This is the final part of our compendium.  Today we focus on angels.  The complete Fringe Paranormal research Guide will be available over at Fringe University.

Angels in Different Religions

For millennium there has been evidence of existence of Angels in many religions and cultures. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Mormon are just a few belief systems that refer to Angels in some way.

In the Buddhist religion, Devas are spiritual/celestial beings by nature with bodies or emanations of light or energy. They are also known as dharmapalas or dharma protectors. These angels are usually shown In physical form and do not interfere with the human world. However, devas do rejoice and applaud for good deeds done by humans.

The first known existence of angels emerged in 1000 BC with the Persian religion Zoroastrianism. This is the Sister or brother religion of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Jewish concept of Angels stem from the influence of the Persian culture. In Judaism, the concept of angels was begotten from the Dead Sea scrolls and the book of Enoch. Also, the book of Talmud and Zohar dealt with the relationship of angels with God and humans.

Islam, a monotheistic religion, refers to Maliaka. The dusty of Milaika, messenger, was to carry messages to Allah in 622 AD in Arabia. This angel is a protector, deliverer of messages, and wages war against evil.

Angels: Popular Misconceptions and Truths

Truth: Angels have been around BEFORE the Christian God or Jesus Christ was born. Ethereal beings have been around since the dawn of time. If people took the time to do some research before angel’s known time, they would see that angel: existed long before the birth of Christ back to ancient times, where cave paintings showed winged beings present.

Truth: Angels are among us. They walk amongst humans every day. Angels can look just like humans. Some are here to help us, bring encouragement, hope, or guide those who need it.

A popular misconception is that angels only show up when we need them, or listen when we “invoke” them. This is untrue. They hear/see us through the good and the bad. They watch us on a constant basis. It is not only when we have faith in God or when we pray. Angels are there when we laugh, and enjoy the little things in life that make us happy. You don’t even have to be Christian. In the “old ways” angels were among the people to help, protect, and guide them very much as they do today. Just because the people of that time were not as vocal about their communications with the angels as we are today, does not mean they did not exist will before the written time of Christ.

Guardian angels, well, I believe that everyone has one. Does this mean they cannot help someone else and that the angel belongs to you and no one else ????? No, if they hear a call, they answer. Sorry, guardian angels are just that…they guard and protect all, even if they are with you most of the time. Another popular misconception Is that If you are not religious in any way or not Christian, you cannot have a guardian angel. This is also an untrue statement. I, for one, am Wiccan, what is MY excuse???? Many people who are not religious or have lost faith within themselves have come to find themselves having interactions with an angel at some time. Then again, some people just don’t believe in them, and that’s OK too, but it still doesn’t mean that angels are not around them.

Also, can someone have more than one angel? Yes, in fact, aside from have a guardian angel there are many angels that are with you through various many experiences you may have. They will come and go, sometimes without US even realizing it. But sure enough, Angels of many different kinds guide us through many different experiences be it, matters of the mind, family work or love.

Another popular misconception is that angels have names like Luke, Jacob, or Mark. Michael and Gabriel are probably the closest to common names that you will find. Also, you should know that there could be more than one angel of a same name, such as Gabriel. Now, a lot of people claim the name Gabriel, such as the Archangel Gabriel as their personal guide. I’m sorry but I would have to disagree with that person. Archangels have a different role, to believe that they act solely for one’s personal well-being is insanity.

The truth is that there is still much we have yet to learn about the Ethereal or Celestial ones. But the fact that we know acknowledge that they are among us makes them all the more real, alive.

Celestial Who’s Who

A’albiel: Services the Archangel Michael.

Abaddon: Angel meaning “destruction”, sometimes known as a good angel that servers God or a fallen angel. Abaddon has been seen as an angel of the judgment of heaven or an angel that hell claims as an ally.

Abariel: An angel called upon in ceremonial magic, for invoking spirits and other angels

Abathar Muzania: an angel-like being, existing in Mandean culture (a Gnostic following that prospered in the first and second century AD). This angel weighs the souls of the dead and determines their worthiness.

Abariel: An angel used in invoking, during ceremonial magic

Abdals: Seventy different spirits who only God knows their identity. They are a group of mysterious beings in Islamic lore.

Abel (Meadow): Judges Souls entering heaven. He is one of the 12 Powers

Achaiah: A seraphim of patience and discoverer of the secrets of nature.

Af Bri: An angel who controls the rain

Aha: an angel of Dominions who is a spirit of power. He is used in cabalistic magical ceremonies.

Ahadiel: Enforcer of the law.

Akattrielah Yelod Sabaoth: “Lord of Hosts” Jews believe this angel to be powerful and stands above other angels

Al- Zabamiyah: Nineteen angels in the Koran. They are the Islamic guards in their view of hell.

Anael: One of the seven angels of creation. He is Prince of the Archangels.

Anahila: An angel in the Zoroastrian religion that is high ranking

Angels of Childbirth: Seventy Amulet angels

Angels of Fire: Nathaniel, Arel, Atuniel, Johoel, Ardarel, Gabriel, Seraph, Uriel

Angels of Love: Rahmiel, Raphael, Donquel

Angels of Mysteries: Raziel, Gabriel

Angels of Prayer: Akatriel, Gabriel, Metatron, Rachael, Sandalphon, Sizouse, Michael

Angels of Rain: Matriel, Matarel, Matariel

Angels of Wind: Moriel, Ruhiel, Rujiel

Anthriel: an angel representing balance and harmony. This angel can keep someone calm in extreme circumstances

Aralim: An angel that brings protection to the home and loved ones. Gives confidence, ego, pride, and self esteem

Arariel: One of the Dominions and curer of stupidity. According to the Talmudists Arariel presides over the waters of the earth.

Aratheil: Angel of the first hour of the night

Arel: an angel called in ritual magic that represents fire.

Beburoa: According to the Book of Revelation of Esdras, Beburoa will be one of the nine angels to rule over the end of the world.

Cassiel (Kafziel): A leader of the Powers and is a high ranking angel that rules tears, temperance, and the day of Saturday.

Cerviel: a member of the Principalities. According to the Catholic religion, he was sent to help David defeat Goliath.

Chamuel (Camael, Kemuel): “He who seeks God”. He is an Archangel that had visited Christ in the garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem, giving him comfort before his crucifixion. This angel is supposed to have authority over the Angels of destruction and is a chief of the Powers.

Djibril (Jibril): The Arabic word for Gabriel

Gabriel: “Hero of God or “God is my strength” Gabriel is the messenger angel who is the “voice of God”. Muslims believe that Gabriel is the spirit of truth who dictated the Koran to Mohammed.

Habriel: Member of the choir of angels called the Powers. This angel is often summoned during magical rites in the Hebrew religion.

Israfel: Angel of the Last Judgment and the Resurrection in Islamic lore. On judgment day, this angel is supposed to descend onto the earth, stand upon the holy rock in Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet to awaken the dead and the living to be judged. He is covered with hair and has several mouths and four wings. He sings the praises of Allah.

Izrael: An angel of Islamic lore that will descend to earth with Israfel on Judgment Day.

Michael: ” Who is God” or “Who is like God”. He is considered the warrior angle, for he defeated Lucifer in a heavenly battle. In Jewish tradition, he is the Guardian angel of Israel. In the Islam religion Michael has “…wings the color of green emeralds…covered with saffron hairs, each of them containing a million effaces which implore pardon of Allah”.

Metatron: (Metatetron, Merraton, Metaraon) A great angel honored as the angel of presence, chief of ministering angels, chancellor of heaven, and who maintained the world.

Mik’ail: Arabic name for the Archangel Michael

Phanuel: an angel of presence. Actually beholding faces of God and spends time in his presence

Raphael: “God heals” or “The shining one who heals”. Raphael is the guardian of the human race, especially the youth or those embarking on a spiritual quest. He represents haling and creativity.

Satan: Also considered the leader of the fallen angels. He was seen as a “tempting angel”, serving the Lord. Satan stands for “the adversary”. He was appointed by God to tempt people and provide the Lord with a picture of their true faith. He was the most knowledgeable, beautiful, and beloved angel. He heads the angelic choirs of the Seraphim, Cherubim (depending on the source), and the Virtues. Satan, also known as Lucifer, had a large amount of pride; too much in fact. When God created man and commanded all the angels to bow down to humanity, Satan refused. He was the first angel to sin, to cross that barrier of obedience, for this he was cast down from Heaven.

Semyaza: according to Jewish mythology, he is the leader of the fallen angels who descended into heaven and entered into unions with human women.

Angelology Dictionary

This entry comprises a collection of terms, based on lore and legend, which the paranormal investigator is likely to encounter when dealing in angelology.

Anakim: Children believed to have been created when the fallen angels descended onto earth to enjoy humanly pleasures. They were giants who stood extremely high and brought much suffering to the earth. They were wiped out in the great flood of Noah.

Angel: A typically benevolent celestial being that acts as an intermediary between heaven and earth, especially in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Zoroastrianism. (Dictionary.com) Angelus (Latin); Aggelos (Greek), from Hebrew for “ongoing” or “one sent” messenger. In Hebrew it means “Divine or human messenger

Angelology: A broad term for the study of angels and their hierarchy. Angelology began when humans first began inquiring about angels.

Angelos: Greek for “messenger”.

Book of Enoch: The Book of Enoch is a book written between the Old and New Testaments, around 150-80 B.C. Copies of the Book of Enoch have been found among the Dead Sea scrolls. Enoch means “learned one”. This book explains the many fallen angels who “fell to earth” and were stuck there. These angels were commanded not to mate, but when cast down to earth, did so anyway. This book, known as 1 Enoch, was recognized by Jews and Catholics, but is now denounced by both religions because of its contents and themes. These themes were regarding the fallen angels.

Cherubim: The Islamic religion believes they were created by tears shed by Michael for the sins of humans. In Babylon and Samaria they were statues that guarded temples and palaces. Normally, they had cases of men or lions and bodies of an eagle, sphinx, or bull.

Daniel: “God is my Judge”. Daniel could be a good angel or a fallen angel. Some believe he is a member of the Principalities, while others believe is a fallen angel. The First Book of Enoch lists him as a fallen angel.

Devas: A celestial beings, also known as dharma alas or Dharma protectors in the Buddhist and Hindu religion. They are spiritual beings by nature that are seen as bodies or emanations of light or energy called “shining ones”.

There are 3 types of Devas that Hinduism recognizes, they are: mortals living on a higher realm than other mortals, enlightened people who have realized God, and Brahman in the form of a personal God.

Dominions: Ranked fourth in the nine choirs of angels. Also called hash mallim.

Ei: “of God”, the suffix located at the end of every angelic name to represent their link to God.

Gabriel: “Hero of God or “God is my strength” Gabriel is the messenger angel who is the “voice of God”. Muslims believe that Gabriel is the spirit of truth who dictated the Koran to Mohammed. Jewish religions see Gabriel as the angel of judgment.

Lord of Hosts: God’s supreme command of angels.

Malaika (mah-lah-ee-kah): Islam term for angel, which were to carry the messages to Allah.

Michael: “Who is God” or “Who is like God”. He is considered the warrior angle, for he defeated Lucifer in a heavenly battle. In Jewish tradition, he is the Guardian angel of Israel. In the Islam religion Michael has “…wings the color of green emeralds…covered with saffron hairs, each of them containing a million of faces which implore pardon of Allah”.

Monotheistic: Worship of one God

Polytheistic: Worship of more than one God/Goddess.

Raphael: “God heals” or “The shining one who Heals”. Raphael is the guardian of the human race, especially the youth or those embarking on a spiritual quest. He represents healing and creativity.

Sabaoth: Heavenly army directly related to the “Lord of Hosts”. Some say that the word refers to the hosts of heaven, the angels, and by metaphor to the stars and entire universe (cf. Genesis 2:1).

Zoroastrianism: The Persian religion, founded by Zarathushtra, existing in 6000 BC shows evidence of the first angels emerging traditionally. Sister or brother religion of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Angel Societal Structure

The ranking of the angelic choirs vary depending upon the religious views and theories. There appear to be some discrepancies between which angels belong to which choir. Below are lists of commonly seen member and positions that may be found listed differently depending on the religion or theories that they refer to.

The Hebrews believed that there existed seven heavens, guarded by various angelic beings. God, who has appointed different angels to represent each heaven, controls all the heavens.

1. Shamayim, ruled by Gabriel

2. Raqua, which is co-ruled by Zachariel and Rapael

3. Shehaqim, ruled by Anahel. The third heaven is supposedly the location of the Garden of Eden and the tree of Life.

4. Machonon, ruled by Michael.

5. Mathey is ruled by Sandalphon

6. Zubul has three rulers, Zachiel, Zebul, and Sabath

7. The seventh heaven is Araboth, which is ruled by Cassiel

Angels exist in many different cultures, with many different ranking orders. One such ranking that is well known in the Catholic religion is called the Nine Choirs of Angels. Each group of angels has a specific role in society and the Catholic religion. Angles also exist in other religions such as Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam, Mormon, however this rank of angels are the most widely known.

Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones are closest to God, while the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels reside closest to humans.

Seraphim- Known as the highest order of angels “burning ones”. These angels are attendant guardians of God’s throne and regulate the heavens. Satan was a member of this order of angels, before he fell. Seraphim have six wings, two cover their face two cover their feet, and two are used to fly. Some Seraphim are Michael, Seraphiel, Jehoel, Uriel, Kemuel (or Shemuel), Metatron, Nathanael, and Satan (before his fall).

Cherubim- the second highest choirs of angels are helpers of God and guardians of Eden. They are closely linked to God’s glory. They appear to be very manlike in appearance. Some Cherubim are Gabriel, Cherubiel, Ophaniel, Raphael, Uriel, Zophiel, and Satan (before his fall).

Thrones- these angels represent pure humility, peace, and submission. They are the “Many Eyed Ones”, for they carry out God’s decisions. Some Thrones are Orifiel, Zaphkiel, Zabkiel, Jolhiel (or Zophiel), and Raziel.

Dominions- dominion angels represent leadership as they regulate the duties of other angels. They have to be sure that God’s wishes are carried out. Some Dominions are Zadkiel, Hashmal, Zacharael, and Muriel.

Virtues- “The brilliant” or “the Shining ones” controls the elements. They govern all nature, controlling the seasons, thestars, and the sun. These angels provide courage, grace, and miracles to human beings. Some Virtues are Uzziel, Gabriel, Michael, Peliel, Barbiel, Sabriel, Haniel, Hamaliel, and Tarshish.

Powers- this important race of angels protects human beings from evil, for they are called the “warrior angel”. They prevent fallen angels from taking over the world and keep the universe in balance. Some Powers are Camael, Cabriel, Verchiel, an Satan (before his fall).

Principalities/Princes- these angels are a type of spiritual (metaphysical) being which are hostile towards God and humans. They are guardian angels of cities, nations, and rulers, who also guard against evil. Some Principalities are Nisroc, Naniel, Requel, Cerviel, and Amael.

Archangels- Archangels are the best known in the choir of angels, for they carry God’s messages to humans during critical times in history and salvation. They are in charge of guardian angels and help to fight against the “sons of darkness” or evil.

According to the Ethiopic Enoch, the seven archangels are:

1. Uriel

2. Raphael

3. Raguel, also called Ruhiel, Ruegel, or Ruahel

4. Michael

5. Zerachiel

6. Gabriel

7. Remiel

According to the Testament of Solomon, the seven Archangels are as follows

1. Mikael

2. Gabriel

3. Uriel

4. Sabrael

5. Arael

6. Laoth

7. Adonael

Angels- these celestial beings are closer to humans than any other angel. They act as the third party between God and the human race. These angels are mostly known as guardian angels. Some Angels are Phaleg, Adnachiel, Gabriel, and Chayyliel.

Fallen Angels- There are about 200 angels who where cast down from heaven during “The Fall”. The fall was lead by several angels, one being Semyaza. These angels descended from Heaven and begot children with mortal women. The outcome was the Anakim, or giants who stood several miles high and brought suffering to the mortal world. Also, several angels, including Lucifer were cast down and began a war against the heavens, after refusing to bow down to mortals. Some Fallen Angels are Semyaza and Satan.

Semyaza: according to Jewish mythology, he is the leader of the fallen angels who descended into heaven and entered into unions with human women. This angel participated in teaching the women of magic, spells and herbal remedies

Satan: Also considered the leader of the fallen angels. He was seen as a “tempting angel”, serving the Lord. Satan stands for “the adversary”. He was appointed by God to tempt people and provide the Lord with a picture of their true faith. He was the most knowledgeable, beautiful, and beloved angel. He heads the angelic choirs of the Seraphim, Cherubim (depending on the source), and the Virtues. Satan, also known as Lucifer, had a large amount of pride; too much in fact. When God created man and commanded all the angels to bow down to humanity, Satan refused. He was the first angel to sin, to cross that barrier of obedience, for this he was cast down from Heaven.

Ahiah: A fallen angel who descended down to earth to live with human women

Araqiel/Arkiel: In the First Book of Enoch Araquiel was a fallen angel whom taught the humans knowledge that was forbidden.

Exael: This angel was mentioned in the First Book of Enoch. He descended down to earth and took human wives. He participated in teaching humans magic and incantations.

We hope you enjoyed this five part series.  The complete Fringe Paranormal Research Guide is available on our Fringe University page.

Dictionary of the Nature Spirits: Class A

Class A Nature Spirits are the smallest of the spirits, all less than 12″ tall.

Abatwa:

Origin: South Africa

Appearance: Very small, so small they can ride on insects, but anatomically in complete human form. Look just like the native people of South Africa, resembling the Zulu people. They are so small they are said to live in the grass and anthills. They are trooping spirits who tend to hunt their pray with tiny poison arrows. They are rarely seen by human eyes.

Gender: Male and female

Personality: The Abatwa are very shy and elusive. However, they are also seen as very wise. However they are warriors

as well therefore they will defend their tribes with poison arrows if provoked.

Relations: The shy and fearful Zips are also warrior troopers who shy away from humans.

Human Interaction: The Abatwa can only be seen by three types of humans: Magicians, children under four and pregnant woman. If a pregnant woman sees a male Abatwa, she will give birth to a boy. Magicians value the Abatwa for their vast knowledge of nature.

Dryads:

Origin: Greece, associated with air

Appearance: Wispy lights that are seen in old trees.

Gender: female

Personality: aloof. Known mainly for playing, and tend to have a prankish nature. They live in old trees, and are associated with the Ancient Druids.

Relatives: The Belas of Indonesia live in old trees and will protect them.

Human Interaction: Pagans use the dryads to communicate with the Old Gods. They may aid in astral projection.

Ellyllon:

Origin: Welsh

Appearance: Tiny thin human-looking and attractive, water element

Gender: both male and female, but have a queen named Mab

Personality: Trooping, jovial and basically happy and helpful. They like cleanliness and order. They’re also very honest and love a good time while they clean the homes of the downtrodden.

Relatives: The Scottish Brownie, who will clean a home and look after a family in exchange for a small portion of food, is a close relative.

Human Interaction: Will help poor people down on their luck. Been known to clean homes and look after livestock as long as they’re not seen. If seen, they will vanish, but will not take revenge like many of their cousins.

Gnomes:

Origin: Various parts of Europe, associated with land

Appearance: About one foot tall. Dressed like peasants. Males grow beards when they marry, and wear red caps. Female: have blue caps and cover their hair upon marriage. Can live for 1,000 years but always appear as middle-aged. They are also the elementals of high Magic. They live in ancient oak trees.

Gender: both male and female

Personality: Very intelligent, care about animals passionately. Their main enemy is the owl. The only time they may cause problems is when their homes are chopped down and a house is built over their sacred tree spots. Relatives: Zips, who also care for forest animals.

Human Interaction: Have been spotted by humans, mainly those who live in the wooded areas. Pagans invite them in magical rituals, and offerings are made to them for assistance in healing wounded animals.

Jimaninos:

Origin: Mexico, associated with land

Appearance: Cherubic. They actually look like little cherubs or cupids. They’re small, chubby, winged and all look like small children. They tend to be dark-haired and are trooping spirits.

Gender: both genders, but females are called Jimaninas

Personality: Act very much like small children. Just picture your typical four-year-old. They generally don’t interact with people but they do participate in the Mexican Day of the Dead. Similar to Samhain they revel in the festivals with the locals. Though Pagan lore sees them as nature spirits, some believe they are the ghosts of the many babies and small children who die due to the high mortality rate. Before Roman Catholicism, they were believed to worship the Goddess. In fact, images of Our Lady of Guadalupe have the image of a cherub under the Virgin which may be a Jimanino.

Relatives: In Germany there are the Putti, who, though anglicized to have the same physical description and temperament as the Jimaninos, though they are mainly seen in Renaissance art.

Human Interaction: They avoid human with the exception of the Day of the Dead Festival.

Manehunas:

Origin: Hawaii, associate with land

Appearance: 3″-12″ tall, with stocky bodies and pointed ears. They wear the traditional Hawaiian clothing. They resemble the native Hawaiians, only very small. They also carry horns used to summon the birds of the Islands, which they use for transportation. Hawaiian legends say seagulls with ruffled feathers may have a Manehuna on his back. They are very rarely seen by humans (but reveal themselves to select lucky ones), and are always active at night.

Gender: male and female

Personality: The Manehunas are very benevolent. They are wise, patient kind and respectful of people, especially the Natives. They are very protective of the Islands and the natives who live there. Like many spirits they have a tendency to play pranks, but mainly help the Islands and the residents. Legends say they will fight tidal wave and major storms, and have a lot of power. Relatives: Manehunas also guard treasure and grant wishes when caught, similar to the Irish leprechaun.

Human interaction: They love people, especially the Islanders. They are said to help lost travelers with guidance and food, and fight off sharks. They also aid the natives with magic and self-discovery. Some stories say these little people mate with Islanders and some Hawaiians are endowed with psychic and supernatural powers.

Portunes:

Origin: England, associated with land.

Appearance: One of the smallest of the astral, about an inch tall, they appear as tiny old men.

Gender: Male

Personality: Pranksters, but also associated with horses and farming. Have been known to drive horses into lakes.

Relatives: The Fortunes are cousins of the Irish leprechaun. Fortunes are also wish granters, and will grant a wish if captured. They are known to guard treasure.

Human Interaction: Very little, often will only free horses and play pranks.

Pixies:

Origin: Scotland

Appearance: About 4″tall, with small bodies and very large heads, look top-heavy. They have very large eyes, and some reports say red hair. They can also change size. Some wear flower caps of foxglove. They also have wings, point ears, pointy noses and big eyebrows. They have been known to have golden auras.

Gender: Androgynous

Personality: friendly,, yet prankish. Love music and dancing, but can get out of control. They are the “party folk”.

Relatives: The Greek Dryads are known for their love of music and no gender differentiation.

Human Interaction: Pixies can be problems for lazy people. They hate sloth, and will attach lazy people by pinching and poking. Their parties can also entrance and mesmerize unsuspecting people.

Sylphs:

Origin: Egypt, associated with the wind

Appearance: About 2″ tall, transparent, and very light. They almost look like floating glass. They resemble humans, but due to their transparency their resemblance is more like a crystal angel. They have small wings which vibrate like hummingbirds.

Gender: Perceived as female

Personality: Philosophical, mystical, and “deep”. They tend to be very disciplined and are the elementals of the air

Relatives: Probably the Jimaninos of Mexico

Interaction with humans: Mystics will invoke these creatures for assistance in philosophical thinking.

Tengu:

Origin: Japan, associated with the Air

Appearance: About 6″ tall, winged and usually seen wearing red robes and carrying fans made out of feathers. The Tengu have wings, long red noses, and mouths that are almost beak-like. They are master sword fighters. They tend to form a hierarchy, with the larger members as the chiefs, who look similar but have very scary, fierce facial expressions.

