5 Cults from the 1960s and 1970s

By Nancy Wong - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
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America, and the Western World in general, underwent a Spiritual Revival in the late 1960s and early '70s which experts largely attribute to a drop in organized religion and rise in Agnosticism and Atheism.  The "Free Love" vibe of 1960s America gave rise to numerous cults, several of which originated in California and charmed Hollywood.

This Spiritual Revival spawned numerous, pseudo-religious cults and generated widespread interest in them, but also later did them in.  The backlash from traditional, and far more organized, religious believers was so strong that it evolved into an Evangelical Revival in the late 1970s which then metastasized (Stateside) into Televangelism the following decade. 

The original belief systems espoused by these 1960s sects owe much to Theosophy, a religious movement founded by Madame Blavatsky during America's first massive Spiritual Revival at the turn of the 20^th-Century, following the end of the Civil War.  

That American interest in Spirituality should peak following major wars with massive casualties is no coincidence -- neither is the omnipresence of Theosophy with Judaeo-Christian overtones, the militarization of the more successful cults, nor the media hype surrounding them.  While most were either fueled entirely by sex and drugs or later exposed as con games, they were harmless... some cults, however, were more sinister -- and it can be difficult to tell the two apart, even today.

Introduction to, and induction into, most cults is passive at first: Many start as open religious constructs or social movements, just like modern "political" groups, becoming progressively less communal as one rises in the ranks.  They are uniformly hierarchal, and ultra-secretive at the top.

In fact, the formulation of several, modern, American protest groups is directly patterned after the emergence of cults in the 1960s, some of which were manipulated by clandestine agencies using intelligence gathered from the first American Spiritualism Revival, refitted for the era (Feminism, Civil Rights, Irony as anti-Establishmentarianism, et. al.) for recruiting efforts.

Almost all of these cults are based on slivers of numerous religions and bits of science, with heavy Theosophical, Eastern, and Judaeo-Christian influences; most revolve around one or two central, Messianic figures (usually the founder[s]), generally thought to be somehow mystical; and larger sects uniformly exhibit paramilitary organization.  The latter tend to be "Doomsday" cults, but only as a generality.  Most were largely innocuous (all things considered), and many former members went on to live fulfilling lives in mainstream society.

Other similarities are contextual, as mentioned previously, reflecting the era in which the cults were spawned.  For example, many ironically adopted Satanic, and vaguely Nazi, emblems and dress early-on -- primarily for recruitment purposes.  Originally regarded as an act of defiance, such fashion quickly became counter-culture kitsch and rightfully recognized as a cry for attention.  Several cults also had (drug) ties to motorcycle gangs that used similar imagery, fueling the mystery surrounding them.

That is, until the Tate-LaBianca murders.  

• Anton LaVey (d. 1997) established The Church of Satan in Los Angeles in 1967.  After his The Satanic Bible sold over one million copies worldwide, LaVey appeared as The Devil in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968), and on the album covers of both The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour and The Eagles' Hotel California.  He claimed responsibility for several high-profile deaths to which he had no connection, such as that of Jayne Mansfield (a former member), which landed LaVey and his "Church" in hot water following the Tate-LaBianca Murders.  While sensational in its time, LaVey's Church of Satan languished in obscurity until the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, when it was resurrected by well-coifed talk show hosts.  LaVey had previously worked as a lion-tamer, carnival worker, and police photographer.

• The Church of Scientology was founded in 1953 by writer, L. Ron Hubbard, and survives to this day, boasting many famous members from the Hollywood community.  Hubbard's best-selling book, Dianetics, serves as the introductory foundation, but there are at least eight levels of Scientology (not including the legendary Level 9, which only Hubbard himself is said to have reached), and members spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to reach each one.  A lot of cults -- a lot, many -- were splinters of Scientology, and many cult members came from, or went on to, other cults... some of which are very questionable.  The Church of Scientology itself has increasingly come under scrutiny in the last few years for its checkered legal past and reported malfeasances, but members say they are being persecuted.

