The Fox Sisters-Confession of Fraud

Modern Spiritualism is, the thought that, the soul does not die. The spirit sheds the body and lives on, still able to communicate with the living.

Kate and Maggie Fox recognized as the founders of modern spiritualism started it all in a small town called Hydesville, NY in 1848. They took the world by storm for the next 40 years, starting a fad that thousands had followed. This caught the attention of critics who then investigated these mediums at séance’s. Many mediums were caught at fraud. Though, Kate and Maggie were investigated by hundreds of folks from all over the world they were never caught at fraud.

October 21, 1888 Maggie did the unimaginable at the New York Academy of Music, in front of a crowd of hundreds. Kate watching from a balcony gave her silent approval. Maggie dealt, what was called a death blow to spiritualism.

 She said it was all a fraud, the knocks that were made, she made with her toes. She described it as perfect control of the muscles below the knee. After the confession of fraud, she then stood on a small table and gave the crowd a demonstration of how she made the knocks, with her toes. Doctors on the stage confirmed the knocks were coming from her big toe.

They’ve gone 40 years undetected, so why the confession? Many say the girls were very mischievous, who lived a life of fraud. But there are other reasons that may have prompted Maggie to confess.

 One reason may have been her husband whom passed away many years ago, wanted her to give up talking to the spirits and convert to the catholic religion.  Which she did, her husband (Elisha Kane) died soon after that and she eventually went back to talking to the spirits. It is believed the Catholic Church, which frowned on her, wanted her to give up spiritualism as she did before.

Another reason was her older sister Leah. Many believe the confession was to get back at Leah, who Kate and Maggie thought took advantage of them over the years. Back in 1848, when Leah discovered the girls were talking to spirits she took the girls in and began doing séances in her home, being their manager. Then over the years she took them all over New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Collecting what Maggie said to be 150.00 a night. Over the years Leah made her money and no longer needed the girls. She married into a well to do family, and wrote a book about spiritualism (the missing link). The book was about how she contacted spirits, both Kate and Maggie said most of the book was lies. She left the girls to fend for themselves.

Over the years, Kate and Maggie became heavy drinkers. Kate finally with the advice from the spirit of Benjamin Franklin during a séance decided to travel abroad and clean herself up. She did she moved to France and got married and had 2 children. She continued séances over the next 10 years and did make a manse with her sister Leah. Kate’s husband died and she moved back to the states, she moved in with Leah.

That didn’t last long, she soon moved out on her own. It’s believed that Leah was trying to take control of her life again. Kate was on her own for many years she didn’t need someone to tell her how to take care of her children. 

Kate soon took to drinking again, and was then arrested for neglect of her children. She had a 12 year old and a 14 year old at home and she was drunk. The police took her children from her and put them in a home. Both, Kate and Maggie believed that Leah was behind all of this. Which prompted them to confess of fraud with the hopes it may ruin Leah’s good name.

Finally the last reason was a reporter allegedly offered Maggie 1500.00 if she did a demonstration of how she produced the raps. Maggie being in hard times took the offer.

There could be many more reasons why Maggie confessed. It could be it really was a fraud and a huge burden to carry. A year later Maggie said she was pressured into calling it a fraud, and said she still believes and talks to the spirits.

Kate may have been the real deal. Kate was the first to question the raps and discovered that the raps did answer. She was also said to go into a trance like state. Kate produced all kinds of phenomena such as: table tipping, automatic writing, pictures, raps, knocks, and apparitions.

William Crookes of England was a well known chemist. He was out to prove fraud among the mediums and finally had Kate join him in his laboratory. Like other investigators before him, he couldn’t find anything. She made a believer out of him. He said other mediums need a formal séance setting, not Kate. She only needed to place her hand on something. He held her hands and feet and still could hear raps in the room, and down the hall. A piece of paper held from a string would be rapped upon. He theorized that she may have been able to do this with her mind, thus the poltergeist theory was born,  he did said if it’s done with the mind you cannot rule out spirits.

Another thing worth mentioning, 1903 some children playing in the Hydesville home, that Kate and Maggie lived in, found a human skeleton behind a stone wall. A doctor said he believed the skeleton to be about 50 years old. The spirit that communicated with Kate and Maggie said he was a peddler who was murdered and buried in the basement, in 1848.

Mike Morris

On this Day - Happy Birthday Kathy Bates!

Happy Birthday Kathy Bates! Kathy Bates is one of my favorite actresses and she stars in two of my favorite psychological thrillers, Misery and Dolores Claiborne. These movies, conceived in the mind of master horror writer, Stephen King, show the dark depths our minds can plummet to when driven by madness and also motherly protection.