Gender: Male Personality: Tend to be fierce and ready for a fight. The Tengu are said to be the men who died arrogant and proud in their human life, and are now punished in the form of the Tengu as a result of their bad Karma, Therefore, they can be very malicious and angry. The Tengu are said to have many secrets regarding magic, but will not share them with humans. They are also known to shape-shift.

Relatives: The Abatwa are similar, since they will fight if provoked.

Human Interaction: Rare, but the Tengu will teach their sword fighting skills to potential heroes. Some say they will kill when provoked or even if they encounter a traveler in the woods. Some say they are terrifying and kill on contact but others say they have little interest in humans.

Undines:

Origin: Middle East, associated with water

Appearance: Hybrid, a combination of human and seahorse. Undines have human heads and seahorse bodies. They’re only about 2″ tall.

Gender: Neutral

Personality: Mainly strict, but playful or even sensual depending on their moods and how they are approached. They’re

generally serious, as they are used in

ceremonial high magic. They represent the elementals or water.

Relatives: Any of the Sidhe associated with water

Human Interaction: Undines have been invoked in magic from the Greeks to the mystic branches of monotheistic religions. They can assist with any issues regarding water, such as losing items in rivers.

Zips:

Origin: Mexico, associated with land Appearance: Very small, about 4″ tall, male and wearing armor helmets and carrying spears. Though they’re known to be afraid of humans. It is believed by some that Zips came with the Spaniards to Mexico but also may have been part of the original Indian peoples.

Gender: Male

Personality: Zips sole function appears to be to assist forest creatures, mainly deer. Folklore says deer protected by Zips cannot fall to hunters.

Relatives: Dinnshenchas, who guard cattle.

Human Interaction: Zips avoid humans. They are very shy and very fearful.

Dictionary of the Nature Spirits: Class B – Dwarfs

Class B Nature Spirits are a little different from Class A. They tend to be about 1-3ft tall, and grounded, usually associated with the earth element. They’re more commonly seen as male, and are known for three major attributes: Inhabiting human residences, keeping secrets and guarding treasure. Some are dangerous to humans.

Bean-Tighe:

Origin: Ireland

Appearance: The Bean-Tighe look like small elderly ladies dressed in peasant clothing. They are somewhat chubby with very kind-looking faces. She’s rarely seen, and most likely heard sweeping the floor.

Gender: Female

Personality: Maternal and wise. They are attached to the old families of Ireland and assist with everything from housework to caring for the family pets. Sometimes they will take up residence if a household leaves strawberries and cream out for them.

Relatives: The Brownie, who also assists in house chores.

Human Interaction: The Bean-Tighe will finish any chores the lady of the house is unable to finish in the course of a day. She will care for the children and the animals all in exchange for a daily offering of fresh strawberries. There is a test that can be performed to see if a Bean-Tighe has taken up residence in a home. If a wet piece of linen is left out to dry hanging in front of a hearth, she will come out and turn the linen when one side is dry, as long as she thinks she’s not seen.

Boggarts:

Origin: Scotland, element of earth

Appearance: About 2 feet tall, stocky and somewhat deformed. They usually have outfits of blue or green. Bearded with a long, thin nose and dark eyes.

Gender: male

Personality: malicious and dangerous. It is said the Boggart is a former brownie which was mistreated by his resident family. While originally he assisted with chores and duties of the household, his mistreatment turns him into an evil impish character.

Relations: The Brownie is actually a cousin of this guy, only they assist with chores unless they are taunted.

Human Interaction: Boggarts can devastate a household. They will torment children with pinching and biting, spoil food, free livestock, destroy furniture and relentlessly drive a family to a new home. Only problem with a Boggart is they follow families to new homes. The only way they can be detached from a family is through exorcism. The only way they will invade a family is if the family taunts them as brownies. They require respect.

Brownies:

Origin: England, element of Earth

Appearance: A little over a foot tall, in blue and green suits with felt hats. They have Black eyes, no noses (just nostrils) and beards. They’re rustic looking little guys with very delicate fingers for tedious tasks.

Gender: Male

Personality: Friendly, generous, hard-working yet sensitive and easily offended. They will help a household, but have their own strict rules.

Relations: Many dwarf nature spirits are related, just have different tasks. Their closest relations are Boggarts, who were brownies who turned bad due to human torment.

Human Interaction: Brownies are the best dwarfs one can have in their home. They assist in chores, repair furniture and clean all spills, all for a small ration of food a day. They are very sensitive, however. The food must be of good quality, and they must not be watched while they work. They start work after the household goes to bed. A new set of clothes or any award will make them disappear from the household forever, and criticism and torment will change them into the sinister Boggarts.

Cluricaun:

Origin: Ireland, element of earth

Appearance: Very well groomed little guy, about 18″ tall, usually carrying a stein or a beer mug. He wears a red coat, blue stockings, a red night cap and silver buckled shoes, all neatly pressed and clean.

Gender: Male

Personality: Always intoxicated, therefore usually jolly unless he finds a member of the household drinking in the wine-cellar. Then he gets frightening.

Relations: The Monaciello of Italy, who also guards wine cellars.

Human Interaction: The Cluricaun will protect a wine cellar, but will also take some of the wine for himself. They also follow a household to another home if a household moves.

Duergar:

Origin: France or Spain

Appearance: About 20″ tall with leathery black skin. They are somewhat strong and athletic. They wear jackets and shoe: of lamb skin and green moss hats with one long pheasant feather.

Personality: Angry and bitter Relations: the English Redcap, who also kills humans

Human Interaction: Duergars hate humans, and will kill them when they see them. They wait for lost travelers in the woods and attack and kill.

Knockers:

Origin: England, earth element

Appearance: Look like small miners, with hunched over backs. They usually carry sacks of raw metals on their backs. Often they have shovels and picks. They wear green or brown clothing. They are rarely seen but can be heard working in the mines.

Gender: Male

Personality: Intelligent and hard-working. Can be pranksters. They have been known to scare miners and if the miner does not respond positively with the practical jokes the Knockers may cave the mine in.

Relatives: Knockers tend to follow the “helpful” groups of dwarfs like the brownies, only they inhibit the mines. They will assist if treated properly. In Germany they have very close mining cousins called the Wichtlein.

Human Interaction: When knockers are heard working it usually means that area of the mine has an abundance of the metals being quarried. Miners treat the Knockers with respect by leaving food and drink out for them, and in turn the Knockers will point out the ore. Knockers will also warn miners of cave-ins. If mistreated the Knockers will either cave the mine in or leave, drying up the mine of any precious metals in the process.

Kobold:

Origin: Northern Europe, associated with the earth element.

Appearance: about 2 ft. tall, wearing brown or green suits and white stocking and brown knee pads, caps and shoes.

Gender: Male

Personality: Helpful and cheery, but also sensitive and moody. If angered of mistreated they can cause some serious problems for their victims.

Relatives: The Brownie when the Kobold is good, and the Boggart when the Kobold goes bad.

Human Interaction: These guys can be helpful in a home by taking care of the domestic chores, especially the fireplace. However they are easily offended and if they’re made angry they will cause havoc in the entire household. No family member is spared. The infestation will appear as intense poltergeist activity and is very difficult to stop. The Kobold does hate smoke, however, and may be “smoked out”.

Leprechaun:

Origin: Ireland

Appearance: The most popular of this class, the Leprechaun is usually seen in a green jacket and pants with black shoes. They wear three-pointed hats (similar to the American Patriots) and generally have red beards. He’s about a foot tall.

Gender: Male

Personality: The Leprechaun is the shoe-maker of the nature spirits. He’s generally cheery and very witty. He is known to protect a crock of gold, but pagans say this represents the Crone Goddess opposed to a physical treasure. If captured, this guy will grant the captor his treasure, but he always outsmarts his opponent and escapes. They also love to drink Ale so they’re frequently seen drunk.

Relatives: The Monaciello of Italy, who also guards a treasure.

Human Interaction: Leprechauns love to tell riddles and shard word games with humans. They may act a little ditzy but are very clever and masters of head games. If caught, the Leprechaun always manages to “riddle” his way out giving up his gold and his secrets.

Massariol:

Origin: Spain, associated with earth

Appearance: Dresses in a red suit with a long red stocking cap. He looks about 2 feet tall with the face of an elderly man He has long hair and a beard and always appears very clean and neat.

Gender: Male

Personality: These guys tend to live stock, milking cows and braiding their hair on Fridays. They also find young human woman irresistible and when not in the barns they can be seen ogling the farmer’s maiden daughters.

Relatives: The Massariol that live in the city are called Barabaos.

Human Interaction: They will help with dairy livestock, but also can be a nuisance due to the undying obsession they have for young girls. He will attempt to persuade young ladies to move to the highlands with him, but has no powers to force them and due to they’re small size they’re rendered harmless.

Monaciello:

Origin: Italy, earth element

Appearance: Monaciello means “little monk” in Italian, and they do look like miniature monks. Only difference is they wear read habits. They have no facial hair and have very round chubby faces. They wear red hoods that are vital to their survival. They also wear sandals. They stand about 3 ft tall.

Gender: Male

Personality: The Monaciello are guardians of wine cellars. They’re usually drunk but very jovial. He like his fellow dwarfs can get mischievous and pinch people and steal clothes.

Relatives: The Leprechaun and the Cluricaun, the latter for guarding wine cellars and the former for guarding treasure.

Human Interaction: They will guard wine cellars from thieves, and also grant part of their treasure is a human is able to steal his red hood. Without the hood he will soon die and will dive anything to have it returned.

Pamarindo:

Origin: Italy, associated with Earth

Appearance: Small and ugly. They’re fat, lazy and covered in animal fat and whatever they had for a meal recently.

Gender: male

Personality: mean and malicious. They crave meat but can’t kill anything, so they trick and con humans and animals to fall off cliffs or chase them into bog so they can eat the corpses. They’re very lazy so only kill when they need to eat.

Relatives: Duergers, who also hate humans.

Human Interaction: If a human sees him its best to turn the other way. He can’t kill but will maim if provoked. He’s generally a nasty guy who should just be avoided.

Red Cap:

Origin: Scotland, associated with fire

Appearance: Red Cap looks like an old, hairless man with long claws and sharp teeth. He carries a very sharp executioner-style ax used to attack his victims. He’s about 3 feet tall. His trademark is the beret-like hat he wears. If it’s dry and rustic red he hasn’t killed recently. If it’s scarlet and dripping he made a kill.

Gender: Male

Relatives: The Red-Cap is a complete loner and a killer, so few dwarfs share his characteristics.

Human Interaction: The Red Cap will immediately kill any human he sees, but fortunately he only resides in the ruins of English and Scottish castles. He kills in a sadistic way so he can dip his cap into the fresh blood. Two amulets will protect a potential victim from the Red Cap; reciting Scripture or showing it a cross. In either case he will vanish, leaving only a talon. He will reappear in another old castle to stalk new victims. He is the most dangerous of all the dwarfs.

Rubezahl:

Origin: Germany, associated with earth

Appearance: about 3″ tall with black cloaks with the collar always turned up so their faces are rarely seen. They carry walking sticks.

Gender: male

Personality: Mean and manipulative, and destined to harm human travelers.

Relatives: Duergars, who also despise human travelers.

Human Interaction: They will attempt to do whatever they can to make a traveler lose his way. They call to the traveler to get him off the beaten path, they cause storms when there’s no shelter, and dry the weather if the traveler has no water.

Wilde Frauen:

Origin: Germany, associated with Earth

Appearance: They dress according to the colors of the season. They wear red gold and brown for the fall and green and yellow in the summer, for example. They range from small children to elderly women. They are about 3″ tall and none are males. They are ruled by a mysterious queen.

Gender: Female

Personality: The Wilde Frauen are wise ladies who exclusive tend to the sacred forests of Germany and Scandinavia. They live in the roots of sacred trees and are known as the ecological mistresses of the woods.

Relatives: the Greek Dryads, who also tend to the trees, and Gnomes who tend to the ecology of the forest.

Human Interaction: Very little, if any. They may distrust humans for polluting the sacred forests.

Dictionary of the Nature Spirits: Class C – Human-like

The following class of Nature Spirits is basically the ones that resemble average humans the most. While possibly thinner or slightly shorter than average humans, these Nature Spirits generally have the same appearance of humans and are closely related to the Old Gods of paganism. Some scholars believe these are “demoted” gods from polytheistic religions, others say they are a human-like race all their own and people to this day have “fairy blood” and special psychic powers. Unlike the dwarfs, many of these beings appear as female. Some of these were included in previous classes but are mentioned again here due to their similarity to humans.

Bean-Tighe:

Origin: Ireland

Appearance: The Bean-Tighe look like small elderly ladies dressed in peasant clothing. They are somewhat chubby with very kind-looking faces. She’s rarely seen, and most likely heard sweeping the floor.

Gender: Female

Personality: Maternal and wise. They are attached to the old families of Ireland and assist with everything from housework to caring for the family pets. Sometimes they will take up residence if a household leaves strawberries and cream out for them.

Relatives: The Brownie, who also assists in house chores.

Human Interaction: The Bean-Tighe will finish any chores the lady of the house is unable to finish in the course of a day. She will care for the children and the animals all in exchange for a daily offering of fresh strawberries. There is a test that can be performed to see if a Bean-Tighe has taken up residence in a home. If a wet piece of linen is left out to dry hanging in front of a hearth, she will come out and turn the linen when one side is dry, as long as she thinks she’s not seen.

Bean-sidhe: (Banshee)

Origin: Ireland/Scotland/water element

Appearance: There are two variants of the Bean-Sidhe, depending on which part of Ireland. The Bean Sidhe is young and attractive. She is usually dressed in green (most common), white or red, with blood-red eyes from crying. She’s usually wearing a veil. The more sinister version, the Bean-nighe looks like a deformed, haggard woman with webbed feet one tooth one nostril. She also has long, sagging but nursing breasts (with a challenge that will be explained later). The Bean-nighe warns of violent death.

Gender: Female

Personality: The Bean Sidhe is quite apathetic towards humans. She does her job of warning of death, and moves on. She may be more of an omen opposed to something evil. She is said to wail for the departing family member, who is the one not to hear the wailing. The Bean-nighe is more sinister. She is usually seen washing blood-stained clothes in a stream and predicts an imminent and sudden death.

Relations: The female death omens exist all over the world, but the closest related would be La Morena of Mexico who is said to have drowned all her children in life and now warns of when a child dies.

Human Interaction: The Bean Sidhe is known to only warn of the deaths of the members of the old Clans of Ireland, usually those with the surnames of “Mac” or “O” (MacDonald’s, O’Hara, etc.).The Bean Nighe is not so selective. With so many mixed families it’s possible for the Bean Sidhe and Bean Si to warn several people of death, and her popularity is on the increase in Ireland. There is one wish-granting story associated with the Bean-nighe, if a brave soul can manage to suck a breast of the Bean-nighe she will grant a wish or serve as his guide. One Bean-Sidhe story has made it to the U.S. She haunts the Tar River near Tarboro in North Carolina.

Brown Men:

Origin: Scotland, element of fire

Appearance: Shorter than the average man, but proportionally correct. They are lean with large arms and bronze-colored hair. The dress in brown, green or other nature colors.

Gender: Male

Personality: Avoid humans, but protect animal life in the Scottish Moors. Little is known about them due to their aversion to humans.

Relations: Said to be the cousin of the Brownie, but the personality is more like the Zips of Class A.

Human Interaction: little if any. Some say if a human is truly sympathetic to the abuse of animals and desperately need help with a wounded animal the Brown Men will assist.

Cailleac Bhuer:

Origin: Scotland, element of water.

Appearance: Also known as the Black Annis, she is an old woman who walks the forest at night with a walking stick tipped with the head of a crow. Her clothes are tattered blue. Her familiar, a crow is perched on her shoulder. She has jagged teeth and one big blue eye.

Gender: Female

Personality: She may be misunderstood. The old stories say she lives in a cave with the skins of children and babies decorated all over the walls. She in some stories is known as a child killer. However, some pagans believe she is a devalued crone goddess who had her bad reputation bestowed on her from frightened Christians.

Relations: Hecate, the dark Greek night goddess.

Human Interaction: She is traditionally avoided as a child-killer. She’s is the one who mothers used to scare misbehaving into behaving. She should be avoided.

Corrigans:

Origin: England, associated with water

Appearance: Ugly old deformed women by day, but beautiful blonde maidens by night.

Personality: Very intelligent. Riddle solvers, and great at solving many types of problems. To see one at night will make a man die pining away for her.

Gender: female

Relations: Any of the Greek sea nymphs for their irresistible beauty, or any of the shape-shifters.

Human Interaction: One Camelot story survives of a Corrigan. King Arthur needed to solve a riddle in order to safe himself from being killed unarmed from an armed knight. The riddle was “what does a woman truly desire?” Arthur didn’t know, but a hag named Dame Ragnell did. She and Arthur struck a bargain. She would answer the riddle if she could have Arthur’s most handsome knight Gawain. Gawain agreed and was very good to the ugly old woman. After married Dame Ragnell showed her other side in the bridal chamber, a beautiful young woman. She told him she can be either beautiful in the day and ugly at night, or ugly in the day and beautiful at night. Gawain had to choose. Gawain gave HER the option to choose. Giving Dame Ragnell the choice broke the spell, and she stayed beautiful and wise until her death.

Glaistig:

Origin: Scotland, associated with water

Appearance: From a distance, she appears as a beautiful young woman, but up close she is made up of animal parts.

Gender: Female

Personality: for woman and children she is very friendly and harmless. For adult men she’s the absolute worst.

Relations: Vampires, it’s understood since she is a bloodsucker of adult men. Also Mary Player who drowns men when they approach her.

Human Interaction: Though known to aid and like women, children, elderly and sometimes farmers, she will kill adult men. She has two methods, either sucking the blood from her victim or drowning him.

Guagach:

Origin: Scotland Appearance: She appears as an old shepherd woman with a walking stick. She wears a green dress, and looks very old and haggard. She has facial hair and very withered skin. Gender: Female Personality: very friendly and wise unless turned away when she needs help. She assists in protecting cattle. Relations: the House dwarfs, the Brownie, for example who assist in exchange for little food and shelter but will become malicious if ridiculed or harmed. Human Interaction: She is known to walk the villages of the Highlands asking for food and to sit by the hearth for a spell. If a homeowner grants her request, she will protect his livestock. If refused, she will steal livestock. She is said to occasionally steal a male infant from young parents, but will often return the baby due to watching the mother suffer from her loss.

Gwragedd Annwn:

Origin: Wales/Associated with water

Appearance: Beautiful blond women who are seen singing and dancing by sacred lakes.

Gender: female Personality: Friendly and helpful to women, love children but are uninterested in men unless for a mating partner from time to time. They are, however, very sensitive to criticism. Relations: the Lorelei, and Glastig who assists exclusively in helping women and children. Human Interaction: They make cold wives, but excellent mothers for any man who would choose to marry one. They also offer excellent protection for women and children whether assisting in magic or helping lost travelers.

Leanansidhe:

Origin: Isle of Man/water element

Appearance: Beautiful young women with pale vampire-like skin. She is, in essence, a demon-like entity or vampire Personality: She is an excellent poetess, and will offer her services, for a price.

Gender: Female

Relations: Mephistopheles, who gave Faust a life of success and riches in exchange for his soul. The Glastig and Red Cap for the draining of blood from human victims.

Human Interaction: She will inspire a poet to write the best works possible, but the price is death. Legend says she will drain the blood of her poetic victims and pour it into a giant vat which gives her the beauty and talent to continue gathering more victims.

Lorelei:

Origin: Germany

Appearance: A beautiful young woman who sits on rocks singing.

Personality: Manipulative and cunning. They entrance ship men and their ships thus crash into rocks.

Gender: female

Relations: The Greek Mythology, the Sirens who’s singing lure ships to the rocks. They can be read about in The Odyssey.

Human Interaction: Their purpose is to destroy humans and their ships. Though very beautiful, they are very dangerous.

Ly Erg:

Origin: Scotland, water element Appearance: Looks just like a Scottish soldier, only somewhat smaller, maybe about 4 _ feet tall. He’s not a dwarf since he’s completely proportional due to his small size. His giveaway is his right hand. This hand is bright red. He can be found on deserted roads by rivers.

Personality: As a soldier, the Ly Erg will challenge anyone to combat in a fight the competitor will never win.

Gender: Male

Relations: the Red Cap, as the cap his stained with human blood, so is the hand of the Ly Erg.

Human Interaction:” If the Ly Erg spots a potential victim, he raises his right, blood-stained hand as a symbol to do battle. The victim then must promptly retreat or face death. If the victim survives the battle, to engage with the Ly Erg still means death within 24 hours.

Moerae:

Origin: Greece, Earth element Appearance: Three women, dressed in Grecian robes are in three stages of life. The first is Clitho, the youngest who dresses in pink or light yellow and carries thread. Known as the Spinner she looks about fifteen years old. The next is Lachesis, the measurer. She is portrayed as a woman about thirty dressed in green. The third is Atropos, the inevitable, or the cutter. She is the old woman who dresses in black.

Personality: Apathetic. Just do their job as they see fit.

Gender: Female

Relations: Atropos is the dispenser of death, who, like other death omens simply does her job as the dispenser of death. More closely the spinner Mother Holle.

Human Interaction: none. The three have a process: Clitho dispenses the thread while Lachesis measures it. The thread represents life. Atropos cuts the thread whether short for dying young or long for dying old. It’s a form of predestination.

Mother Holle:

Origin: Germany, associated with earth Appearance: Appears as a woman in her late 50s with long black hair wearing an emerald green dress. She can be found in sacrea wens.

Gender: Female

Personality: Mother Holle offers her service of divination to people who seek out her help. She is a spinner who basically has a spinning wheel which represents the Wheel of Fortune. Her services are paid with an offering of gold.

Relations: Similar to the Moerae, in some stories she is seen as the dispenser of justice.

Human Interaction: Mother Holle will help in matters of divination for the small price of gold. She is also seen as a devalued crone goddess in some cultural segments. She will be rewarded with gold, or by having her bed made properly.

Nixen:

Origin: Switzerland, associated with water

Appearance: Nixen look like young, handsome people. Children are called urchins. The males can be easily singled out by their Kelly green teeth. They are said to have an undersea kingdom ruled equally by a king and queen.

Gender: male and female, children are reported as well.

Personality: Prankish and often dangerous, yet musically talented. The Nixen are the musicians of the waters. They are known for being master fiddlers with very catchy tunes. Despite this talent they are very dangerous to humans. Their music is often used to lure humans into the water to death. They’ll also drown sailors by causing shipwrecks. Some Stories say Nixen can cause storms.

Relations: The German Lorelei and the Greek Sirens, each who lure humans to death by drowning.

Human Interaction: The Nixen victimize people in two ways. One way is by simply drowning them. The other is by taking them to their undersea lairs to use them for breeding. Often the victims badly damaged corpse is found floating down the river or tossed on the bank. Despite their ominous reputation, they do share the gift of music, and some German folk music to this day is accredited to wandering musicians who accidentally stumble upon a Nix with a fiddle and lived to tell about it.

Nymphs:

Origin: Greece, associated with the element of whatever they inhibit

Appearance: Beautiful women of nature. Nymphs are more of a sub-class of nature spirits on their own, and w”e may write up the nymph class eventually. Some inhibit trees (dryads) some the ocean (Oceanids and Nereids) and some inhibit sacred trees. According to the Ancient Greeks they have two origins: earth nymphs are generally the offspring of Zeus and minor nature goddesses and ocean nymphs were formed when Zeus castrated the Titan Cronus and the blood fell to the sea creating the Oceanids and Aphrodite the Goddess of love.

Gender: always female

Personality: Nymphs are known for tending nature and excessive sexuality. In Ancient Greek stories they are rendered for sexual flings of both man and gods alike.