• The Process Church of the Final Judgement was established in 1966 by Mary Ann McClean and Robert DeGrimston, who met at the London branch of the L. Ron Hubbard Institute of Scientology.  The two developed their own system of auditing called "The Process," and formed Compulsions Analysis, which was later renamed.  The Process Church found some small renown in the 1960s, eventually establishing churches across the United States.  Processeans dabbled in Nazi-chic and Satanic imagery and hob-knobbed with rock stars, but after Ed Sanders' 1971 book, The Family, directly implicated The Process Church of the Final Judgement as the real "Family" in the Charles Manson case, they revamped their image and beliefs and changed their name to the Foundation Church.  But the Process Church was directly tied to the founders' relationship (and also sex and drugs), and it fell apart once that ended.  Despite its former, considerable stature, it is almost entirely forgotten today.

• Heaven's Gate was founded by two people but is said to have sprung originally from Marshall Applewhite's inability to deal with his homosexuality.  During "Class," the cult held deep, philosophical discussions on many things, culminating in a shared belief that death -- "leaving one's vehicle [body]" -- was just another step on the path to Immortality, and mass suicide was the means by which they would all make that journey together.  Following the discovery of the Hale-Bop Comet in 1995, 39 Heaven's Gate followers donned brand new Nike sneakers, ate an applesauce tincture, then climbed into their compound bunks and died, believing a spaceship in the comet's tail would carry them onto that next stage of Immortality.

• The Source Family was the most akin to The Manson Family, although it had far more Hollywood cachet and only half as many murders.  While its public facade espoused the usual Hippie notions about returning to the Earth and Nature and rejecting societal norms and mores, The Source Family was mostly about sex and drugs... and a rock n roll band fronted by their Messianic leader, Father Yod.  Father Yod's real name was Jim Baker, and Jim Baker was almost certainly CIA (although that cannot be confirmed, it cannot be denied).  Whilst The Source Family outlasted the Manson Family, it eventually imploded due to its excesses, and disbanded after Baker leapt to his death in Hawaii on a homemade hang glider.

No rundown on 1960s cults would be replete without mentioning the Manson Family, in case I haven't, whose series of grisly murders brought the hippie movement to a brutal end, along with most of the cults and communes it had inspired.  While most of them died-down or dissolved entirely after the chilling Tate-LaBianca Murders, a few cults from the 1960s and '70s straggled on -- some exist, even today!  

The cult craze swept Japan a decade earlier, thanks to Operation: Golden Lily.

* Please pardon all the formatting and clerical errors.  I've been sitting on this for over a year now.  Thanks! 

© The Weirding, 2018-2019

Rock Eagle Mound

Rock Eagle Mound

While Stonehenge and Easter Island are the most well-known ancient monuments, America is littered with mysterious wonders predating the Historical narrative we've been taught.  Rock Eagle Mound in Putnam County, Georgia, is one of those that has yet to be explained.

Thought to be at least 1500 years old, Rock Eagle Mound may be twice that age.  The actual bird represented by the rock mound has a wingspan of 120' and is unknown, as well.  While assumed to be an effigy mound, as Native American burial mounds are scattered across the continent, no one knows the monument's true purpose.  If Eagle Rock Mound is a Native American effigy mound, some scholars think it may predate all other effigy mounds in America.

Many Native American tribes revered animals -- particularly animals of prey -- as they practiced Shamanism, and other forms of Animism.  Eagle Rock Mound may well be a monument to the Spirit of Eagle, or even The Great Spirit itself.

However, Zoroastrians often depicted the Creator (the Supreme Being, Ahura Mazda, or Ormazd: Lord of the Wise) as a winged bird of prey, carrying the sun across the sky, or swallowing it at nightfall -- and, in many instances, this bird appears to be an eagle!  Could Canaanites or their predecessors have visited North America?