Bates won an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance in Misery. Bates played Annie Wilkes, a Misery Romance Novel fanatic who just happens to rescue her favorite romance author from a car accident and takes him into her home to “help” him. When she reads his new manuscript, the plot makes Annie go into a tailspin.

Dolores Claiborne is another movie based on the novel by Stephen King where Bates plays the lead role. This is a sad tale of a woman whose hard life progressively becomes worse when she loses the only thing she has left, her daughter. Dolores’ true character comes to light as she must confess the truth behind her actions. (Must see. I won’t spoil it for you.)

Kerri L. Schultz

On this Day - Birth of Wicca and Occult Author Scott Cunningham

The Birth of Wicca and Occult author Scott Cunningham.  Cunningham is considered one of the authorities on Wicca and Magic. His works include Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, which is his most successful work, as well, as Magical Herbalism, Earth Power, The Magical Household, and Cunnighham’s Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem, and Metal Magic to name a few.

Cunningham was born June 27, 1956 in Royal Oak, Michigan. Three years later his family moved to San Diego California. While attending high school, a classmate introduced him to Wicca and trained him in Wiccan spirituality. Cunningham went onto study creative writing at San Diego State University where he enrolled in 1978, but dropped out in 1980. He left college to write full time since he had more published works than several of his professors.  

Cunningham was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1983 and successfully battled the disease. In 1990, he fell ill while on a speaking  tour in Massachusetts and was diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis. Cunningham suffered several infections and succumbed to the disease in March 1993 at the age of 36.

For more information on Scott Cunningham visit: LLewelyn Publishing.

On this Day - The Pied Piper of Hamelin - Truth or Fairytale?

Everyone has heard of the Pied Piper not many know that the story stemmed from actual events in June of 1284 in Hamelin, Germany. The town of Hamelin was experiencing an infestation of rats and mice. A man, dressed in attire of many colors, mysteriously came into town and struck a deal with the people of the village. He promised to rid the village of the rats and mice but for a price, and the villagers agreed. The Piper pulled a small fife from his pocket and started to play. The vermin came running out from every house and began following the Piper who led them to the river where they were drowned. The Villagers soon regretted the amount they promised him and refused to pay.

The Piper left but returned on June 26, again dressed in colorful attire and playing his fife. This time, however, all of the village’s children came out of their houses and began following him. The Piper led the children out the town and they were never seen nor heard from again.

The citizen’s of the village recorded the event at town hall:

In the year 1284 after the birth of Christ

From Hameln were led away

One hundred thirty children, born at this place 

Led away by a piper into a mountain.

On the new gate of town hall the following was inscribed:

And on the new gate was inscribed: Centum ter denos cum magus ab urbe puellosduxerat ante annos CCLXXII condita porta fuit.

[This gate was built 272 years after the magician led the 130 children from the city.]

Many theorized at a possible cause for the disappearance of the children. Some believe the Pied Piper is symbolism for Black Death and the children died from disease. Another theory is that the children willingly abandon their parents to become the founders of their own colony in Eastern Europe. And yet another theory is that the children were sold to a recruiter from the Baltic region of Eastern Europe.

Despite all of these theories, proof of their fate has never been unearthed.

Kerri L. Schultz

On this Day - The Battle of Little Bighorn

Lt. Colonel George Custer

One of the most common places to find paranormal activity is battlegrounds. The savage deaths and heightened emotions of rage, terror and fear no doubt leave powerful energetic imprints.  These powerful energetic imprints can cause Residual Hauntings which in essence is the events happening over and over. Many people may see glimpses of these events occurring daily or at certain times of the year.

Today is the 135th anniversary of the Battle of Little Big Horn or Custer’s Last Stand. To the Sioux Indians involved in the fight, it was named the Battle of the Greasy Grass. As the name suggests, the location of the battle was near the Little Bighorn River in Big Horn County, Montana.

Sitting Bull

In the summer of 1876, military officials launched a campaign to force the Lakota and Cheyenne back to their reservations. Reportedly, at the same time military plans were forming, on June 5, 1876, a spiritual ceremony called the Sun Dance was performed on the Rosebud River in Montana by a number of Native American’s who joined the hostiles. Sitting Bull, who created the religious ceremony, had a vision of “soldier falling into his camp like grasshoppers from the sky.”

On June 25, 1876, three troops were coordinating to attack the Native Americans. One of these troops being the 7^th Cavalry led by Lt. Colonel George Custer. Custer’s scouts report that a village was spotted nearby, as well as, a group of about 40 warriors. Custer decided not to alert the main party and disobey orders to wait. He chose to attack the group of Native Americans, led by Crazy Horse, and discovered that Native Americans’ numbers tripled his own.

