Throughout recorded history and probably back beyond that, the idea of the
psychic vampire has haunted mankind’s dreams. Strange mystical, mythical
creatures who lurked in the darker recesses of the human mind, these beings were
thought to sap the energy of living mortals, reducing them, unless stopped, to
shadows of their former selves. People who, for no apparent reason, became
continuously tired, listless and lethargic were often thought to have been
visited by vampires or evil spirits. The medieval Christian Church, always eager to give shape and form to such
things as a means of keeping their congregations in line, called them incubi and
sucubi, male and female forms of the evil demons (medieval psychic vampires) to
which they added a sexual context. Anyone having dreams of a sexual nature were
said to have been visited by either an incubus or a sucubus who planted the
sinful ideas in the minds of weak mortals as a means of ensnaring them.
The psychic vampire is, of course, a very close relation to the more
widespread and “popular” blood vampire that appears in literature, film and
popular drama, the epitome of which is Count Dracula. The principle remains the
same from physical blood-lusting vampire to psychic energy-grabbing vampires in
that the Count drains the life force through the actual physical blood whereas
the psychic vampire is more subtle, draining the life force by destroying the
“will” of its victim. In many ways, the typical vampire scenario such as Count
Dracula, casts the vampire in the role of ultimate incubus. It is a creature of
the night (darkness), evil in “human” form. Its victims are invariably young,
attractive women, although it is not averse to the odd male now and again should
the need arise or should there be no other available source. Like its cousin,
the Psychic Vampire, (who is not so fussy as to the gender of its victims)
Dracula and his ilk are after your immortal soul...
The
seeds of the hysteria that afflicted Salem Village, Massachusetts were sown in
January 1692 when a group of young girls began to display bizarre behavior. The
tight-knit community was at a loss to explain the convulsive seizures,
blasphemous screaming, and trance-like states that afflicted the youngsters. The
physicians called in to examine the girls could find no natural cause of the
disturbing behavior. If the source of the affliction was not attributable to a
physical malady, the community reasoned that it must be the work of Satan.
Witches had invaded Salem. In February the village began praying and fasting in
order to rid itself of the devil's influence. The girls were pressured to reveal
who in the community controlled their behavior. Three women were identified and
examined. One, Tituba (a slave), confessed to seeing the devil who appeared to
her "sometimes like a hog and sometimes like a great dog." Even more troubling,
Tituba confessed that a conspiracy of witches permeated Salem Village.
In March the afflicted girls
accused Martha Corey. The three women previously denounced as colluding with the
devil were marginal to the community. Martha Corey was different; she was an
upstanding member of the Puritan congregation - her revelation as a witch
demonstrated that Satan's influence reached to the very core of the community.
Events snowballed as the accusatory atmosphere intensified and reached a fever
pitch. During the period from March into the fall many were charged, examined,
tried and condemned to death. The hangings started in June with the death of
Bridget Bishop and continued through September. As winter approached, the
hysteria played itself out as criticism of the procedures grew. In October, the
colonial governor dissolved the local Court of inquiry. The convictions and
condemnations for witchery stopped. Nineteen victims of the witch-hunt had been
hanged, one crushed to death under the weight of stones and at least four died
in prison awaiting trial...
Himmler's Fortress of Fear:
Rumours of prominent Nazis' involvement with the realm of the occult have
persisted for decades. Nick Brownlow and Jonathan Turner visited the SS
headquarters at Wewelsburg Castle to unearth the truth behind SS-Reichsführer
Heinrich Himmler's vision of an ancient and noble Aryan prehistory that verified
the superiority of the Master Race.
In Central
Germany's Alma valley, a striking 17th-century castle overlooks the
picture-postcard scenery that stretches in every direction; jutting majestically
above green trees and bathed in sunshine, it looks more like something out of
Cinderella than a former Nazi headquarters. And yet the story of Wewelsburg
Castle is irretrievably intertwined with the insanity and cruelty at the very
heart of the Third Reich.
In 1933, SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, the second most powerful man in
Germany, chose the stronghold as the site of a new Nazi Mecca, a place he
planned to transform into the very "centre of the world". His efforts to turn
this vision into reality would claim the lives of over 1,200 people.
Over the years, Wewelsburg has become a symbol of the alleged Nazi obsession
with the occult. (See FT81: 37-40; 175:34-35; 48-52) Some have claimed that
Himmler chose the site because it lies on a nexus of 'ley' energies; others have
suggested that bizarre rituals were carried out there by cults within the Nazi
party. It has even been alleged that the castle's North Tower was such a
storehouse of powerful magical energies that all attempts to destroy it at the
end of the war were in vain.
While the reality is considerably more mundane than some of these outlandish
theories would have us believe, it is ultimately no less bizarre.
Wewelsburg lies in Westphalia – "the land of Hermann and Widukind", as Himmler
himself put it. Himmler had been considering two other sites as centres for the
SS, but after viewing Wewelsburg on 3 November 1933, during a tour of the Reich,
he made his decision that same night...
A
ouija board is a medium through which messages are supposedly communicated by
the dead to or through the players of seance. Ouija boards are also known as
"witch boards" and "talking boards." The nickname "ouiji" or "weejie" is also
used quite a bit. The word "ouija" is actually a combination of two words, the
french word "oui" and the German word "ja." Both words mean "yes" in
english.
