Some Goddesses You May Not Know

Averna

 Also called Laverna, Averna is the name of a Roman goddess who was considered to be the Queen of the Dead. Averna seems to have some relationship to the Greek goddess Hecate, Queen of Ghosts, who enters the Underworld through which one entrance is Lake Averna. It was believed that hidden caves surrounded Lake Averna was through which the souls of the dead were summoned. Trees that encircled the lake were sacred to Hecate such as the Osier, Willow and Yew tree.

 

 

Lilith

In ancient Jewish thought, Lilith was the first wife of Adam, who disobeyed him and was turned into a demon similar to a vampire or succubus. However, Lilith is really derived from a number of different Middle Eastern goddesses who were later demonized when they no longer fit in with rising patriarchal beliefs among the Hebrews who decided to cast their earlier goddesses aside in favor of one male God. Lilith, and other goddesses went underground, and in doing so became witches, demons and spirits from the underworld.

"The wife brought the mirror and all of the fine furnishings in the cellar to her own home and proudly displayed it. She hung the mirror in the room of their daughter, who was a dark-haired coquette. The girl glanced at herself in the mirror all the time, and in this way she was drawn into Lilith's web.... For that mirror had hung in the the den of demons, and a daughter of Lilith had made her home there. And when the mirror was taken from the haunted house, the demoness came with it. For every mirror is a gateway to the Other World and leads directly to Lilith's cave. That is the cave Lilith went to when she abandoned Adam and the Garden of Eden for all time, the cave where she sported with her demon lovers. From these unions multitudes of demons were born, who flocked from that cave and infiltrated the world. And when they want to return, they simply enter the nearest mirror. That is why it is said that Lilith makes her home in every mirror.

‘Now the daughter of Lilith who made her home in that mirror watched every movement of the girl who posed before it. She bided her time and one day she slipped out of the mirror and took possession of the girl, entering through her eyes. In this way she took control of her, stirring her desire at will.... So it happened that this young girl, driven by the evil wishes of Lilith's daughter, ran around with young men who lived in the same neighborhood."

 

Badb

In Celtic lore, the “Badb” meant “the fury,” and is a raven or crow-like goddess that lords over the outcome of war and battle. The Badb goddess primarily spreads evil and carnage, inciting violence wherever she travels. In ancient times, battlegrounds were often referred to as “Badb’s lands” by the Celts. She was also called the “Scald-crow,” usually taking the form of a crone or a hag with oily black hair with strands that floated like the feathers of a crow.  Her other name, Badb Catha means “battle-raven.”

Babd was also thought to sometimes take the form of a wolf. During Celtic and Teutonic wars it was claimed she roamed the battlefields, wringing out the bloody clothes of the dead, somewhat like her counter-part the Bean Sidhe or Banshee.
 

Befana

An Italian witch-figure that has connections to Christmas and pagan celebrations of the New Year, Befana is a whimsical hag who leaves presents in children’s stockings hung near the hearth, usually on the night of January 6th. Befana is an archaic goddess of fate and is also connected the measure of time, which are on many people’s minds in early winter. Almost like a Father Christmas, Befana is often shown riding on either a broom or a goat with presents spilling out of her pack.

Even though Befana is an obvious pagan figure, she is strongly tied to the nativity story. This tale of the Christmas witch connects her to the Wise Men. The story goes that while on their way to Bethlehem to present gifts to the baby Jesus they stopped at the home of Befana to take a rest. They explained to her what they were doing and invited the witch to accompany them in their quest to visit the Christ child. Befana explained to them there was too much housework for her to do. After the Wise Men, or Three Kings, rode out of sight, Befana felt the sting of regret and changed her mind. Hurriedly, she grabbed a tablecloth and as many gifts for the baby Jesus as she could find, and fashioned it into a pack full of treats and toys.

Along the way, Befana gave each child she met a present, just in case they might be the baby Jesus. Befana never found the Christ child though, and she grew very old in her search. Eventually she transformed into a wrinkled crone that was hard to look at, even so, it is her face that represents the passing of time.

