Phantoms and Monsters

Esoterica: Lancashire Apparition, Anti-Witchcraft Unit and Landmark Investigations

Posted: 24 Jul 2011 10:15 AM PDT

Apparition shows up at historic Lancashire pub

Pub staff turned ghost hunters who staged a sleepover in a historic village inn got more than they bargained for when things began to go bump in the night!

The Lower Buck Inn, Waddington, has been the centre of village life since it was built in 1760.

Tales of ghostly happenings have become folklore in the village. So much so that a group of staff members decided to investigate for themselves, raising money in the process for the North West Ambulance Service.

Jenny Barnsley, Chloé Hartshorn. Lucy Knowles, Gemma Tithe and Hannah Blanc closed up the pub as usual at closing time and got ready for their sponsored sleep-in. They were shocked when, shortly afterwards, one of the girls saw a ghostly figure in the front bar.

Jenny, who works behind the bar explained: "We decided to have a sleepover and seance to find out for ourselves if the pub really is haunted as everyone says. First, we lit candles and asked if anyone was present and we immediately heard scratching and banging noises coming from upstairs. Chloé then saw a man in the doorway of the front bar and shortly afterwards, we took a picture as the room had gone cold. We were amazed to see what looked like separate images of a man and a girl in two different pictures."

Landlord Andrew Warburton has long had the feeling he's not alone behind the bar: "A pub this old is bound to have its history ingrained within the walls. Generations of locals and visitors have celebrated and commiserated here and it has a lovely warm feeling about the place. If there are any ghosts here, I think they're definitely of the friendly variety!"

The ghostly goings-on have provided a great talking point in the pub and £300 was raised by the girls for their chosen cause, so it looks like Andrew might be right – these ghosts are definitely well meaning and generous in spirit! - clitheroeadvertiser

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Saudi Arabia's 'Anti-Witchcraft Unit' breaks another spell

The unit, established in 2009, is charged with apprehending sorcerers and reversing the detrimental effects of their spells in the Gulf country.

When the severed head of a wolf wrapped in women's lingerie turned up near the city of Tabouk in northern Saudi Arabia this week, authorities knew they had another case of witchcraft on their hands, a capital offence in the ultra-conservative desert kingdom.

Agents of the country's Anti-Witchcraft Unit were quickly dispatched and set about trying to break the spell that used the beast's head.

Saudi Arabia takes witchcraft so seriously that it has banned the Harry Potter series by British writer J.K. Rowling, rife with tales of sorcery and magic. It set up the Anti-Witchcraft Unit in May 2009 and placed it under the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPV), Saudi Arabia's religious police.

"In accordance with our Islamic tradition we believe that magic really exists," Abdullah Jaber, a political cartoonist at the Saudi daily Al-Jazirah, told The Media Line. "The fact that an official body, subordinate to the Saudi Ministry of Interior, has a unit to combat sorcery proves that the government recognizes this, like Muslims worldwide."

The unit is charged with apprehending sorcerers and reversing the detrimental effects of their spells. On the CPV website, a hotline encourages citizens across the kingdom to report cases of sorcery to local officials for immediate treatment.

In the case of the wolf's head, the Anti-Witchcraft Unit in Tabouk was able to break the spell. The Saudi daily Okaz reported on Monday that the unknown family that had fallen victim to the spell had been "liberated from the jaws of the wolf."

The Anti-Witchcraft Unit was created in order to educate the public about the danger of sorcerers and "combat manifestations of polytheism and reliance on other Gods," the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The belief in sorcery is so widespread in Saudi Arabia, that it is even used as a defense in criminal court cases. Last October, a judge accused of receiving bribes in a real-estate project told a court in Madinah that he had been bewitched and is undergoing treatment by Quranic incantations, known as ruqiyah, a common remedy for the evil eye.

Jaber noted, however, that most sorcerers both inside and outside the kingdom were charlatans that take advantage of illiterate citizens who believed they were afflicted by the evil eye. He said that such beliefs were more prevalent among older, rural and often illiterate individuals than with younger, educated Saudis.

"A while ago my arm was hurt and I couldn't draw," the cartoonist said. "Many older people told me that I must have been afflicted by the evil eye and should be treated by a Sheikh."

"It's a matter of ignorance," Jaber added. "If people were more educated they wouldn't believe in this."

The last time Saudi Arabia executed a convicted sorcerer was in late 2007, but this did not indicate the penalty has since been lifted, Cristoph Wilcke, a senior Middle East Researcher at Human Rights Watch and expert on Saudi Arabia, told The Media Line.

