Witchcraft Or Coincidence?

Sometimes it's difficult to quantify what is coincidence or synchronicity and what is perhaps some other 'power' that makes strange things happen. Here's a letter, not sent to me, but was in my cuttings file from a while back.

"Some years ago my husband was treated very badly by the man he worked for. We had been to his house and I new the room where he slept.

This night I was feeling a lot of anger and hate, and felt myself concentrating very hard on the side of the bed which I thought he would be sleeping on; I was sticking pins into his stomach slowly one by one.

I heard the next morning that his wife had been taken to hospital during the early hours of the morning in terrible pain. They thought it was gall-stones, but the test showed nothing wrong.

Did I do that, do you think? I know I felt drained the next morning because I had concentrated do much ..."

So is something like that a coincidence, or perhaps a form of ancient magic as carried out by the likes of witches and witchdoctors.

Of course, the letter writer could have sent love instead of hatred - and may well have got a much more positive result.

Other Recent Posts:
The Ghost Only Seen By Women And Children
What Is It? Coincidence Or Fate?
Top 10 Coincidence And Synchronicity Stories

The Witch's Advice: Get Keyed Up And Excited

A witch said to me words along the lines of, "This advice that people give about how you should be yourself and just relax is absolute rubbish. It's the surest route to nowhere. Don't relax - do the absolute opposite, get yourself all keyed up. The keyed up, emotionally turned on individual is the best the world will see. Too many people are so relaxed they never accomplish anything they want to do. They spend their lives wandering around in the equivalent of hair curlers. Ugly!" She was a female witch!

And there's some truth in what she said as we can easily turn ourselves into bundles of habits, performing the usual routine without thinking or questioning.

George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff taught along similar lines: that we are asleep and have to wake up. Most of us, he claimed, fall into an habitual way of life, which means our day-to-day activities become so repetitious that our unconscious mind can almost go off duty.

Gurdjieff went even further saying that most of us hardly have any meaningful existence as we are only a mass of impulses and emotions, which change from hour to hour. We wander about in an almost hypnotised state for most of the time with only flashes of what we could possibly become.

I also wonder about some forms of meditation and how this could turn people into almost zombies - if they don't, that is, wake themselves up properly and fully re-join this world once their session is finished.

Going back to Gurdjieff's thinking, we automatically grow and develop physically and inwardly for about 18 to 21 years. Then we stop and are on our own whereby we need to put effort into our continued development and awakeness.

We need constant stimulation, new experiences are necessary. Look how we can wake up and feel alive when we travel to new, exciting places for instance or maybe meet someone special.

It's so easy though to soon fall back into habit and routine, when time - as we know it - flies past so very quickly. Life once again becomes robotic.

What I suppose I'm saying is that perhaps we should check occasionally to make sure that we aren't simply that bundle of habits and routines acting on impulse without a second thought.

The choice is always ours. Habits can be broken or made. I remember reading how Paul McKenna suggested we should smile at least twenty times a day, even if we didn't feel like it or there is no one else about. The very act of doing so over a period can make us happier.

Life should be exciting, meaningful, a learning adventure. It's up to us to make it so, or whatever else we wish it to be. Alternatively we could simply sleep our way through our allotted years - zzzz zzzz zzzz ...

Further Reading:
Puritans Diary And The Devil Woman
How Rituals Combined With Action Can Cure Illness
The Magic Of Our Ancestors Can Bring Us Success

The Sexual Examination Of The Witches Of Belvoir

Woodcutting of witches being hanged

During the 14th and 15th centuries the so called Witch Craze was taking place in Europe. Over the course of 300 years around 100,000 people - mostly women - were tortured and put to death for witchcraft. One of the most notorious cases was that of the Witches of Belvoir.

In the early 1600s Joan Flowers and her two daughters Phillipa and Margaret were in the employ of the Earl and Countess of Rutland, at Belvoir Castle near Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Belvoir Castle, Lincolnshire, England today

For some unknown reason Margaret was dismissed from her employment and this was the start of the Earl of Rutland encountering many problems. Joan, Phillipa and Margaret were said to be using witchcraft as revenge for Margaret losing her job. At Christmas of 1618 they they were arrested and taken to Lincoln Prison for 'examination'.

Joan Flower would not confess. In an effort to prove her innocence she asked to be brought bread and butter. Before taking a bite she stated that hoped she should choke on the food if she was not innocent of the crimes for which she stood accused. It is reported that she died after taking her first mouthful of the food.

The two daughters, however, finally confessed and admitted having congress with the Devil to bring about the downfall of the Rutland family. But they probably didn't stand a chance as their 'examination' was almost a sexual-sadistic ritual.

Both women admitted to experiencing visions of devils and that their familiar spirits visited them and sucked at their bodies.

Among other nasty things their examination included, what was known as, pricking. This was the practice of stabbing hidden 'teats' that were supposedly sucked on by the Devil. A long, thick needle was systematically thrust into all moles, scars and other marks on a suspended witch's body until one was located that did not elicit a scream of pain.

Under this practice the two sisters confessed to having been sucked by the Devil and Phillipa further confessed that she was sucked 'within the inward parts of her secrets.'

Margaret and Phillipa were duly hanged for their crimes in 1619.

While under the examination the sisters revealed the names of other women who had aided them: Anne Baker of Bottesford; Joane Willimot of Goodby; and Ellen Greene of Stathern. All three women were taken for examination and unsurprisingly also admitted that they too had visions and consorted with familiar spirits.