Crazy Horse

The battle ensued. The 7^th Calvary suffered 268 killed and 55 wounded which included Custer, his two brothers, brother-in-law, and nephew. The Native American’s were victorious with 36-136 killed and 168 wounded.

Today, many visitors to the place of battle have had many paranormal experiences. Some have seen and heard the spirits of both Indians and soldiers. People have also reported having a sense of deep sorrow. For more personal ghostly encounters from Little Big Horn visit http://www.hauntedhouses.com/states/mt/little_bighorn.cfm

Kerri L. Schultz

On this Day – OMG a UFO

June 24, 1947 – The FIRST reported UFO sighting is made my Kenneth Arnold near Mt. Rainier, Washington.

On this Day - A Demented Deadly Dance

June 24, 1374 – A sudden outbreak of St. John’s Dance breaks out in Aachen, Germany.

 

St. John’s dance was a sudden affliction which caused people to dance, jump, and twitch uncontrollably. Foaming at the mouth and epileptic convulsions were also signs of the illness, in addition to seeing hallucinations. Some people claimed to see spirits and would yell out the spirit’s name.  Many who have seen people experiencing St. John’s Dance compare it to seeing a person who is possessed by a demon.

There were three ways a person could be cured of the infirmity. A person could simply collapse from exhaustion, a “friend” would thump and hit you in the place that was most afflicted, or the most popular method of ceasing the dance was putting a cloth around your wait and pulling tightly. Priests even performed exorcisms. The cures for St. John’s Dance would cause the ill person to drop to the ground in exhaustion and agony.

This mysterious illness was not only confined Aachen. It spread from throughout the whole of Germanyand to the North West neighboring countries. Was St. John’s Dance a demon epidemic running wild? Or was it possible that a toxin was making these people act strangely?

Kerri L. Schultz

Enemy is Killed by Slain Foe’s Teeth

Traditionally, in ancient times, it was common to behead your defeated foe and display their head as a trophy for a hard fight won. This was such the case of Sigurid the Mighty of Orkney who won his battle with Máel Brigte. Returning to his home, Sigurid strapped the head of Máel to his horse’s saddle. Most unfortunate for Sigurid, he did not realize that Máel’s teeth grazed against his bar leg as he rode and breaking skin. This caused a fatal infection and Sigurid soon died.  It appears Máel won even after death. 

On this Day - A Possessed Girl is Born

June 22, 1959 – Linda Blair born. Linda Blair is the actress who played the demonically possessed girl Regan in the 1973 movie The Exorcist.

The originally book The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty was based on the true story of Robbie Mannheim who experienced an exorcism in 1949. While Robbie Mannheim is the young man’s real named, the Catholic Church used the pseudonym Roland Doe.

Examining Robbie’s early childhood, the clergy found that Robbie was an only child and spent much of his time around adults. He frequently spent time with his Aunt Harriet who was a spiritualist and introduced him to the Ouija board. When Robbie turned 13 his Aunt Harriet passed away and it is speculated that Robbie tried to contact his aunt using the Ouija board which eventually led to his demon possession.

Poltergeist activity ensued following Aunt Harriet’s death but specifically centered around Robbie. Several clergy members attempted to help Robbie but it was ultimately Rev. Walter Halloran and Rev. William S. Bolden who successfully exorcised the demon. Overall, it took 30 tries over a two month period, but when it left, the priests claim there was a large thunderclap sound within the room.

It is not surprisingly that much of what occurred during the exorcisms is disputed. Some question the details or the plausibility of some of the events. Regardless of the dissention surrounding details, a psychiatric illness cannot be ruled out.

What did you think of the movie The Exorcist? Did it scare you?

Kerri Schultz

Djinn The Other Dark Entity

In the paranormal field today, there are many who are quick to say it’s a demon. It may be, but it may also be the other dark entity the djinn. The djinn are very capable of doing what a demon does and may even tell you they are a demon. There is one big difference. A demon possesses for the soul, djinn possess for their own goal or pleasure. Rosemary Ellen Guiley, author of Vengeful Djinn, said it best; they are the entity behind a mask.

Djinn, meaning hidden one, are very good at hiding who they really are. They will tell you they are a lot of things (demons, family members, loved ones, etc.) before they tell you they are a djinn. Though it is said if your persistent enough they will finally give up who they are and their name.

Who are the Djinn and where do they come from?

 God created the djinn from smokeless fire; the angels were created from the purist light long before man was created. Then God made man, god told the angels to bow down to his new creation and they did so, having no free will. God then told Eblis (the chief and father of the djinn) to bow down to his new creation; Eblis having free will did not. He said No! We will not bow down to human beings they are inferior to us; we have no reason to do so. God got angry and cast the djinn out of paradise and into a world that parallels ours.

