Green London: Green Park's Grove and Haunted Trees

I celebrated Lammas in London's Green Park with the Tamesis druid group. We celebrated in a peaceful grove while outside our secluded circle of plane trees other members of the public picnicked or relaxed on deck chairs, enjoying a pleasant Saturday in early August. However, a delve into the park's folklore and history reveals the trees hold more secrets than just a meeting of pagans for harvest rites. 

These include a pair with a sinister reputation. One is known as the ‘Tree of Death’. Peter Underwood,  in Haunted London, claimed to have spoken to two park attendants who said they had heard strange sounds coming from the tree: 

"There is the harsh and loud sound of a man’s voice in conversation that ceases almost as soon as you become aware of it. There is a low and cunning laugh that strikes a chill into the hearer, and also a strange and sad groaning sound like that of someone in mortal agony and utter despair."

Another writer, James Clark, in his book also called Haunted London speculates these sounds might come from the ghosts of those who chose to end their lives there. He traced one tale to a book called More Haunted Houses of London by Elliot O'Donnell in 1920. O'Donnell relates that he was walking through Green Park one evening in September 1900 or 1901, when he heard a fiddle being played. The music came from a cluster of trees. He mentioned this to policeman who was passing on his beat, who told him a sad story. 

The officer had, many years earlier, been approached by a distraught fiddler who said he had gone to sleep under the tree, but when he awoke, his instrument had been stolen. The victim refused to leave the area and spent the next few days desperately asking everyone who passed if they had seen his violin. Eventually the poor man hanged himself from a branch. After that, many people said  they heard music coming from that same tree, especially in late September. No one could see who was creating this, except on one occasion the policeman himself thought he saw the figure of the fiddler, sitting beneath the tree, playing. Another ghostly figure has also supposedly been seen standing beside the tree – a tall, watchful being dressed in black, who disappears when approached.

Murderous Woman

Another of Green Park’s trees also has a mysterious legend attached to it. It's called the Pig Tree. I first encountered it one cold December evening on a tour of ghostly London. The guide told my group that the Pig Tree was so called because any man who went to sleep under it either died of fright or was turned into a pig, while any woman who slept there awoke with burning desire to murder men. Of all the tales I was told that night, the Pig Tree was the one that fascinated me most, and I felt compelled to learn more about it - although I've failed to remember exactly which tree it is. 

In  Clark’s book, I learnt a longer version of the tale. According to him, the Pig Tree's name was coined by homeless men who gathered on Green Park’s benches. They would refuse to go near that specific tree, because one of their number died of fright after sleeping beneath it one night. Others claimed to have seen a monstrous figure of a naked white woman with the head of a pig and hate-filled eyes. Although the men were terrified of the tree, women were reportedly drawn to it, but after spending time under its branches, they're filled with murderous hatred for men.

All the accounts I had heard were given from the point of view of men, not women. Perhaps I'd fallen under the spell of the tree myself, but I could see it from another angle. Was this Circe-like figure an empowering feminist archetype rather than a monster? Did the men somehow deserve the fate they met? Which side you choose to believe is up to you. I would also say that on a bright, summer day, Green Park is a lovely spot for a picnic, maybe some forest bathing, or even an afternoon snooze in a deckchair – although you might want to be careful precisely which trees you rest under.

Green London

I've been blogging regularly about London's green spaces in an effort to dispel a prevalent myth in the pagan community that it's just all concrete. Even in the City, which is of course heavily built up, there are still places where nature thrives, while Greater London has huge areas of woods, commons, parks and beautiful gardens.

The pictures on this post were all taken by me from the grove in which I enjoyed a druid ritual. Please do not use them without my permission.

Previous Related Posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/09/love-and-floral-tributes-for-queen-at.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/07/green-london-ruskin-park-tranquil-gem.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/04/green-london-rookery-streatham-common.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/07/green-london-st-jamess-park-ghost-and.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/09/green-london-richmond-park-national.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/10/green-london-ancient-woodlands-around.html

Yule Ghost Tales: The Mystery of the Penny Whistle

This is actually a bit of a mystery. Yesterday, quite out of the blue I found this penny whistle with my name on it. It was very dusty, but seems to work okay. Not that I'm particularly skilled at playing the penny whistle, but notes came out when I blew it and put my fingers over the holes. Maybe that was a mistake - I'm sure everyone's read the MR James horror story for Christmas, "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad".

In the tale, the main character is away at the coast on holiday. He finds a whistle, but after blowing it is relentlessly haunted by something clothed in "pale, fluttering draperies" and later by mysteriously tangled bed sheets. He escapes the ghostly creature by throwing the whistle into the sea.

Now, the curious thing is, yesterday I was staying at the coast. Admittedly I was staying in a bedroom that I've slept in before, but I have no recollection of owning that penny whistle. I guess it must be mine - it has my name on it - but I don't remember buying it or being given it or ever owning it. Most things have rational explanations, and I'm sure my discovery must have one too. Don't you agree?

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/10/review-collected-ghost-stories.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/01/review-on-monsters-history-of-our-fears.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/12/yule-ghost-tales-most-haunted-house-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/05/spooks-and-spectres-at-michelham-priory.html

Ghosts: A Look at Famous Haunted Casinos

There are casinos all over the world. Las Vegas isn’t the only place that’s home to lots of land-based casinos. That’s because lots of people enjoy playing casino games. But not all casinos have a good history. Some have had tragic events and catastrophes that left a mark. These casinos are said to be haunted and anyone who dares can pay them a visit. 