Human Rights Watch had appealed King Abdullah in 2008 to halt the death sentence of Fawza Falih, a Saudi woman, on charges of witchcraft. The sentence was postponed, but Falih died in prison of ill health.

Saudi Arabia lacks a penal code, making court decisions on whether a given act constitutes witchcraft completely dependant on the judge's discretion, Human Rights Watch said.

"We hear time and again of foreigners, such as Ethiopians or Nigerians, accused of sorcery in Saudi Arabia because of traditional practices from their countries of origin," Wilcke said. "They are usually apprehended by the religious police, brought to court, and let off with a warning or lashes."

In other cases, however, false accusations are made against foreign domestic workers in order to counter their charges of sexual harassment within a Saudi household.

"They will often say that the [female] domestic worker bewitched the Saudi into falling in love with her," Wilcke noted.

Belief in sorcery is not necessarily more widespread in Saudi Arabia than in other Gulf countries, Wilcke added. On Monday, the Emirati daily Al-Khaeej reported that Dubai police had arrested an Arab African national on charges of fraud and sorcery, after he charged 15,000 Dirham ($4,000) from a woman whose husband had left her, promising to bring him back using magic.

But the strictly Orthodox brand of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, known as Wahhabism, did contribute to the country's zero-tolerance policy on magic, Wilcke noted.

"Wahhabism believes in strict monotheism," Wilcke said. "Sorcery is a way of praying to someone other than God." - jpost

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Texas group probes local landmark

Seguin's Mosheim Mansion has been rumored to be haunted. Carol Hirschi said now she knows for sure.

The Central Texas Paranormal Society CTPS (Ghost Investigators) came to the local bed and breakfast for an investigation, Hirschi said.

"They came here a couple of months ago," she said.

What they came up with confirmed Hirschi's suspicions.

"The paranormal investigators came in and they got some EVPs [electronic voice phenomenon] which I haven't heard yet but I have heard they are interesting," she said.

Even though she is a writer and not an investigator, Erin Wallace joined the team for the exploration of the Mosheim.

"When we went upstairs we did an EVP session," she said. "When the other two investigators asked a question we didn't get anything. But when I did it lit up and went crazy. They told me that sometimes ghosts are more receptive to certain people."

Wallace asked a simple question, "Is there anybody here related to the Mosheim family?"

The writer got her answer — but not until after investigators finished going through all of the evidence.

"The first thing they revealed to me, was my EVP session," she said. "Right after I had asked the question, I got a response 'John.'"

The investigation team also found some activity in the cellar of the mansion.

"We had cameras set up in the basement, which was known for paranormal activity," she said. "From down there we got EVPs of a couple of gunshots and footsteps going up the stairs. It was like normal footsteps, with like women's shoes, it sounded like big, heavy boots."

After digging for more information on the house, Wallace said she found a violent crime was committed a long time ago.

"A descendant of the Mosheim family said a murder happened in the house and we are wondering if it maybe happened in the basement."

Wallace is shining a spotlight on the CTPS and her experiences in a book. The idea for the book came from her sister, who is an investigator with the group.

"The original plan was to just write about the investigations, but after I met the people my focus changed to more of biography of them and what they do," she said. "The book explains what and who they are. They wait for people to come to them. They are not ghost hunters or seekers. They go out and help people who are having paranormal trouble."

But Hirschi really didn't need the CTPS or the book to tell her the mansion was haunted. Throughout the years the Hirschis lived there they have witnessed some unexplainable events.

"The people that were working here before us said the house is haunted," she said. "They gave us a picture that somebody took and it looks like somebody is standing in front of a fireplace. They assured me that nobody was standing there when they took the picture. They also said in certain parts of the house somebody would get thumped on the back of the head."

Hirschi's husband Bob knows first hand what that feels like.

"My husband has actually gotten a thump on the back of his head," she said. "We were moving furniture and he goes 'Who was that?' He said it felt like somebody thumped him on the back of the head like an angry nun would do."

The Hirshcis are not the only residents in the house who have had experiences with the spirits.

"I had a dog named Bipolar Shorty and when she would walk to the office she would wag her tail like she was looking at somebody and the door would open automatically for her," she said. "It wouldn't do that for me."

While the owners and some guests have had some experiences, they have never been bad ones.

"I will say some weird stuff has happened," she said. "I have heard unmistakable footsteps. I have dogs and they don't walk heel-to-toe in hard-soled shoes. We have been told by neighbors that they have seen a guy walk around the house at night."