Some believe Ormazd became the Biblical Mithras, and may have been the idol of a secretive cult within the ranks of Roman soldiers around the time of Christ ¹.  And while that theory seems to lack basis (and may be politically motivated), if true, it could mean that Romans were in North America far earlier than believed.

All told, Eagle Rock Mound in Georgia remains one of the most mysterious man-made monuments in the United States of America!

The picture above was lifted from www.ExploreGeorgia.org, and is shared under Fair Use.

¹ As most of the information surrounding this particular "cult" comes from Biblical text, Mithras may have referred to gold -- often used to represent the sun.  The "Cult of Mithras" might refer to mercenaries, or soldiers easily bribed, within the ranks of the Roman Guard.  Rome was notoriously corrupt, especially at that time.

© The Weirding, 2018

The Nine

Integrated Systems Improvement Services, LLC

The September 1999 issue of Fortean Times (FT:126) ran a cover story entitled, "Plan 9 from Outer Space."  PYRAMID SCHEME! reads the cover.  The title is a reference to the famously bad Ed Wood movie, but the article is about another "Nine:" 

The Nine is an organization founded by Andrija Puharich, aka Henry K. Pluharich.  Pluharich is best known publicly for having discovered Uri Geller.  Less well-known is the fact that Puharich was a CIA operative.

Lab Nine was established at Pluharich's Ossining, New York estate, and included European nobility, multi-millionaire businessmen, scientists, and figures close to the US President.  Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, was also involved -- he even produced a movie based on The Nine.

In 1973's Prelude to the Landing on Planet Earth (or Briefings for the Landing on Planet Earth), The Nine claimed they were actually the Ennead of the Heliopolis -- Egyptian gods including Isis and Horus, the Egyptian entity Aleister Crowley claims to have channeled in his Book of Law.  While Lab Nine disbanded in 1978 after Pluharich fled to Mexico, its tendrils run deep -- extending well into the highest echelons of government, business, and military sectors even today.

Pluharich was an Army doctor directly involved in the CIA's MKULTRA program with Dr. Gottleib in the 1950s.  Their experiments included drugs, hypnosis, and beaming radio signals into victims' brains.  The Round Table Foundation, where The Nine made their first appearance, was also founded by Pluharich in 1948 -- and was a Pentagon front for medical and parapsychological research.

The Nine continued well beyond Pluharich's involvement, which ended around 1980, following events at his Ossining estate (including arson) that sent him fleeing to Mexico, claiming the CIA was after him.  (Pluharich was working for US intelligence at the time.)  Phyllis Schlemmer, a Florida-based psychic healer and agent of The Nine since the 1970s, published her first book, The Only Planet of Choice, in 1992.  People involved in The Nine rose to power in many fields throughout this time, but specifically in the worlds of politics and the New Age movement.

The Nine's incredible influence over America continues to this day... and well beyond.  It currently operates under the name "IS," an acronym with numerous meanings.

© The Weirding, 2018

The Technological Possibilities of Ghosts

Have you ever wondered if ghosts are just imagery, in the same sense that you see film cells when the projector starts skipping or is slowed down, or the way the monitor flickers when it's going out?

This is not an original thought; I'd actually been thinking about something similar (because I was having monitor issues) when I saw a meme in a ghost-hunting group positing much the same question, and I returned to the idea of veridical imagery -- the concept that some things are somehow "recorded" in time, and set to playback on certain anniversaries, whenever triggered by events, emotions, memories, or something else in this reality (or at random).

It may suggest multiple realities or dimensions but, if true, we could be reflections of veridical imagery ourselves -- even as we're alive!  Perhaps something that happened in our past lives was emotional or spiritual enough in nature to have made it off the cutting-room floor and is playing in perpetuity even as we discuss it?

This could explain all manner of things, from Green Children to The Lost City of Alaska, and could be electromagnetic in nature (but it certainly doesn't have to be).  There have been, and will continue to be, things that simply escape our knowledge and ability to comprehend.  This could be one of those things -- but, with the advancement of technology clipping along at such a pace, knowing more about these things might be just around the corner.