Nowadays, most casino games are available online. Variants of poker, blackjack, roulette, and lots of slots are available at more than one online casino. Just have a look at this webpage and you’ll see what’s on offer. Just remember to enjoy these sites responsibly.

If you’re a brave soul who isn’t afraid of haunted places, then here are some haunted casinos for you:

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

This is just the first of several haunted casinos. It’s based in New Jersey, in the USA, and there have been several complaints about ghost sightings. One of the most notable ones is a ghost that has a toupee and orange skin. It’s rumoured that this was a former guest who stayed on the tenth floor and committed suicide. With a skin colour like that, it’s hard to miss such a ghost.

Bally’s Resort and Casino

The thing that makes Bally’s Resort and Casino haunted is the fact that it was built over another Las Vegas casino with a tragic past. The previous establishment was known as the MGM Grand Hotel and it was destroyed by a fire in the 80s. The investigation showed that 85 people lost their lives in the fire, which makes this a tragic event.

Some even jumped out of the windows to save themselves from the fire. After Bally’s Resort and Casino was built there have been sightings of groups of people running throughout the hallways, which might be the ghosts of the deceased.

The Flamingo Hotel and Casino

It’s no secret that the mob financed some of the casinos in Las Vegas and by doing so it helped build them. This meant that they had a nice share of the profit. The Flamingo Hotel and Casino is one such establishment. Bugsy Siegel is the notorious made man that was behind this casino. Back in his day, he was a force to be reckoned with.

He was known for his brutality and an exquisite choice of clothes. In other words, he was a dapper gangster who you didn’t want to be on the bad side of. His brutal way of life led to his death. But he was so tied to the hotel that his ghost decided to stay.

Both guests and staff have reported seeing Bugsy around the hotel. His memorial is one of the places he appears in, as is the Presidential Suite in the hotel. He was also seen near the wedding chapel, which was the place where his apartment used to be.

Other Hauntings

These are only some of the haunted casinos of the world. Naturally, there are many more, and if you know of one, do leave a comment. It is always worthwhile checking to see if a hotel has a ghostly reputation if you’re easily scared, since staying in a haunted bedroom is not for the faint-hearted.

Review: Hauntology - Ghosts of Futures Past

Christmas Eve is a time for ghost stories, so here's a review of a book about them. Mind you, Hauntology - Ghosts of Futures Past by Merlin Coverley is about more than tales of spirits coming back from the dead. Hauntology is the concept that pretty much anything virtual - as in not physically existing - can become a spectral visitation. That includes ghost stories, of course. The book starts with a look at Dickens, and goes on to cover MR James, Arthur Machen and several other authors of classic spooky fiction. But there's a lot more.

The idea of hauntology is that we are all haunted by our memories of the past and nostalgia for bygone times, and by our hopes that died yet refused to rest quiet. Oh and yes, the book does look at beliefs in the esoteric and paranormal too - as well as psychology and theories of post-modern social disconnectedness. Publisher Oldcastle says on its website:

"Ghosts and spectres, the eerie and the occult. Why is contemporary culture so preoccupied by the supernatural, so captivated by the revenants of an earlier age, so haunted? The concept of Hauntology has evolved since first emerging in the 1990s, and has now entered the cultural mainstream as a shorthand for our new-found obsession with the recent past. But where does this term come from and what exactly does it mean?

"This book seeks to answer these questions by examining the history of our fascination with the uncanny from the golden age of the Victorian ghost story to the present day. From Dickens to Derrida, MR James to Mark Fisher; from the rise of Spiritualism to the folk horror revival, Hauntology traces our continuing engagement with these esoteric ideas. Moving between the literary and the theoretical, the visual and the political, Hauntology explores our nostalgia for the cultural artefacts of a past from which we seem unable to break free."

The term hauntology was apparently coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in the 1990s, when he wrote about the "spectre" of Marxism and its legacy. The term got taken up by Mark Fisher, a cultural theorist, first to describe the work of artists and musicians then to describe the effect of pretty much anything unreal that impinges on reality. He wrote: "think of hauntology as the agency of the virtual." 

Coverley also describes techniques of hauntology as being a way to explore our perceptions of time - past, present and future - in a similar way to how psychogeography is a way of exploring our perceptions of place. They are connected through concepts like ley line theory and deep history. I was very much inspired by his earlier book called Psychogeography, and I'm pretty sure I'll be inspired by Hauntology too. I look forward to hunting out the ghosts of futures past in whatever strange new world we will find in a hopefully post-plague-year London of 2021.

You can view Hauntology on Amzon and on uk.bookshop.com.

Haunted Landscape: Magic, Monsters and Folklore

On Saturday 23 November, The London Fortean Society returned to the Haunted Landscape, its semi-annual one-day symposium on the folklore of the British Isles.

As usual, it was a brilliant day. This year the talks were on monsters, fairies, ghosts, witches' familiars, protection magic,  and strange annual customs in rural villages.

In the first talk, folklorist Doc Rowe looked at The Rites and Wrongs of Autumn, with the help of pictures and videos of events, including tar barrel burning in Devon's Ottery St Mary, the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance and numerous less well known but equally odd customs. He explained that these are living and changing customs, rather than ossified rituals. New songs get sung, new costumes are introduced and procession routes change. Also, few are quite as ancient as popular belief maintains.