Relations: The Nymphs are more of a Family, or class of their own, but are similar to several nature spirits.

Human Interaction: Nymphs are generally known for two things when it comes to human Interaction: Excessive sexual contact with men and artistic expression. The Greek and Romans built fountains in the cities called nympheaums, which were dedicated to local water nymphs. In this instance they are held in a higher regard Later the Renaissance recycled the nymph in art and once again she dominated paintings and sculptors.

Peg O’Neill:

Origin: Ireland, water element

Appearance: Pale, and looking like a female frozen corpse.

Gender: Female

Personality: Peg is very similar to a ghost, but has the qualities on a water demon as well. One legend says she was once a maidservant who slipped in ice and broke her neck and died fetching a bucket of water. Since then she has been known as the evil water spirit of the Ribble River in Lancashire. She is also known to haunt Waddow Hall. In fact on the grounds of the Hall there is an old well and an ancient headless statue originally dedicated to a Roman Nymph. The statue and the well are dedicated to her now. Peg O’Neill has a heavy price to pay, however…

Relations: The many spirits who drown people as well as well spirits.

Human Interaction: Peg O’Neill demands sacrifice. Every seven years she must have an animal sacrificed to her via drowning. If an animal isn’t drowned she will come out and drown a man or woman by reaching out of the spring and drowning them.

Tuatha de Dartann:

Origin: Ireland, any element

Appearance: Looks just like the Irish locals, only slightly smaller

Gender: male, female, and children

Personality: Warrior-like, but generally harmless since they see justice and recognize good vs. bad. They love sports, especially hurling, and love music. They are said to be a people of a great Irish goddess named Dana but were later driven underground by the predecessors of the Celts (the Milesians) 1,000 years ago. Since then they have lived in the boroughs. They’re also masons, and the ancients megaliths are often said to be constructed by their hands. They’re extremely intelligent, talented and powerful magically. They are also said to possess the Stone of Destiny and the Sword of Lugh.

Relations: The Gnomes are also family fairies and leprechauns possess secret treasures.

Human Interaction: Said to aid humans with magic spells. They can be quite powerful when invoked. It is said that if on< comes upon a borough and knocks on it three times and asks it to open in the name of Dana, a passage will open up and the person can learn from the Tuatha da Danann.

Vilas:

Origin: The Alps, associated with Earth

Appearance: Beautiful women who love in the Alpine forests. So attractive that men who see them pine away for them,

Gender: female

Personality: They have no interest in humans, but are known to help animals in need. They will on occasion rescue a human traveler indirectly.

Relations: They devote their time to caring for animals, like the Zips or the Brown Men.

Human Interaction: tittle, but they will save live lives indirectly. They will lead guide dogs to stranded travelers, and let out a low-pitched knock sound to warn to impending disasters like avalanches. It is believed they assist with the famous rescue dogs of St. Bernard Monastery. They love all animals, but dogs are their favorites.

Yan-An-Od:

Origin: England

Appearance: Appears as a nice old man wearing the clothing of a shepherd with a walking stick. He has a white beard, but when people get to close to him he slowly fades away.

Gender: male

Personality: Benign, an animal lover

Relations: The Guagach, who is a female shepherd and assists with cattle.

Human Interaction: He can’t be approached directly, but is a big help among herders. Just one of the many nature spirits who helps with livestock.

Class D Nature Spirits: The Hybrids

Hybrids are, of course a mix of two different animals, or a mix of a human or an animal. Sometimes they can be the combination of several animals with the head of one, legs of another, torso of yet another and a tail thrown in for good measure. The Hybrids are intriguing, because they fall into several categories of history. All mythology has hybrids. The Ancient Egyptians worshiped gods that had bodies of humans and heads of animals. The Ancient Greeks often tell us about the stories of gods disguised as animals (or women bewitched to be seduced by animals) impregnating mortal women and the women giving birth to unusual hybrid creatures. People who angered the gods were often turned to hybrids as well. Regardless of origin, the hybrids were usually quite dangerous. The Minotaur, Medusa, Sphinx, Harpies, Satyrs and Centaurs were not very pleasant to be around. Add the decline of paganism and the birth of Christianity and the hybrid becomes more than a monster, it’s now a demon, usually a mix of human, serpent and goat. More powerful (now immortal) but very similar to the Greek hybrid.

When I began thinking about the hybrid, I wanted to stir the boat down the middle of the stream, so to speak, not getting to Demons (there’s a separate department for that) or mythology. There are still stories that people talk of today that appear to be hybrid creatures. Therefore my main goal is to discuss the hybrids that tend to fall under the nature spirit department.

Similar to demons in both reputation and appearance (but not servants of Satan), hybrids do tend to have a dark quality about them. Many of them fall under death omens, and some kill on contact.

Basilisk:

Origin: Greece, associated with fire

Appearance: The original description of the Basilisk was written by Pliny the Younger in 77 B.C. Originally more serpentine, the description became more rooster/serpent mixed by the medieval period. The Basilisk has the head and body of a large snake, a comb on its head like a rooster, with arms or feathered wings. It also has sharp claws and a beak Its appearance looks almost like a form of a dinosaur with a cock’s head. It is highly dangerous and poisonous. Some accounts tell of this being turning people to stone at first glance.

Gender: Neutral, reproduces very rarely

Personality: Dislikes human contact and is very ferocious. It has the personality of any other snake, meaning it will kill for prey or self-defense but tends not to see victims out to kill for sport.

Relatives: Any of the many serpentine hybrids.

Human Interaction: A basilisk will instantly kill a human being due to their highly poisonous bodies. Few animals can kill a Basilisk, including the crow, rooster and mongoose. The Basilisk is terrified of snakes.

Erdluitle:

Origin: Switzerland, associated with Earth

Appearance: Hybrids of small men and ducks. Though generally look like dwarfs except for their large duck feet. To cover up their embarrassing webbed feet they wear long cloaks with hoods to try their best to keep their feet hidden.

Gender: Both, The males are called Hardmandlene, the females are called Erbiberli Personality: They used to be helpful, but now bitter in addition to sensitive

Relations: Generally any of the dwarf species, though they’re not hybrids.

Human Interaction: They used to assist with farming, but nowadays seem do dislike humans, some believe their race is dying out or they no longer leave the Astral world.

Fir Darrigs:

Origin: Ireland, associated with Water

Appearance: Hybrids between humans and rats, they’re also known as “Rat Boys”. They have long course gray hair, yellowish hairy skin, long snouts, skinny tails and are rather fat and squat. They dress in red, including a hat and cape. Their clothing is filthy, shabby, ripped and smelly. They carry walking sticks topped With Skulls and sometimes have pipes.

Gender: Male

Personality: Scavengers. They have a very dark sense of humor, and are morbidly obsessed with death and bizarre death rituals. They relish the smell of rotting flesh and rotting carrion is their favorite food, though they have been known to feast on the occasional human. They love sewage and pollution and make their homes by polluted bodies of water.

Relations: Thought to be related to the Formodians, a race of banished Irish water spirits.

Human Interaction: The Fir Darrigs have been known to knock on a family’s door ask to warm itself by a fire. If this happens, it’s best to be very polite to him. He will offer to grant a wish, but in his dark sense of humor will tend to grant it with a negative twist. Some say if a human can put up with his teasing he will give good luck.

Gitto:

Origin: Wales, associated with air

Appearance: The Gitto have the heads of horses and the bodies of goats. They are able to communicate in human language. Despite being wingless they can fly short distances.

Gender: Neutral

Personality: They Gitto are very malevolent. They are known to steal harvests and cause physical harm to farmers. They aren’t very intelligent so they are rarely able to figure out how to cause harm.

Relatives: Cousins to the Pookas of Ireland

Human Interaction: The Gitto can and will harm and even kill a human, but this is rare since they are generally unable to figure out how to cause physical damage. They aren’t very smart.

Gfashtin:

Origin: The Isle of Man, associated with Air

Gender: Male

Appearance: The Glashtin is a hybrid that’s half cow and half horse

Personality! The Glashtin come in two varieties. The ones with a cow’s head and hoses body are generally harmless and Stupid, but the ones with the horse head and cow body are very clever and manipulative. They get very riled up with thunderstorms, and locals do hear them howling as a storm approaches.

Relatives: Another relative of the Irish Pooka

Human Interaction: The Glashtin that looks more horse-like tries to drown humans. There have been accounts where humans have tried to mount these beings, and the rider gets flipped into the nearby lake and drowned. Here is an excerpt from Folklore of The Isle of Man by A. W. Moore, 1891

“In 1859 it was reported that an animal of this kind was to be seen in a field near Ballure Glen, and hundreds of people left Ramsey in order to catch a sight of it, but they were doomed to disappointment. The people about Glen Meay believed that the glen below the waterfall was haunted by the spirit of a man who one day met the Glashtin, or Cabbyl-Ushtey, and, thinking it was an ordinary horse, got upon its back, when it ran off and disappeared in the sea, and the rider was drowned.”

Glaistig:

Origin: Scotland, associated with water

Appearance: The Glaistig is a woman made up of all animal parts. From a distance this can’t be seen, she actually looks quite attractive. However, up close she’s a collage of four-legged animals like horses, cows and goats.

Gender: Female Relations: The Lorelei, who lures sailors to their deaths by enchanted singing Personality: Mainly vengeful and hateful, but with some exceptions depending on human age and gender.

Relations: The Lorelei, who lures sailors to their deaths by enchanted singing Human Interaction: For woman and children, Glaistig is caring and nurturing, but

she will kill an adult man instantly. She kills by draining all blood from her victims like a vampire.

Grant:

Origin: England

Appearance: The Grant looks like a small horse but walks upright. He’s a cross between a human (in personality and mannerisms) and horse in appearance.

Gender: Male

Personality: While disturbing to look at, the Grant is not an evil creature. He warns on danger by walking down the streets of small villages during sundown. There have been documented sightings of him, the first recorded in the year 1212 by Gervaise of Tilbury. The sightings were of a strange foal-like creature which made every dog in the village bark furiously. More recently many people claimed to have seen him right before air raids during WWII Relations: Many nature spirits warn of impending danger or death

Human Interaction: The Grant is friendly, and “adopts” English villages. It is said he will not only warn villagers of impending danger, but will also protect villages against enemy attacks.

Gremlins:

Origin: Germany, associated with Air

Appearance: Gremlins may be more of an encompassing of a group of nature creatures rather than one type, since many different appearances have been seen. They have been described as a mix of a bull-terrier/jack rabbit, human/goat, or a mixture of a bunch of animals and human. They usually have large ears, leather-like bodies, and big, yellow eyes. They also wear clothes similar to pilots, like black leather boots or leather-like jackets, usually red. They range from about 6″ tall to over 4 feet.

Gender: Both, but females are called Rfenellas.

Personality: These creatures are almost always associated with flight. They have a fascination with airplanes and the mechanics behind them. On one hand, they are accredited with preventing planes from crashing by assisting pilots, but on the other they are well known for pulling wires out of planes, puncturing gas tanks and drinking fuel, icing wings, starting fires and even jumping on windshields terrifying pilots so the planes would crash. Nowadays some accredit them with fooling around with modern home appliances like VCR’s and microwaves.

Relatives: They share the personality and the obsession with technology with the Tommy knocker, who destroy equipment in mines.

Human Interaction: Gremlins began being documented during WWII, with documented cases of planed being torn 30art with no apparent cause. These reports were from both the Allies and the Axis. However, there were a few accounts Of gremlins prior to this time, in 1927, Charles Lindbergh, on his solo flight across the Atlantic, reported seeing strange creatures in his cabin. However, they spoke to Lindbergh about navigation and encouraged his flight. More can be read about his experiences in his book Spirit of St. Louis, published in 1953. Other cases have been reported by military and civilian pilots who have claimed to experienced creatures assisting them to land safely, so It appears not all gremlins tear planes apart.

Leles:

Origin: Eastern Europe, associated with Earth

Appearance: Human/Cat mixed creatures. They walk on hind legs. They are rather large. Gender: undetermined

Personality: Malicious. They seek out their victims by singing and attach and kill immediately.

Relations: The Lorelei, who lures victims to their deaths by singing.

Human Interaction: The lele is one of the most dangerous hybrids a human can encounter. They kill like vampires, draining their victims of blood. They are found at abandoned crossroads, but cannot attack anyone who is standing on an intersection of a crossroads. They will, however, try to lure a victim off the crossroads with enchanted singing.

Kelpies:

Origin: Scotland, associated with water

Appearance: The cross between a horse, waterfowl and a wildcat. They tend to look more like horses, but they have the sharp teeth of a wildcat. Males look generally gray with dark manes and females are usually white or pinkish. They are always seen by water and have webbed feet like a duck.

Gender: both

Personality: Aloof and antisocial, not even interacting with each other unless to mate. There are no documented cases or kelpies being benevolent. They do tend to only interact with wild mortal hoses.

Relations: The Glashtin, who will drown those who attempt to mount them.

Human Interaction: Kelpies are very dangerous to humans. Kelpies are rarely seen anymore, but are easily spotted among wild horses due to their golden bridles. If mounted, the kelpie will dive into the nearest body of water thus drowning the rider. There is another dangerous aspect to the kelpie. They can shape shift into attractive humans and lure humans into their lair to either become an unwilling mating partner or a meal. They are known to eat humans.

Mermaids/Mermen:

Origin: accounts are world-wide, associated with water

Appearance: Usually human from the waist up looking like a beautiful female or handsome male but a fish from the waist down. Sometimes males have two “tails” each that start as thighs and each end as fishtails. Some accounts state that females are always beautiful but males are extremely unattractive, leaving the female to desire a human mate. Often their skin is transparent, but can also have a foam green tint to it, and hair can be green or blue as well. Males often have long beards.

Gender: Both, but no sightings of children have ever been documented.

Personality: Females are seductive, yet somewhat manipulative. Mermaids can also be very easy going and aren’t angered easily. Males can be somewhat quick to anger and both will attack anyone polluting their natural dwelling. They are very protective of marine life. They also guard the treasures of the deep, and historically have been the servants of the Greek god Poseidon.

Relations: The Undines, magical water spirits used in paganism

Human Interaction: Females tend to socialize more with humans than males, mainly because mermen aren’t interested in human women, but mermaids are interested in human men as sex partners. Some say this is due to a stronger genetic pool in human men necessary to repopulate their race. Mermaids also warn human sailors of shipwrecks and have been known to save humans from drowning. These experiences have resulted in vast documentation of mermaid sightings and interaction.

Moss People:

Origin: Germanic Islands, associated with earth

Appearance: Mostly human looking with wispy-like bodies, and large, butterfly wings. They are the colors of the foliage of the woods and camouflage into the woodland unable to be physically seen.

Gender: male and female

Personality: shy and timid. Tend to hide in dense woodlands with little interaction with humans.

Relations: The Wilde Frauen, or wild women, of Germany

Human Interaction: The Moss people are very timid and shy, but have been known to approach craftsmen to borrow a tool. They are good luck to have around and if their environment stays clean they will continue to bring good luck. They are grateful for the occasional offering of fresh cream. They never harm humans, but have difficulty trusting strangers.

Nucklelavees:

Origin: Scotland, associated with water

Appearance: Half-human, half-horse with fins for feet. They have black blood. They are also shape-shifters, but they’re not very good at this with their shape-shifts usually bloated, ugly and distorted. In addition they smell like bad eggs. They live in lakes and bogs.

Gender: Male

Personality: Very malicious. They attack and kill other fairies, but rarely catch their pray because their smell serves as ample warning.

Relations: The Glashtin is a similar hybrid with a nasty disposition.

Human Interaction: Usually humans are long gone by the time Nucklelavees approaches due to the foul smell. They will kill humans. However, they can’t cross water so a person can easily be saved by crossing a river or stream.

Pookas:

Origin: Ireland, associated with Air

Appearance: Pooka appears as a human/goat hybrid, but may have some characteristics of a horse or eagle. Generally he has the body of a thin man, with the head of a goat, horns of a mountain goat, pupil-less eyes that glow red or yellow, and a black beard.

Gender: Male

Personality: malevolent and destructive. They get along with no one, and even fight with each other.

Relations: The Welsh Gitto, who also Steals crops and cattle

Human Interaction: Pookas are very dangerous to humans, let alone anyone else they encounter. They are known to steal potato crops, kill and mutilate cattle. They also tend to steal babies. Pookas are known to slide down chimneys, steal babies and leave changelings. Also, they are known to mutilate aircraft. They do attack humans, but accounts state the majority of people they attack are lazy or drunk.

Sulkies:

Origin: Scotland, associated with Water

Appearance: Hybrid of human and seal. They generally appear as seals with human features. However, they can shed their seal skins and appear completely as attractive humans.

Gender: both

Personality: Self-centered, mysterious and skilled in magic.

Relations: The Merpeople, since they both tend to use humans for mates, though Selkies cannot kidnap humans, they need to persuade them to come back to the sea with them

Human Interaction: Apparently the main interest in the Selkies regarding humans is to persuade them to return to their lair as mates. They never stay with one human mate, and when they leave the human mate the human will pine away from a broken heart. Some say the males simple come to shore, mate with human women and return to the sea with their hybrid children.

Urusks:

Origin: Scotland

Appearance: Human-like, but with a mixture of goat and fowl. These creatures are extremely ugly, with wrinkled faces, patches of hair, feathers, and giant deformed heads. They are quite terrifying, but very friendly and tend to crave companionship. Due to their appearance they are usually alone but very lonely.

Gender: male

Personality: Intelligent, possibly highly psychic, but little is known about them because when they do approach humane, people usually run away terrified. Relations: The Gruaghach , a female who is also very ugly but kind and helpful.

Human Interaction: Urusks crave human companionship, but few humans can tolerate their horrible appearance. If a person can get past their looks, they can learn a lot from this nature spirit.

Wag-By-The-Way:

Origin: Scotland Lowlands, associated with Earth

Appearance: Dwarf, but somewhat smaller and a mixture of a house cat. He has a tail that reacts the way a domestic cats would, meaning it wags profusely when angry. He’s also covered in soot.

Gender: Male

Personality: Very friendly and protective. He’s associated with the older noble families of Scotland, and used to guard the byways of the Lowlands.

Relations: The Scottish house Brownie

Human Interaction: He adapts to a home quite easily, and is generally loved by the family that takes him in. Families of the Lowlands used to take all the pans out of the hearth to give him some room to get warm. Despite his loyalty to his adopted family, he’s not very friendly to visitors. He’s been known to throw things at guests.

Goblins and Elfs

These beings talk, laugh, and are cautious, poor, rich, wise and crazy, just like all of us. They are the rough image of man virtuous or vicious, pure or impure, better or worse.

Domestic Goblins:

They live inside houses or in the surroundings. For centuries they inhabited wild, woody, and mountainous areas, living inside caves or caverns until one of them approached the places where human beings lived, firstly for the sake of curiosity then with the single objective of having fun. They appear preferably at night. They are about 50 cm. high and resemble man. They go out at night and love to have fun by dint of those sleeping. Even though most of them like to bother or frighten human beings, some of them, however, love to help men in domestic households. According to some experts, their names come from the Arabic word duar, meaning the one who inhabits or the inhabitant.

Elfs

Elfs are huge magical beings divided into two big categories: The Ljsalfar (or Light Elfs) and The Dopkalfar (or Darkness Elfs).

Light Elfs:

They dominate the change in appearance, have an ethereous beauty, and are one of the best disposition elfs. They are translucent and blue colored. There are other light elfs with the ability to move over fire or inside wood and stone. They are called Elle folk; can foretell the future, sing and compose a fascinating and enraptured music.

Dark Elfs:

Like lobsters, they build their homes beneath the earth. They are frequently found in houses where they prefer dark corners, only visible at night. They may be of gray, brown, red or black colors. If a house has locks with no keys or small cracks in the wood, Elfs shall come in through those tiny spaces. They have many names, such as Cauchemar, Qaalruter, and Nachtmannle.

Gloom Elfs:

They are the most numerous. They may be found in trees, plants, brooks or ponds. They are quite cautious and protected from the interference of strangers.

Imps:

These are some little devil looking- goblins, not linked to a house, but to a person to whom they assist and make him their owner. They are linked to witchcraft.

Sleep Goblins;

They belong to a Strange family of aggressive and individualist goblins. They cause nightmares and choose women and children as their victims.

Up next: the final installment…Angels and Angelology

The Difference between Ghosts and Nature Spirits

Basically there are two main differences between ghosts and nature spirits, the theory is that ghosts are the souls or memory of someone who has died where as nature spirits never knew life as we know it as they originate from another realm of existence. But in today’s society people are more readily to accept a belief in ghosts rather than nature spirits, I think this originates from the fact too many people have been affected by ghosts during their lives or they know close friends or family who have been affected but today’s society finds belief in the typical victorian fairy very hard, described as no more than four inches tall these creatures displayed butterfly wings and danced around in fancy dresses.

Quantum physicists will openly discuss the theory of alternative universes but mention you have fairies at the bottom of your garden and before you know it you are enjoying your lunch through and straw in the confines of a padded cell. Incidentally, the word “nature” derives from a Latin word “natus” which is the past participle of “nasci” meaning “to be born”. So nature is what has been born, and “physics” is originally the study of what has been born (in a broader sense, the universe, then), it seems. Over the course of time I think it has strayed from its original meaning as we have seen physics become the study of physically measurable quantities and their relations, but we as a whole in the paranormal field know there is much more to nature than that which can be physically measured. Ironic to think that modern physics makes use of “invisible fairies, which cannot be measured”: they are referred to as “quantum fields”.

A reference taken from the Fortean Times describes the earth spirits as particles, which are there and not there; like electrons they are both material and non-magical. They are quantum events at the bottom of the garden. We cannot know particles in themselves, but only by the traces they leave, like tiny yetis. They are as elusive, maddening and paradoxical as fairies ever were.

Well, what an easy explanation! Or is it?

I know from my own experiences with nature spirits that the phenomenon is strikingly different from that of a typical haunting if indeed you can have such a thing as a typical haunting. On most occasions you will be able to walk into a property and you can almost sense if a ghost is present, I am aware at times they can mess the team about and stay well away. But a nature spirit, should it choose to, will approach you and its vibrations are much more prominent. One case we are currently studying in Northern Ireland involves a Rath, a pre-Christian settlement. In local folklore there have always been tales of a chamber underneath the Rath, but there has never been any archaeological digs to prove or disprove this tale.

From our own experience the nature spirit, which is linked to the site has indicated through a series of loud thumps where this hidden chamber lies. The chamber is known as a Souterrain, which was often used as ritual sites and hiding places. If the Iron Age settlement became threatened the women and children fled into these passageways and would have been protected by one of the males from anyone who would have dared to crawl through to the main chamber.

Christianity identified it as a demon. Legend states the reason for it being there was to protect treasure, I know from experience it is just as curious about us as we are of it. One account of a clergyman entering a renowned fairy ring at night, tells of the man being held down by these small creatures and hearing an unforgettable buzzing. I too have been on site at sunset and experienced the buzzing almost similar to a mosquito, and several times after. An associate of mine who is a practicing pagan claimed the buzzing was not myself getting in tune with the entity but the entity getting in tune with me.

Unfortunately due to other commitments and cases I have not been able to return to the Rath, but I do plan on being back in the next few weeks, both with recording gear and night vision, though this is to try and capture footage and understand the movements of the badgers that live near the Rath.

They say there are over 3000 different breeds of nature spirit though I suspect there maybe misidentification over continents but I’m only familiar with about 30. Ireland is renowned for its fairy tales and it’s a well-known fact when men moved out of the old forts and abbeys the fairy moved in. Even in today’s environment I can travel approximately a mile from home and find a fairy tree. These thinly crooked and rather worthless trees dot the landscape and are usually found near the middle of a cleared field, but a great superstition lingers about cutting one down as they are links to the Fairy world.