Sometimes a dummy is fashioned to represent Befana is stuffed with candies, nuts and fruit. The dummy is sawed open and the goodies are dispensed among children and adults. Following this a pyre is constructed and the dummy of Befana is fed into the flames. As fire sparkles into the night, there is a good bye to the old year, with respect for the passing of time and fate, and the embracing of the New Year with promises anew.

In Italy, it is believed by children to this very day Befana, or the Christmas witch, fills children’s stockings with curly candy for the good or a lump of coal for the bad.

Cardea

 In ancient Rome, Cardea was the goddess of door hinges and openings. She was also the protector against what Romans thought were vampire-witches and other menacing creatures of foreboding darkness and night.

Ovid said of Cardea, obviously quoting a religious formula: “Her power is to open what is shut, to shut what it open.” More importantly, Cardea is the goddess of doorways, and that means she unlocks mystery and invites into lives every other possibility. Her primary role is to guard sleeping children from evil ghosts and influences.

Erzulie Freda

Erzuelie Freda is the Haitian Vood loa  (spirit) who brings passion, love, sex and beauty into our lives. Her symbol is a heart, usually surrounded by swirls, stars and the moon but sometimes pierced with a knife. By this veve we see the heart is central to Erzulie Freda, even beauty falls short of love in her spectrum of interests and passions. She is not exactly a faithful lover, but she is an ardent one once her attention is on her beloved. But her love is fickle, and she does not focus well on one man at a time. In reference to men, Erzulie loves them all as she is the loa of gay and transgendered men. She knows what it is to cultivate her feminine side and use it to gain more affection and other pleasantries. Erzulie loves to be lavished. She is certainly a beauty with her dancing green eyes and light skin, her silver jewelry, white and pink robes, but she is deft with ways of making herself even more attractive.

Erzulie Freda does not like to work that hard, she is bored by laboring and is too soft for it so some Voodoo practitioners view her as a bit lazy. She is also known for her weeping which she does often since she is the loa of the broken-hearted. However, because of her fickle nature Erzulie Freda does not cry for too long.

Erzulie Freda acts as the goddess of romance, cosmetics, luxury and sensuality. She is both passionate and jealous. At one time, Erzulie was an amazon, a female warrior who fought during an early Haitian revolution. Erzulie Freda was a popular woman, especially among men and lovers. During the throes of passion they told her too many of their secrets. Fearing she might be captured by the enemy forces, her allies cut out her tongue so she could not reveal the secrets to the opponents of the revolution. They surmised flirty Erzulie aims to please, no matter who it is, and secrets weren’t safe with her. She could easily be tricked by an amorous lover. When Erzulie Freda tried to speak, all that came out was a trilling ka-ka-ka-ka-ka the sound of her tongue clicking the roof of her mouth. This same story is told about Erzulie Dantor, who is Freda’s sister, but they have always been jealous rivals of one another.

Erzulie Freda wears three wedding rings, and surprisingly, although she is considered to be a virgin, she is married to three of the most important male loas: Damballa, Ogoun and Agwe. Erzulie is a striving spirit, forever ambitious to attain new love and affection. For this reason, she is never satisfied and is known as a weeping loa. When Erzulie Freda appears regret is possible but passion is certain.
 

 

Moonset Lily

Susan A Sheppard

 

Who are the Invisibles & Hobgoblins?

Who Are the Invisibles?

Invisibles are ghosts only children can see.

Such haunting spirits are thought to play with children and often they will speak of these invisible playmates by even giving the spirits names. It is believed that young children have the most pure psychic abilities and can see into other realms easier than older children or adults who have become jaded to such things.

Often when babies laugh or talk alone in their cribs, it was once thought that the invisibles at work teasing the children or playing games.

What Are Hobgoblins?