© The Weirding, 2014-2015

Baby 'Antichrist' Burned Alive

A three-month-old baby girl was thrown in a bonfire and burned to death at the behest of 36-year-old Chilean cult leader, Ramon Gustavo Castillo Gaete. The child's 25-year-old mother was not only a member of the cult but had given her consent to burning the child alive. Chilean authorities arrested the members of the cult, who were all well-employed professionals, but Gaete himself remains at-large as of the time of this post.

Gaete was last thought to be traveling to Peru to buy ayahuasca, an hallucinogenic brew some say he used to control the cultists. Gaete had told the cult members that the young girl was the Antichrist. Her mouth was taped shut and she was placed on a board. The cult then called forth spirits and placed her in a bonfire.

© C Harris Lynn, 2013

Texan Carves Pentagram into Son

A 39-year-old Texan man called 911 operators to tell them he had "shed some innocent blood" yesterday. When asked what he meant by that, the man admitted to carving a pentagram into his 6-year-old son's back to commemorate 12-12-12, "a holy day," he said. The mother of the boy called moments later from a neighbor's house to report the crime.

The boy was discharged from the hospital today. His wounds were not life threatening and are believed to have been made by a box cutter recovered at the scene. 12-12-12 was the last triple digit day of this century but it is not considered "holy" by any known religion. Pentagrans are most often associated with Satanism and paganism in general, despite the fact that the symbol is actually supposed to be a protective sigil against evil.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012

Vatican Castigates Opus Angelorum Sect

The Vatican has decreed the Opus Angelorum sect "wayward," and warns anyone who might come into contact with followers to distance themselves. Specifically, the Vatican says it has reason to suspect the Opus Angelorum is distributing propaganda associating itself with traditional Catholicism.

The Vatican basically gave Opus Angelorum a pass, so long as it promised not to distribute or mention information relating to its core sect beliefs, which were formed largely by its founder, Gabriele Bitterlich. One of the most dangerous of which is that women who have had abortions are possessed by demonic entities.

Bitterlich claimed to have been directed by an Archangel with whom she was in contact. This Archangel coached Bitterlich, and she discovered the names of the angels and demons fighting for control of peoples' souls.

The Opus Angelorum operates mostly throughout India, Brazil, and Germanic Europe.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

 

The Hooded Folk in Black

Satanists and cultists were generally associated with cattle mutilation in the 1970s. To a very large degree, this was due to the Tate-LaBianca murders of 1969, which were performed by cultists from The Manson Family. Such "Satanic Panic" would later lead a bunch of Southern crackers to arrest and convict three innocent boys in West Memphis, Arkansas for the murders and sexual mutilations of three young boys most likely committed by a parental figure associated with one of the boys who now lives in Millington, TN. While some of the boys are receiving retrials thanks to the shoddy "workmanship" of the so-called police and other lawmakers who colluded and conspired to destroy them, all said lawmakers have since been promoted and it is unlikely the innocent boys who have come to be called the West Memphis Three will ever be freed - until the people who put them in jail are dead. Let us pray for their early deaths - hopefully at the hands of an angry mob.

But I digress...

It is impossible to know if any of the stories regarding cultmembers and "men in black hoods" are true, but the eyewitness accounts - many of which were verified by more than one person in the areas at the time - do ring true.

Take the case of the blue vase discovered by a Colorado man back in 1975: inside, he found a cow's ear and tongue, along with a scalpel. Many mutilated livestock were discovered in Colorado in the 1970s, several of which were sent to a local veterinary college for autopsy. Unfortunately, only a handful were in such a condition as to be autopsied. Five of the six which were in good enough condition to be examined had died of natural causes and were determined to have later been mutilated by humans. This could never be proven, though - even by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which got involved. The story even appeared in Esquire magazine in 1975.