Many Spiritualists and investigators into the occult have held that the
board is a means for making direct contact with the dead and that the messages
which are spelled out are from the dead. Others have held that the messages are
suggestions from the unconscious mind or the result of muscular tension and
unconscious direction of the hand. The playing pieces consist of a game board
(like a Monopoly board) and a pointer, called a planchette. The game
board has all the letters of the alphabet written on it. The numbers 0-9 are
also usually included, along with yes/no and hello/goodbye spaces. The layout
of a typical board looks like this: The pointer is made of plastic or glass, and
either points to the letters with one end or has a clear window embedded in it
through which one can view the letters.To play, two or more people lightly touch
the pointer and concentrate on a question. Now, first place your fingers (this
works best with a friend, by the way) gently on the glass and concentrate. Than
after having asked the relevant question, the glass will start to move and point
to various letters, which will form words and sentences and provide with the
answer to your question .The pointer may work as the result of tiny involuntary
physical movements, and the messages you see are coming from your subconscious
or psychic mind...
Aleister
Crowley was born October 12th, 1875 at 36 Clarendon Square, Leamington,
Warwickshire, England as Edward Alexander Crowley into a wealthy and
religious family at the height of the Victorian era. Crowley despised and
rebelled against his family at every turn, even renaming himself 'Aleister' to
avoid sharing the same first name as his father, who passed away when Crowley
was 11. Like many naughty young boys, Aleister entertained himself through
several activities, notably creating a "homemade firework" with which he nearly
killed himself, as well as torturing a cat in several horrible ways to test the
"nine lives" theory. He dispensed of his virginity at age 14 with the help of a
maid. At 17, he contracted gonorrhea with the help of a street walker.
Crowley went on
to attend Cambridge University, where he apparently studied alpine
climbing, living in the manner of the privileged aristocracy and having a great
deal of sex with both men and women. He also began working in the Diplomatic
Service, but as Crowley himself said "the fame of an ambassador rarely outlives
a century", and Crowley wished to make a greater imprint on the world.
Having had this epiphany, he began searching for more lasting pursuits and in
1898, at age 23, Crowley began his path of magical enlightenment by joining The
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Led by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers other
members included such notables such as William Butler Yeats, Maud Gonne,
Constance Wilde, (the wife of Oscar Wilde), Arthur Machen, Moina Bergson, Arthur
Edward Waite, Florence Farr, Algernon Blackwood and possibly, though records for
their membership are shaky, Sax Rohmer and Bram Stoker. The Golden Dawn's
contribution to the Western Magical Tradition is definitely worth noting,
because it was their synthesis of the Kabbalah, alchemy, tarot, astrology,
divination, numerology, Masonic symbolism, and ritual magic into one coherent
and logical system which led them to influence countless occult organizations to
come...
Anthony North: Can the word ‘one’ be of use to understanding the occult? ‘One’ is an all inclusive word. On the one hand it means an individual - an individual person, a single number. Yet on the other it has a mysticism about it that enshrines all. To be as one is to belong, to be communal, to be in sympathy with everything. Hence, ‘one’ can mean the individual and the entirety, and has often been used as a description of God.Words with such duality are an enigma in themselves. For instance, wh... Read More
Anthony North: No occult figure is more puzzling than the Count Saint Germain. Always dressed in black, but decorated by diamond jewellery, Saint Germain first appears in Vienna about 1740 when he moves in high circles after curing a French Marshal of illness.Where the Count came from, no one knows - there are many versions of his birth from being the son of a Hungarian prince, to the son of a Portuguese Jew, to the b****** child of a Bohemian nobleman. In a full life he was known as a great mus... Read More
Alexandra Holzer: A wise seasoned parapsychologist used to say, 'some of my best friends are ghosts!' 'Really?" I thought to myself. That is quite a statement and one showing bravery and understanding of the unknown. To have come to a point in one's investigative and curious life to feel that way, must have an underlying hidden meaning.Perhaps this individual, as many others, may also feel that ghosts are better to 'hang around' then some humans. I wouldn't d... Read More
Marsha West: Quicker than you can say “Quiddich” a wizard’s broomstick rocketed to the sky and inscribed a smoke trail message for all the world to see… Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows…has arrived! The long-awaited book was released at the stroke of midnight on July 21, putting an end to the suspense. The Potterites, under Harry’s spell for 10 years, now know his fate. Parents waited in long lines with their youngsters for hours on end so that little Danielle would have first crack at r... Read More
Anthony North: The Devil may seem an archaic symbol of evil, but he is supposed to be alive in the world to this day with his Satanic conspiracies. From the 1960s onwards, one expression of him was the Church of Satan, set up in San Francisco by occultist, Anton La Vey.Said to have perverted many a star, his ceremonies involved a naked woman as an altar and his philosophy was based on unbridled hedonism. The death of Jane Mansfield was even put down, by some, to their rituals. Who is he ? The na... Read More
Anthony North: Of all the esoteric arts, none are more controversial than alchemy. Indeed, the standard image we have of the Magician – pointy hat, wise look on his ancient face, and surrounded by books and glass vials – is really that of the Alchemist. Existing in a world of mystery, the Alchemist seemed to be a dark, occult shadow over much of Europe from Medieval times to the birth of the modern world. And his claims were quite often fantastic.Famous alchemists: Europe produced many alchemist... Read More