranges, that can and do have jobs and can easily afford them.

    The point is, it is possible for kids to buy cheap, illegal contacts no questions asked and pull pranks. Which is more likely? A demon or ET with all-black eyes that wants to eat your brain and soul, knocking on your door asking to come in, or pranks set up by mischievous kids with access to relatively easy money and too much time on their hands?

    A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

    In closing, I would like to relate an experience of my own. This experience happened to me recently in the grocery store. I had gone out to get the oil changed in our car. After getting the oil changed, I ran over to FoodCity to pick up stuff for a meatloaf country dinner.

    I was walking down the meat aisle when a woman caught my attention. She was walking strangely, sort of hunched over a bit, pushing her cart, looking at the ground mostly, glancing every once in a while around to pick up an item. I moved to get out of her way and let her pass when suddenly she jerked her head up and I saw her face for the first time. It looked like any normal face of an older lady except her eyes. Her eyes were jet black so black they almost appeared red, especially around the edges of her eyelids.

    Now, I have been the chat moderator for Dave Schrader and Tim Dennis's Darkness Radio paranormal talk show for several years in different formats, and one of the favorite creepy topics of the show and in the chat used to be black-eyed kid stories. They would freak the chatters out. I dismissed the stories as just urban legends and fakes. But the moment I saw her eyes, every single one of them slammed down on me instantly, a speeding locomotive train of horror hitting me all at once: I was wrong.

    For half a second, I actually stopped in my tracks as she grinned madly from ear to ear, pinning me with those dark eyes and she opened her mouth and said in a gentle but creepily happy voice, "Oops, gotta go around!"

    And then I looked again, my investigators instinct kicking in, ready to document this experience so I could relate it to Dave once I got the chat room re-opened for listeners one Monday during call-in night so I could finally admit my stubborn pride was wrong. I took a second look, trying to see past the priming and pareidolia from all the ghost stories and BEK encounters that I had heard. Then I saw her sclera were simply bloodshot and yellowed, probably from smoking, I realized. Her natural eye color, like mine, was a very deep brown. My eyes are a naturally super dark brown and unless the light hits them right, they appear quite black.

    I relaxed as a realized she was just an old lady shopping and being polite in the best way she knew how, and that she was harmless. Needless to say, I picked up the rest of the groceries we needed and headed home with a new appreciation for how the mind works and how it pieces together everything from memory, obscure knowledge, dismissed ideas and experiences in the here and now into a single brilliant moment of perception that is so striking it can at times blind us to the very truth of what is really in front of us.

    Are black eyed kids real? Are they hoaxes? Is Brian Bethel a fabulous story teller? The answer remains as elusive as it will always be. In my opinion, black-eyed kids are nothing more than an urban legend sparked by one story many years ago that has taken on a life of its own. However, their legacy is not one of ectoplasmic miasmas, but rather a testament to the power of the human mind to take information, fold it, and surprise us in ways we never thought possible. And while we think of ourselves as the most rational intelligent beings on the planet, perhaps, just perhaps, we really are fooling ourselves.
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 20th July 2015 at 16:41.

  28. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (4th March 2015), sandancer (4th March 2015)

  29. #120
    Retired Member UK
    Join Date
    12th September 2013
    Location
    UK.
    Posts
    1,815
    Thanks
    19,274
    Thanked 6,600 Times in 1,366 Posts

    Animal Mutilations.


    Mother of the mutilated foal.

    Source :- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...-Dartmoor.html

    Pony mutilated in suspected satanic act in Dartmoor - Telegraph.

    Article By Tom Rowley and Zoah Hedges-Stocks 26 Jul 2013


    The two-month-old foal was found on Yennadon Down, an area of moor popular for family picnics, with its genitals and right ear sliced off and its tongue and eyes cut out. It was surrounded by a circle of scorch marks, suggesting “devil worshippers” could have lit torches or candles as part of a ceremony.

    Insp Andy Oliver from Devon and Cornwall Police told The Daily Telegraph he is urgently reviewing existing cases. In all three instances, ponies appeared to have been “deliberately injured” with gruesome lacerations. The latest case, however, is the first that led police to suspect the killing might be part of a “ritual”. According to experts, the south west has a long association with Satanic groups, some of which still perform sacrifices.

    In the nearby village of Yelverton yesterday, some locals were insisting that the evidence points to the involvement of a cult.

    The foal was discovered by a rider on Tuesday night, lying in a secluded clearing at the foot of a slope facing south west towards the full moon. Its belly had been hacked open and there were traces of white paint on one leg.

    Jenny Thornton, an animal welfare officer on Dartmoor, thought the position of the foal was “sinister” when she was called to examine it later that night.

    “Crows take eyes out but animals certainly couldn’t have cut an ear off,” she said. “We have not jumped to any conclusions but it certainly seems that it could have been ritualistic.”

    Thornton believes the pony was killed on Monday night, during the “supermoon” – when a full moon comes closest to Earth, making it appear much larger and brighter than usual.

    The foal was among a herd of animals owned by local farmers but allowed to run wild on the common land.

    “If the animal was alive when that happened, you can’t even imagine the pain and suffering that it went through,” Ms Thornton said. “It made my stomach churn.”

    Karla McKenchie, who has looked after animals on Dartmoor for 13 years, said cult members were obvious suspects.

    “When you think it was done under a full moon and the pony was in an arced-out circle that was possibly burnt by candles, I think you could be looking for someone other than just your local Joe Bloggs,” she said.

    One villager, 28-year-old Samuel Callow, was surprised the culprits were so brazen.

    “The down isn’t exactly remote,” he said. “Hundreds of families use it for picnics and walks and it is surrounded by cars on three sides.”

    There is a history of similar incidents in the south west. Last year, a two-year-old horse was found dead in Falmouth, near Cornwall, after a full moon. One of its eyes had been gouged out, its teeth removed and its genitalia hacked off.

    In 2006, around 100 sheep were slaughtered on Dartmoor. Their tongues and sexual organs had been removed and they were arranged in the shape of a Satanic star.

    Melanie Thompson, who works at WA Bidders and Sons Butchers in Yelverton, says her partner has found several sheep killed in a similar way on his farm.

    The police are taking these precedents seriously, and Insp Oliver said the lunar cycle was possibly a factor. “There is a lot of research about the effects of the cycle,” he said.

    “As is well known, a full moon does affect people: I’ve been in the control room before where we’ve had two separate people on high buildings threatening to throw themselves off [during a full moon]. Monday was the full moon, so it would be a bit of a coincidence.”

    Per Faxneld, an expert in contemporary Satanism at the University of Stockholm, said that full moons were important in Satanist rituals, but that the attack was unlikely to have been carried out by an “established Satanist group”.

    “Most of them are averse to animal sacrifice,” he said. “Some of them even have animal rights high on their agenda. But there are some smaller Satanist groups that do sacrifice animals as part of their rituals.”

    He added that “one of the most extreme Satanist groups in the world”, the Order of Nine Angles – which has even called for human sacrifices – is based in Britain.

    Dr Justin Meggitt, a Cambridge University lecturer on religion, said: “This kind of thing has always gone on, and probably always will. Such ritualistic killing of animals is a part of the contemporary world as much as the past.”

    Karla McKenchie thinks such a cult will provide the answer. “I’ve never come across somebody who goes out in the middle of the night, catches ponies and mutilates them,” she said. “When you go start doing that to an animal, you obviously don’t bat for the right side.”
    Frances.
    Last edited by Frances, 26th March 2015 at 13:53.

  30. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Frances For This Useful Post:

    jimmer (4th March 2015), sandancer (4th March 2015), Tribe (4th March 2015)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •