Author Archives: charlene
The Moon’s Effect- Does A Full Moon Have An Effect On Paranormal Activity?
By Ian Ainsley
For centuries tales of the moon and links to the supernatural have circulated amongst the masses in particular full moons.
Many ancient beliefs and practices believed that the spirit world is more noticeable during the phases of a full moon and would use the full moons as a chance to perform rituals to speak to the spirit realm.
Now it could be that this is a genuine occurrence that activity increases during a full moon but then again it could also be put down to Luna Madness or the Luna Lunacy Effect or quite simply it could all just be a myth passed down through the ages gaining credibility as it goes.
There are many paranormal teams that will say activity is greater during the full moon then there are others that will say it doesn’t have much of an affect on activity at all.
It is widely believed that a full moon can affect people in certain ways. We all know that the moon’s gravitational pull affects the tides but can it actually affect a person? If we look at what is known about the human body and how it is made up of 75-80% of water there is a strong chance that when the moon is full and at its strongest it could in theory affect a person in terms of what they are thinking.
Say for instance a person has hidden emotions of anger then it is quite possible that during a full moon that emotion could manifest itself stronger than it usually is causing a person to act out of character. This could very well explain some if not all of the folklore tales of werewolves not in terms of a physical change but on a mental level it certainly could make a person behave more animal like acting off basic animal instincts.
So in theory it is possible that full moons could cause a person who is inclined to thoughts of the paranormal to believe they are experiencing something paranormal or quite possibly it could cause that individuals mind to trick itself into hallucinating and seeing what they believe to be an apparition.
In conclusion not enough is known on the topic of the paranormal and the full moon to be able to pass judgement as to a definitive answer to whether full moons have an influence on paranormal activity or not so I will leave it up to you to decide whether or not you believe it does or not.
It’s certainly a topic that intrigues me and one I would like to attempt to put to the test with my team Project Paranormal at some point.
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Harry Price: Dweller on the Threshold
By David Fox
‘Harry fought a long, lone battle against, on the one hand, the Victorian educated scientists who derided the occult and, on the other, fanatical believers in spiritualism whose favourite mediums he exposed as frauds.’
Dennis Wheatley
Harry Price (1881 to 1948) is remembered today as perhaps the most famous ghost hunter and psychical investigator of all time. The intrepid scientist’s study ofBorley Rectory in Suffolk, purported to be ‘The Most Haunted House in England’, from 1929 until his death brought him international recognition and cemented his reputation as a colossus within the field of occult research. Nonetheless, this extraordinary figure became an object of both acclaim and disdain during his lifetime. Some commentators viewed Price merely as a sensationalist who sought publicity by courting the supernatural, whilst others championed him as a genuine truth seeker – selflessly dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of the universe.
Indeed, Price’s commitment and dedication to the investigation of preternatural phenomena cannot be understated. He founded The National Laboratory for Psychical Research, compiled one of the largest libraries of the occult in the world, and was one of the first scientists to apply a rigorous and methodical approach when testing the authenticity of psychics and hauntings. Price utilised state-of-the-art technologies such as pressure sensors and infra red photography in his quest into the unpredictable and inhospitable shadow realm of spirits, poltergeists and demons. His capacity and appetite for conducting painstaking research – in often freezing and isolated locations in the dead of night – has set the bench mark exceptionally high for all psychical explorers. In Borley Rectory alone Price recorded no fewer than sixty different types of supernatural occurrence.
Borley Rectory in Suffolk – The Most Haunted House in England.
Contemporary ‘ghost hunters’ frequently pay homage to Price’s considerable influence and achievements, but few are actually aware of his background in the art of conjuring and legerdemain. A lifelong member of the prestigious Magic Circle, his interest in this amazing art form began at an early age when he witnessed a performance of The Great Sequah in Shrewsbury market place. The young Price was mesmerised by the magician and this profound experience clearly catalysed an inner yearning for the mysterious.
‘The Conjurer’ by Bosch. Magic and the Occult have always been closely linked.
Thus, like the great Harry Houdini (who successfully debunked numerous fraudulent psychics in the US), an understanding of the art of magic allowed Price to deduce what secret artifices or methods, if any, were being deployed by supposed soothsayers and mediums during his research. The story of the famous ‘spirit photographer’ William Hope is well documented and is an example of one of Price’s many skirmishes withSpiritualists who normally felt threatened by his research. The scientist was more than aware of how accomplished magicians can surreptitiously ‘switch’ objects, undetected by audiences, in order to achieve startling outcomes. This was precisely what Hope was doing with the photographic plates, and Price quickly concluded that his ‘spirit images’ were actually frauds. Indeed, this damning revelation set the tone for most of Price’s investigations into Spiritualists and clairvoyants. He attended hundreds of séances and was rarely convinced by the authenticity of the spectacle. Lifelong friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes – but himself an ardent Spiritualist) frequently expressed his anger at Price’s findings and urged him to be more sympathetic towards individuals of a psychical disposition.