Several farmers, ranchers, and hikers complained of black helicopters and twin-engine aircraft flying about during this time. One farmer said an unmarked, white helicopter opened fire on him as he drove his tractor in a field near his home! But we'll get to those later...

Near Cove Creek in Idaho, a forest serviceman reported several figures dressed in black robes and hoods in September, 1975. The next day, several cattle were found mutilated in the general area. Even though a search was launched, the assumed cultists were never found. On October 9^th of the same year, a motorist on Highway 95 in northern Idaho was forced to turn his car around when he encountered 15 "masked people" forming a roadblock with linked arms! It was about 3:30 in the morning. 3am is often associated with black magic and cults dedicated to dark gods, especially witchcraft.

1975 was a remarkable years for cattle mutilations in the U.S.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Recent Atrocities Against Albinos in Africa

As regular readers know, The OddBlog has been following the plight of albinos in Africa almost as long as we have been here (at this address). As more of the world and news agencies are becoming aware of the issue, more incidents are being reported. This weekend alone highlights the immediacy of the situation, with no fewer than three separate reports of abuse, death, and dismemberment coming to light.

As we continue to report, some 30 albinos have been murdered and dismembered in 2008 alone. The savages of the area believe albinos' body parts, hair, and blood to be useful ingredients in Occult rituals based loosely on witchcraft (not Wicca), while others believe albinos to be witches themselves. Many are killed at birth. These belief stems from charlatan witchdoctors of the region, who use the body parts in rituals purported to make the beneficiary rich. Tanzania is the epicenter of this holocaust, though it is spreading to the neighboring Congo and Burundi regions.

Even the president of the Tanzanian region was quoted as saying, "It is utterly stupid for some people to believe that albinos have magic powers and their parts can make them rich," while speaking at a recent Tanzanian Albino Society (TAS) rally. He called for more education to help cull the genocide.

According to a 2002 census, there are about 150k albinos in the region. Some 8,000 are registered with the TAS. The TAS and others claim the actual number of albinos in the region is higher and a census is underway to find out.

In the first report, a man was arrested for trying to sell his albino wife to Congolese traders in Tanzania. Notoriously corrupt, Tanzanian cops have been bought-off to ignore the plight of the albinos. Almost none of the traders, murderers, and traffickers have ever been caught or convicted. In this case, though the husband was arrested, the traders somehow managed to escape. In other cases where arrests have been made, the accused almost always manage somehow to slip away.

Last Friday, two mothers were hacked with machetes by gangs who were trying to get their albino children. The gangs did not find the children and the women are under medical care, recovering from their wounds. Again, none of the attackers have been brought to justice; local police claim they fled the area and a manhunt is underway, but no further information has come to light.

This morning brings yet another heartbreaking report: a six-year old girl was found dismembered in Burundi. Attacked on Sunday, the girl's limbs and head were missing. She is the sixth victim discovered so far from the region. Armed attackers broke into the family's home, bound the parents, and shot the baby point-blank in the head. The family has been part of a group of around 50 albinos who had fled the region, fearing for their daughter's safety.

Last week, a 10-year old albino girl was killed.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Pres. Sarkozy Threatens to Sue Over Voodoo Doll

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to sue a publishing company if it does not remove "voodoo" dolls made in his image from stores. The doll contains pins and instructions on how to use the kit. The effigy is strategically decorated with quotes from the President, in which the pins are to be placed. There is also a kit for his Socialist opponent, who has also threatened to sue.

The publishing company said Sarkozy's response was "disproportionate" and has so far refused to remove the doll kits. Sarkozy's lawyer said he has exclusive control over his image, and his opponent's lawyer said she found the doll in her image an affront to her human dignity. (Politicians - human dignity - Ha!)

"Voodoo" is not an actual religion or branch of the Occult and practitioners of the religion, Voudon (on which it is based), say the associations with zombies and sympathetic magickery such as the voodoo doll are misrepresentative of their faith.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Cult Kidnaps, Beats Woman

A 42-year old woman found severely beaten and lying in a ditch claims she was kidnapped and beaten by a Santeria cult she formerly belonged to.