Christopher Hadley, author of the book Hollow Places: An Unusual History of Land and Legend, then talked about his research into the story behind Piers Shonks, whose tomb in a Hertfordshire church bears the legend of supposed dragon-slaying in the Middle Ages. It was a fascinating insight into how tales of dragons grow, but Christopher Hadley didn't relate the entire story. Instead he encouraged listeners to buy his book, which I might be tempted to do. You can view Hollow Places on Amazon.

The talk I was most looking forward to was that of Dr Victoria Carr on English Witches and their Familiars. She looked at several witchcraft trials from the 16th and 17th centuries that involved both women and men making deals with magical creatures and sending them to create mischief. This is a subject I'm particularly interested in at the moment, so I will write up a longer account of Dr Carr's talk later.

The Croglin Grange Vampire was the subject of  Deborah Hyde's talk. The story goes that in 1875, a vampire removed the lead in a windowpane to let himself into a remote, rented farmhouse in Cumberland, and bit the throat of the young woman sleeping within. Attacks stopped when her brothers tracked the creature to a local crypt. Deborah Hyde showed that the house and church in the story had probably really existed, and also discussed reasons people believe in the undead. Deborah Hyde is a brilliant speaker and I always look forward to her talks. She is the editor of The Skeptic magazine, but also an expert on vampire folklore.

While English vampires are uncommon, English werewolves are rarer. Dr Samantha George looked at the tale of Old Stinker, the Hull Werewolf. This involves modern sightings of a wolf-like man near a remote ditch. She believes werewolf stories are rare in England because wolves are long extinct here, but the new story could be due to a resurgence of interest in them. Dr George is the author of In the Company of Wolves, due to be published in 2020.

Brian Hoggard looked at Magical House Protection: The Archaeology of Counter-Witchcraft. He is the author of a book of that name, and in his talk looked at witch-bottles, dried cats, horse skulls, written charms, protection marks, and concealed shoes, which were all used widely to repel, divert or trap negative energies. You can view Magical House Protection on Amazon.

Following on was a talk called England's Historic Graffiti: Voices Preserved in Stone, by Crystal Hollis. She covered some of the same material as Brian Hoggard, as many examples of graffiti are protection marks. However, there are also many other examples. Her advice was, if you spot some historic marks on walls, don't touch them as that can wear them away. Photograph them using an oblique light source to best record them.

Dr Richard Sugg talked about fairies causing mischief, particularly in Ireland, and put forward the idea that many accounts of these activities might instead be the work of poltergeists. He is the author of Fairies: A Dangerous History, which you can view on Amazon. Paul Devereux also talked about fairies and how sightings of them related to death roads, where coffins were traditionally carried across country to churchyards for burial. He is a prolific author, but you can view Spirit Roads: An Exploration of Otherworldly Routes on Amazon.

The Haunted Landscape ended with Roar by Blanc Sceol, described as "A performative intervention exploring the other-worldly sounds of the ‘bullroarer' ‘buzzer’ ‘hummer’ ‘bummer’, using replicas of specimens found across the British Isles."

London Fortean Society hosts talks throughout the year. You can find the programme of events here:
http://forteanlondon.blogspot.com/

Troy, Helen, Aphrodite and the Haunted Landscape

I took the photo above at the new exhibition Troy: Myth and Reality at the British Museum on Friday afternoon before going to a talk by historian Bettany Hughes on Helen of Troy and Mighty Aphrodite in the evening. On Saturday I was at the London Fortean Society conference on The Haunted Landscape: Magic and Monsters of the British Isles at Conway Hall.

They were all superb events and I took lots of pictures and notes - as well as buying Bettany Hughes' new book, Venus and Aphrodite, which I'm currently reading. I'm going to blog more about all of those things, but I thought I'd write this post just to let you know what I've been up to and what posts to look forward to over the next week.

Links:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/
http://forteanlondon.blogspot.com/

Do You Think Large Dolls are Scary or Friendly?

I've seen a lot of posts on social media recently about dolls - particularly large dolls - with people commenting that they find them creepy.

Now, I suspect a lot of this is to do with the latest Annabelle horror movie. I haven't seen any of the films in that series, but I do collect dolls, so I thought I'd blog a bit about the subject today.

The dolls in the photo at the top are all mine, and one of them is a large doll. Her name is Esther. I was given her for Christmas when I was a very little girl, and at the time she was about the same height as me. She was my favourite doll.

As I got older she got relegated to the loft. Then she nearly got thrown out, but I rescued her from the rubbish before the bin men came, washed her and put her in my bedroom, where she still has her own chair. She is a bit broken and doesn't have her original clothes, but I couldn't part with her.

The roly-poly doll is also from my childhood; the giant bear was a gift from my husband; the small cloth doll came with a bottle of perfume a long while ago; my mum knitted woollen dolls in aid of charity and gave the one in the photo; I bought the vintage china doll in a charity shop and the cat toy came from Build-a-Bear Workshop. I don't find any of them creepy.

However, I thought I'd discuss the various ways in which dolls can possibly have spirits.

The animist world view is that every single thing has its own spirit or soul, including animals, plants, natural inanimate objects and even man-made things, including dolls. It is a view I'm sympathetic with. Such spirits can be communicated with, but the spirits of inanimate things tend not be very obvious or active unless you specifically look out for them.

Objects, including dolls, can also have a connection to the people who own them or who owned them in the past. Dolls can also be made to look like a person to create the same kind of connection. Witches can use this in spells employing sympathetic magic to affect the owner or person represented. This is more of a link to someone else's spirit, than any within the doll itself.

If you believe in ghosts, then a common idea is that those who have died, but not yet fully passed on to the next life, can attach themselves to places or objects that were important to them when they were alive. This could, of course, be a doll.

Finally, magical practitioners can perform rituals to deliberately attach or trap spirits into objects. This can be done for many reasons. The spirit could be wanted as a magical helper or guardian or it could be a troublesome spirit trapped to stop it causing mischief.

In my experience, it is very, very rare for a doll to have any sort of troublesome spirit. While some dolls do look creepy, it is usually just appearance - and nothing to be scared of.

If you suspect that you own a haunted doll and want to know what you can do about it, one book I would recommend is What Dwells Within - A Study of Spirit Attachment, by Jane Harris.

You can view What Dwells Within on Amazon and also view my own book on poppets and magical dolls on Amazon

But what are your thoughts on the subject?  Do leave a comment.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2015/10/review-what-dwells-within-haunted-dolls.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/11/magical-dolls-history-of-poppets-effigy.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/07/magical-dolls-folklore-wishbones.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/07/magical-dolls-wwi-lucky-fums-up-doll.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/08/magical-dolls-poppet-i-made-to-help-me.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/10/magical-dolls-poppet-of-protection-for.html

Yule Ghost Tale: Things That Go Bump in the Night

I do love a Christmas Eve ghost story, so here's a tale of something spooky that I've personally experienced.

As you know if you read my blog regularly, this autumn I started doing an MA course at the University of Greenwich, which is in the buildings of the Old Royal Naval College.

The college, as you might expect from buildings that are hundreds of years old, has quite a few tales of ghostly goings on. One of them relates to a room where go for a seminar one afternoon a week.

The room always felt a little odd to me. Right at the start of term I blogged that the staircase leading to it was a bit creepy. Several times during seminars everyone there has heard strange thumping sounds. The room often seems stifling and claustrophobic, even with the windows open. Once the door swung open for no obvious reason at all.

Yes, of course, there's almost certainly a rational explanation for all of those things. But, doing a bit of research, I also learnt that the room is supposedly haunted.

Apparently what are now the upper classrooms in Queen Mary Court were once dormitories for naval college pensioners - and the one that is my classroom was once the scene of a murder. For no reason that could be determined, one of the retired seamen brutally killed a fellow pensioner in his bed one night.

From time to time since then, people have reported hearing banging and thumping sounds that are, perhaps, the sounds of the struggles between the murderer and his victim somehow repeating again and again over the years. I even asked one of security staff if he had witnessed anything ghostly. He said he hadn't actually seen anything, but like me he had heard strange sounds in the building. He said he had heard the bumps mostly late at night when he was supposedly the only one there.

I'm glad my seminar is early in the afternoon, before it gets dark even in the depths of winter. I don't think I'd like to be on my own there late at night.

The photo shows a corner of the Old Royal Naval College at night.

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/09/uni-days-winding-stairs-maze-like.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/12/yule-ghost-tale-spectral-nazi-of-ripe.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/12/yule-ghost-tale-royal-institution.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/12/yule-ghost-tales-most-haunted-house-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/11/occult-london-hawksmoors-coffin-shaped.html

Staying in the Haunted Room at the Wellington Hotel

Today I am off to Cornwall for the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic's annual conference. This year the subject is ritual magic and it ties in with an exhibition that's on at the museum.

I will be blogging about the conference and the exhibition, but today I thought I'd write  about the hotel the conference is at, which I'll also be staying at.

The Wellington Hotel is lovely, comfortable and has friendly staff. I stayed there last year in the room in the photo at the top.

Even though the room was gorgeous, I'm actually rather hoping I get put in a different one this time. My reason is that the room is haunted.

I only learnt I was in the haunted room after I'd booked in and my first thought was: "Great!  How exciting!"

It didn't seem quite so great at 4am in the morning when I woke up needing to go to the bathroom. I kept hearing creaks and imagining shadows all around me and had to muster all my courage to get out of the huge bed and creep through the dark room to the loo.

I admit I didn't actually see any ghost - and am very glad of that too. I hope I don't see one this time either.

Links and previous related posts
http://wellingtonhotelboscastle.com/
http://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/event/dew-of-heaven-ritual-magic-conference-may-12th-13th-2018/
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/05/a-weekend-of-cursing-at-museum-of.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/10/review-of-shadows-museum-of-witchcraft.html

Yule Ghost Tale: The Spectral Nazi of Ripe

The nights before Christmas are a traditional time to tell ghost stories. Here is one about the spectre of a WW2 Nazi bomber pilot who is said to stalk the Sussex village where his plane crashed.

I learnt about the tale from the book Ghost Hunter Walks in Sussex, which I've been using to explore haunted places in the county over the past couple of years. One of the walks goes through the tiny village of Ripe, near Michelham Priory.

In 1940, during the Second World War, the skies above Sussex were filled with the aircraft fights of the Battle of Britain. One German bomber shot down by RAF pilots landed in a field on the edge of Ripe. The bodies of the crew were buried in the local churchyard and given a Christian service.

However, one of the Nazis, it seems, did not rest peacefully in his grave. His ghost, dressed in a flying suit, leather helmet and goggles, has since been seen walking restlessly around the site of the crash.

Following the directions in the book, I think I found the field in question. It seemed devoid of ghosts on the sunny day in early autumn when I did my walk. However, it's certainly not a field I would want to be walking through on the dark nights of winter.

And, if you look at the photos I took, you will see that the land is probably not going to be an open field for much longer. There was a big "Sold" notice at the edge and a planning notice stating that residential properties were going to be built on the site.

Think about it - would you want to buy a home where you might just see the restless ghost of a Nazi pilot staring through your bedroom window on a dark night before Yule?

You can view Ghost Hunter Walks in Sussex on Amazon.

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/12/yule-ghost-tale-royal-institution.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/12/yule-ghost-tales-most-haunted-house-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/05/spooks-and-spectres-at-michelham-priory.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/09/haunts-photographs-from-west-sussex.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/09/ghost-hunting-and-book-shopping-in.html

London Necropolis: Temple Church

Before Samhain - or Halloween - for the past several years I've been posting photos of London's burial grounds in a series I've called London Necropolis. A Necropolis is a city of the dead. These are photos from London's Temple Church.

Temple Church is in the City of London, between Fleet Street and the Thames. It was built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century and was used as their headquarters in England. It is a round church, modelled on the circular Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

There are stone effigies inside the church, which are not actually tombs even though they look like it. They represent knights ready for battle. Several people have been buried in Temple Church though - so it does count as part of my London Necropolis; just not under the effigies.

Those interred there include William Marshall, who is buried in the nave next to his sons. He served as a negotiator during a meeting in the Temple between King John and the barons, who demanded that the king should uphold the rights enshrined in the Coronation Charter of his predecessor and elder brother King Richard I. This led to the signing by the king of the Magna Carta in 1215.

There are many legends associated with Temple Church. It is supposedly on the same ley line as nearby St Bride's Church, which I blogged about as another London Necropolis. The site is also reputedly haunted by a ghost of a Knight Templar. However, perhaps the church is better known these days for being one of the places visited by Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, as they search for clues to the whereabouts of the Holy Grail. (You can view The Da Vinci Code on Amazon.)

Whether you are on your own ley line walk, ghost hunt or grail quest or just enjoy wonderful old buildings, Temple Church is worth visiting - although do check in advance if it is open. The rest of the area around Temple is also great to explore as it is full of historical buildings associated with the legal profession. Just outside the church you can also see the sundial I blogged about some time ago.

You can find the Temple Church website here: http://www.templechurch.com/

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/10/london-necropolis-st-brides-church-of.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/10/shadows-we-are-and-like-shadows-we.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/10/london-necropolis-tower-hamlets.html
http://www.templechurch.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Church

Day Out: Haunts and Ghosts of Brighton

If you are going to Brighton for Witchfest International this weekend and have time to explore the delights of the town as well as the go to the biggest witches' conference in England, you could do a little ghost hunting while you wander.

I know the photo at the top showing Brighton's pier and people on the beach on a sunny day doesn't look too spooky. But apparently, on stormy nights or days around Samhain when the veil between the worlds is thin, the waters by this part of the Sussex coast are awash with ghost ships.

One of them is the Good Ship Nicholas, which was wrecked on the beach in 1100, killing all its passengers, who were pilgrims coming back from Jerusalem. The spectral ship is sometimes seen on moonlight nights when a southerly gale is blowing, according to the book Ghost Hunter Walks in Sussex, by Rupert Matthews.

Brighton beach is also haunted by a large dog with floppy ears that follows people walking along the shingle at dusk. I'd be wary if I saw that particular ghost though as spectral dogs are often warnings of death in traditional folklore.

The gloomy alleyway photographed to the right has the entrance to the Regency Tavern, which is much plusher on the inside than it looks on the outside. It is also home to two ghosts - a Victorian girl with a limp and a former pub landlady.

Everyone who visits Brighton has to explore The Lanes - a maze of narrow passageways that are home to the most amazing independent shops, cafes and pubs. Some of them are haunted too. Nile Street is frequented by the ghost of a hooded man, Fountain Court was the site of a murder in October 1936. The shade of the victim, Arthur Joyce, is still sometimes seen there. The Druid's Head pub has several ghosts - the most famous of which is a lady in red.

If you fancy doing a walk that covers these ghosts and some others, you can view Ghost Hunter Walks in Sussex on Amazon.

Witchfest itself is on at The Brighton Centre, King's Road, Brighton, BN1 2GR. It is organised by Children of Artemis and runs from 10am Saturday until the early hours of Sunday morning. There is also a Friday evening social event with entertainment. You can buy tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/witchfest-international-2017-tickets-31394224972

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2015/11/witchfest-margaret-murray-sex-and.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/09/witchfest-treadwells-candle-magic-talk.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/08/sussex-folklore-twin-to-wishing-face.html

Magic School: Paranormal Investigation Diploma

Wicca Moon Paranormal Investigation School is starting a 24-week tri-level diploma course in paranormal investigation starting this autumn in south east London.

This course is run from the perspective of witches, offering learning with the tools of the trade and students' own abilities to reach out to the unseen world.