Like the Great Houdini, Price’s knowledge of magic helped him ‘debunk’ fraudulent mediums.
Nonetheless, in the midst of a seemingly incessant tide of fraudulence and deceit, Price did encounter some incredible individuals who genuinely appeared to possess exceptional extra sensory talents. The most notable is perhaps Ms Stella C who, unlike the majority of clairvoyants and mediums, did not accept money for conducting séances and was not interested in forging a career in this field. Price and others observed the occurrence of genuine telekinetic phenomena in her presence, and she also incredibly predicted (with an uncanny accuracy which startled even Price) what would appear on the front page of The Daily Mail several weeks in advance.
Price was further led to speculate that it may be ‘highly probable’ that some individuals actually can communicate with the deceased. A séance in 1930 with the clairvoyant Mrs Eileen Garrett, who was not a Spiritualist, provided some of the most extraordinary results ever obtained in the field of psychical exploration. Garrett claimed to be in communion with Flight-Lieutenant H Carmichael Irwin, the captain of the doomed R101 Airship which had tragically crashed in France two days earlier. All the crew and passengers had been killed, but the psychic was accurately able to relay intricate details about the sequence of events which led to the fatal accident. Specialised technological information about the airship itself, of which Garrett could not possibly have known, were also provided. Price contacted the RAF with his findings and they concluded that 70% of Eileen Garrett’s account was exactly precise, 20% was ‘most likely’ and the remainder was rather confused.
The medium Eileen Garrett recounted intricate details of the R101 disaster.
Such examples of Price’s work reveal that as well as earning a reputation as a sceptical man of science, he did have a sensitivity towards psychics and was prepared to reveal instances of what appeared to be genuine ‘supernatural’ phenomena. Indeed, his feud with fellow magicians the Maskelynes would reveal how he was often prepared to defend psychics who he believed were genuine. Nevil Maskelyne had long claimed that his brother Clive could duplicate all types of ‘supposed spiritual phenomena’ a medium could create in a séance. However, Price challenged this statement and alleged that he had witnessed events in séance rooms which even the most accomplished of conjurers would struggle to produce.
Magicians can amaze audiences with seemingly ‘psychical phenomena’.
Enigmatic and complex, the life of Harry Price is arguably even more perplexing than the mediums, spirits and poltergeists he documented along the way. It is intensely intriguing when a talented and highly intelligent individual is drawn to devote his entire life to the study of a fringe subject such as the occult. They run the risk of being ostracised, condemned and ridiculed by their peers. So why did Harry Price decide to embark upon such an atypical and arduous journey which would ultimately lead him to the bowels of desolate dilapidated mansions, the icy spectral solitude of cemeteries, and the sinister sultry environs of fraudulent medium’s séance parlours? Was he merely a deluded moonstruck eccentric shying away from the harsh realities of life? Or should we celebrate him as a heroic pioneer who conducted invaluable research into an area which has been largely ignored or overlooked by many of the greatest minds over the centuries?
Psychical researchers can easily become objects of ridicule. Why did Price choose this path?
The author of the article is David Fox, a professional magician and freelance writer.
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Harry Price: The Scientific Investigator
By David Barriett
Throughout history, there have been many scientists who have held paranormal/supernatural beliefs. Sir Isaac Newton was obsessed with numerology and astrology. William Crookes was deeply interested in seances, spiritualism and paranormal phenomena. Oliver Lodge was fascinated by the idea of thought thought transfer. Charles Richet believed we are capable of having genuine premonitions and that we have a 6th sense. And Marie Curie’s husband, Pierre, was passionate about mediumship and attended many seances.
I have been asked if there is a paranormal investigator that I would have liked to have worked with. I answer Harry Price, who many consider the first celebrity paranormal investigator. Although he didn’t have a scientific background, he would use scientific techniques in his research, and also to debunk and expose frauds. Price became an expert in magic tricks and slight of hand tricks, and used this knowledge to be able to expose the tricks that some of the mediums were using. He would use his scientific knowledge to conduct experiments and prove fakery.
Harry Price is probably best known for his investigation of Borley Rectory in Essex, England. He lived there for a year from May 1937 to May 1938. He wrote about his experiences, and also the supposed hauntings of the building since it was built in 1863.
Harry Price aimed to use a scientific approach during his study of the paranormal. He tried to explain and debunk all stories of ghosts, myths, activity and seances.
Although not so much with today’s ‘celebrity’ investigators, scientific research still exists with the paranormal field. Serious investigators and researchers have taken a backseat in the media to the tv personalities of shows such as Most Haunted, Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventurers.