Michelle Wood says she was once a member of a cult in Florida which practices Santeria, a Satanic religion most prevalent in the Caribbean. She quit nine months ago and began attending a Christian church.

She says she was confronted by men who took her to a house where people were using drugs. Inside was a bound teenage boy they threatened to kill if she did not participate in rituals. She was attacked by a woman wielding a knife and led outside to where a fire was burning. Wood managed to escape, but the group caught-up to her Sunday.

They were preparing for the Autumn Equinox and needed her as part of the Circle. While she does not remember many of the details following and was once hospitalized for being suicidal, police say she was found with nylon rope around her wrists and that there was "obvious cult activity." An investigation is underway.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Tanzania Cracks Down on Witchcraft Albino Murders

The President of Tanzania has called for an immediate end to the mutilation of albinos for use in witchcraft.

As we've been reporting, albinos are feared in most parts of Africa - so much so that their families often hide them away to protect them - thinking their genetic condition is due to a curse put upon the family. Many believe their body parts possess magical properties and the murder and mutilation of their bodies for use in rituals has become widespread. 19 albinos were murdered in Tanzania last year.

Many have accused the government of a lack of response and now the President of the region is calling for a crackdown on witchdoctors and others who traffick in albino body parts and rituals which employ them. People believe their fingers will bring them luck at fishing and mining, while other body parts have other properties.

Superstition runs rife throughout the region. Women with red eyes are thought to be witches and a rash of rapes in 2007 were blamed on the popo bawa, a winged daemon believed to be summoned by witchcraft.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Albinos Unsafe in Africa

There are nearly 300,000 albinos in Tanzania and they are under attack from the barbaric, uneducated populace. According to popular thought in the region, albinos are believed to be cursed, practitioners of witchcraft, or some kind of ghost-like creature. Further, witchdoctors believe their limbs to be useful in potions which can bring their users great wealth.

There have been four albino deaths in the past three months in the region and albino women have been targeted in the past, but this is the first time albinos have been the target of ritual killings. Fear has gripped the albino community and the Tanzanian Albino Society says these backward beliefs are the cause of these murders and must be wiped-out. A teacher was recently arrested for killing his own albino child, but the TAS is calling for police to do more, including arresting the witchdoctors.

The Occult: America's #1 Export

Supernatural (CW)

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've noticed the recent upswing in Occultism in popular culture and entertainment.

Comics, TV, movies, music, you name it -- shades of the Occult and Supernatural have entered it. And not just in the old, "This one's a vampire, that one's a werewolf -- but they're trying to be a good one!" way; nowadays, Occult investigators are everywhere and almost every form of the Occult is omnipresent. Even "straight" dramas and entertainment have "dabbled," if you will.

This is no "warning," nor am I crying "witch." I just wonder what the recent interest in this dark subject is? Whether or not you believe in the powers of the Occult, why has it suddenly become so mainstream?

To be sure, this has been true to some extent for a while now, and to various degrees throughout history. Satanism became fairly acceptable back in the 1960s-70s and, even though it met with severe consternation in the 1980s, it returned in the 1990s with a vengeance; comic books in particular were preoccupied with Satanic themes and characters in the 1970s, many of which returned in the 1990s. Further, the Occult and magic in general have been popular themes and subjects throughout Western society at various times over the years, such as the late 1800s. People held seances, consulted psychics/mediums, and believed in spirit photography.

Satanism is clearly divisible from the Occult, but only by those who know better; even in this day and age, mainstream society holds to the popular notion that the two are largely the same.

So how is it that Occult themes and ideas have taken hold to the extent they have and how long do you think it will last?