There are various legends and claims made about these entities but in fairness we know so little. In the late twentieth century they were nearly forgotten and resigned to myth, but I have been watching a growing interest near the end of the 1990′s to present and hopefully we may get the chance to observe and understand this close and yet very distant world.

Introduction to Fairies

The Spanish word hada comes from the Latin fata which, in turn, derived from fatum, meaning fate or destiny. In the middle Ages, the gentiles defined it as a divinity or unknown force, which had a fascinating effect on the other divinities and on men and events. The French word fee has a similar origin and resulted in the English words fey and fairie which, as time went by, suffered spelling variations from fayerye, fayre, faerie, faery, and fairy. According to its ethimology, it is a fantastic being pictured as a woman known to have magical powers. For the Saxons, the word ferie refers to the world of fairies as an entity, being a geographical location. In Spanish it turned out to be feerico, depicting something wonderful or fantastic.

The world of Fairies is a mixture of a mysterious enchantment, a charming beauty, but also of a huge ugliness, of insensitive shallowness, humor, malice, joy and inspiration, fear, laughter, love, and tragedy. It is richer than what we are usually induced to think by literature. In addition, extreme caution should be exercised to penetrate into this world, as nothing is more irritating to fairies than several human beings curiously moving around their extraordinary dominions, like spoiled tourists. Love, but also abandonment and death, may follow under their spell. Like human beings, they live in a universe of contradictions.

Location of these elementary beings has varied throughout time and cultures. For the Irish, sometimes it was found in the horizon; other under their own feet; on other occasions, on hills, or in a magical island in the high seas or under the ocean

Air Spirits: Silfides

The air element, featured by intelligence, represented by Spring and Dawn is inhabited by Sylphs in the form of butterflies. They control winds, help birds in their migrations and flowers in their pollination. Their light yellow- toned translucent appearance is present in the scent of wet herb threatening to rain.

Water Spirits: Nymphs, Mermaids, Nereids, Naiads, Undines, and Water Goblins.

The water element featured by love and cures, represented by Autumn and Sunset, is inhabited by nymphs, mermaids, nereids, and undines. They appear as mythological creatures in all liquids, such as seas, rivers, fresh water brooks, falls, and clouds. Their aspect varies depending on their habitat. Nereids rule the seas; undines called Naiads by the Greek, are found in lakes. They are mostly blue and a receptive energy. Like mermaids, they attract any sailor with their songs until they wreck. They are the ones channeling natural river beds.

Earth Spirits:

The Earth element is the densest. It is represented by Winter and the night. It is inhabited by ladies, goblins, gnomes, and trolls. They are mostly green, and have a receptive energy. Fairies or ladies are characterized by their kindness and for being the oldest inhabitants of the plant. They may either be imposing or tiny; their powers, however, are incredible and dominate nature.

Fire Spirits: Salamanders

The Fire element features both creation and destruction. It is represented by Summer, and daylight. It is inhabited by Salamanders, Farralis and Ra-Arus, appearing as reddish salamanders and dragons. They give the idea that with courage and imagination everything can be done. They send forth projective energy, and dominate the element. No fire would be ignited without their intervention.

Gnomes:

Since these elementary beings are earth spirits, they preferably work the soil and tree roots, to which they grant power. They look like funny little old men, as they belong to a race coming from the beginning of times. It is said that they inhabited the lost Atlantis. These tiny creatures build their homes under aging trees. They only go out at night and their home is lively after sunset. They are friends of animals, they speak their same language and protect them from danger. The best feasts are when the freezing winds blow over the woods dancing and playing, they start to run and some prefer rain for their dances.

Astral Critters

Often as a paranormal investigator I’m asked if anything can follow me or anyone on my team home. In all honesty I have to answer yes, there are situations where something can follow somebody home from a haunted residence. It’s not as bad as it sounds, but all paranormal investigators must keep in mind that a little bit of the astral world can always come home with them and stay for a spell. So what follows us home? Is it a ghost, spirit or ‘Great Aunt Thelma from beyond the grave’ ? Chances are what’s been tracked into our private sanctuary is what I dub an “astral critter”.

I’m not sure what exactly to call these beings. Some call them elementals, others the “wee folk”. We know them in folklore as elves, fairies or goblins, but chances are they are all basically the same thing; non-human entities attach themselves to us and attempt to make themselves at home until they choose to leave, have to leave or we make them leave.

So what’s the theory behind these astral critters? I’m no expert, but I can offer my opinion of what they are, why they attach themselves to us and what we need to do to get rid of them. Keep in mind these are usually non-human entities, and they’re more of an annoyance than a threat. However, sometimes they can cause some havoc. This is how I believe we take them home.

Often a haunted residence has a “portal” somewhere on the property. This portal is how the astral beings enter and exit the spirit plane into the physical plane. Usually these are ghosts, which are generally confines to the area and don’t leave. However, nothing is stopping other astral beings from entering the physical plane from the astral. If there is a smaller hole, chances are there are smaller astral beings. Most haunted places have a portal that can expel these smaller beings. They have personalities, but usually they are bent on mischief or fascination with our world. It’s possible they find some fascination with a team member, perhaps due to the cool gadget the team member is using and there’s an attraction. Bang! Like a little kid with a new toy, the critter attaches itself to the unknowing paranormal investigator. The Investigator goes home and that’s when the real strange stuff happens.

First, the TV starts acting up, screen bouncing maybe, or the cordless phone dies with no plausible explanation. Appliances in the kitchen start up or turn off. Things start falling off shelves, and strange knocks or noises occur. The family cat is terrorized by something it sees, but no one else can see it. The docile feline becomes outrageously skittish. The dog barks at air, and whines. Then the homeowner, confused about what’s going on in the home starts seeing it himself. Rarely directly, but in the corner of the eye. It’s about three feet tall, and usually green or brown. As soon as you glance at it, it takes off somewhere else. Rarely will it directly interact or attempt to harm a person, but it certainly can be really annoying after awhile, and it soon wears out its welcome.

Does this sound familiar? Many of us had these things happen after an investigation. It’s an astral critter, it followed you home, and now you have a choice. You can either get rid of it or keep it as an exotic pet, which I don’t recommend.

In the old days when people were more superstitious these critters had characteristics that gave them a more defined appearance, wings, hats, vests, possible a tail. They’re usually seen looking somewhat like humans, and appear both male and female. Chances are these are all put on the creatures by the seers to make more sense of they were seeing. People also lived with these beings, offering them food and wine, and making sure they didn’t anger them and lose their crops. They were common seen in farms and woods, and were seen as nature spirits or even home guardians. People in Ireland, lona, and the Isle of Man still see them commonly.

But in the present day can we really believe in these creatures? Sure, much of the stories were myth, but I can’t tell you how often I heard stories about these critters, and witnessed them myself. Is it that hard to believe in lower astral forms?

Anyway, how would you get rid of these creatures? The good news is that they usually leave on their own within a week. Sometimes they don’t leave, and that’s when some action needs to be taken to get rid of it. Here are some suggestions from folklore that still work today:

• Placing some pepper and vinegar in a dish can deter them.
• Ring a loud bell throughout the home, it usually makes them leave.
• Keep a piece on iron on you, just a small piece. Folklore says they don’t like it.
• Just tell it to leave, and it often does.
• Use sage to cleanse your living area.
• Say a prayer to get rid of it. In the Catholic tradition, Saints Michael and Barbara can remove it.
• Finally, put chimes on your door, so it won’t return.

Astral critters can be annoying and a little scary, but are relatively harmless. Let it know who’s boss and it should hit the road. In this day and age, we still need to be on our guard against and mischievous and negative entities. As many paranormal investigators know, soon or later you’ll come home from an investigation, and you know without a doubt something’s right, and chances are it’s an astral critter, and you’ll know how to get rid of it. Good luck!

Thoughts on the Sidhe

The term Sidhe (SHEE) is an old term for the “little people” of Ireland, and I prefer to use this term opposed to the more commonly used term Fairies. Fairies instantly draw up ideas of cute little females with wands, and though some of the Sidhe are portrayed this way in history and literature like in Cinderella), many were much more sinister (remember Rumpelstilskin?) Nowadays the Sidhe (or fairy folk, if you choose) are portrayed as friendly, attractive adorable beings. The gnomes sit in our yards with pointy red hats, the generic fairy is dangling from wing chimes and sits on shelves as cute little knick-knacks, and the trolls are these ugly, yet popular brightly-haired plastic dolls that are dressed up like everything from soldiers to nurses. When you think about it, it’s kind of insulting how we treat the Sidhe today.

The Sidhe are seen very much as myth, even within the paranormal community. Hoaxes like the Cottingley Fairies added to that belief. However, I do believe when it comes to the Sidhe it’s not all smoke and mirrors. Delve back further in history and you’ll see among old pagan beliefs and you’ll see how the history of the Sidhe is often misunderstood, but very universal. Stories of the Little People range all over the world. The Native Americans, Celtic Europeans, tribal Africans and Pacific Islanders all have their stories of a race of human-like people who interact with their societies and offer blessings, veneration, and interaction but also theft, kidnapping, destruction and terror when they aren’t appeased. So my question i: with these “creatures” existing all over the globe can all these stories really be fabricated?

Some say the Sidhe are a race on their own, while others believe that they are the Pagan Gods of old who retreated back to nature with the dawn of monotheistic religions. Yet there’s another theory that they are a mix of humanoid-type hybrid creatures as well. Regardless, there are some misconceptions of these creatures. They have not always been cute, friendly and available in toy stores. The fact of the matter is these creatures were quite nasty, both in appearance and temperament.

Celts treated these creatures with utmost respect, but feared them immensely. Some cultures even kept their front and back doors opened so the “trooping” Sidhe can come through the house and out the back door without too many problems Milk, cream and portions of meals were left out for the Sidhe so the Sidhe would bless the household and not harm the family. The wife of the household was taught at a young age how to appease the Sidhe, and she knew the consequences of making the “wee folk” angry. They would destroy crops, livestock, trash homes, attack the children, and even cause death. People believed the Sidhe also took healthy babies and replaced them with their own ugly sick offspring. The most terrifying of the Sidhe were the ones that ventured out after dusk. The creatures, like trolls, banshees and the Black Annis were known for killing, kidnapping and even eating humans traveling at night. Some, like the castle-occupying Red Cap, existed simply to kill people. In fact the Red Cap is known by his cap colored red by fresh human blood.

What’s the most disturbing about these creatures are most likely their appearances. They usually took the appearance of the element they were associated with as well as a human-like appearance. Earth Sidhe were brown, dirty and wore green and brown, like gnomes. Air Sidhe were light, winged and transparent. Water were pale, milky and aquatic colored with blues and greens. Fire are red or rustic. However, most of these creatures really weren’t as cute and chubby as we’re familiar with them. Most of their appearances struck fear in the people who saw them. Many were known for their large heads, big empty eyes, skinny bodies, expressionless faces and even claws and tails. Many were gender neutral, but many were male or female. Trolls were males covered in hair and known for large glowing eyes and rotting teeth. Water nymphs were usually female, pale, wet and expressionless buy very alluring, and often pulled men to their deaths in lakes. Pixies, nowadays seen as the cutest of this batch, were also very scary looking. They were known for very large heads, big empty eyes, small bodies, intense staring and unisex bodies, similar to other “winged” beings.

I often believe the “things” that follow people home from haunted houses are a type of Sidhe. Some sort of lower astral form that attaches itself to people for a limited amount of time before it has to go back to the astral world. They cause some havoc for awhile, especially with appliances and lights but eventually go away or can be easily cleared out. I say this because Sidhe are known to follow people and have a relentless compulsion for playing pranks and tinkering with everything from butter churns to Airplanes. Pilots claimed to have seen bizarre creatures fooling around with plane engines in WWI. I believe this may be a type of Sidhe, some are more evolved than others. I also believe that it’s possible these are pure astral energy but our minds put the appearances on them; Wings on the flying ones, and claws on the earth Sidhe. Though being pure astral it doesn’t explain how people have been physically maimed by such creatures.

Now here’s my theory. The old stories of fairy kidnappings and encounters often described big eyed creatures sneaking into homes and carrying people out to either populate their race or “breed” with their own kind. This is documented in many history books. Doesn’t this sound familiar today? Stories of people being powerless and having big-eyed big headed non-gendered vaguely human looking creatures coming into their homes (usually in farming and wooded areas) and poking and pronging them and having sex with them to create a stronger race are as common now as they were three hundred years ago. Only now we call them aliens!

The Fairy Compendium

Dullahan:

Variants: dullaghan, far dorocha, Crom Dubh

The dullahan is one of the most spectacular creatures in the Irish fairy realm and one which is particularly active in the more remote parts ot counties Sligo and Down. Around midnight on certain Irish festivals pr feast days, this wild and black-robed horseman may be observed riding a dard and snorting steed across the countryside. It is advisable to stay home with the curtains drawn; particularly around the end of August or early September when the feast of Crom Dubh reputedly took place. The dullahan’s call is the summoning of the soul of a dying person rather than a death warning. There is no real defense against a dullahan because he is death’s herald. However, an artifact mad of gold might frighten him away, for dullahan’s appear to have an irrational fear of this metal. Even a small amount of gold shall do.

Pooka:

Variants: phouka, puca

No fairy is more feared in Ireland than the Pooka. This may be because it is always out and about after nightfall, creating harm and mischief, and because it can assume a variety of terrifying forms.

The guise in which it most often appears, however, is that of a sleek, dark horse with sulphurous yellow eyes and a long wild mane. In this form, it roams large areas of countryside at night, tearing down fences and gates, scattering livestock in terror, trampling crops and generally doing damage around remote farms.

In remote areas of County Down, the Pooka becomes a small, deformed goblin who demands a share of the crop at the end of the harvest: for this reason several strands, known as the ‘pooka’s share’, are left behind by the reapers. In parts of County Laois, the Pooka becomes a huge, hairy bogeyman who terrifies those abroad at night; in Waterford and Wexford, it appears as an eagle with a massive wingspan; and in Roscommon, as a black goat with curling horns.

The mere sight of it may prevent hens laying their eggs or cows giving milk, and it is the curse of all late night travelers as it is known to swoop them up on to its back and then throw them into muddy ditches or bog holes. The Pooka has the power of human speech, and it has been known to stop in front of certain houses and call out the names of those it wants to take upon its midnight dashes. If that person refuses, the Pooka will vandalize their property because it is a very vindictive fairy.

The origins of the Pooka are to some extent speculative. The name may come from the Scandinavian pook or puke, meaning ‘nature spirit’. Such beings were very capricious and had to be continually placated or they would create havoc in the countryside, destroying crops and causing illness among livestock. Alternatively, the horse cults prevalent throughout the early Celtic world may have provided the underlying motif for the nightmare steed.

Another account of the Phookas: Originated in Ireland, Wales, and Scandinavia. It is possible that is was a Nordic fairy that was brought to Ireland. They are known as Kornbockes, Bookahs, or Bwcas. Their element is air and they are active from Samhain to Bealtaine, especially at night. Pronounced Pook-ahs, they are the Hobgoblins of Ireland. They have heads resembling human males, but the bodies of horses. They can fly for limited distances, but have no wings. They are trooping faeries that run in destructive packs. They are said to be very ugly and ill-tempered and to quarrel amongst themselves often. Their favorite’s pastime is wreaking havoc and will go out of their way to harm children and crops. They lay claim to any crop not harvested by Samhain night. They love human babies and are always on the lookout for a newborn to steal, and are jealous of airplanes and will do them harm whenever they can. Their favorite food is potatoes.

Changelings:

Variants: stocks

It appears that fairy women all over Ireland find birth a difficult experience. Many fairy children die before birth and those that do survive are often stunted or deformed creatures.

The adult fairies, who are aesthetic beings, are repelled by these infants and have no wish to keep them. They will try to swap them with healthy children who they steal from the mortal world. The wizened, ill tempered creature left in place of the human child is generally known as a changeling and possesses the power to work evil in a household. Any child who is not baptized or who is overly admired is especially at risk of being exchanged.

It is their temperament, however, which most marks the changeling. Babies are generally joyful and pleasant, but the fairy substitute is never happy, except when some calamity befalls the household. For the most part, it howls and screeches throughout the waking hours and the sound and frequency of its yells often transcend the bounds of mortal endurance.

A changeling can be one of three types: actual fairy children; senile fairies who are disguised as children or, inanimate objects, such as pieces of wood which take on the appearance of a child through fairy magic. This latter type is known as a stock. Puckered and wizened features coupled with yellow, parchment-like skin are all generic changeling attributes. This fairy will also exhibit very dark eyes, which betray a wisdom far older than its apparent years. Changelings display other characteristics, usually physical deformities, among which a crooked back or lame hand are common. About two weeks after their arrival in the human household, changelings will also exhibit a full set of teeth, legs as thin as chicken bones, and hands which are curved and crooked as birds’ talons and covered with a light, downy hair.

No luck will come to a family in which there is a changeling because the creature drains away all the good fortune which would normally attend the household. Thus, those who are cursed with it tend to be very poor and struggle desperately to maintain the ravenous monster in their midst.

One positive feature which this fairy may demonstrate is an aptitude for music. As it begins to grow, the changeling may take up an instrument, often the fiddle or the Irish pipes, and plays with such skill that all who hear it will be entranced.

Grogoch:

Grogochs were originally half human, half-fairy aborigines who came from Kintyre in Scotland to settle in Ireland. The Grogoch, well-known throughout north Antrim, Rathlin Island and parts of Donegal, may also to be found on the Isle of Man, where they are called ‘phynnodderee’. Resembling a very small elderly man, though covered in coarse, dense reddish hair or fur, he wears no clothes, but sports a variety of twigs and dirt from his travels. Grogochs are not noted for their personal hygiene: there are no records of any female grogochs.

The Grogoch is impervious to searing heat or freezing cold. His home may be a cave, hollow or cleft in the landscape. In numerous parts of the northern countryside are large leaning stones which are known as ‘grogochs houses’.

He has the power of invisibility and will often only allow certain trusted people to observe him. A very sociable being, the Grogoch. He may even attach himself to certain individuals and help them with their planting and harvesting or with domestic chores – for no payment other than a jug of cream.

Bean-Tighe:

Originated in Ireland and is also called Our Housekeeper. Their element is earth and they are found at hearthside’s, especially between Samhain to Bealtaine. Pronounced Ban-tee or Ban-Teeg; no one has ever fully described them. They are thought to appear as small elderly women in old-fashioned peasant clothing with kindly, dimpled faces. They are very friendly to humans and wish to have a friendly human house to watch over. They are fairy housekeepers who can be found watching over children, hearths, and pets. It is also believed they would finish up chores left undone by the tired mother of the house. They love fresh strawberries and cream.

The Banshee:

The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy) may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death. According to tradition, the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O’Neills, the O’Briens, the O’Connors, the O’Gradys and the Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this select list.

Whatever her origins, the banshee chiefly appears in one of three guises: a young woman, a stately matron or a raddled old hag. These represent the triple aspects of the Celtic goddess of war and death, namely Badhbh, Macha and Mor-Rioghain. She usually wears either a grey, hooded cloak or the winding sheet or grave robe of the unshriven dead. She may also appear as a washer-woman, and is seen apparently washing the blood stained clothes of those who are about to die. In this guise she is known as the bean-nighe (washing woman).

Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seeress or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. This is an example of the banshee in human form. There are records of several human banshees or prophetesses attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Kerry, the keen is experienced as a “low, pleasant singing”; in Tyrone as “the sound of two boards being struck together”; and on Rathlin Island as “a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl”

The Bean-Sidhe is also known as Washer of the Shrouds, Banshee (the Anglicized spelling), Cointeach (literally “one who keens”), Cyoerraeth, Gwrach y Rhibyn, and Cunnere Noe. Her element is water and she appears at night before a death. She is a well known and much feared fairy, and sometimes classified as a ghost. She is female and appears in a filmy, full-sized human form with long stringy hair partially covered with a hood, and a whit gown or shroud, and has a wet ghost like appearance. Her keening (mourning wail) is heard at night prior to death.

Leprechauns:

Variants include lurachmain, lurican, lurgadhan

The name leprechaun may have derived from the Irish leath bhrogan (shoemaker), although its origins may lie in luacharma’n (Irish for pygmy). These apparently aged, diminutive men are frequently to be found in an intoxicated state, caused by home-brew poteen. However they never become so drunk that the hand which holds the hammer becomes unsteady and their shoemaker’s work affected. Besides the fact they can use foul language, they also smoke awful smelling pipes and manage to drink a lot or stout, even straight from the jug.

Leprechauns have also become self-appointed guardians of ancient treasure (left by the Danes when they marauded through Ireland), burying it in crocks or pots. This may be one reason why leprechauns tend to avoid contact with humans whom they regard as foolish, flighty (and greedy) creatures. If caught by a mortal, he will promise great wealth if allowed to go free. He carries two leather pouches. In one there is a silver shilling, a magical coin that returns to the purse each time it is paid out. In the other he carries a gold coin which he uses to try and bribe his way out of difficult situations. This coin usually turns to leaves or ashes once the leprechaun has parted with it. However, you must never take your eye off him, for he can vanish in an instant.

The leprechaun ‘family’ appears split into two distinct groups – leprechaun and cluricaun. Cluricauns may steal or borrow almost anything, creating mayhem in houses during the hours of darkness, raiding wine cellars and larders. They will also harness sheep, goats, dogs and even domestic fowl and ride them throughout the country at night.

Although the leprechaun has been described as Ireland’s national fairy, this name was originally only used in the north Leinster area.

Leprechaun Family:

Originated in Ireland and are also called The Gentry. Their element is earth and they can be found in wild areas with large grassy hills. The Leprechaun is a solitary fairy who loves to play pranks on humans. He appears as male, and no female sightings have ever been reported. They are almost always seen in green clothing or costly material and green tri-colored hats. They are mischievous, but will be helpful to humans when approached with respect. They are very quick-witted except with drunk.

He guards a pot of gold, if one can gain control of one they can have the pot of gold and three wishes. They are shoemakers by trade, however they only work on one shoe and only serve other fae. They do not enjoy working with fellow faeries and keeps to himself except for at parties. They have been known to invite humans do these, which can be joined as long as they do not eat, drink, or dance with them.

Clurichaun Family:

Originated in Ireland, but similar fairies are found in Italy by the name of Monciello. It is also known as His Nibs in some parts of Ireland. His element is earth and he is found in wine cellars. He is a solitary fairy who resembles the Leprechaun. Pronounced Kloo-ree-kahn, no females have ever been sighted. He guards wine cellars, which he chooses in his own time, and then he moves in and makes himself at home. He is impeccably well-groomed and well-dressed, and is almost always drunk. He generally has a cheery disposition, but is a bit aloof, even while intoxicated. He wears a red hat that may be made of plants. If he is ignored or mistreated it is said he will wreak havoc on you cellars and on your home, and most defiantly will spoil your wine stock.

The Merrows:

Variants: Silkie

The word merrow or moruadh comes from the Irish Muir (meaning sea) and oigh (meaning maid) and refers specifically to the female of the species. Mermen – the Merrows male counterparts – have been rarely seen. They have been described as exceptionally ugly and scaled, with pig-like features and long, pointed teeth. Merrows themselves are extremely beautiful and are promiscuous in their relations with mortals.

The Irish merrow differs physically from humans in that her feet are flatter than those of a mortal and her hands have a thin webbing between the fingers. It should not be assumed that Merrows are kindly and well-disposed towards mortals. As members of the Sidhe, or Irish fairy world, the inhabitants of Tir FO Thoinn (the Land beneath the Waves) have a natural antipathy towards humans. In some parts of Ireland, they are regarded as messengers of doom and death.

