Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Ominous Black Dog of Leeds Castle

Much like the "Grim" in the Harry Potter series (and, in fact, may have been inspired by this legend), the ghost that haunts Leeds Castle in Kent, UK appears as that of a large black dog. Moreover, it's an omen of bad things to come.

Originally the site of a Saxon manor built in 857 AD, Leeds Castle stood first as a earthen compound surmounted by a wooden palisade with two wooden towers. Mention of this castle reaches as far back as the Doomsday Book of 1086, King Edward the Confessor gave it over to the House of Godwin, and eventually the stone castle settled into the hands of the Norman Crevecoeur family. In 1278, King Edward the 1st took ownership, making extensive amendments to its design. Later noteworthy occupants included Henry VIII. The last resident was Lady Baillie who updated the castle with 20th century amenities in the 1920s.

It isn't clear through the record exactly whose dog this might have been--but then, it may never have had an owner.  If an omen, this spectral black dog might exist as some sort of entity outside our understanding, one that only assumes this familiar shape.

Other paranormal phenomena have been reported here as well.
While visiting the castle, Alice Pollock, a sensitive, was touching objects in hopes of a psychometric experience. She instead experienced something of a slip in time as the room she was in slowly shifted to a more ancient iteration. There she spied a tall woman in a white dress walking through the room. This experience only lasted a brief moment before Alice found herself pulled back into present day.

Monday, May 30, 2011

The Ghost Ships of England's Treacherous Goodwin Sands

‘November 28, 1753: At ten of the clock of this day, while riding out bad weather off Goodwins, awaiting better conditions to continue our passage, an armed frigate came driving down on my ship, her masts gone, her decks and hull in fearful shape. It seemed to us all there could be no avoiding her coming athwart our anchor-chains with dire results, and I was about to order my first officer to slip our anchors when we made out the frigate for what she was.


‘Her name became clear for all to read; it was “Northumberland”, and as she came on, sweeping down on my ship, we saw men running in panic about her main deck. She appeared to be unmanageable. We watched in horror, for the wind was not strong enough to place any ship in such condition, and then it pleased Almighty God the phantom, for such it surely was, steered contrary to our mounting anxieties to windward and so drove on clear of us, but no more than two ships’ lengths to our leeward, and so disappeared in what seemed a dark haze.

‘It was a spectacle far too terrible to dwell upon, to see this ghost of what was once a fine warship going to her doom a second time. We saw a little steady trickle of men leaping into the sea, one after another, but their bodies made no splash as they struck the waters. The cries of her spectral crew, the firing of her guns every half minute for assistance, filled us all with dread and terror that my men, as I were nigh dead with the horror of it all.’

So reads a log from the capitan of a Dutch East India Company clipper as it passed near the Goodwin Sands, a sand bank in the English Channel near the seaside town of Deal, UK.

The Northumberland sank 50 years prior in a storm that sent 3 other ships to their doom on November 26, 1703.

The only survivors of that combined tragedy were from the Mary. Interestingly enough, these two men told how prior to the sinking, "a great warship of Drake’s day, her sails tattered, burning from fore to aft and her guns firing, served by demented seamen, bore down on us, sailed right through our ship and finally disappeared before our eyes into the depth of the Sands."

Travels In A Paranormal World

I will have more to share in coming days, but first....




A Tibetan Restaurant In Amsterdam


In Sandwich, England


Saturday, May 28, 2011

The George Inn's Haunted History

One of the oldest pubs in London is the George Inn at 77 Borough High Street, just off London Bridge.  Although damaged by the great fire, it survived and was refurbished in 1676. With the advent of trains, much of it was demolished to make way for warehouses. However, the south face remains intact and in the care of the National Trust. While weary travelers can no longer find accommodations there, the Inn does still serve ales and traditional English fare. A popular spot for English writers such as Charles Dickens, the George Inn is also home to the ghost of a former owner who appears as a 'shadowy figure' that interferes with all modern electronics and has only been seen fleetingly on the Inn's security cameras. She is meant to be Amelia Murray (or at least her daughter, Agnes) who ran the hotel from 1878 to 1934. It has been said she wasn't much for updating the old inn and now rails against any modernization.  Others have claimed to see the phantom arrival of historic cavaliers from some time much further back in the Inn's storied history.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Kirlian Photography & Paranormal Research - Guest Column


Kirlian Photography - photographs which  capture the electrical corona put off by living and some inanimate objects, could provide some interesting data in paranormal research.   Anyone who has ever done dark room work has played around with 'contact' photo grams and this phenomena. It is not really surprising given the recognized electro-magnetic nature of our world.