There are good and evil djinn, just like every other creature, but most are evil because they believe that god has put humans in a better place. They desire to be here, were we are.

Djinn live much like we do; they have families, eat, sleep, and die. Unlike humans they can live for hundreds of years. They are very loyal to their kind; if you harm one, intentionally or not, they will come after you.  They have the ability to move between dimensions, slipping in and out of our world at will. It has been rumored that governments including the U.S. are trying to capture djinn to learn of their trans-dimensional powers.

Djinn are master shape-shifters. They can shape-shift into anything they choose including humans. Forms they like to take are shadow people, reptilian creatures, black dogs, and snakes. There are many stories where they took form of cows, camels, and trees, virtually anything.

As far as paranormal phenomena, djinn can create it all from bumps and knocks to full bodied apparitions. They are also known to use seductive forms, either male or female, much like the incubus or succubus. Djinn like to take on shadow people figures because they are featureless, they are known to stand in your bedroom while you are sleeping and observe.  Is the hooded shadow man and the hatman djinn?  Some believe they observe while we are sleeping to gather information, so they can hold a form for longer periods of time in our dimension. They also can possess a person, though this is for their own pleasure or goal.

 Rosemary Ellen Guiley stated that if the paranormal phenomena is chronic and just won’t go away it’s a good chance it’s a djinn.

Djinn aren’t demons, so exorcisms very seldom work on them (it is said it works on young djinn). More powerful djinn are very hard to get rid of. Most times you cannot force them out, you must bargain with them.

 

Channeling and Ouija boards, if you attempting to contact someone using this type of media chances are you’re going to be dealing with a djinn. They are forever trying to get a foot hold in our world, and this is a perfect opportunity for them to do so. There are usually many people involved, which give them the energy they need to get into this dimension. They are great tricksters, and can take on forms of angels, extra-terrestrials, and even loved ones when channeling. They have the power to read minds and be very convincing that they are who they say they are.

Zozo is an entity brought about by the use of an Ouija board, over the past few years zozo (or a name that is closely spelled to zozo such as zuza) horror stories have been popping up everywhere over the internet. It is a dark entity that wreaks havoc in the home that just won’t go away. Zozo is believe to be a djinn, I believe the whole Ouija” Z” entities not to be one djinn but a clan of djinni trying to make their way into our world.

Many writers of the djinn, believe that they not only manifest as ghosts. They believe they are also manifesting as aliens and other creatures such as: mothman, bigfoot, etc.

There is a lot to be said of the djinn, hopefully this article will make you curious enough to look into the world of the djinn. You might find one your paranormal investigations may point to djinn. If that is the case, really study these entities, they are very vengeful. Know what you are getting into, before you get in too deep.

By Mike Morris

Djinn Types

Djinn Types

Some of the best known djinn are:

Aifrit: Evil and powerful; difficult to control

Ghul: Nocturnal shape-shifting creatures who inhabit graveyards and lonely places and feed on the flesh of humans, it is said they prefer travelers, children and corpes that are stolen from graves. Of the several types of ghul, the female(ghula) is feared most whom has the ability to appear as a mortal woman. She seduces and then marries an unsuspecting man who then becomes her prey.

Hinn: Are weak djinn, they like to appear as dogs.

Jann: Desert dwelling shape-shifters who take shape of whirlwinds and are the enemy of the ghul. They are open-minded about humans and among the first to be encountered by people.

Marid: Unruly and rebellious, the most powerful of djinn. They are known as blue djinn, they possess great knowledge of magic. Usually the ones associated with wish-granting genies.

Nasnas: Weak form of djinn, hybrids of human-like and animal-like forms. They may account for alien and mysterious creature forms. Nasnas are said to be the offspring of a shigg and human.

Palis: A vampiric foot licker, whom drains unsuspecting travelers blood by licking the soles of their feet.

Shaitan: (Shaytan) a rebellious, malevolent djinn associated with demonic forces.

Shiqq: Lower form of djinn, only half formed usually monstrous in appearance.

Silat: Expert shape-shifting djinn, very smart and can shape-shift into human appearance with ease.

Djinn Colors

Green: Young and immature djinn, often playful and mischievous.

Yellow: Leaders of families and smaller clans. They are less powerful than blue but more powerful than green.

Blue: Older, intelligent djinn, often ambivalent about humans.

Red: Hostile and aggressive djinn.

Black: Powerful djinn, thought to be kings. It is not known if one king or if there are multiple ones.