Merrows have special clothing to enable them to travel through ocean currents. In Kerry, Cork and Wexford, they wear a small red cap made from feathers, called a cohullen druith. However, in more northerly waters they travel through the sea wrapped in sealskin cloaks, taking on the appearance and attributes of seals. In order to come ashore, the merrow abandons her cap or cloak, so any mortal who finds these has power over her, as she cannot return to the sea until they are retrieved. Hiding the cloak in the thatches of his house, a fisherman may persuade the merrow to marry them. Such brides are often extremely wealthy, with fortunes of gold plundered from shipwrecks. Eventually the merrow will recover the cloak, and find her urge to return to the sea so strong that she leaves her human husband and children behind.

Many coastal dwellers have taken Merrows as lovers and a number of famous Irish families claim their descent from such unions, notably the O’Flaherty and O’Sullivan families of Kerry and the McNamara’s of Clare. The Irish poet W B Yeats reported a further case in his Irish Fairy and Folk Tales: “Near Bantry in the last century, there is said to have been a woman, covered in scales like a fish, who was descended from such a marriage”.

Bean-Fionn:

They originated in Ireland, Germany, and England; and are also known as Water Woman, Weisse Frau, Jenny Greentooth, or the Greentooth Woman. Her element is water and she is found in dark lakes where drownings have repeatedly occurred Pronounced Ban-Shoan, literally “white woman”, is a water, female fairy in a white gown that lives beneath lakes and streams and reaches up to drag under and drown children who play or work near the water.

Will ‘O’ Wisp:

The Will-O’-The-Wisps, or fairy lights, are quiet and helpful. They appear in the misty Irish mountains to help searchers locate someone lost in a ravine or drowned in a rocky pool. Those who can see the lights have the gift of knowing; they know that their closest of kin are in danger.

Ballybogs:

Originated in Ireland, but similar fairies are found in Welsh and Cornish fairy lore known as Bogles. Also known as Boggans, Peat Faeries, Bog-a-Boos, and Boggles. Their element is earth and they are found at peat bogs or mud holes. They are small mud covered creatures. Their bodies are almost completely round and they don’t have necks. They seem harmless, if unpleasant.

Buachailleen:

Originated in Ireland and Scotland and another name for them is The Herding Boys. Their element is earth and they can bx found in pastures in the summer. Pronounced Boo-al-een, and literally means “little boys”. They look like young men and wear red hats, which may really be inverted flower caps, and are fantastic shape shifters. Their mischievous nature borders on mean and they have been known to torment animals for fun.

Dinnshenchas:

Originated in Ireland. Their element is fire and they are found in pastures or at shrines to Aine which are found in her home county Kilkenny. Pronounced Din-sheen-k’has, they are dwarf fairies in the service of the Irish Goddess Aine, who is a cattle goddess and a protector of women. They can shape shift and guard cattle and avenge women harmed by men.

Fir Darrigs:

Originated in Ireland, with Scotland being a possible first home and also known as Rat Boys. Their element is water and they can be found along polluted coastlines, swamps, marshes, and in costal ruins and are most active in winter. Pronounced Fear Durgs, they are fat, ugly faeries with dark, hairy skin and long snouts and tails which give them a rat-like appearance. They wear shabby, torn costumes which seem to date to the Middle Ages. They are morbidly dangerous who feeds on carrion, and his shillelagh (Irish walking stick) is topped with a skull of unknown origin. They live near the sea, in damp raths or marshes, rather than in the sea, and like the heat near human fireplaces.

Formorians:

They originated in Ireland and are also called The Formers. Their element is water and they are found at sea shores at night. They are sea monsters, the survivors of a banished fairy race that was driven out of Ireland by the Tuatha De Danann. They have bizarrely misshapen bodies. They do have arms and legs and have been occasionally seen on land. They are very stupid and ill-tempered.

Gancanagh:

Originated in Ireland and is called the Gaconer is Scotland and Cornwall. His element is air and he is a lonely male fairy that materializes in lonely places and attempts to seduce females who will eventually die of love for him. Pronounces Gon-cawn-ah, and his trademark is an Irish clay pipe which her is always either holding in his hand or has clenched in his teeth

Geancanach:

Originated in Ireland and the Hebrides Islands of Scotland. Their element is fire and they are most active at night, and can be found around a blazing fire at your hearthside. Pronounced Gan-cahn-ock, they are always depicted as being very small, and having playful, mischievous smiles. They are pixie-like in appearance and have huge eyes that curve upward on the ends and large pointed ears. They have small wings, but they do not seem to be functional, and appear to dematerialize and reappear quickly to move from place to place. They are often mistaken for flickering lights or lighting bugs. They are guardians of the home and hearth and crave the warmth of the fireside and are harmless. They do have a tendency to play pranks though. Any kindness from them can be repaid with the warmth of your fire and fresh milk.

Lesidhe:

Originated in Ireland and India. They are known as Leshes in Slavic lands and Suibotschniks in Russia, and Leshiye in Germany. Their element is air and they can be found in wild woods. Pronounced Lay-shee, they are guardians of forests who are always disguised as foliages. They are usually found in groups, and seem to be androgynous. They are classified as solitaries rather than trooping faeries, because they seem to have little to do with each other. They are active in the spring and summer, especially at dawn and dusk, but seem to prefer being nocturnal. It is believed they have come to dislike human for their careless treatment of the environment. Though they have never harmed anyone, their nasty prank; usually involve trying to lose people in deep woods.

Lunantisidhe:

Originated in Ireland and possibly ancient Rome. Their element is air and they are active at night and found in blackthorn trees. Pronounced Loo-nan-tee-shee, they are thin and wizened in appearance and look like small, bald, old men. They have pointed ears and long teeth, and long arms and fingers. They are found in groups, but are neither trooping nor solitary. They are believed to hate humans with a passion. Their purpose seems to be to protect the blackthorn trees from human encroachment.

Murdhuachas:

Originated in Ireland and also known as Walrus People and Sea Cows. Their element is water and they can be found at seasides, especially near rocky shores around dawn and dusk. Pronounced Mer-oo-khas, they are a race of Irish Sea faeries, often mistaken for Merpeople. They have similar fish-like lower bodies, but have the upper bodies and heads of other mammals. They have an ambivalent temperament.

The Tuatha de Danann:

Originated in Ireland, they are one of the five myth cycles of the island is then Invasion Cycle in which the Tuatha de Danann take a leading role. They can be any element and are also known as the Irish Faeries, the Royalty, and the Gentry; and can travel anywhere, but make their homes in the burghs of Ireland. Pronounced the Too-ah day Thay-nan, and in mythology were among the earliest conquerors of the island, and their goddess Dana is one of the earliest Great Mother Goddesses of Western Europe. Dana was later renamed Brigid. The Tuatha are trooping faeries, which are warrior-like temperament, but fair and just. They are male, female, and children and look just like humans only somewhat smaller It is said the Milesians drove the Tuatha underground into the fairy burghs which they still inhabit. Hurling is a popular sport among them; and it is said much of the folk music of Ireland was composed by them. The current royal family of Britain is believed to be descended from the Melesain kings. The Tuatha also posses the invincible sword of the Sun God Lugh and the cauldron of the God Dagda.

Well Spirits:

Originated in Ireland, England, and Norway and are also known as Well Guardians. Their element is water and they are found at the side of scared wells or wishing wells, or at hot springs. They are superb shape shifters who usually take the human beings whose bodies they envy, and are dangerously beautiful. They are water sprites and well guardians who are very sympathetic to human needs, but asking for their help often carries a huge price.

Up next: Classes of nature spirits from around the world… and goblins too.  Dungeons and Dragons fans take note!

DEMONS, A CULTURAL HISTORY: Part One, The Sources

Researchers must be careful to consider the context of demonological works. Unlike modern historians or folklorists, who are concerned with the reliability of sources and the verifiability of findings, medieval and early modern writers on the infernal hierarchy are often quick to accept tradition as truth, to give credence to stories told by friends-of-friends, and to let their own bias into their writing. Indeed, many demonological works are polemic; that is, the information they provide about demons merely serves as ammunition in a larger argument. Much late antique (200-500 AD) Christian thinking on demons is a reaction against the polytheistic traditions of the Roman and Germanic worlds; the gods or guardian-spirits of non-Christian cultures were quickly re-labeled and re-packaged as demons by Christian intellectuals and missionaries. During the period of the Protestant reformation, the struggle between Catholic orthodoxy and the newer sects animated demonological discussions: Protestant writers claimed that Catholic traditions were demon-worship in disguise, or, taking a slightly different approach, decried the Catholic fear of demons as unreasonable superstition. For those who believe in the possibility of supernatural beings, the earlier writings of demonologists might very well provide useful evidence, but only when approached critically. One must always realize that a demonological work is more likely to give information about the cultural and intellectual environment of its time than to offer the “truth” about extra-natural entities.

I would also argue that our concept of “demon” is uniquely western and uniquely informed by the Christian thought of the Middle Ages. Although we can point to dark or evil gods in pagan pantheons, we often do them an injustice when we squeeze them into the “war in heaven” mythology that has developed in the Christian church. For example, Loki is not simply the “Satan” of the Norse pantheon; his role is far more ambiguous —after all, in many stories he’s Thor’s drinking buddy.

Diana Lynn Walzel has argued that the medieval conception of demons comes from four sources: Grecian-roman mythology, Hebrew traditions, Celtic and Germanic mythology, and early Christian cosmology. This medieval conception is largely consistent with the writings of later demonologists such as Johannes Nider, John Weyer and Martin Del Rio, and is still with us today in popular culture, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Dungeons and Dragons to heavy-metal record covers and horror novels.

So, what were these traditions and what did each of them contribute to our ideas of demons? The following paraphrases Walzel’s argument. One of the most influential classical writers on demonology is Apuleius, who is most famous for his novel “The Metamorphoses”, more popularly known as “The Golden Ass” for its main character, an unfortunate rogue who is transformed into a donkey. Apuleius became an invaluable source for later generations because Saint Augustine included excerpts from and discussions of his writings in his famous City of God.

For Apuleius, demons were neutral messengers between the gods and humankind. The Greek word “daemon”, in fact, means a messenger. Like humans, demons had souls; unlike humans, they were bodiless. Many of the names later applied to demons come from Hebrew mythology. In the late antique period, a Jewish folklore of demons began to develop. As E.M. Butler discusses, the Jewish Testament of Solomon (written sometime between 100 and 400 A.D.), tells of Solomon summoning demons to build the temple at Jerusalem. The tale contains a list of demons including Asmodeus and Ornias. Butler points out that even this text, one of the oldest remaining to us, already contains signs of cultural mixing and overlapping: the names of Mesopotamian deities and spirits pop up along with Hebrew names. The later books of “Solomonic” magic that appear during the middle ages and renaissance come from this folkloric tradition, or at least purport to.

The early Christian contribution took the neutral spirits of the Greeks and the lively usual suspects of Jewish mythology and placed them in the cosmic context of a war between good and evil. As Walzel points out, Christians explained demons as the fallen angels from the Bible and saw them as their enemies. As a way of distancing themselves from their non-believing counterparts, early Christians quickly identified the gods of Rome as demons. This doctrine became solidified in Augustine’s City of God, when Christianity had become more accepted and widespread. Augustine clearly identified the gods of Rome as demons who had deceived men into worshiping them, and he carefully refuted Apuleius’ claim that demons were neutral.

Walzel is less clear about the contribution of Celtic or Germanic mythology to medieval demon-lore. One might imagine that as Christianity spread throughout northern Europe, the rich and imaginative depictions of monsters and fairies of non-Roman culture shaped people’s idea of what a demon might look like. A good example of this unstable mix of German-tribal-monster and Christian demon is Beowulf’s Grendel: a giant worthy of myth who in the poem is called a descendant of Cain.

These traditions mixed to create the medieval conception of demons that was further elaborated in theological and legal texts, and described in the magical grimoires that circulated in the period.

Works Cited:

• Butler, Elizabeth M. Ritual Magic. Reprint. University Park: Penn State UP, 1998.

• Kors, Alan Charles and Edward Peters. Witchcraft in Europe: 400-1700, A Documentary History. 2nd edition. Philadelphia: Penn UP, 2001.

• Walzel, Diana Lynn. “Sources of Medieval Demonology” repr. in Witchcraft in the Ancient World and the Middle Ages ed. Brian P. Levack. New York: Garland, 1992.

Who’s Who in the Underworld

The existence of evil and its demonic deliverers has been pondered since the beginning of time. There are many views on the subject, as well as many people who have dedicated their lives to demonology. Some will be mentioned throughout this essay. Their work through the centuries has been agreed upon, argued over and the validity, at times, by some, completely ignored. I suspect that this is due to the controversial nature of the subject. Varying religions and cultural backgrounds certainly have affected the information passed down to us by the brilliant researchers, philosophers and historians of centuries past. However, there are too many similarities to ignore. In light of this, in some instances, the information may be in conflict with information found through resources other than those I have utilized here.

Alphonsus de Spina, in 1467, published his Fortalicium Fidei (Fortress of the Faith). He became a professor at the University of Salamanca and later a bishop of the church. He was considered an authority on all things theological, including demonology. He concluded that there are ten orders of demons and that they totaled in the millions. He categorized the demons as falling into nine specific types. He also divided them into classes according to what their purposes are. Following the list of the demonic names and ranks are the explanations of the types and orders as de Spina recorded them.

Johannes Weyer (Weir), another authority in demonic studies, wrote his De Praestigiis Daemonum in the 16th century. He studied the works of such authorities as Diodorus Siculus of the 1st century, the philosopher Apaleius of the 2nd century and many other notable historians. It is noted that Weyer said that the infernal regions had 66 princes that commanded 6,666 legions and each legion being comprised of 6,666 demons or devils. The figures here bring to mind the well recognized “number of the beast”, 666. Some Cabalists believe that this is 600 (false religion), 66 (greed) and 6 (this world). Weyer felt that the names of the demons explained what their intentions and/or duties were to be. Many demonics in Hebrew tradition were named after places (Astaroth) or qualities (Remmen, meaning loftiness).

Alphonsus de Spina’s Nine Types of Demon

1. False gods      2. Lying spirits      3. Inquisitors

4. Vengeful        5. Deluding             6. Creators of Tempests

7. Furies             8. Accusers            9. Tempters

de Spina’s Division of Classes

• Fates
• Poltergeists
• Incubi and Succubi
• Armies
• Familiar spirits
• Nightmares
• Those produced by intercourse with humans
• Those in disguise
• Those who assail saints
• Those who persuade

Ten Orders of the Demonic

• Seraphim
• Angels
• Principalities
• Virtues
• Thrones
• Cherubim
• Domination
• Powers
• Potentates
• Archangels

There is a supposed pattern to their specific lull and peak in activity, our own yearly calendar. Here is a list of the Chief entities that are most active during the corresponding months.

• January – Belial                  • February – Leviathan

• March – Satan                      • April – Astarte

• May – Lucifer                       • June – Baalberith

• July – Beelzebub                • August – Astaroth

• September – Thamuz        • October – Baal

• November – unknown     • December – Moloch

The ” Lesser Key of Solomon” or the ” Lemegeton”, plays an important role in the history, study of, summoning of and exorcising of demonics. The first part of the book, Goetia, gives the conjurations for 72 different spirits or demons. It also includes the ranks and offices of the demonic hierarchy.

The second part of the book, Theurgia Goetia, deals with the sprits at the cardinal points. The third part is called the “Pauline Art” (reason unknown), it concerns the spirits of the hours of the days and nights of the Zodiac. The fourth part, the Almadel, deals with the ” Quarternary of the Attitude”, or the four other choirs of spirits inhabiting hell. The last part of the Key of Solomon is the Book of Orations and Prayers, said to have been used by King Solomon himself. Another controversial demonologist that received much criticism on her work was the Latin American, Rita Cabezas. The criticism was not in her findings, yet in her means of attaining the information. She spent some time communicating with those residing in the Infernal regions. Her work was built, according to her, on the word of the demonic themselves. This may have been through conjuration, summoning, channeling or even seance type activities. As we are all aware, this was an extremely risky approach. Her findings were that there were the following six principalities (in Spanish): Damian, Asmodeo, Menguelesh, Arios, Beelzebub and Nosferateus. Under each of these were six governors for each nation. She claimed that in Costa Rica, for example, are Shiebo, Quiebo, Ameneo, Mephistopheles, Nostrodamus and Azazel. The United States, in her findings, was territory to Ralphes, Anoritho, Manchester, Apolion, Deviltook and alas, one unnamed. The word from the mouths of demonic beings could be considered incredulous, to say the least. Please note some of the similarities in her findings. Apolion, in her findings, seems surely to be Apollyon from the research done by the great demonologists mentioned previously. Also, Asmodeo is clearly the same entity as Asmodeus. Another similar entity to Ralphes, is none other than Raphael, the very one that did banish Asmodeus to the desert. Mephistopheles, Azazel and Beelzebub are mentioned in a multitude of other literary pieces on the subject, dating back centuries.

There are a number of other names that have been documented as that of demons. Some may be cultural or regional names given to already listed entities. However, the following is included to avoid any erroneous omittances.

Agliarept             Tarchimache

Lucifuge              Rofocale Fleurety

Sargatanas          Pu Satanachia

There are some noted as being demonic that also have a very high reverence as being benign and even maternal/paternal figures, in pagan cultures from past and present. They are as follows:

Hecate                  Kali

Pan                         Loki

Lilith                     Baphomet

Cultural differences may divide humanity in many ways, however, we are unified in our intrigue and in our fear when it comes to the Infernal regions. Here are some examples of the evil that plagues our other lands.

• Apep (Egypt) Opposer of the sun god Ra. Takes the form of a serpent/crocodile.
• Chernobog (Baltic/Slavic) “The Black God”, rules evil, misfortune, death and night.
• Elathan (Celtic) Domain is the darkness
• Erebus (Greek) Son of Chaos, guardian of the darkness surrounding hell.
• Grand Bois (Hailti) Master of the forest and of night
• Hatu-Atu-Topun (Polynesia) Dangerous female demon specifically at dawn and dusk.
• Ikwaokinyapippilele (Panama) Causes ills of all kinds.
• Lilitu (Hebrew) Ancient female demon connected with Lilith.
• Manuval (New Guinea) Active only at night, spreading ills, chaos, and the like.
• Mush (Iran) Demon of eclipses and of night.
• Nyx (Greek) Daughter of Chaos, sister to Erebus.
• Oroan (Guyana) Another demon of the eclipse
• Sakarabu (West Africa ) Judge and demon of darkness
• Oni (Japan) Demon that creates and lives in the eye of its tempests.

With the findings of our predecessors and our ambition to discover more about the inhuman entities that walk among us and reside below us, we hope over time to unfold these most intriguing mysteries of the infernal regions. Knowledge is power.

Demonology 101

A “Demon” was originally a Greek term which meant a wise, guardian spirit. In present day spiritualism and parapsychology, the word connotes an entity which appears to have a malicious and resentful nature, and is possibly of a non-human origin: differentiated from a spirit which proceeded from a once-living person.

What characteristics do these entities evince?

1. They seem interested in, and often resentful (perhaps envious?) of living human beings.
2. Although they have been known to inflict minor injuries on people, such as scratches, welts and even what appear to be bite marks, primarily they assault the human mind through oppressive anxiety and fear.
3. They sometimes make their presence known through our senses, such as inexplicable foul odors and low guttural growling (examples of which have been recorded during TAPS investigations as well as investigations by other paranormal research groups).

Demons may exist as a “quasi life-form,” intelligent though not reasoning as do human beings, and existing outside the boundaries of our experience of linear time.

An exorcism or spiritual cleansing may provide a remedy, either temporary or hopefully permanent, against demonic infestation by making the environment hostile for the entity or entities.

Here’s a topic for speculation: Obviously, not much is known for certain regarding these entities called demons other than their presence is quite inconvenient. Consider, could a human spirit become demonic, or be assimilated by the demonic entities? Are they always of non-human origin?

What do you think?

Demonology 101: Part II

Denizens of the “Demonic Realm” – are they invariably of non-human origin, or can the human psyche generate such a negativity that a soul can somehow degenerate into the form of that which we name a demon? It has even been conjectured that demonic “thought forms” could, under extraordinary conditions, be created by a human being and take on a sort of “life” or “lives” of their own. And some contend that they are fallen angels.

This is all speculative. What is certain (that is, what experience has borne out) is that in some dimensional reality apart from our own, there exist seething, resentful, debased entities which occasionally make their way into the living world, seeking human subjects to prey upon and torment.

At times these shadow creatures appear attracted to a particular person or locale, and are inexplicably “just there.” In other instances, someone has inadvertently opened a psychic porthole, or chasm, to their netherworld and allowed them access, perhaps by means of a seance or Ouija board use, sometimes through reckless magical conjurations (for a demon may not consider itself “banished” at the close of a ceremony), or even via one’s psychological imbalance (such as excessive sorrow, hostility or psychosis). And having achieved a foothold in this plane, they can become insidious, formidable adversaries, wholly devoted to inflicting despair, and notoriously difficult to expunge.

One method of dispelling a demonic presence is to remove oneself from its presence, from the setting of the infestation, allowing it to simply dissipate for lack of the psychic energy which it provokes through fear and frustration, and upon which it seems to feed. Obviously, this isn’t always practical, nor do demons always so easily relinquish their holds. This is when intervention and assistance is called for, either from open-minded clergy who accept the existence of such phenomena, or from experienced and competent paranormal investigators.

The investigating team will endeavor to find the source of the trouble, determine the type of haunting (intelligent, residual, or inhuman), log and analyze all available data, then decide what measures should be taken to counter the harmful influence(s). If it is judged to be a demonic agent, what must be avoided is a personal, one-on-one confrontation with these forces, which would be dangerous and most likely ineffective. Never meet the demon for a showdown on its own terms; exasperated rage serves only to strengthen them, and most seem adept at bringing out the very worst in people. Once they incite conflict within a family or group, cause panic, or drive someone to the point of exclaiming “Damn you! What do you want from us?”, they then have the upper (invisible) hand.

Remaining as calm and scientific as possible in the midst of a demonic assault is unquestionably a trying discipline, but it is developed through experience, and with the essential support of fellow investigative team members. A paranormal investigator needn’t be fearless, or saintly. (Hopefully not, since I fall far short of both.) However, he or she must assess his or her own strengths, as well as limitations.

Demonology 101: Part III

In Parts I and II we touched on a few explanations offered for the existence of those spirit entities categorized as demons as well as outlined the characteristics they manifest, and some basic methods of dealing with the inconvenience of their presence. I would like to continue with further speculation on their origins and nature, in an effort to establish a working theorem regarding this area of study.

What factors initially spawned them, we cannot for certain say, and it follows our rigid concept of lineal time, with absolufo beginning and endings, does not wholly govern the less substantial realm of spirit. Perhaps a demon could be described as an energy displacement, a sort of poltergeist in which a consciousness has evolved. It exists (yet doesn’t in a purely physical sense), it knows there are other entities like unto itself, and it senses the living beings (us) moving in a dimensional plane apart from their own. But why then, should they resent us? Well, maybe not all are resentful, and we just notice the ones that are. It is conceivable that a demon, never having been embodied, might envy the humanity, which it can never experience: the physical sensations, the interaction, the companionship, the hopes and aspirations.

Opportunities for a demon to enter our world and wreak its havoc – that is, in overt, obvious ways – must be limited. Evidence would seem to support the notion that it must first be invited in, though even a subtle invitation can suffice. Once the demon has an “in”, it will feed upon the energies expelled by negative emotions such as anxiety, fear and anger, especially those directed at itself.

The state of mind conducive to expelling a demonic presence is a resolute dedication to purpose and a sense of unity on the part of those who confront this nightmarish force.

Demonology FAQ’s

Q: Are Ouija boards really dangerous?