Carefully guided and supported by Shirlee Moon and Judith Freeman of Wicca Moon, both widely practised over many years, the lessons start at novice level and work up to a high degree of expertise.

Level One: The basics discovering the self and the world beyond the veil
Level Two: Practical work and research
Level Three: Application and practise

The first level will start on Sat 30th September and runs for eight weeks. The cost for the complete course is £450 - this includes all training and course notes for all three levels and a diploma at the end.

If you are interested email wiccamoon.paranormal|@gmail.com or visit the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/WiccamoonParanormal/services/

Wicca Moon Paranormal Investigation School is part of Wicca Moon, 50 Well Hall Rd, London, SE9 6SH.

Occult London: A Door Ajar and a Haunted Church

This door that stands invitingly open, yet not within any visible wall, is outside the historic church St Botolph Without Bishopsgate in the City of London. Called "Ajar" the door is part of this year's Sculpture in the City display of art in public spaces. It is by Gavin Turk and the description on the City of London website says:

As a reference to the painting 'La Victoire' by Rene Magritte, 'Ajar' is a surreal gateway: a spiritual journey through the imagination, an interactive sculpture that children will enjoy as much as adults. It is a key to the imagination: unlocking ideas of the infinite as mused on by Aldous Huxley quoting Blake, "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."
It simultaneously references both Duchamp's work '11 Rue Larrey', a corner door that is always open and shut and a Bugs Bunny sketch, where a door in a frame freely stands on a cliff in a landscape. 'Ajar' is placed without walls and is permanently half open encouraging the choice to go around, or go through.

I went to St Botolph not with the intention of seeing art - although that was an added bonus - but to visit a church that is reputedly haunted. In fact it is the scene of a famous photograph many believe shows a ghost.

One Saturday in 1982 a picture was taken inside the church by photographer Chris Brackley. When he developed it, he saw a shadowy figure of a woman on the balcony. She had definitely not been there when he took the shot. Other effects, such as double exposure, were ruled out. The picture is still a mystery and might indeed show something supernatural.

St Botolph is one of the stops on a ghost walk in the book Walking Haunted London. I'll share a few more photos I took along the route on my blog in the future.

You can view Walking Haunted London on Amazon.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.botolph.org.uk/
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visit-the-city/art-architecture/sculpture-in-the-city/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/12/yule-ghost-tales-most-haunted-house-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/07/pagan-eye-doorway-to-another-world.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/10/seriously-spooked-assaps-ghost.html

Hauntings: The Devilish Tale of the Witch of Rodmell

The banks of the Ouse

Here's a tale for a Folklore Thursday - The Devilish Tale of the Witch of Rodmell. It is another spooky story that I learnt about while exploring the area around Lewes with the book Ghost Hunter Walks in Sussex.

Rodmell is a village by marshes on the edge of the river Ouse, which winds its way from Lewes to the sea. Nowadays the marshes are well-drained farmland, but back in the 18th century they were treacherous, boggy and prone to fog - something a bad-tempered local miller learnt to his cost.

It seems the miller had a long-standing disagreement with the local vicar over the night-time ringing of the church bell, which the miller said kept him awake. Neither pleas nor curses would stop the vicar's nocturnal campanology, so the miller decided to up the ante and consult a witch.

A horned cow on the marsh

Now, it seems this particular witch, who lived in a cottage on the marshes, wasn't a nice modern-day fluffy pagan kind of witch. Oh no. The marsh witch was much more the old fashioned pact-with-the-Devil type - and her advice was that only the Old Horny One himself could silence the bell. She even offered to make an introduction, but the miller got cold feet and backed out of the bargain. Or tried to.

Certainly the bell wasn't silenced. Many years later, one evening when a fog crept in from the river, the miller became lost on the marshes as he was travelling home to Rodmell from Lewes. He was very glad to hear the bell then, as it guided him safely home. The next day he gave a gift of money to the vicar to pay for a second bell and apologised for his earlier anger.

However, according to folk tales, it was the Devil who had the last laugh. Perhaps the miller's cash and apology were not enough to save him, or perhaps the Devil was angry at being snubbed, but after the miller died it is said his ghost was doomed to remain forever lost on the marshes. And he is still sometimes seen there today when a cold, thick fog creeps in from the Ouse.

View over Rodmell marsh

The pictures of Rodmell and the Ouse are copyright Lucya Starza, if you want to use them you must credit my name and www.badwitch.co.uk

Here are links to my previous ghost walks in Sussex:
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/09/haunts-photographs-from-west-sussex.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/09/ghost-hunting-and-book-shopping-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/09/pagan-eye-haunted-bookshop-in-lewes.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/08/ghosts-and-grails-of-lewes.html

Pagan Eye: A Haunted Bookshop in Lewes

I bet you aren't surprised to learn that a bookshop this old and spooky looking is supposedly haunted. It is one of the places I visited when I was in Sussex a week ago doing a series of ghost walks. The bookshop is in Western Road, on the corner of Keere Street.

The figure of an old man is sometimes seen pottering around inside just as he did when the building was his home, according to the book GhostHunter Walks in Sussex. Apparently customers have mistaken him for a member of staff and asked him questions, only for him to disappear before their eyes.

Sadly photography is not allowed inside the bookshop itself, which is just as rambling and full of character as the outside.