The process first introduced in the 1930's has revealed changes in the bio-electrical discharges of plants and humans under controlled experiments. Stimulated plants have been shown to glow brighter and dying plants have been shown to grow dimmer.   It has even been used to treat and locate athletic injuries.

Since one of the guiding theories of paranormal ghost hunting is that the entities drain electronic equipment to manifest, it may be possible to devise a means to capture an image based on Kirlian photography.  An electrically charged 'flycatcher' approach might identify a space with infused electrical power to attract and enrich the environment and  a camera set up to automatically take photos at set intervals.   

Surely, if entities are willing to blink lights and use voice boxes, they would be willing to participate in such an experiment.  The results might be startling and strangely clear.   Which could be good or bad depending on views of the after life.


Further reading:
Mystica

Saturday, May 14, 2011

IS THE WORLD MORE PARANORMAL? -GUEST COLUMN

Some have speculated that these are strange days.  The looming '2012' approaches...end of the world, elevation of conscience, or just another year?  Prophecy, ancient writings, false prophets, seers and EVPS: what is the truth?  Have the number of such events, such as ghost sightings, hauntings, EVPS, and other paranormal activity been increasing?  Or, is it just a case of buy a red car and then suddenly see red cars everywhere?

Another concept is that the earth's poles are shifting, an action involving the electromagnetic forces of the universe.  It has happened before but without human notice.  So is it possible, the apparent spike in paranormal activity is related to this possible shifting?  Twisting and moving energy fields are playing with environmental factors or human awareness to create 'ghosts'.  Is it possible fluctuations in these global magnetic fields act like a bow across a set of strings, generating electronic voices, blobs on videos, and splotches in photographs ?

Sunday, May 8, 2011

WITH THE POWER OF MY MIND -Guest Column

In the quirky 1996 film, The Frighteners, the strange FBI agent keeps trying to do things 'through the power' of his mind.  Science tells us we only use about 10% of the potential of the human brain. In the 1970's, a group of Canadian researchers sought to explore the role of the mind in the concept of the ghost.  Beginning with a hypothesis that the mind can generate a "spirit" through  the powers of the mind. Thus using expectation, imagination and visualization, the members of the group created a ghost, gave him a history and a name, Phillip. Strangely, the group was able to 'summon' the ghost and have the ghost demonstrate its presence via 'table movements' and 'rappings.'


All of this brings into question the current state of paranormal activity as revealed weekly on numerous entertainment programs and on websites by  groups dedicated to ghost hunting. Do we generate just what we expect to find?  Do we - through the power of the 90% mind - reproduce the sights, sounds, or smells associated with a 'haunting'?  Can this mind power be strong enough to implant itself on electronic audio or visual equipment?




Or, is that 90% mind we seldom utilize amusing itself at our expense? 

Friday, May 6, 2011

DFW UFO

Well, maybe I had my own....  As I traveled west on I-20 yesterday, just east of Dallas, I spotted a brilliant flash in the sky. My first though, of course, was that I was seeing the glint off an approaching jet.  Then the gleam grew brighter before it enlongated. I figured the jet was banking harder still and the sun was reflecting off the full length of the wings or fuselage. Then it disappeared. Figuring it had oriented itself to me in such a fashion that it had nearly no profile, I kept watching the skies for several minutes following, looking for it. I don't know why. Anyway, it was gone. As far as I can tell there was nothing left in that area of the sky. I could see buzzards plainly and I could see other jets in the distance as well. The one I had been following was nowhere to be found in the cloudless blue sky.