A: It is not the Ouija board itself which is dangerous. The potential danger stems from the fact that by using an Ouija board to communicate with spirits (or any similar divination device), an individual is opening up his or her free will, thereby leaving oneself vulnerable to an invading spirit presence. There are a great many examples of individuals successfully contacting what at first appear to be “nice” spirits through the use of an Ouija board…only to have these spirits turn on them once they have gained a foothold. Demons can be very adept at masquerading as departed loved ones, even going so far as to reveal hidden knowledge, which was supposedly known only to the deceased…and this hidden information will often eventually prove to be verifiable. However, once demonic spirits have gained someone’s trust, they will then cleverly begin mixing lies with the truth, in an effort to confuse. Some individuals eventually become emotionally dependent upon these “spirit friends”…and a demonic presence will have no reservations about using a person’s loneliness or emotional vulnerabilities to gain a stronger foothold. By the time it is too late, and a hostile entity has revealed it’s true colors, the person who has unwittingly been communicating with these types of spirits will often find that they are much harder to get rid of, than they were to bring in. Also, under no circumstances should anyone ask a spirit to manifest itself (appear) to them through the use of an Ouija board…since a demonic spirit will consider this an open invitation to infiltrate that person’s life!

Q: How true to life are the events portrayed in “The Exorcist”?

A: “The Exorcist”, written by William Peter Blattey, is based upon an actual case of demonic possession, and the subsequent exorcism, of a fourteen-year-old boy, which took place in the U.S. in 1949. Some of the events are documented as having actually occurred, such as writing appearing on the boy’s flesh, and his ability (while under possession) of speaking in foreign languages. In the actual case, the exorcism eventually proved successful, and the boy went on to live a normal, healthy life. None of the priests involved actually died as the result of the exorcism, or became possessed themselves, although one priest did suffer a broken nose. Some of the more bizarre phenomena portrayed in both the book and the movie never actually happened, such as the head spinning and the “spider walk”. Some of the events portrayed in ‘The Exorcist”, however, when taken in context, are actually supposed to be telepathically projected into the minds of certain characters.

One thing I should mention about ‘The Exorcist” which happens to be very true to life, is that these types of parasitic, hostile entities are often initially and inadvertently “invited” in to begin oppressing certain individuals, through the use of an Ouija board.

Q: What exactly are Demons?

A: In the Judeo/Christian belief, demons are “fallen angels” who conspired against the Heavenly Kingdom under the leadership of Satan, were defeated by the Archangel Michael and the holy angels, and were cast out of the Heavenly Realm…banished to roam the earth and the earthly heavens. Although we know very little about this terrible incident, it is assumed to have taken place long before recorded human history. Demons, like Satan and like their angelic counterparts, are inhuman spirit beings, never having been human…NOT the damned souls of evil humans.

Q: Are Demons the same as “Ghosts”?

A: Ultimately, no. Whereas a ghost is generally considered to be the disembodied spirit essence of a deceased person (or animal, in some cases), a demon was never physically alive, in the way in which we are familiar with life. Because demons are spirit beings, and sometimes function in similar ways – even sometimes intentionally masquerading as ghosts – they are often mistaken as being ghosts. However, there is actually quite a difference between the two, both in character and abilities.

Q: Can Demons materialize themselves as humans or animals?

A: Yes, although their ability to do so seems limited. Also, seemingly as a rule, even on the rare occasions where they manifest themselves in photographs, they are never “complete”…that is to say, either a body part is missing (eyes, legs, or the entire head, etc.), or they are disfigured in some noticeable way. Perhaps this is God’s cosmic law at work, commanding that they must in some way display that they are not of human origin.

Q: Can demons actually possess dolls and statues?

A: Although demons do not technically “possess” inanimate objects such as dolls and statues, they will sometimes attach or link themselves to certain objects. Although there are a variety of reasons for this, the most obvious cause would be if a doll or a statue has been “personified,” or given recognition as an object of profane worship, or used in a ceremonial practice in which demonic entities were invoked. (Two Scriptural references which specifically refer to this as the worship of idols are: Revelation 9:20, and 1 Corinthians 10:20.) Incidentally, demonic attachments to inanimate objects are not limited to dolls and statues. In fact, I once knew someone who, as a young boy of about five years old, picked up a glove which had been left in a cemetery…and a demonic entity instantly began harassing him! The vehicle in which screen idol Jimmy Dean was killed in is another example. Also, it almost goes without saying that the most commor inanimate object to which a demonic entity will attach itself is the infamous Ouija board.

Another cause of demonic entities having attached themselves to inanimate objects such as dolls or statues is if someone who was demon possessed or severely oppressed, has owned or venerated this particular object.

Of course, there is no reason to go through your house searching out every inanimate object which you’ve ever felt slightly unnerved about. However, if you do seriously feel there is something unnatural about an object in your possession…be it a doll, statue, Ouija board or what have you…it might just be a good idea to look up the history of this object, if possible. For information pertaining to the disposal of such an object, you may wish to contact a member of the clergy of your particular faith, or perhaps a reputable paranormal research organization.

Demonology Dictionary

This entry comprises a collection of terms which the paranormal investigator is likely to

encounter when dealing in demonology.

• Allee, John Dewey: (b. March 8, 1951) Occult author and founder of a “Satanic Church” in Salem, MA, and New England’s version of Aleister Crowley. Note: On May 1st, 2003, Dewey’s organization reported he’d expired; it turns out he’s merely retired.

•  Alchemy: The exploration and application of the sciences, particularly chemistry and the pseudo science of astrology, such as they were understood during the middle ages and early Renaissance period. Alchemists were chiefly dedicated to the worthy pursuit of producing gold from base metals and various materials.

• Baphomet: Demon character supposedly worshiped by the Knights Templar in 14th century France. Some present day practitioners of the black arts regard Baphomet as a “god” of lust and regeneration, or as symbolic of the Devil. See also: Sigil of Baphomet

• Carcosa: A mysterious nether region or outer-world containing the mythical lake called “Hall,” which appears in the fiction of authors Ambroce G. Bierce (“An Inhabitant of Carcosa”) and Robert W. Chambers (“The King in Yellow” : “Cassilda’s Song”). There are students of arcane, mystical lore who believe that Carcosa may truly exist, which is why it is included with this roster of terms.

• Crowley, Aleister (Edward Alexander): (b. 1875, d.1947) Scottish-born occultist, metaphysician, sorcerer, adventurer, poet and author of many occult treatises and manuals, including ‘Magic In Theory And Practice.’ Crowley once dubbed himself “The Great Beast 666,” one of the few of his many monikers which stayed with him, and the press referred to him as “The Wickedest Man in the World.” Although in some respects brilliant, Crowley gave himself over to excess, amorality and eventual dissipation. His writings are still studied and analyzed by many present day, serious students of the magic(k)al arts.

• C’thulu: A creation of author H.P. Lovecraft and a favorite of horror/science fiction enthusiasts, “C’thulu (pronunciation is interpretive) is described as a kind of demon-god from another world, a monstrosity resembling a gigantic squid or octopus who “sleeps and dreams” in his lair at the bottom of the Arctic ocean, biding his time until some foolhardy “disciples” find means to call him to rise and reclaim dominion of the earth. Doubtlessly, some are actually trying! See also: H.P. Lovecraft and Necronomicon.

• Dee, Doctor John: (b. 1527, d. 1608) Alchemist, astrologer, seer and advisor to Queen Elisabeth I of England who, along with his somewhat unscrupulous associate Edward Kelly, supposedly devised a method of deciphering an angelic language, known as the “Enochian Calls.”

• Demon: Hostile and resentful entity, supposedly of non-human origin, which some believe to be “fallen (from grace) angels.”

• Enochian: A magical, “angelic” language first translated by Dr. John Dee, and used in the rituals of both the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” in the 19th century and the “First Church of Satan” in the 20th century. See also: Dee, Doctor John

• Exorcism: Ceremonial expulsion of invading spiritual/demonic entities from a person or dwelling, present in virtually every worldly culture. The Jewish and Catholic Christian faiths each have a formal ‘Rite of Exorcism’ to be conducted by the respective Rabbi or Priest.

• Faustus, Doctor Johann: (b. circa 1455, d. 1540) Scholar, physician and alchemist from Wittenburg, Germany, who was renowned for his proficiency in treating victims of the plague contagion (to which the Doctor seemed strangely resistant), and the basis for the stories by Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Christopher Marlowe about a learned man who sold his soul to the devil through his infernal agent Mephistopheles in exchange for “four and twenty /ears” of knowledge, youth and power.

• Homunculus: A form of miniature human supposedly produced (for purposes unknown) in the laboratories of medieval alchemists. See also: Alchemy

• Incubus: Stemming from medieval lore, a demonic entity capable of sexually arousing and sometimes assaulting human females. Cases of apparent incubus attacks continue to be documented, suggesting a germ of reality behind the myth.

• LaVey, Anton Szandor: (b. April 23, 1930, d. Oct. 29, 1997) Birth name was Howard Stanton Levey. One of the major figures of the occult revival of the 1960′s and 70′s. Charismatic and self-promoting, LaVey formed the ‘First Church of Satan’ in 1966 and his ‘The Satanic Bible’ was published by Avon Books in 1968. LaVey’s version of Satan was allegorical, symbolizing “the Spirit of Rebellion” as well as an unknown, but potentially implementable “force of nature.” The ceremonies he devised were entertaining psychodrama, and his Satanic philosophy was based on rational self-interest, albeit with overtly diabolical trappings.

• Lillith: Devil of Hebrew origin, believed by Quaballists to have been the first wife of Adam, later excluded from the Talmud, and held by some occultists to be a vampire goddess and a powerful succubus. See also: Succubus. Vampire

• Lovecraft, Howard Phillips “H.P.”: (b. 1890, d. 1937) Horror fiction writer from Providence, Rhode Island, whose prose apparently is so haunting and convincing that some present day cults practice rituals based on what is termed as Lovecraft’s “C’thulu Mythos.” See also: C’thulu and Necronomicon

• Lucifer: Name taken from the Latin “luci” (light) and “fere” (to bear), originally a Roman lesser deity, “Son of the Morning,” formerly the name for the planet Venus when observed at dawn, in Christian theology identified with the Devil: arch regent of fallen angels. Lucifer is sometimes called upon in pagan ceremonies and rituals. See also Satan

• Necromancy: The practice of communicating with the dead to obtain knowledge of the future, others’ secrets, etc. An archaic term, the necromancer was said to employ magic spells and conjuration to summon, then banish, the spirits of the dead.

• Necronomicon: A grimoire (that is, collection) of ancient sigils and incantations of nebulous origins, discovered in the 8th century by the “Mad Arab,” Abdul Alhazred, said to be capable of opening a chasm to the “Dread Dimension” and unleashing the wrathful power of the timeless “Elder Gods.” Although some occultists believe this tome to be at least derived from genuine (and nefarious) sources, we are fairly confident that it sprang from the fiction of Providence, Rhode Island-born horror author, Howard Phillips (H.P.) Lovecraft (b. 1890, d. 1937).

• Necronomicon Spellbook: A toned-down, elegantly printed companion book to the ‘Necronomicon’ also by Avon Books.

• Oui-ja (Board): A divining implement consisting of a small, round or more often rectangular platform with letters, numbers and various symbols printed upon it, and a “planchette” which, when the fingers of two participants are lightly placed along its edges, is intended to glide across the smooth surface of the inscribed platform and indicate messages. Conceived of as a parlour game in the wake of popular spiritualism, this is potentially a very dangerous tool for inviting in unpredictable, invasive forces.

• Pact: The belief, prevalent in the late middle ages through the Renaissance, that someone could trade his or her soul in return for worldly gain. See also: Faustus, Doctor Johann

• Pentacle/Pcntagram: The traditional five-pointed star design, with its interior pentagon delineated, generally representing both spirituality and protection when point “up”; when inverted, it is said to signify diabolism.

• Possession: Invasion of the human mind by a spiritual or demonic entity, where the invading agent for a span of time, influences or entirely subverts the personality of the human host. It is in these instances that the boundaries of psychology, religion and spiritualism are rendered less distinct.

• Satan: Hebraic term for “Adversary,” the “Tester” in the Biblical Book of Job, the most familiar name of the Devil, the “Fallen Angel” and the “Evil One.” Investigators sometimes come across evidence of the activities of Satanic cults, who perform animal sacrifices and apparently believe that desecrations and obscenities are devotions to their dark lord.

• Seance: A group effort to contact the spirit world. In standardized format, the lighting of the chamber in which the seance is conducted is subdued, and the participants sit around the table, either holding hands or with hands palm down, flat against the table’s surface and with fingertips touching those of the adjacent partners. A candle generally is set on the center of the table. The appointed director or “medium” addresses the spirit(s) with whom contact is sought, and then it’s “We await a sign…”

• Sigil of Baphomel: Leit-motif if Satanism, this emblem is composed of an inverted pentagram containing a goat head, encompassed by two, concentric circles, in between which are placed five Hebraic characters.

• Succubus: “Female” counterpart of the incubus, a demonic entity said to inspire lust in men (and most inconveniently!), sometimes capable of physically attacking and inflicting injuries (bruises & slashes). Following a nocturnal visitation from a succubus, the human victim will always feel ill and depleted of vitality, and inexplicably “un-clean.”

• Vampire: A demonic (?) entity in the form of a deceased person, which perpetuates itself by draining the blood or psychic energy of the living.

• Warlock: Term originally meant “deceiver” or ” one who misleads,” in more modern parlance has become associated with a male witch.

• Wicca: Witchcraft as a recognized religion, the practitioners of which refer to their system as, “The Old Way” and “The Ancient Religion.” Wiccans in their rituals align themselves with elementals and the earth’s natural magnetic fields, personified by the names of ancient Greek, Egyptian and Sumerian deities.

• Witch: Broadly, a practitioner of the magic arts, spec, a woman who employs charms, herbs and incantations to affect the workings of her will. Also, a practitioner of the Wicca craft.

• Wizard: A male sorcerer and conjurer who is especially adept and experienced in his craft.

Up next:  Fairies and nature spirits around the world

Ghosts…Why Are They Here?

What exactly is a ghost?

Before you can understand what an entity consists of you need to understand a bit about the human body of the living person. Everything you do, see, hear, taste, feel, etc. is controlled by electrical impulses sent to your brain from your body’s different parts or from your brain to your different body parts.

For example… right now as you are reading this webpage, an electrical impulse is going from your eyes to your brain carrying the information your eyes are seeing. As you scroll down this page your brain is sending electrical impulses to your hand to move your mouse, etc…

When a person dies their individual systems shut down independently, your kidneys fail, then your respiratory system shuts down, then your heart stops beating and finally your brain stops functioning. Since all these systems are controlled by electrical impulses the electricity has to go somewhere. It is a general law of physics that energy cannot be destroyed, so where does the energy go when your body shuts down? It is released into the atmosphere.

When a person dies a slow or natural death the energy is released more slowly and in a less concentrated state than if a person were to die a sudden or violent death. This is why I believe hospitals are not the most haunted places even though more deaths occur in them than anywhere else.

Another theory I have been tossing around for some time now is what makes certain locations more likely to have a ghost than others. I believe it all boils down to electromagnetic fields trapping the energy that is released at time of death.

For example…everyone has heard of at least one haunted theatre in the area they live. Theatres are huge electromagnetic fields, they have high voltage electrical systems in them to support the sound and lighting equipment that is used for their shows. Theatres used to be very dangerous places to work at one time. It was very easy to have a lighting rig fall down on someone and kill them, and it was also easy for someone to fall from a catwalk that is high above the stage. The ingredients were all there for a sudden and violent death. When that occurred, from time to time the energy that was released from the victim’s body was trapped by the much stronger electromagnetic field and you now have a ghost.

One of the tools we use for paranormal research is an EMF meter. These meters are designed to measure changes in electromagnetic energy. Many times while investigating a haunting we have discovered very high levels of electromagnetic energy present. Alot of times this is caused by high voltage electrical systems or by old wiring. Both will create an electromagnetic field.

There is a strong possibility that despite the theories of some other researchers it is not the ghost that causes the electromagnetic energy, but it is the electromagnetic energy that causes the ghost or enables the ghost to manifest by using that energy.

When to Research

All investigators know that research is part of the job. You’ve got to know what you are looking for and how to deal with it once you have found it. The real question, when it comes to research, is WHEN to do it.

If you are simply ghost hunting, you need to do research in order to know where to go and when. But if you are on an investigation, then you need to do your research afterwards. Here are a few reasons why:

When you visit a house you want to start off with a clean slate. You don’t want to let the stories about the home limit what you feel there. For instance, if you read that a little girl was killed in the home 100 years ago, you’ll subconsciously have that little girl in the back of your mind, and it will taint your investigation. This forces you to be true to your feelings, therefore being true to the homeowner.

If you log every event and detail for later study, you can then compare those notes with what you find when researching the history of the home. Not only is your mind free of predeterminations but you get the satisfying reward of having your theories match closely with fact. This is a good way to determine how advanced your sensing capabilities are coming along.

You may overlook additional paranormal events because your mind is closed to them and only open to the events you read about in your research. For instance, if you know a man died in a certain closet, you’ll probably focus your investigation in that closet rather than searching the entire home and finding one other room is WAY more active than the closet you had read about.

These are perfect reasons not to do research beforehand. When investigating someone’s home, make sure to research a bit about their lives (without prying too much) so that you can determine if the problem is in their home or just with them, independently of their home.

If you’re not sure this method is the best, give it a try. It has made all the difference in what I sense on a case and more than doubles the reward of an investigation when you find out that your theory was correct.

Good or Evil?

One of the first questions people ask themselves when they are confronted with paranormal activity is “Is it good or evil?”. Subconsciously and often too frequently the answer they give themselves is “Of course it’s evil, it just slammed a door!!”

This is usually an unfounded and biased decision based on dozens of scary movies, ghost stories around the fire and society’s general lack of knowledge on the subject. Just because it’s ghostly does not mean it’s evil.

First off, typically you’ll be confronted by what we call a “human spirit”. This is the spirit of someone who was once alive, as you and I are alive. They were born on earth, they had a job, most likely a family, a dog, and most importantly, they died. For various reasons they are still hanging around. Now, because they were once alive they each have different personalities as you and I do. So, these spirits can be good or bad BUT NOT NECESSARILY EVIL. Fortunately the majority of us tend to be rather decent folks, but not all of us. The same goes for spirits. One spirit could have been a loving grandmother who is looking for her husband, or one could be a teen-aged punk who may be getting a kick out of scaring you.

Then there are the not-so-common type of spirits we call “non-human spirits”. This is a spirit that never lived on the earth and is ALWAYS bad news and generally dangerous. The disturbing thing is that this type of spirit is brought to our realm through people who are meddling where they shouldn’t. (Ouija boards, seances, curses, devil worship, etc.)

Now that we know that there are only two general types and we know their mentalities, we can better identify them. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Typical Human Spirit Activity:

• Noises
• Appearance of seemingly random objects (flashlights, rocks, money)
• An illuminated figure or part of a figure

Typical Non-Human Spirit Activity:

• Whispering Voices – black shadowy figures
• Violent acts against you (being hit, thrown, etc.)
• Targeted paranormal activity (i.e. you hate clowns, so the spirit moves the clown from room to room. You get the idea)

These are not all of the things to look for, but some of the most obvious signs to help you identify what type of spirit you’re dealing with.

The Four Basic Types of Hauntings

(The following text was composed for the two classes presented by Carl L. Johnson and Keith E. Johnson during the Paranormal Conference held at Penn. State University on October 25th & 26th, 2003, which they attended representing, and accompanied by fellow members of, The Atlantic Paranormal Society. *)

Para-normal: As defined for our purposes, repeatedly witnessed and documented phenomena which is apart from the natural order of cause and effect, action and reaction, as is presently understood or speculated upon by standardized, scientific observation of the properties of physical matter and energy.

Intelligent Haunt – Paranormal research and investigation has revealed there to be three, basic categories of hauntings, or non-corporeal infestations. The first of these we may descriptively refer to as an “intelligent” or a “human” type of haunting. In these manifestations, the entity or entities encountered seem to possess human personalities and emotions, albeit in a limited scope. They may at times appear visually in human forms, and are responsive to changes in external conditions such as the activities of the occupants of a household, the presence of investigators, or the rearranging of furnishings in a setting, all of which suggest their formerly having existed as living, cognitive beings. These are what we call, presently lacking more applicable, scientific terminology, spirits or ghosts. Invariably they seem to be attached to particular sites, vicinities or dwelling places, usually though not exclusively houses. Disembodied voices from these spirit beings are sometimes registered on audio recording devices: spool or cassette tape recorders or digital recorders. This is known as ‘Electronic \/oice Phenomenon’ and is abbreviated to ‘E.V.P.’ We sometimes find unexplained distortions imprinted on photographic film exposed at the site of a suspected haunting, which were initially not perceived by the photographer. The most frequent or these photograpic anomalies is the appearance of “orbs”/”globules.” These are spherical forms that are seen either singularly or in multiple images. They can be picked up by both still photographs and by videotape, the latter displaying them in motion. They’re generally translucent and whitish, although they can appear in faint hues of red, orange, blue and green. Naturally, a responsible investigator must consider all possible explanations prior to ruling any irregularities to be genuine, paranormal phenomena.

Residual Haunt – The second category is referred to as a “residual” type of haunting. In such a case, a scene from the past (recent or remote; it could proceed from any previous time frame) seems to be replayed and is witnessed by a living person or persons. Apparently this is an actual form of time-displacement from a former scenario which transpired at that site, and the entities contained within it rarely display any awareness of their present day observers. However, there have been instances reported when these specters from the past DO seem to briefly notice those who perceive a glimpse of their separated reality, as was the case with an abandoned 19th century school house on Hornbine Road in the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. {‘Ghost File #45′ from, The New England Ghost Files’ by Charles Turek Robinson.} Claimed “residual” apparitions have also included the historical personages of Ann Bolyne and Catherine Howard, both Queens of Tudor England by the misfortune of having been wed to King Henry the Eighth and duly beheaded upon his orders.

They are reported to have been sighted numerous times in the famous Tower of London where they’d been imprisoned pending their executions. Reports also include Marie Antoinette, Queen of late 18th century France (also beheaded) who one hundred years ago was seen sketching on the lawn of her former Paris estate and later recognized from her portrait mounted within, plus fleeting moments from an American Civil War battle, beheld while illuminated by lightning flashes in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania! Consider, have there ever been displaced scenes from our future, observed by fully awake subjects? We could speculate that at least some unexplained aerial phenomena – U.F.O.’s – may constitute examples of this. It may even be that this is the operative principle involved in what is termed clairvoyance and precognition.

Demonic Haunt - The third category is unquestionably the most debated, as well as the most dreaded. This falls into the realm of a “demonic” or an “inhuman” type of haunting. It is perhaps of other-dimensional origin, and is often possessed (no pun intended) of a quite hostile nature. Anyone who has up close and personally encountered a demonic entity in action never wants the experience repeated; no one I’ve spoken to, anyway! It often evinces a form of intelligence (initially similar to a “human” type of haunting) in that it may insidiously seem to anticipate the approaches of the person(s) it menaces, including any paranormal investigators who are endeavoring to rid a home of its presence. Endemic to this most unwelcome infestation is a pronounced psychological instability, distress or unresolved conflict on the part of a resident or residents of the household subjected to the demonic assault. Additionally, experience has supported the observation that someone originally had to have invited in the demon, perhaps inadvertently, either through scrying implements such as an Ouija Board, conducting seances, undisciplined psychic experimentation, performing magic ceremonies or by habitually conversing with unseen presences (imaginary friends?). It should be mentioned here that while some of these devices may at first appear to be utterly harmless and regarded as tools to aid in tapping into one’s sub consciousness, the results can be likened to leaving open one’s back door in a country setting. Now, you may only have some little squirrels and chipmunks wander into your kitchen, but odds are that eventually you’ll find yourself facing down a bear, maybe a small cub, IF YOU’RE LUCKY. And keep in mind, where there’s one “bear,” others are lurking somewhere close by!