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/10/pagan-eye-haunted-lane-in-historic-rye.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/08/pagan-eye-reflections-of-sky-ardingly.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/09/haunts-photographs-from-west-sussex.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/09/ghost-hunting-and-book-shopping-in.html

The photo on this page is by myself, Lucya Starza. If you reuse the picture you must credit my name and www.badwitch.co.uk

Highlights of ASSAP's Seriously Strange Conference

I had a fantastic time at ASSAP's 35th Anniversary Conference, Seriously Strange, in Reading last weekend.  The two-day event was packed with talks by some of the most respected speakers on the paranormal, plus a formal dinner on the Saturday night followed by occult comedy, a suitably strange quiz and dancing until late. Far too much went on for me to blog in depth about every talk, so I'm just going to write a line or two to sum up each one.

The first speaker was Dr Hannah Gilbert talking about ghostly therapy. This was about the possibility of using psychotherapy techniques on ghosts who might be in denial about their death, feel they have unfinished business on earth, or be too attached to something or someone to move on. Anthony Peake then talked about the subject of his latest book Opening the Doors of Perception. This takes a modern scientific look at ways in which the human brain can open up to more of reality than it normally does, without necessarily taking illegal drugs.

After a short break, Richard Freeman of the Centre for Fortean Zoology gave evidence for the continued existence of the Tasmanian wolf - a strange marsupil that has been described as, "The healthiest extinct animal you will ever meet." The next speaker was Ann Winsper on the subject of Teresa Higginson, a Christian mystic who lived in Victorian England and who went into long spiritual trances.

The Highgate Vampire was the subject of two talks over the weekend. David Farrant, who had been involved in investigations of supernatural activity at London's Highgate Cemetery in the 1970s, gave a rational account of the events. There was no blood-sucking undead monster, he said, the media frenzy had been sparked by the filming of a Dracula movie among the famous vaults and tombs.

Following vampires, there were werewolves. Deborah Hyde looked at the Natural History of the European Werewolf - historical accounts of which mostly occurred in mountainous regions where religious change and political upheaval had taken place and where wild heretics were likely to be hiding.

The Rev Peter Laws then asked, ‘Does God Believe in Ghosts?’ The unusual Baptist minister with a liking for all things spooky looked at how various Christian denominations regard dead people and whether their spirits can wander the Earth, or if hauntings are just demons in disguise.

Alan Murdie of the Ghost Club then looked at the life of the late Andrew Green, a paranormal investigator who hunted ghosts for a living for about 60 years. He pioneered scientific methods as well as appearing on TV many times. Alan Murdie has just edited a new edition of his influential book Ghost Hunting: A Practical Guide.

The final talk of the Saturday was called The lost 'science' of Witness Testimony? - Investigating the 'Cage' at St Osyth. John Fraser talked about claims of ghostly activity at The Cage, a house that had once been a medieval prison  in St Osyth, in which Ursula Kemp had been imprisoned before being hung as a witch in 1582.

On Saturday evening the gala dinner was a great chance to socialise and make new friends. CJ Romer gave the after dinner speech, with entertaining anecdotes from ghost hunts he had done. Sarah Spellman offered paranormal comedy, then there was the quiz, in which my team came third. I was pleased I knew the answers to even a couple of the questions. Then there was a chance to dance to some suitably themed music at the paranormal disco.

On Sunday, David Saunders started with a talk called Dreaming: The Evidence for the Survival Hypothesis, which looked at two case studies in which people supposedly got messages in their dreams from those who had died. Jayne Harris was then scheduled to talk about Haunted Dolls after that - and it was the lecture I was most looking forward to. Unfortunately she couldn't be there - but I do recommend her book, What Dwells Within, about objects with spirit attachments.

The talk before lunch was by Dr Terry Palmer of the SPR on encounters with possessing spirits. He specialises in dealing with people who hear voices and who have serious problems that medical science struggles to deal with, including serial killers. He believes that sometimes these people are possessed by evil entities, and he uses psychic techniques to help free them.

Dr Leo Ruicksbie (pictured left) then looked at the Sociology of Ghost Hunting - who are modern ghost hunters, what do they do and why? It was a really interesting study in which he sent out questionnaires for groups to answer. The typical ghost hunter is apparently a man in his 40s with a 9-year interest in the subject. His name is Mark. Yes. Mark. However, one thing that particularly intrigued me about this talk was Dr Leo's introduction in which he said he had seen something that might have been a ghost during a pagan ritual in honour of Horus at London's Conway Hall - a place I know well as a venue often used for rituals by the Pagan Federation London.

Trystan Swale (pictured at the bottom of this post with CJ Romer) then gave the second talk of the weekend about the Highgate Vampire - The Trickster in Highgate Cemetery. I enjoyed this talk because it was about my favourite archetype, the trickster, epitomised by such deities as Loki and Eris. Trystan's theory is that the archetypal trickster was behind all the fun and games at Highgate back in the 1970s.

Malcolm Robinson's talk deviated a little from the title of Alien Photographs From Around the World and also covered photographs of fairies, ghosts, shape-shifters and the Loch Ness Monster, as well as the strange story of James Dean's cursed car. Apparently the car that killed the famous actor later hurt and injured many other people who came anywhere near it, even though it was a right-off and not drivable.