The first couple of years Hirschi said were the busiest, as far as the paranormal activity was concerned.

"The weird stuff happened when we first moved in," she said. "It has pretty much stopped."

When a psychic came to stay at the Mosheim, she let Hirschi in on some of the feelings of the otherworldly visitors.

"Pam (Grant) tells us that the spirits here like us and they are glad we are here," she said. "She said they like the dogs and they enjoy the things that go on like the theater and the people coming and going. They like it. Maybe it's because one of the women that lived here was a recluse, she was agoraphobic. It may be now she can enjoy it, maybe she is making up for lost time."

Hirschi has told the "guests" that they are welcome to stay as long as they don't scare her business away.

"They don't harass, they don't do anything malicious. Nothing scary or dangerous happens but it is just weird," she said.

Wallace echoed what Grant told Hirschi.

"It's not a bad feeling there. I have been to places that are bad and put off a bad vibe, but this is not one of them," she said. "At the Mosheim, you can feel it is a happy place. Even with everything that I had experienced I would still stay there."

Wallace is no stranger to Seguin, so when given the chance to join the team at the Mosheim she took it.

"I lived in Seguin for five years and I love it. I miss it," she said. "When they were asked to investigate the Mosheim, I jumped on the opportunity." - seguingazette

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Maryland paranormal group investigates Snow Hill Manor

What do you do if you're the supervisor of an 18th century Prince George's County Parks and Recreation manor that is now plagued by supernatural activity?

If you're Mary Schiappa, you call the local ghostbusting group to investigate.

The Greater Maryland Paranormal Society (GMPS), was established in 2006 as a nonprofit paranormal investigation group, and took to Snow Hill Manor in South Laurel on Friday to investigate claims by staff that the home is filled with supernatural activity.

Most of the society's members have either experienced paranormal activity or have an intense interest in the paranormal. Its founder, William Hartley, said the group doesn't use gimmicks. It only uses scientific methods to detect paranormal activity and shies away from psychics or mediums, he said.

According to Hartley, most clients are private citizens who are not charged a fee. All ghosthunting members have regular day jobs and contribute to the society's expenses.

Schiappa explained to Hartley that she has been working at the manor for seven years and constantly hears doors closing, floors squeaking and music playing when there is no one else in the home.

"Lots of people lived and died here," Schiappa said. "There's always creaks and doors slamming. At night I get spooked out but I think whatever is here likes me."

Schiappa went on to say that once she was planning a face-painting event at the manor and stepped away from her table. She returned but the paint had vanished, only to be returned to the same spot a week later.

Armed with high-tech, electromagnetic gear detecting energy signatures of the paranormal, the group set up shop in the home from late Friday into early Saturday. The public was welcome to join in for a charge of $30, with all proceeds benefiting the American Red Cross.

During breaks, attendees huddled around a snack table, swapping stories of ghostly experiences and detailing what they hoped to see during the rest of the evening. Most said they had a fascination with the paranormal after experiencing it firsthand.

Donna Kopp, 51, of Fulton dragged her sister and daughter to the event. She said she had always suspected she was capable of sensing spirits.

"I'm trying to find out of if it's something I am producing," she said. "I'm trying to figure out if I'm crazy or not."

Gary Neuwirth of Crofton attended the event with friends and said he became interested in the afterlife after having a supernatural experience when his mother died.

"I was looking for something that is local," he said. "I hope to validate my beliefs that ghosts or spirits exist."

"It's like an addiction."

Colin McGuinn, 28, of White Marsh joined the society after asking it to investigate activity at his home. He said he's been chasing the paranormal ever since.

"Who needs football when you got ghost hunting?" he asked.

Elyse Caudill, 26, of Baltimore joined the group after having an interest in parapsychology—the field's academic name.

"I believe in the possibility of [paranormal activity]," she said. "You get that piece of evidence and you want more—it's like an addiction."

During the night, cameras were set up around each level of the house, lights were turned off and the group was split in half and sent in different directions. Each group had a guide who was equipped with electromagnetic equipment to detect energy, as well as thermometers. It is believed that when a paranormal presence appears, the temperature in a localized area will drop.

Attendees spent the evening shuffling among the manor's three floors, huddling in rooms and asking the spirits questions about why they continue to linger in the home.

While there were no ghost sightings, objects placed around the house to test paranormal activity, such as pennies, were inexplicably moved or tossed down stairs—presumably by supernatural forces.

Close encounters or not, when asked how technology is used to detect supernatural beings, Hartley simply responded, "Energy doesn't die." - laurel.patch

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