Poltergeist Haunt - A sub-category of the “inhuman” type of haunting, reported at least since the dark ages of recorded history, which really isn’t a spirit or a demon in the true sense and seems more mischievous in nature than outright malevolent, is the manifestation of a Poltergeist: German for “rattling ghost.” As far as has been determined, there is almost always an adolescent girl or boy at the center of this kind of paranormal disturbance. Perhaps the young person is unwittingly generating a flow of chaotic, psychic energies during a phase of their formative period.

Whatever the cause, Poltergeist activity commences suddenly and inexplicably. The episodes are brief, often involving the floating or flinging of kitchen utensils, thunderous poundings reverberating in walls and ceilings, heavy furniture moved about or tossed by an unseen force, and (though rarely in these cases) even disembodied voices. These occurrences then rapidly subside. The Poltergeist phenomena can persist, recurring at unpredictable intervals, for several months – which is the usual duration – or sometimes two or three years, then these symptoms vanish for good just as mysteriously as they began…to the immeasurable relief of those inflicted with its presence! The Poltergeist has even been known to follow a family to a new residence, so relocating hasn’t always solved the problem (as it most often does with the other types of hauntings). Perhaps the Poltergeist collective phenomenon differs sufficiently in its “modus operand!” to merit a distinct classification; would you agree?

Get to Know your Ghosts – Poltergeists

Poltergeist is from a German word meaning noisy spirits. Reports of poltergeists date back to Ancient Roman times.

The activity that takes place will start off with knocks and bangs, furniture starting to move around by itself. Then, the activity will become more intense, manifesting itself through voices and even the appearance of full apparitions. Furniture may slide across the room and beds may shake. Many shows are based on this style of haunting because it tends to be the most terrifying and rarest type of haunting that occurs.

Most of the time, in the case of a poltergeist, the haunting circles around a female in her teen years. Some of these cases seem to be caused by the female unknowingly controlling the energy around herself. Some cases happen around people that are stable and in the right mind space.

This haunting is hard to classify due to certain situations. No two are ever really the same. Most of the time you will find that one person in the household seems to be more affected by the haunting than anyone else. It may seem that most ol the activity doesn’t happen unless that certain person is present. Usually, the activity appears to stop when that person leaves the home. The majority of the time poltergeists are experienced by several people, but again they seem to center around one certain person. This person may be highly stressed as of late or maybe this person has gone through some type of extreme emotional situation. If this is the case, see that the individual involved gets some medical care, and soon afterwards the poltergeist will subside.

When it is not the teenager that is manifesting activity there are usually several spirits in the area. The spirits appear to pool their energy together in order to become strong enough to move larger objects and make more noises. In order to remedy the situation, you need to find the root of their anger so that they can pass over and leave you in peace. On most poltergeist cases they will disappear without any warning, just as they appeared. Certain times it may stop within a few days, other times it may take years. You may never know the reason that it happened. Most people are just happy to see it go and that’s enough for them. Understanding why it was there in the first place helps you to understand how to keep it from ever coming back again. Knowledge is the key in protecting yourself in this world.

Get to Know Your Ghosts – Intelligent Haunt

In this style of haunting the entity or entities are aware of their surroundings. Most of the time you will find that these spirits are not confined to one spot, they can move around freely. Also, they will acknowledge the existence of human beings and even try to communicate in certain ways.

They are limited in what they can do. Most of the time they only move very light objects but they have been known to move objects up to around ten pounds. They are looking for people to notice them but they end up scaring people a great deal instead.

Usually, between the hours of llpm and 4am are the times that the entities can more efficiently manifest themselves, due to this time period being the darkest hours of the night. Most of the time they are not strong enough to show themselves during the daylight because it takes too much energy to make themselves visible. Think of it like this, if you were to turn on a flashlight during the daytime you would hardly notice the light, but if you were to turn it on in the dead of night, the light would be clearly visible. This is how spirits work as well. If they use too much energy during the day they will be too weak to show themselves at night.

These spirits can be benevolent or mischievous, depending on the reason that they are haunting a location, and there are several reasons. They may be haunting it because it was once their home and they want you to leave. They may be there because they’ve found that a child is able to see them so they feel noticed and are willing to stay around for this fact. There may be some kind of artifact that they are staying with and following due to some emotional bond with it. They also may be looking for something or someone. They may even not be willing to except that they have died. Whatever the reason may be, they are there and they do not want to leave.

Now comes the hard part, ridding a house of them. They are not inhuman entities which we will get to, so religious provocation will not be effective to rid the area they are in. You are, as they are, limited to what you can do.

Get to Know Your Ghosts – Residual Haunt

The most common style of a human haunting is a residual haunting, A residual haunting is like having an impression made in time. The entity may seem to be lost in a time warp. The spirit really isn’t even there, only the energy is.

In most cases people may hear screaming or crying due to the violence factor that may have caused this traumatic event to happen. People may also hear the sounds of footsteps walking on the stairs or through hallways.

Typically the repeated event is whatever the person who left the energy behind did often or a significant event that they remember happening to them. It is almost like the energy has become part of the dwelling that they once occupied on an everyday basis. These haunting styles always seem to happen in the same place every time.

There is usually very little you can do on this style of a haunting except make the family who is having these problems understand what is going on and explain to them that they are in no danger due to the energy not being controlled by the person who left it behind.

There is no actual entity present in this style of haunting, and the energy that was left behind is just like a video playing the same scene over and over again. Even though it is not aware that people are there, it can still be a scary and emotional situation to the people who have to deal with it happening in their home.

It may happen every night or every week or even every year. It is the most frequent haunting investigators will come across in their cases. An investigator will tell you there is nothing they can do about this style haunting and they are correct. People need to either accept what happens and learn to deal with it, or move on.

Get to Know your Ghosts – Demonic Haunt

Demons are one of the known inhuman entities out there. Fortunately, they are a rare occurrence. Features of a demonic haunting include:

• They are usually very easy to identify as long as they are not hiding. When it is a demonic haunting you typically notice a revolting stench similar to rotted flesh or sulfuric acid. They often let loose a growl that sounds like it is coming from everywhere at once. They like to make contact by pushing, shoving, hitting, and even scratching. The whole air in the affected area will feel thick like fog and the temperature will drastically change, typically warmer.

• These creatures are very strong, unlike human spirits, and they don’t mind showing it. There have been cases where people have been thrown through the air and even attacked. Apparently, their main goal is to break down a person’s free will in order to make way for possession. This can take days, months or years, but time is of no consequence to them.

• They have a hatred for mankind that dates back to the days of God and Lucifer. They have lived for millennium and will be here long after we are gone. So, you must understand that though you may be able to get these creatures to leave a dwelling with religious provocation you will never destroy them. They could go to the next place down the road if they choose, most likely they won’t because distance is not a problem for these creatures. They could go from Maine to California on a thought.

• They can take on any form they wish, but mostly commonly it is a half man, half animal form. They will have the head of an animal, the torso of a man, and the hairy legs of an animal. When they are approached by an investigating paranormal team they may feel threatened and appear in a human form to keep the home from being blessed and stop the use of religious provocation.

• During an investigation you need to assess the situation more by what happened before you arrived than what is actually going on during the time you are there. Demons are capable of changing form right in front of you from human form to an inhuman form. They are neither male nor female, but then can change that to meet their needs. Most see demons as black masses standing in doorways or near rooms. Sometimes they are called devils.

• If you feel like you have a demon in your home I would recommend getting help from a well known paranormal group as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence when dealing with these creatures.

Up next “Demons and Demonology”

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The cells of the old Mansfield Reformatory stand empty. Is that the howling of the wind or is it the agonized wail of a doomed soul imparting a warning. Do specters lurk in the shadows wondering why we try to get in when they would have given their immortal soul to get out? Journey through the dark corridors of this immense fortress with the Fringe team as we attempt to unlock the secrets of the Mansfield Reformatory.

Investigation Date: 8-13-11

Location: Mansfield, Ohio

Agents Present

• Don C
• Kelly S
• David T
• Fred S
• Jake K.
• Ray

History

Before the reformatory was erected, the site the prison now stands on was grounds for a civil war training camp which opened in 1861. Camp Mordecai Bartley was named to honor the governor who served Mansfield in the 1840’s. The camp was located just north of the current reformatory. The first regiment, the 32nd, to train at the site consisted of 750 men.

Mansfield Reformatory itself was built between 1886 and 1910. The original architect was Levi Scofield of Cleveland, Ohio and construction was overseen by F. F. Schnitzer. This castle like building is classified as a Romanesque architecture. In 1990 the reformatory was shut down by order of the federal court. This decree, the Boyd Consent Decree, addressed the inhumane conditions that developed at the prison over time. After its closure, many of the support buildings and the outer wall were demolished. In 1995, the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society formed and undertook the task of rehabilitating the old reformatory. The prison now houses a museum and conducts tours regularly to help fund the rehab efforts. The reformatory is credited with having the largest free standing steel cell block in the world. The East Cell Block stands six tiers high

There are numerous reports of tragedy on the property. Arthur Lewis Glattke was the Superintendent from 1935 until 1959. He was respected by both inmates and his contemporaries. In 1950 Mrs. Glattke died of pneumonia three days after an accident where a handgun discharged as she reached into a jewelry box on a closet shelf. Mr. Glattke died of a heart attacked suffered in his office in 1959. According to records over 200 inmates died at Mansfield Reformatory as well as several guards who were killed during escape attempts. Most of those who died in the prison were victims of disease, influenza, and tuberculosis. Some also died of unnatural causes at the hands of other inmates. Inmates often met there demise in solitary confinement, or the hole. At least one inmate hung himself, one set himself on fire and one’s lifeless body was found stuffed beneath his cellmate’s bunk (prisoners sometimes shared a spot in solitary confinement). Many of the inmates who perished at the prison were buried in graves on the property marked by tombstones. The stones bear no names, only numbers; 215 in all laid out row by row.

The most notorious incident in the history of Mansfield occurred in July of 1948. The reformatory’s farm boss and his wife and daughter were kidnapped and shot to death by two men on parole who sought revenge. The men were hunted across six states and were finally captured in a shootout. One man was shot dead and the other was taken into custody. Six months later the man in custody received the death penalty; the electric chair.

In recent years the prison has been the backdrop for a number of films and TV shows. Such productions include “Ghost Adventures” and “The Shawshank Redemption” among others.

Claims

After a lurid history and much tragedy associated with an old prison it is not surprising that there would be claims of paranormal activity at this location. Tour guides and visitors claim to hear the voices of a man and woman talking. Belief is that these are the voices of the warden and his wife. Visitors claim to have sighted the wife in the superintendent’s quarters inside the administration building. In 2009 the television show “Ghost Adventures” filmed a segment at the facility and experienced problems with their equipment and charged batteries draining inexplicably. In 1926, a former inmate named Orleck attempted to free a fellow inmate still in the prison. His plan was thwarted when he was accosted by a guard, Urban Wilford, outside the West Gate. A struggle ensued and Orleck gunned down the guard and fled. Orleck was captured two months later and sentenced to death. Several witnesses claim to have seen this scene repeated (commonly referred to as a residual haunt). The claimants usually report seeing an inmate struggling with a guard near the west gate of the prison with most witnesses reporting the scenario dissipating before the fatal shot is fired.

Investigation

The Fringe team arrived on a pleasant afternoon. Driving down the long entrance drive to the parking area one is amazed by the size of the prison. The structure is very imposing due to its mass and gothic-like architecture. Entering the foyer we stopped by the gift shop and small museum. After milling around a bit we took a tour of the facilities provided by the curators of the reformatory. The prison complex is very large and required much walking and stair climbing throughout the structure. There are 600 cells in the prison measuring approximately 5 x 7 feet and each cell block stands six tiers high. Interesting side notes include a cell with a gold painted toilet seat and matching trim (used for a music video shoot) and a cell with a penciled “X” above the door featured in an episode of “Ghost Hunters”. We were somewhat concerned as to how this investigation would play out as it was not a private investigation and we were sharing the location with a large group. Our concerns, however, were unfounded as the facility proved large enough that the presence of others would not contaminate any audio or visual evidence.

The Fringe team began the investigation in the lower level of the reformatory and moved upwards throughout the cell block. Our six man team split into two groups of three; David, Jake and Ray in one unit and Don, Kelly, and Fred in the other. Teams roamed through the reformatory investigating various parts of the prison. Due to the size of the location we limited our equipment usage to digital voice recorders and digital still and video cameras. Key areas we focused on included “the hole” and the warden’s living quarters area. Throughout the evening the Fringe team conducted EVP sessions and snapped photos. Later in the evening when both Fringe units merged we discussed any events that we may have experienced. Agent Jake had a personal experience during his time in one of the upper cell blocks. He claims to have felt a searing pain in his side towards his back while investigating with his teammates. He also sported a faint mark at the location of the pain. Co-director David and agents Jake and Ray also report seeing several shadows as well as hearing footsteps. They also documented a few spikes on their KII meter. At around 3:00 am the Fringe team wrapped up its investigation at the Mansfield Reformatory.

Analysis

While we take our agents’ personal experiences during an investigation seriously, we can not categorize said personal experiences as evidence in and of itself. We can not explain the KII metter spikes as the lights in the facility were turned off during our stay. There were also no electrical boxes close by that may have caused a KII meter reading. This is to be expected as it would have been foolhardy to locate electrical outlets in or near a cell in a prison.

Conclusion

The Fringe team had an interesting evening at the old reformatory in Mansfield. As with any location that is supported by financial resources we must exercise a bit of due diligence in regards to accepting claims of paranormal activity. While we can not dismiss the experiences of others at this location, we also can not substantiate claims of activity at the reformatory. The Fringe team was not able to capture any scientifically acceptable evidence during this investigation. There are several possible reasons for the lack of evidence at this site. It may be that the environmental conditions were not conducive to paranormal activity on this evening. Paranormal activity is most often unpredictable and may not have been “hot” at this location on this night. It may also be that this location does not actually have any such activity occurring and that any such claims can be explained by natural means. That being said, we will go on record as saying that this location at this particular point in time during this particular investigation produced nothing of extraordinary note.

Prepared for Fringe Paranormal by Don C

The Mansfield evidence video

Go to our Evidence page for more audios and videos

The U.S. Army wants to allow soldiers to communicate just by thinking. 
The new science of synthetic telepathy could soon make that happen.
by Adam Piore

From Discover Magazine April 2011 issue; published online July 20, 2011

On a cold, blustery afternoon the week before Halloween, an assortment of spiritual mediums, animal communicators, and astrologists have set up tables in the concourse beneath the Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York. The cavernous hall of shops that 
connects the buildings in this 98-acre complex is a popular venue for autumnal events: Oktoberfest, the Maple Harvest Festival, and today’s “Mystic Fair.”

Traffic is heavy as bureaucrats with ID badges dangling from their necks stroll by during their lunch breaks. Next to the Albany Paranormal Research Society table, a middle-aged woman is solemnly explaining the workings of an electromagnetic sensor that can, she asserts, detect the presence of ghosts. Nearby, a “clairvoyant” ushers a government worker in a suit into her canvas tent. A line has formed at the table of a popular tarot card reader.

Amid all the bustle and transparent hustles, few of the dabblers at the Mystic Fair are aware that there is a genuine mind reader in the building, sitting in an office several floors below the concourse. This mind reader is not able to pluck a childhood memory or the name of a loved one out of your head, at least not yet. But give him time. He is applying hard science to an aspiration that was once relegated to clairvoyants, and unlike his predecessors, he can point to some hard results.

The mind reader is Gerwin Schalk, a 39-year-old biomedical scientist and a leading expert on brain-computer interfaces at the New York State Department of Health’s Wads­worth Center at Albany Medical College. The 
Austrian-born Schalk, along with a handful of other researchers, is part of a $6.3 million U.S. Army project to establish the basic science required to build a thought helmet—a device that can detect and transmit the unspoken speech of soldiers, allowing them to communicate with one another silently.

As improbable as it sounds, synthetic telepathy, as the technology is called, is getting closer to battlefield reality. Within a decade Special Forces could creep into the caves of Tora Bora to snatch Al Qaeda operatives, communicating and coordinating without hand signals or whispered words. Or a platoon of infantrymen could telepathically call in a helicopter to whisk away their wounded in the midst of a deafening firefight, where intelligible speech would be impossible above the din of explosions.

For a look at the early stages of the technology, I pay a visit to a different sort of cave, Schalk’s bunkerlike office. Finding it is a workout. I hop in an elevator within shouting distance of the paranormal hubbub, then pass through a long, linoleum-floored hallway guarded by a pair of stern-faced sentries, and finally descend a cement stairwell to a subterranean warren of laboratories and offices.

Schalk is sitting in front of an oversize computer screen, surrounded by empty metal bookshelves and white cinder-block walls, bare except for a single photograph of his young family and a poster of the human brain. The fluorescent lighting flickers as he hunches over a desk to click on a computer file. A volunteer from one of his recent mind-reading experiments appears in a video facing a screen of her own. She is concentrating, Schalk explains, silently thinking of one of two vowel sounds, aah or ooh.

The volunteer is clearly no ordinary research subject. She is draped in a hospital gown and propped up in a motorized bed, her head swathed in a plasterlike mold of bandages secured under the chin. Jumbles of wires protrude from an opening at the top of her skull, snaking down to her left shoulder in stringy black tangles. Those wires are connected to 64 electrodes that a neurosurgeon has placed directly on the surface of her naked cortex after surgically removing the top of her skull. “This woman has epilepsy and probably has seizures several times a week,” Schalk says, revealing a slight Germanic accent.

The main goal of this technique, known as electrocorticography, or ECOG, is to identify the exact area of the brain responsible for her seizures, so surgeons can attempt to remove the damaged areas without affecting healthy ones. But there is a huge added benefit: The seizure patients who volunteer for Schalk’s experiments prior to surgery have allowed him and his collaborator, neuro­surgeon Eric C. Leuthardt of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, to collect what they claim are among the most detailed pictures ever recorded of what happens in the brain when we imagine speaking words aloud.

Those pictures are a central part of the project funded by the Army’s multi-university research grant and the latest twist on science’s long-held ambition to read what goes on inside the mind. Researchers have been experimenting with ways to understand and harness signals in the areas of the brain that control muscle movement since the early 2000s, and they have developed methods to detect imagined muscle movement, vocalizations, and even the speed with which a subject wants to move a limb.

At Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, researchers have surgically implanted electrodes in the brains of monkeys and trained them to move robotic arms at MIT, hundreds of miles away, just by thinking. At Brown University, scientists are working on a similar implant they hope will allow paralyzed human subjects to control artificial limbs. And workers at Neural Signals Inc., outside Atlanta, have been able to extract vowels from the motor cortex of a paralyzed patient who lost the ability to talk by sinking electrodes into the area of his brain that controls his vocal cords. But the Army’s thought-helmet project is the first large-scale effort to “really attack” the much broader challenge of synthetic telepathy, Schalk says. The Army wants practical applications for healthy people, “and we are making progress,” he adds.

Schalk is now attempting to make silent speech a reality by using sensors and computers to explore the regions of the brain responsible for storing and processing thoughts. The goal is to build a helmet embedded with brain-scanning technologies that can target specific brain waves, translate them into words, and transmit those words wirelessly to a radio speaker or an earpiece worn by other soldiers.

As Schalk explains his vast ambitions, I’m mesmerized by the eerie video of the bandaged patient on the computer screen. White bars cover her eyes to preserve her anonymity. She is lying stock-still, giving the impression that she might be asleep or comatose, but she is very much engaged. Schalk points with his pen at a large rectangular field on the side of the screen depicting a region of her brain abuzz with electrical activity. Hundreds of yellow and white brain waves dance across a black backdrop, each representing the oscillating electrical pulses picked up by one of the 64 electrodes attached to her cortex as clusters of brain cells fire.

Somewhere in those squiggles lie patterns that Schalk is training his computer to recognize and decode. “To make sense of this is very difficult,” he says. “For each second there are 1,200 variables from each electrode location. It’s a lot of numbers.”

Schalk gestures again toward the video. Above the volunteer’s head is a black bar that extends right or left depending on the computer’s ability to guess which vowel the volunteer has been instructed to imagine: right for “aah,” left for “ooh.” The volunteer imagines “ooh,” and I watch the black bar inch to the left. The volunteer thinks “aah,” and sure enough, the bar extends right, proof that the computer’s analysis of those hundreds of squiggling lines in the black rectangle is correct. In fact, the computer gets it right “close to 100 percent of the time,” Schalk says.

He admits that he is a long way from decoding full, complex imagined sentences with multiple words and meaning. But even extracting two simple vowels from deep within the brain is a big advance. Schalk has no doubt about where his work is leading. “This is the first step toward mind reading,” he tells me.

The motivating force behind the thought helmet project is a retired Army colonel with a Ph.D. in the physiology of vision and advanced belts in karate, judo, aikido, and Japanese sword fighting. Elmar Schmeis­ser, a lanky, bespectacled scientist with a receding hairline and a neck the width of a small tree, joined the Army Research Office as a program manager in 2002. He had spent his 30-year career up to that point working in academia and at various military research facilities, exhaustively investigating eyewear to protect soldiers against laser exposure, among other technologies.

Schmeisser had been fascinated by the concept of a thought helmet ever since he read about it in E. E. “Doc” Smith’s 1946 science fiction classic, Skylark of Space, back in the eighth grade. But it was not until 2006, while Schmeisser was attending a conference on advanced prosthetics in Irvine, California, that it really hit him: Science had finally caught up to his boyhood vision. He was listening to a young researcher expound on the virtues of extracting signals from the surface of the brain. The young researcher was Gerwin Schalk.

Schalk’s lecture was causing a stir. Many neuroscientists had long believed that the only way to extract data from the brain specific enough to control an external device was to penetrate the cortex and sink electrodes into the gray matter, where the electrodes could record the firing of individual neurons. By claiming that he could pry information from the brain without drilling deep inside it—information that could allow a subject to move a computer cursor, play computer games, and even move a prosthetic limb—Schalk was taking on “a very strong existing dogma in the field that the only way to know about how the brain works is by recording individual neurons,” Schmeisser vividly recalls of that day.

Many of those present dismissed Schalk’s findings as blasphemy and stood up to attack it. But for Schmeisser it was a magical moment. If he could take Schalk’s idea one step further and find a way to extract verbal thoughts from the brain without surgery, the technology could dramatically benefit not only disabled people but the healthy as well. “Everything,” he says,” all of a sudden became possible.”

The next year, Schmeisser marched into a large conference room at Army Research Office headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to pitch a research project to investigate synthetic telepathy for soldiers. He took his place at a podium facing a large, U-shaped table fronting rows of chairs, where a committee of some 30 senior scientists and colleagues—division chiefs, directorate heads, mathematicians, particle physicists, chemists, computer scientists, and Pentagon brass in civilian dress—waited for him to begin.

Schmeisser had 10 minutes and six Power­Point slides to address four major questions: Where was the field at the moment? How might his idea prove important? What would the Army get out of it? And was there reason to believe that it was doable?

The first three questions were simple. It was that last one that tripped him up. “Does this really work?” Schmeisser remembers the committee asking him. “Show us the evidence that this could really work—that you are not just hallucinating it.”

The committee rejected Schmeisser’s proposal but authorized him to collect more data over the following year to bolster his case. For assistance he turned to Schalk, the man who had gotten him thinking about a thought helmet in the first place.

Schalk and Leuthardt had been conducting mind-reading experiments for several years, exploring their patients’ ability to play video games, move cursors, and type by means of brain waves picked up via a scanner. The two men were eager to push their research further and expand into areas of the brain thought to be associated with language, so when Schmeisser offered them 
a $450,000 grant to prove the feasibility of a thought helmet, they seized the opportunity.