Recently, accomplished physicist Brian Josephson was in the media stating that he believes that quantum physics will help to understand the basic properties of telepathy and telekinesis.
I believe that there are many scientists who do believe in the paranormal and that science can help with the research, but I feel they are worried that their reputations would be tarnished if they were to admit to it.
Pictured below is some of the equipment Harry would use during his investigsting.
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Understanding Cults and Covens
By Red Ridge X – Cults & Covens.
On more than one occasion I have been asked if I’m in some sort of cult. More often than not it is no surprise as this usually occurs while I’m with a group of people sat around a stone circle or found in a wood. My answer to this question is “No” but was I giving that answer without understanding what the word cult really means and saying “No” to avoid anyone thinking I was in some brainwashed death cult ready for suicide on the next full moon or hell bent on opening a portal to another dimension with a plan to take control of the world.
So what does the word Cult mean.
The word cult is a controversial one due to the fact it is usually used as an attack against certain groups. The word cult was given the characteristic of a small religious group that carried beliefs or customs that operated outside the main religion of an area or countries society. It was then magnified as a negative word when cult was classed as a small deviant religious group. It did not take long for anti-cult movements to take hold. After looking at the original usage of the word that dates back to the 17th century I found the word was introduced from the French adaptation (Culte) of the Latin word Cultus. Cultus simply means worship. The Latin word Cultus is also linked to other words like cultivated and culture referring to social and religious groups with particular beliefs, forms and material identity.
My conclusion is that the word cult means a group of people that do their own thing in a way that may differ to the norm.
Examples of Cults.
Some of the most well known religions of today started out as a cult. Christianity started as a small cult with followers facing death for simply following. While mentioning Christianity there is and as been many cults setup as a branch of Christianity for instance the Unity Church is a Christian movement where some will choose to call them a cult, it does not mean that they have a negative effect on their followers or anyone at all but their called a cult and some may call them a sect or church.
Some cults do have a disastrous ending with a negative outcome. David Koresh was booted out from his Church of the Seventh Day Adventist for been radical. A self proclaimed messiah telling his followers the end is neigh under the cult name Branch Davidians, he brought about the death of around 75 of his followers after a 51 day siege in Waco.
In 1997 39 members of Heaven’s Gate killed themselves so they could reach a spaceship that was following a comet.
In whole the nature of most cults can have a varied effect with some emerging and becoming an established cult or religion while others will fade away never to be heard of again with all traces lost to the sands of time.
I remember as a child been fascinated with the Knights Templar a major order within the Christian religion which then became reduced to a cult like status that lead to a witch hunt resulting in many Templar deaths. Some groups today are still in operation with a long reaching history and sometimes confused with the Templar’s for instance there is the Knights of St John/Knights of Malta. I have done my own research into the history of the Knights of St John even taking a trip to Malta a place of immense history with regards to the Knights and discovering there are other smaller groups that gather in their name.
We at Red Ridge are also very interested in what particular groups are active in England and our local area and I can say with confidence as it surprised me that there are more groups of a varied scope active up and down the country. In my local area I have come across an amazing diversity and I can safely say I have enjoyed the company of them all and at the same time have learnt so much from them.
Covens.
As I mentioned above I have come across various groups from Buddhism to Voodoo. One group I spent a lot of time with was a coven. A coven is a gathering of witches and the word itself was not used much in English until the 20th century. The best part of 20 years ago I started becoming very interested in alternative faiths and came across people practicing Wicca and Witchcraft after attending a pagan moot (a meeting of like minded people discussing various paths and more often than not in a pub) I soon found there was a few moots in the area held mostly once a month and included a wide variety of people from different professions and backgrounds. The variety of opinions ,theories and styles of rituals and practice was amazing and I naturally wanted this experience more than once a month so a group of us formed a closed circle for spiritual development which carried on for a year or so, in this time we were introduced to the use of tarot cards, pendulum, Ouija board and many other divination techniques. Besides the divination they also explained ideas of karma and the cycles of nature that they recognize and implement in their rituals. After sticking with this for a while myself, brother and a couple of others were invited into a practicing coven that we stayed with for a few years. While in this coven we witnessed how they embedded many rituals into their everyday life and how they viewed particular aspects of nature. While in the coven we completed our 3 degrees of Wicca initiation and developed our own coven name, but we are not making it public until we have found what we are looking for. For Wicca and Witchcraft an article can never be enough as there is many forms and paths of the craft and personalized by each coven. A lot of covens do write down their ways of thinking, rituals and other details in books that are sometimes called a Book of Shadows.
So looking back through what I wrote about myself in this article you could say after looking at the original usages of the word that cult you could say yes I have been in a few cults in my time and a coven. I hope this article also provides the idea that cults are not bad or evil and that like most things in life it’s merely down to people’s intentions.
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