Anne Baker, Joane Willimott and Ellen Greene with their familiars

When the Earl of Rutland died himself his tomb, in Bottesford Church, included an inscription which stated that their two sons had 'died in their infancy by wicked practices and sorcerye' - these deaths were blamed on Joan, Margaret and Phillipa Flowers.

The Witch Craze ended in the 1600s and the last witch to be executed in England was a senile woman from Bideford, Devon called Temperance Lloyd in 1684. In 1736 the British Parliament passed a law forbidding the charge of witchcraft.

Other Witch Stories:
How The Witch Raised A Dead Woman From Her Grave
The Puritan's Diary And The Devil's Women
The Buryan Town Witch And The Running Pig

Top 10 Posts For September: Coincidences, Ghosts, White Feathers, Doves, Witches And So On

The following are the most visited posts on 67 Not Out for the month of September:

1. The Concentration Camp Romantic Coincidence
For the romantics out there - I'm sure there must be a few - this is coincidence story which is also doubles up as a love story. It goes back to 1944. A young man ... Read full story

2. The Ghost Who Chased A Thief
A few years back, before I lived with my partner, I was living at home with my parents for the summer after University. They were going away on holiday and left me with the responsibility of looking after the house. I didn't mind being alone but I asked a girlfriend ... Read full story

3. Anne Diamond's Ghostly Experience
Back in 1999 Anne Diamond got divorced so she was forced into looking for somewhere to live for herself, four children and a nanny. Registered in the normal way with an estate agent she received a call from him with information on a large Victorian property that ... Read full story

4. The Mysterious Skull With The Golden Wreath Of Protection
I photographed this skull with a gold wreath while in Crete. It was discovered while excavations were taking place and is believed to have been that of an athlete. In the second large photo below a coin is also shown which was found inside the skull's mouth. This is a silver tetradrachm from the Cretan city of ... Read full story

5. The Meaning Of White Feathers As Messages From The Dead
I'm returning to the subject of white feathers today and their meaning. Since first writing about this I think I've had more emails on the subject than anything else. By white feathers I mean how they can often be found following a loved ones death. This has certainly ... Read full story

6. The White Dove As A Messenger Of The Dead
One day I came home from work and a white dove was perched on the steps that lead up to the front door of my house. No doves or birds of any kind were ever previously on my steps ... Read full story

7. Nudity At Airport Security
I love airports and travelling but I dislike all of the over the top security - supposedly for our own good - terrorists and the like. Thank you Messrs Bush and Blair - huh! I just knew I'd set the alarm bell ringing ... Read full story

8. War Of The Worlds Remnants Are On The Moon
When the moon was full it got me thinking as to why it has so many craters - which can be seen quite easily. Mars craterThe usual opinion is that they were created either by violent volcanic action or by a bombardment of meteors many millions of years ago. The same could apply to the surface of Mars ... Read full story

9. Ghostly Rye: The Most Haunted Town In England
One of the most atmospheric and ghostly places I have visited is the town of Rye on England's south coast. Some claim it is the most haunted place in the UK and on a visit it's possible to see ... Read full story

10. How The Witch Raised A Dead Woman From Her Grave
She marked a circle by drawing her Staff on the ground three times round the man, at the same time mumbling in her unknown tongue [Cornish language]. This done ... Read full story

How The Witch Raised A Dead Woman From Her Grave

St Stythians (St Stithians) Church, Cornwall

Living in Cornwall I'm surrounded by legends and stories of witchcraft. One of the most famous of Cornish witches was Tamsin Blight (1798-1856). She was also known as Tammy Blee and or the White Witch of Helston.

Blight started practising her craft around 1830 and built up a reputation as being able to remove spells, that had been cast by other witches. People, especially farmers, would consult her for cures for themselves and their animals.

The most quoted story about her is known as The Ghost of Stythians. Here she attempted to conjure the spirit of an old woman buried in St Stythians graveyard to discover where she had hidden cash that a relative believed was rightfully his.

I saw the following description of what she did in an 1870 book Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall by William Bottrell:

"She marked a circle by drawing her Staff on the ground three times round the man, at the same time mumbling in her unknown tongue [Cornish language]. This done, turning to the man she said, 'Now, mind you don't move out of this charmed ring which I have made to protect ye, and if you are determined I will now begin and summon the Spirit.'

"The Witch, holding out her Staff towards the spot where the old woman was buried, began her incantation. or citation, with long, strange words, slowly pronounced. Then she continued in a louder tone, 'Spirit of Jane Hendy, in the name of the powers above and below, I summon thee to rise from the grave and appear before me and this man! By the spirits of Fire, Air, Earth and Water, I summon thee to arise! Come hither, appear and speak to this man! Come!' This she said three times, raising her voice at each repetition until it ended in a shriek.

The Witch paused. All was silent for a moment, and then we heard, most fearful, because unusual, sounds, which more than any other earthly noise resembled the crashing or rending of wood and stones, seemed to come from the old woman's grave.

The Witch stretching out her arms, her red cloak and grey hair streaming back on the wind, pointed with her Staff towards the place whence these frightful sounds proceeded, and said, 'Behold, it cometh: be thou prepared.'"

The spirit of the dead woman was raised and questioned about the hidden cash.

Other Witch Story Posts:
Get Keyed Up Said The Witch And Gurdjieff Agrees
Puritan's Diary And The Devil's Women
The Buryan Town Witch And The Running Pig