Schalk and Leuthardt quickly recruited 12 epilepsy patients as volunteers for their first set of experiments. As I had seen in the video in Schalk’s office, each patient had the top of his skull removed and electrodes affixed to the surface of the cortex. The researchers then set up a computer screen and speakers in front of the patients’ beds.

The patients were presented with 36 words that had a relatively simple consonant-vowel-consonant structure, such as bet, bat, beat, and boot. They were asked to say the words out loud and then to simply imagine saying them. Those instructions were conveyed visually (written on a computer screen) with no audio, and again vocally with no video. The electrodes provided a precise map of the resulting neural activity.

Schalk was intrigued by the results. As one might expect, when the subjects vocalized a word, the data indicated activity in the areas of the motor cortex associated with the muscles that produce speech. The auditory cortex and an area in its vicinity long believed to be associated with speech, called Wernicke’s area, were also active.

When the subjects imagined words, the motor cortex went silent while the auditory cortex and Wernicke’s area remained active. Although it was unclear why those areas were active, what they were doing, and what it meant, the raw results were an important start. The next step was obvious: Reach inside the brain and try to pluck out enough data to determine, at least roughly, what the subjects were thinking.

Schmeisser presented Schalk’s data to the Army committee the following year and asked it to fund a formal project to develop a real mind-reading helmet. As he conceived it, the helmet would function as a wearable interface between mind and machine. When activated, sensors inside would scan the thousands of brain waves oscillating in a soldier’s head; a microprocessor would apply pattern recognition software to decode those waves and translate them into specific sentences or words, and a radio would transmit the message. Schmeisser also proposed adding a second capability to the helmet to detect the direction in which a soldier was focusing his attention. The function could be used to steer thoughts to a specific comrade or squad, just by looking in their direction.

The words or sentences would reach a receiver that would then “speak” the words into a comrade’s earpiece or be played from a speaker, perhaps at a distant command post. The possibilities were easy to imagine:

“Look out! Enemy on the right!”

“We need a medical evacuation now!”

“The enemy is standing on the ridge. Fire!”

Any of those phrases could be life-saving.

This time the committee signed off.

Grant applications started piling up in Schmeisser’s office. To maximize the chance of success, he decided to split the Army funding between two university teams that were taking complementary approaches to the telepathy problem.

The first team, directed by Schalk, was pursuing the more invasive ECOG approach, attaching electrodes beneath the skull. The second group, led by Mike D’Zmura, a cognitive scientist at the University of California, Irvine, planned to use electroencephalography (EEG), a noninvasive brain-scanning technique that was far better suited for an actual thought helmet. Like ECOG, EEG relies on brain signals picked up by an array of electrodes that are sensitive to the subtle voltage oscillations caused by the firing of groups of neurons. Unlike ECOG, EEG requires no surgery; the electrodes attach painlessly to the scalp.

For Schmeisser, this practicality was critical. He ultimately wanted answers to the big neuroscience questions that would allow researchers to capture complicated thoughts and ideas, yet he also knew that demonstrating even a rudimentary thought helmet capable of discerning simple commands would be a valuable achievement. After all, soldiers often use formulaic and reduced vocabulary to communicate. Calling in a helicopter for a medical evacuation, for instance, requires only a handful of specific words.

“We could start there,” Schmeisser says. “We could start below that.” He noted, for instance, that it does not require a terribly complicated message to call for an air strike or a missile launch: “That would be a very nice operational capability.”

The relative ease with which EEG can be applied comes at a price, however. The exact location of neural activity is far more difficult to discern via EEG than with many other, more invasive methods because the skull, scalp, and cerebral fluid surrounding the brain scatter its electric signals before they reach the electrodes. That blurring also makes the signals harder to detect at all. The EEG data can be so messy, in fact, that some of the researchers who signed on to the project harbored private doubts about whether it could really be used to extract the signals associated with unspoken thoughts.

In the initial months of the project, back in 2008, one of D’Zmura’s key collaborators, renowned neuroscientist David Poeppel, sat in his office on the second floor of the New York University psychology building and realized he was unsure even where to begin. With his research partner Greg Hickok, an expert on the neuroscience of language, he had developed a detailed model of audible speech systems, parts of which were widely cited in textbooks. But there was nothing in that model to suggest how to measure something imagined.

For more than 100 years, Poeppel reflected, speech experimentation had followed a simple plan: Ask a subject to listen to a specific word or phrase, measure the subject’s response to that word (for instance, how long it takes him to repeat it aloud), and then demonstrate how that response is connected to activity in the brain. Trying to measure imagined speech was much more complicated; a random thought could throw off the whole experiment. In fact, it was still unclear where in the brain researchers should even look for the relevant signals.

Solving this problem would call for a new experimental method, Poeppel realized. He and a postdoctoral student, Xing Tian, decided to take advantage of a powerful imaging technique called magnetoencephalography, or MEG, to do their reconnaissance work. MEG can provide roughly the same level of spatial detail as ECOG but without the need to remove part of a subject’s 
skull, and it is far more accurate than EEG.

Poeppel and Tian would guide subjects into a three-ton, beige-paneled room constructed of a special alloy and copper to shield against passing electromagnetic fields. At the center of the room sat a one-ton, six-foot-tall machine resembling a huge hair dryer that contained scanners capable of recording the minute magnetic fields produced by the firing of neurons. After guiding subjects into the device, the researchers would ask them to imagine speaking words like athlete, musician, and lunch. Next they asked them to imagine hearing the words.

When Poeppel sat down to analyze the results, he noticed something unusual. As a subject imagined hearing words, his auditory cortex lit up the screen in a characteristic pattern of reds and greens. That part was no surprise; previous studies had linked the auditory cortex to imagined sounds. However, when a subject was asked to imagine speaking a word rather than hearing it, the auditory cortex flashed an almost identical red and green pattern.

Poeppel was initially stumped by the results. “That is really bizarre,” he recalls thinking. “Why should there be an auditory pattern when the subjects didn’t speak and no one around them spoke?” Over time he arrived at an explanation. Scientists had long been aware of an error-correction mechanism in the brain associated with motor commands. When the brain sends a command to the motor cortex to, for instance, reach out and grab a cup of water, it also creates an internal impression, known as an efference copy, of what the resulting movement will look and feel like. That way, the brain can check the muscle output against the intended action and make any necessary corrections.

Poeppel believed he was looking at an efference copy of speech in the auditory cortex. “When you plan to speak, you activate the hearing part of your brain before you say the word,” he explains. “Your brain is predicting what it will sound like.”

The potential significance of this finding was not lost on Poeppel. If the brain held on to a copy of what an imagined thought would sound like if vocalized, it might be possible to capture that neurological record and translate it into intelligible words. As happens so often in this field of research, though, each discovery brought with it a wave of new challenges. Building a thought helmet would require not only identifying that efference copy but also finding a way to isolate it from a mass of brain waves.

D’Zmura and his team at UC Irvine have spent the past two years taking baby steps in that direction by teaching pattern recognition programs to search for and recognize specific phrases and words. The sheer size of a MEG machine would obviously be impractical in a military setting, so the team is testing its techniques using lightweight EEG caps that could eventually be built into a practical thought helmet.

The caps are comfortable enough that Tom Lappas, a graduate student working with D’Zmura, often volunteers to be a research subject. During one experiment last November, Lappas sat in front of a computer wearing flip-flops, shorts, and a latex EEG cap with 128 gel-soaked electrodes attached to it. Lappas’s face was a mask of determined focus as he stared silently at a screen while military commands blared out of a nearby speaker.

“Ready Baron go to red now,” a recorded voice intoned, then paused. “Ready Eagle go to red now…Ready Tiger go to green now…” As Lappas concentrated, a computer recorded hundreds of squiggly lines representing Lappas’s brain activity as it was picked up from the surface of his scalp. Somewhere in that mass of data, Lappas hoped, were patterns unique enough to distinguish the sentences from one another.

With so much information, the problem would not be finding similarities but rather filtering out the similarities that were irrelevant. Something as simple as the blink of an eye creates a tremendous number of squiggles and lines that might throw off the recognition program. To make matters more challenging, Lappas decided at this early stage in the experiment to search for patterns not only in the auditory cortex but in other areas of the brain as well.

That expanded search added to the data his computer had to crunch through. In the end, the software was able to identify the sentence a test subject was imagining speaking only about 45 percent of the time. The result was hardly up to military standards; an error rate of 55 percent would be disastrous on the battlefield.

Schmeisser is not distressed by that high error rate. He is confident that synthetic telepathy can and will rapidly improve to the point where it will be useful in combat. “When we first started this, we didn’t know if it could be done,” he says. “That we have gotten this far is wonderful.” Poeppel agrees. “The fact that they could find anything just blows me away, frankly,” he says.

Schmeisser notes that D’Zmura has already shown that test subjects can type in Morse code by thinking of specific vowels 
in dots and dashes. Although this exercise is not actual language, subjects have achieved an accuracy of close to 100 percent.

The next steps in getting a thought helmet to work with actual language will be improving the accuracy of the pattern-recognition programs used by Schalk’s and D’Zmura’s teams and then adding, little by little, to the library of words that these programs can discern. “Whether we can get to fully free-flowing, civilian-type speech, I don’t know. It would be nice. We’re pushing the limits of what we can get, opening the vocabulary as much as we can,” Schmeisser says.

For some concerned citizens, this research is pushing too far. Among the more paranoid set, the mere fact that the military is trying to create a thought helmet is proof of a conspiracy to subject the masses to mind control. More grounded critics consider the project ethically questionable. Since the Army’s thought helmet project became publicly known, Schmeis­ser has been deluged with Freedom of Information Act requests from individuals and organizations concerned about privacy issues. Those requests for documentation have required countless hours and continue 
to this day.

Schalk, for his part, has resolved to keep a low profile. From his experience working with more invasive techniques, he had seen his fair share of controversy in the field, and he anticipated that this project might attract close scrutiny. “All you need to do is say, ‘The U.S. Army funds studies to implant people for mind reading,’ ” he says. “That’s all it takes, and then you’re going to have to do damage control.”

D’Zmura and the rest of his team, perhaps to their regret, granted interviews about their preliminary research after it was announced in a UC Irvine press release. The negative reaction was immediate. Bizarre e-mail messages began appearing in D’Zmura’s in-box from individuals ranting against the government or expressing concern that the authorities were already monitoring their thoughts. One afternoon, a woman appeared outside D’Zmura’s office complaining of voices in her head and asking for assistance to remove them.

Should synthetic telepathy make significant progress, the worried voices will surely grow louder. “Once we cross these barriers, we are doing something that has never before been done in human history, which is to get information directly from the brain,” says Emory University bioethicist Paul Root Wolpe, a leading voice in the field of neuroethics. “I don’t have a problem with sticking this helmet on the head of a pilot to allow him to send commands on a plane. The problem comes when you try to get detailed information about what someone is either thinking or saying nonverbally. That’s something else altogether. The skull should remain a realm of absolute privacy. If the right to privacy means anything, it means the right to the contents of my thoughts.”

Schmeisser says he has been reflecting on this kind of concern “from the beginning.” He dismisses the most extreme type of worry out of hand. “The very nature of the technology and of the human brain,” he maintains, “would prevent any Big Brother type of use.” Even the most sophisticated existing speech-recognition programs can obtain only 95 percent accuracy, and that is after being calibrated and trained by a user to compensate for accent, intonation, and phrasing. Brain waves are “much harder” to get right, Schmeisser notes, because every brain is anatomically different and uniquely shaped by experience.

Merely calibrating a program to recognize a simple sentence from brain waves would take hours. “If your thoughts wander for just an instant, the computer is completely lost,” Schmeisser says. “So the method is completely ethical. There is no way to coerce users into training the machine if they don’t want to. Any attempt to apply coercion will result in more brain wave disorganization, from stress if nothing else, and produce even worse computer performance.” Despite the easy analogies, synthetic telepathy bears little resemblance to mystical notions of mind reading and mind control. The bottom line, Schmeisser insists, “is that I see no risks whatsoever. Only benefits.”

Nor does he feel any unease that his funding comes from a military agency eager to put synthetic telepathy to use on the battlefield. The way he sees it, the potential payoff is simply too great.

“This project is attempting to make the scientific breakthrough that will have application for many things,” Schmeisser says. “If we can get at the black box we call the brain with the reduced dimensionality of speech, then we will have made a beginning to solving fundamental challenges in understanding how the brain works—and, with that, of understanding individuality.”

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Investigation Date: August 27, 2011

Location: East Toledo, Ohio

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History and Claims

This two-story residence was built in 1917 and is situated near a body of water (within 2 miles). The home also has a basement. The homeowner suspects that there was a fire in the home at some point in the past due to the discovery of charred wood during remodeling. The alleged activity at this location began when the current owners moved in with a slight up tick during the remodeling. Everyone in the family has had some type of experience. A tall, thin shadowy figure wearing a hat has been spotted on the staircase leading to the second story. A similar figure was spotted near the basement. A bedroom door is reported to have slammed shut violently of its own accord. One evening a family member claims to have heard children crying. Upon checking on the kids upstairs, she found that they were sound asleep. On another occasion a female child heard someone whisper in her ear. There is one claim of a bed shaking in one of the rooms upstairs. Three people in the household have heard a disembodied humming. Numerous bangs and thumps have also been reported from the attic area. This area is mostly uninhabitable, non-storage space.

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Investigation

The Fringe Paranormal team arrived on location in the early evening. The plan for this evening was to try and explain some of the claims as well to confirm whether or not there was actually some type of paranormal activity in the home. Our first task was to take EMF readings throughout the house. Base reads fell within acceptable levels in most areas of the home. The basement was another matter. The basement contains the heating and cooling unit as well as many pipes and electrical boxes. EMF readings tended to be somewhat higher near the electrical boxes, yet still within acceptable levels. However, one small room within the basement, approximately six feet by six feet, registered EMF readings above 20 mg.

Several family members have noted that this room makes them feel uncomfortable. The team tested the bedroom door that is alleged to have slammed shut. We found it to be a normal working door with no tendency to swing shut on its own. The team performed several EVP sessions throughout the evening. Fringe stationed a video camera looking up the stairway to the second floor in an attempt to capture any evidence of the previously mentioned shadow figure. For the most part the investigation was uneventful. However, later in the evening the team heard a loud bang or thud which seemed to emanate from the bedroom on the first floor directly adjacent to our position. This is the same room where the door is claimed to have slammed shut of its own accord. At around 2:00 am the Fringe team ended the investigation.

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Analysis

Our readings in certain parts of the basement, in particular one six by six foot room, indicate high levels of EMF. We believe that the high readings in this room may account for the uncomfortable feelings experienced by some members of the family towards this area. The family had stated that upon move in they had found a battered mattress literally stuck to the floor of this room and that there was a lock on the outside of the door to this room. The family felt that this was somewhat odd and eerie. We believe that this “creep” factor in addition to the abnormally high EMF readings may explain the feelings of unease in this part of the home. In regards to the self slamming door on the first floor, we originally thought that this could possibly be explained by air currents due to the location of a window directly across from the door. However, upon reflection we due not believe this to be the case. The houses in this part of the city are positioned close together which would not allow a strong wind to enter through the window unabated. The force of any wind entering through the window in question would not, in our opinion, be enough to cause the door to slam shut; nor would it be sufficient to slam the door with the amount of violent force as described by the family. The family has claimed seeing a shadow person on the stairs. The human eye has many cone receptor cells in the periphery. Cone receptors are very sensitive to changes in light intensity. These receptors are not made for seeing color or shape though. Color and shape are perceived better by looking at something in more of a straight ahead manner. If a person detects a change in light intensity from their peripheral vision they may interpret it as motion. When they turn to face this motion and see nothing they may interpret this as a shadow person or a ghost. This may explain some of the sightings of shadow people in this home. If the witnesses saw a shadow figure head on then this explanation may not be sufficient however. We can not explain the noise from the first floor bedroom. We did not notice anything out of place or strewn about after that audible experience.

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Conclusion

We have been able to explain or suggest viable explanations for some of the activity in the home. The family does not feel threatened by the activity as a whole and the Fringe Paranormal team tends to agree. The family has expressed the desire to have a house blessing as a matter of custom due to their religious faith and the team is in the process of procuring someone to assist with that matter.

Prepared for Fringe Paranormal by Don C

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Investigators Present
Kelly S.
Don C.
David T.
Jake K.
Tony A.
AL  L.
Tami L.

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History and Claims

The barn on the property was moved from its previous location in the 1940s due to its proximity to high tension wires and a well.  The first signs of activity related to this out building began in 1960.  It is reported that at times during loud gatherings in the barn witnesses were pelted with rocks, seemingly from out of nowhere.  Lights allegedly went off and hay was seen falling from the rafters above.  Activity has also been reported around the family home.  Family members have seen the shadowy figure of a man around the kitchen window.  There are also reports of a lady dressed in paisley among other apparitions seen by others.

.Investigation

The Fringe team arrived around 8:00pm on a clear evening.  The investigation tonight would entail investigating the detached barn on the property to see if we could verify claims of paranormal activity.  Upon arrival we went through a run down of the claims and took a survey of the location.  During our inspection we discovered a large oblong stone along the property line inscribed with a name.  We think this may be some type of old corner stone as we were informed that the barn had been relocated from another area on the property to its present location. The barn is large and is divided into three main sections; two of which are used for storage of vehicles and assorted items and are one story.  The third section has two floors with the second floor accessible via a wooden staircase.  This portion of the barn is partitioned into smaller areas such as would be used for housing livestock. The upper loft is currently in use as a storage area.  We focused the investigation around this third area and its loft as well as the area around the outside of the barn.  The team started by taking base EMF readings. Readings were within acceptable levels and likely play no part in skewing any results or sensory perceptions at this location.  Fringe Paranormal conducted several EVP sessions during the night.  We also kept a look out for any type of peculiar goings-on.  The team played a portable radio in an attempt to elicit activity. The homeowner had reported that stones had been thrown by an unseen agent in the past while loud music was played in the barn.  We experienced no such activity.  The remainder of the night was uneventful with nothing out of the ordinary occurring. The team wrapped up the investigation around 11pm.

.Analysis

The Fringe team was unable to verify the existence of any sort of paranormal activity during this investigation.  The lack of activity may be due to several factors:  weather or environmental conditions may have dampened activity; the location is not the seat of paranormal activity; paranormal activity is unpredictable and simply did not manifest.

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Conclusion

During this particular investigation we did not experience anything out of the ordinary.  The claims of paranormal activity associated with the barn may have been an isolated incident.  As there have been claims associated with other parts of the property other than the barn, we can not dismiss these claims without a full investigation. The team shall remain open to performing a follow up investigation.

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Prepared for Fringe Paranormal by Don C.

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The doorway between life and death is a  portal which must be opened with care.  Sometimes those who enter are uninvited guests.  A home in Napoleon, Ohio may have played host to some of these unwelcome entities.  The Fringe team paid a visit to investigate the strange happenings in the home of a local family.  Join the Fringe team as we investigate one of our most fascinating cases.

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Investigation Date:   June 18, 2011
Location:                    Napoleon, Ohio

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Investigators Present
Don C.
Kelly S.
Peggy D.
Al  L.
Tami L.

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History and Claims

This Italianate residence was built in the 1800’s and was home to some prominent Henry county residents.  Some of these residents lived in the home for many years, which may be an important fact as we go into the claims of this location.  It is also interesting to note that this home is in Napoleon, Ohio which is also the location of the Scott House. The Scott House is on the historical register and is also thought to play host to unexplained activity.  
Claims of paranormal activity began shortly after the current tenants took up residence at the investigation location.  There are many reports of doors opening and slamming shut and loud bangs inside the home.  In the main bedroom upstairs the tablecloth on an antique side table is often found to have an end flipped up.  A seashell which rests on the same table is often found to be moved from the table into the middle of the bedroom doorway.  Other items have been reported missing only to turn up in a different area of the home. Pictures hanging in the room are often found askew upon the wall.  The smell of an old fashioned perfume can be smelled at times.  All family members have reported experiences.  Members have heard voices as well as the sound of a baby crying.  This activity is deemed benign.  However, as we get into more claims respecting this location we start to notice more negative experiences.  Some family members report an overall feeling of depression and tension.  Feelings of being watched are common. The mother reports walking through the kitchen and around a corner and having someone or something scream in her face.  Shadow entities,  resembling a medium size dog, have been spotted near the basement.  Family members feel negative emotions connected with the basement.  Both mother and father speak of an incident involving a very bad argument in the basement.  During this incident they report being able to see his breath (it was a normal warm day) and report that the hairs on their bodies were standing up.
The 18 year old daughter has feelings of being watched and reports the bathroom door trying to forcefully open one time while showering. The smaller children in the home have had nightmares and are said to stare out their bedroom door.  The husband reports being scratched on the chest while in the basement .  Recently the family reports a pungent odor emanating in the living room.  The family states that they would like a house blessing in addition to an investigation.

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Investigation

Upon arrival the Fringe team took a tour of the home and discussed the plan for the evening. Fringe split into two units. Don and Al formed one team and Kelly, Peggy and Tami formed another. We placed stationary digital voice recorders in the upstairs bedroom and in the basement. Base EMF readings were logged in key areas throughout the home. Teams rotated between the basement, first floor and second floor and both teams were issued K II meters. The homeowners were present during our investigation.  As Don and Al investigated the basement one family member claimed to have heard a “crawling” or shuffling sound near the water heater. The husband stated that he saw a strange shadow. At one point during an EVP session in the basement a name associated with the history of the home was mentioned.  At this point an audible “ping” was heard.  We tried several more times to get some type of reaction but were unsuccessful.  Throughout the evening both units investigated conducted EVP sessions and observed the environment for any anomalies.  It should be noted that we also made a point of investigating the garage. The garage is disconnected from the home and was not a source of any claims of paranormal activity.  We opted to investigate this part of the property due to the fact that two possible trigger objects were being stored there by the occupants.  One of the objects, an antique mirror, was originally located in the downstairs bathroom.  The other object, a cloth rag, once belonged to a practitioner of Wicca.  The homeowners felt that these objects may have triggered some of the activity alleged to have occurred in certain areas of the home.  During our time in the garage nothing of note took place.  At around 3:00 am the team wrapped up the investigation.

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Analysis

Analysis of the audio recorders revealed no anomalies. During the evening there were no EMF spikes or significant K-II up ticks. As mentioned previously, the clients did have some experiences in the basement. However, our agents experienced nothing out of the ordinary. Examination of still photography revealed nothing of note.  Prior to our investigation at the residence, we were provided with audio supplied by the client.  On the audio one can clearly hear many bangs and thumps and an EVP. We have no reason that believe that the audio was in any way doctored.  Our many pre-investigation  and follow up interviews lead us to the conclusion that the family is stable and of sound mind. We are confident in the sincerity of the family with regard to the paranormal claims associated with this residence.  

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Conclusion

The Fringe Paranormal team cannot verify any of the claims at the home.  Based on our evidence and experiences during this particular investigation at this particular time we can not confirm that this location is the seat of any paranormal activity.  However, in accordance with the wishes of the family, the team enlisted one of its members to bless the home.  Prior to the investigation the family expressed a desire to have the home blessed.  They had previously contacted a local church and were denied.  We called upon Todd P., an ordained minister, to perform the blessing.  Upon arrival, Todd spoke with the family about his qualifications, their expectations, and what the blessing would entail.  After the blessing, the family stated that they felt things went in a positive manner.  We believe that the blessing, if it did not curtail any negative activity, may have at least stopped any possible activity from morphing into something more sinister.  Fringe has informed that family that we will continue to make ourselves available to them should they need any type of assistance.

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House Blessing Audio

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Prepared for Fringe Paranormal by Don C

Special thanks to Todd P. for his specialized assistance