UPDATE:  In retrospect, TV shows like Supernatural, True Blood, and Ghost Hunters were big hits for an industry which was losing audience to the Internet.  Copycat programming proliferated. - 2018

Crowleyisms

Sometimes, for no good reason, something sticks in my head and I just can't shake it. Like everyone else, it's usually a snippet of a song or some insipid commercial jingle, but from time to time, it is a quote, saying, or just some kind of random something I've seen, heard, or read.

This week, it's a famous Aleister Crowley quote: "Everybody is a star."

Now, Crowley was a famed Occultist who referred to himself as "The Beast" and was called "the wickedest man alive" in his day. But to his defense, Crowley was more than just your run-of-the-mill "Satanist" and he lived during the Victorian Age, so the fact that openly espoused hanging out with hookers, doing drugs, and being just generally amoral (if not downright immoral) went a long way toward helping how he was judged.

But his writings are fantastic. I mean, much of them are blasphemous ravings of what was surely a drug-addled mind and it is said he died insane (possibly from Syphilis), but Crowley had a way with words that has rarely been equalled. And Crowley practiced and developed a number of Magickal systems; he did not just get together with some friends, make a half-assed prayer to "The Devil," and then engage in drunken orgies (though let's be assured, this was probably a part of his regimen from time to time).

So while I do not know this quote in context, the thing I have always wondered about it is what, exactly, he meant by it. Crowley's works are infamous for their multiple meanings and this one in particular can be taken any number of ways.

But I have always thought that Crowley was alluding to the idea that, with extremities outstretched, every body is a five-pointed object.

Maybe it's just me and I have no idea why this quote has been in my head this week, but I wanted to jot it down and share because I have always thought that whenever I have mused on this particular saying.

Witchcraft Arrests

At least three people are being held in police custody in Mozambique following a rash of murders earlier in the month. Murder, mutilation, and the exhumation of human bodies in order to harvest and traffic body parts for the use in witchcraft have become common practices in the region, particularly in the northern and central areas. They most often cultivate the genitals and sell them to neighboring areas, such as Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

In the past few years, several have been detained for these same reasons, including two men who were caught with a cache of human bones. One man arrested in conjunction with the slaying of nine innocent people was released for unexplained reasons and lynched by the populace.

Some politicians have called for a bill to be passed, specifically targeting the practices.

Nexus Points (Ley Lines)

Nexus points are most often discussed in conjunction with Ley Lines.  Ley Lines are said to be invisible lines across the surface of the Earth which possess or enhance magical or paranormal properties at their intersecting points.  For this reason, landmarks have often been positioned along these lines.  While much has been made of ley lines in certain circles, nothing conclusive has come to light.

While there are some interesting coincidences as to how certain landmarks and features seem to line-up (particularly in Europe), my personal theory is that this was a practical matter for ancient peoples who used these landmarks as exactly that: Travel guides, later (and once upon a time) connected by roads.  Of course, these ancient architects may very well have felt that there were some mystical properties to these features and/or the way they lined-up, but we may never know.

I generally tend to discount anything having to do with Ley Lines.

On quite the other hand, I believe there is some kind of evidence for "nexus points" -- places, locations, and areas which, for whatever reason, lay at the center of, or form a bridge between, our corporeal world (the Prime Material Plane, in many cases) and The Other Side (Spirit World, Dead World, even sometimes the Astral Plane -- though this latter term is incorrectly used).  In particular, there are places, such as the Borley Rectory, which do not seem to fit into any preconceived notions of your typical haunted house.

We've all heard the concepts of how, if a house is built on consecrated, holy, or "haunted" land, the structure itself will play host to the spirits there.  True to form, when the Borley Rectory was destroyed, the remains of a young woman were reportedly found buried beneath the basement.

But there is a question as to "Veridical Imagery," or "Afterimage" -- a term with which even experienced investigators might not be aware, though they all know the concept: Great distress, pain, or emotional hardship can leave what is basically an emotional photograph on an area that becomes visible or active (as emotional motion pictures) at times and/or to different people (often called "Sensitives," "psychics," or "mediums").