Following on from these great tales of mystery, Kristian Lander (pictured right) talked about how our mobile phones are modern-day scrying devices and the money in our pockets is as illusory as the alchemist's quest to turn lead into gold. His talk was called Within your Pocket is Magic and Alchemy Perfected.

The final talk of the day was called Erotic Magic. It wasn't about sex magic though - it was about how Ancient Greeks and Romans used curse tablets to try to win the attentions of those they desired. Alyson Dunlop (pictured left) showed how these ancient erotic spells were pretty dark - wishing all sorts of pain and unpleasantness - such as lack of sleep - on their victims unless they succumbed to their wishes.

I know those brief descriptions don't do justice to the talks, which were all superb. Neither can a short blog post like this capture the great atmosphere at the event. It was friendly, fun, entertaining and informative. I'm very much looking forward to the next event, which is Seriously Suspicious, at Goldsmiths College in London on November 26. Yes, I know it clashes with Witchfest. It was a tough choice for me which to book for, but I picked the one closer to home and considerably cheaper. Call me a lazy cheapskate maybe, but I don't think I'll be disappointed. You can buy earlybird tickets for Seriously Suspicious for just £10 here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/seriously-suspicious-tickets-27503218868

The photo at the top shows a slide from Dr Leo Ruicksbie's talk, the first photo of Highgate Cemetery was taken by myself, Lucya Starza

Links and previous related posts
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/seriously-suspicious-tickets-27503218868
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/10/seriously-spooked-assaps-ghost.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2015/11/seriously-bewitched-joan-wytte-and.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/03/witches-and-faeries-assaps-seriously.html

Haunts: Photographs from a West Sussex Ghost Walk

The pub in the picture above is supposedly haunted - and it really does look rather spooky too, doesn't it? It is the Oak Inn, in Ardingly, and was the final haunted stop on the ghost walk I went on last weekend, from the book Ghost Hunter Walks in Sussex.

Most of the walk was around Ardingly Reservoir in West Sussex, which is absolutely beautiful - perfect for visit on a sunny day in summer or autumn. I posted a photo of it on my blog last week. Rather than entirely follow the footpath that hugs the edge of the reservoir, the ghost walk detours off across fields and country lanes to two lovely villages with interesting stories of apparitions.

The first is Balcombe, which offers tales of a haunted railway. Three British soldiers on a training exercise during the First World War sadly met their death from an express train while sheltering from a storm in Balcombe's railway tunnel.

Villagers claimed to have seen the ghosts of the three men several times in the years that followed - although whether such witnesses were under the influence of spirits imbibed at Balcombe's excellent pub, the Half Moon, I don't know. During the second world war, a member of the Home Guard was set to guard the tunnel against attacks by German agents. Late one evening, like the earlier infantrymen, the sentry was sheltering in the tunnel from inclement weather when he saw three soldiers walking along the railway from the south. He immediately left the tunnel to approach the three figures.

He later said he was suspicious that they might be Germans in disguise, because their British uniforms were clearly out of date. However, when he approached them, they slowly disappeared before his eyes. The author of the book, Rupert Matthews, speculates that perhaps the three WWI ghosts had deliberately drawn their countryman out of the tunnel to save him from the same fate they had suffered.

The second haunted location is Mill Lane, which leads out of Balcombe back to Ardingly Reservoir. The stretch of road is dark with overhanging trees and does have a gloomy and sinister atmosphere. Sometimes, people walking - or presumably driving - along it have suddenly been startled to see the corpse of a man hanging from one of the branches.

It has to be said that most of the sightings of this apparent suicide happened from Victorian times up to the mid 20th century. Before the era of mobile phones, the witnesses naturally rushed off to fetch the police, but when they returned the body, noose and even the branch were no longer there. You can see a photo of branches overhanging Mill Lane in the photo at the bottom of this post.

After returning to Ardingly Reservoir for a pleasant stroll along the banks beside the sun-dappled water, where kingfishers can sometimes be spotted, the walk again detours along a country lane in search of a ghost. The third and final haunted location is the Oak Inn, as I mentioned earlier.

The building was originally workers' cottages, built in the mists of history. They were turned into an inn in the early 17th century, which is said to be haunted by the ghost of a beautiful young woman with long dark hair and wearing a grey dress. She apparently looks so solid that customers at the pub have sometimes tried to talk to her, only to have her disappear before their eyes. Sightings were mostly in the bar, around the inglenook fireplace.

It is said that the grey lady lived in one of the cottages before it became a pub. According to local stories, the young woman was being stalked by her neighbour, a forester who would not take no for an answer. He broke into her home late one night and she leapt from a window to try to escape him, but the forester followed and hacked her to death in the garden with his axe.

Sadly, the Oak Inn appears long closed and overgrown. I wasn't able to go inside, but from the outside it looks everything a haunted pub should look like. I don't know what the future holds for the building. I hope it won't be knocked down and turned into modern flats. Maybe it will be once again restored to cottages. Whatever happens, I certainly hope that the grey lady eventually rests in peace.

The pictures on this page show locations mentioned on the Ardingly Ghost Walk and are by myself, Lucya Starza. If you want to reuse them, please credit my name and www.badwitch.co.uk

Links and previous related posts
http://www.southeastwater.co.uk/our-environment/our-reservoirs/ardingly
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/08/pagan-eye-reflections-of-sky-ardingly.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/05/pevensey-castle-tales-of-witchcraft-and.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/10/seriously-spooked-assaps-ghost.html