Blows Invisible

In continuing on the theories I've advanced as to Elemental Manifestations, I wanted to discuss the real dividing line between what I would consider "mischievous" behavior and that which is downright maleficent. And to this, I bring some accounts of inexplicable attacks on human beings by forces Unknown, referred to as "Invisibles" by some.

In their seminal book, Phenomena: A Book of Wonders, authors John Michell and Robert Rickard begin discussing the Invisible with accounts of hair-stealing. While originally thought to be localized to China, they discuss a short outbreak of similar events in London in December 1922. In some cases, the hair was said to disappear as soon as it was cut and the victims claimed to have felt their hair "being pulled."

While certainly injurious to the victims' appearance and ego, with very few exceptions, these attacks were not actually physically harmful, and so cannot be completely deemed "maleficent" or Evil. On the other hand, they are congruent with other activity reported to surround Elemental Manifestations and thus hint to me that they are no mere hauntings. Hair plays an important part in many Occult practices and rituals and has held a sort of mystical quality since Biblical times or before (Samson and Delilah).

But in this same discussion, the authors mention the bizarre events surrounding spontaneous wounds - some of which are said to be deadly to the victims. The most interesting of these involves the reported activity surrounding Coventry Street in London in April, 1922. A man was brought in with a stab wound to his neck, but all he could tell the doctors was that he had been walking along Coventry Street and, when he turned off of it, he had fallen to the ground. By the end of the day, two more men with the same wounds and the same story were admitted. The report was given in The People, April 1922.

In further posts, we will discuss more about Elementals, what they are and how they may come to be created. Assuming this report to be true and not - as it could be posited - an April Fool's joke, this is an Elemental that can be classified as a "Hate." Created by Evil thoughts when an Evil man is murdered, the Hate is said to seek revenge for its creator's death. This is a True Elemental, borne from the mind of Man, formed by Evil and angry thoughts, desires, hopes, or feelings. The advent of the man's death by murder is said to create such a spirit form.

But, again, given the fact that it appeared in a magazine in April and the events have not been repeated since, it may have been an April Fool's Day prank (they were pretty popular around that time). The number three is important in many branches of the Occult.

Daemons and Elementals

To forward the idea of classifying spirits and Supernatural phenomena, I proffer the following:

There is a difference in general Supernatural phenomena and Dæmonic activity and this division must be nurtured. We can discern all sorts of very obvious, very straightforward differences between such hauntings as those involving an image or other insubstantial (incorporeal) advents, those involving the physical manipulation of solid objects (poltergeist), and those involving what can only be considered malefic forces. Consider the truly bizarre phenomena surrounding the Bell Witch, which was far more than mere poltergeist activity.

Let us then turn to the matter of Elementals, from which the term "Demons" was culled. Elementals are spirits, not necessarily tied to the elements themselves (contrary to popular belief), that have never existed in human form. They are sometimes malefic, but usually mercurial in nature, and are said to often possess such abilities as clairaudience, clairvoyance, prescience, and telekinesis. They also produce solid materials from nowhere.

"Dæmon" is basically a corruption of Elemental, and since the former has become so intimately associated with religion, I say we should turn back to the original word, but keep the general meaning. Of course, this demands a greater division, since simply assuming that all Elemental hauntings are basically "mercurial in nature" is fallacious; there are undeniably Evil forces at work in certain places/people and many psychics and mediums have claimed to hear the guiding, disembodied voice (invariably male, by my research) of something with prescience. This voice(s) is sometimes called "The Masters" (Occult) but also often referred to as "Elementals" or just plain "Spirits."

The phenomena surrounding such obviously intelligent spirits, who also frequently seem to have a prurient (or at least hyperactive) interest in sex as well as a cutting and sometimes callous wit, cannot be chalked-up to simple poltergeist activity, such as the moving of objects, rapping on surfaces, and so on. And "traditional" hauntings, where the phenomena centers around specific images or incorporeal activity, are easily separated from either of the other two.