 

Hobgoblins are a type of an elf or gnome that the Druids claimed to have encountered when they first arrived in the British Isles. Hobgoblins tended to be small, snub-nosed and ugly, and seem to delight in playing tricks on humans. The smiles of Hobgoblins were said to chill the blood, curdle milk or make fruit go sour on the trees. They are believed to have no homes, other than mossy banks, isolated woods, stone circles and the roots of ancient trees. If they are allowed into the homes of humans Hobgoblins are known to cause great troubles and other calamities. Most of the time, human cannot see the Hobgoblin. They can only hear their devilish laughter early in the morning or late at night. “Hobgoblin” has come to mean any kind of ugly fairy. Fairies appreciate beauty, thus, if they are born ugly, they can become menacing or very spiteful.

What Is a Hedge Witch?

 

“Hedge witch” is a variation on the “green witch” or the “solitary witch.”

The Hedge Witch works alone primarily with herbs and with the natural forces of nature. She is often not a member of any group or coven so she works alone and is accepted as such. Hedge witches used to be known as the “cunning women” or “cunning men” in rural areas, healing with their special knowledge of plants and herbs. Many acted as midwives.          

Frequently, hedge witches think of themselves as Christian, or as the same religion as most of their community and saw no contradiction in practicing their healing arts, which they saw as a gift from nature or even God. A modern form of the hedge witch still exists, even in urban areas. Such a witch is schooled in botanicals and has a vast knowledge of herbs.

 

What Are Spiritus Loci?

“Spiritus loci” is from the Latin meaning “spirit of the place.”  Also called “Genius loci” the belief originates from ancient Roman pagan traditions. It means the intelligence of spirits inhabiting or watching over a certain place. In modern times it has been believed that “Spiritus loci” is an area where spirits manifest.  Many Roman altars were built to worship and honor the “genius loci” of areas. There were a number of cults developed around this idea.  In many respects “genius loci” is the Roman form of an Arabic djinn. They are connected to the lares, or guardian spirits of the crossroads, another place where ghosts and other spirits freely materialize and form.

What is Odor of Sanctity?

 

“Odor of Sanctity” is a beautiful, unearthly scent that radiates from the physical bodies of holy persons and saints. It is an accepted theory that lower spirits tend to emit foul odors, and so it only makes sense that higher-evolved beings would only give off delicate and divine smells. A number of nuns in Italy were said to send off alluring odors that could only be describe as divine or heavenly. Some say the odor of sanctity has the smell of fresh violets.

 Moonset Lily

 Susan A Sheppard

 

What Does It Mean to Be Fairy-Led?

Being "Fairy-Led"

In the British Isles, fairies were once feared. There was a state of malingering that people were thought to fall victim to, which was referred to as being “fairy led.” This term may create a cute picture in the imagination, as that of being lead away by diaphanous winged, nymphs but such was not the case in past times.                                                  

In the past, fairies were not always beautiful. In fact, only a few were. And fairies were not always good either. Some were dangerous to reckon with. Not only could fairies bring good luck, they can also bring bad luck.

The realm of the fairies were thought to be the next one immediately parallel to us, as well as one below in fairy barrows. Fairies had a certain guardianship over these spirit realms and acted as guides to the dead as they passed over. It was thought that if one interacted with the fairies regularly, the fairies may get attached and claim you as their own. This could cause a person to pine away, or die prematurely. Often those attached by fairies would enter an almost zombie-like state. In this state of confusion or weakness one became fairy-led.

 Interestingly, there is a similar belief about the Puck fairy or “Pooka” where some individuals worried about being “pooke-led,” which meant losing one’s way, becoming confused or bewildered, and even missing time episodes similar to some claims of alien abductions in recent years.

 Abduction by Fairies

In ancient times, especially among the Celts and early British tribes, a belief in fairy abductions was common among the population. Fairies, during those periods, were thought to have guardianship over the realm of the dead and also the underworld.  It was then that fairies were given the task of guiding the souls of the dead departing earth by helping their transition into the afterlife. Because fairies were associated with death and were not viewed as the friendly sprites we now see them as, superstitions and fears surrounded them.                                                                                                                          

For instance fairies were not always so even-tempered. The peasant folk believed fairies had to be placated with bowls of milk and or cups of sugar set out at night as offerings. If this was not done, the snub could anger the fay folk.  Messy homes, for instance, could inspire the wrath of the sidhe (“shee” or fairy race).    

In the children’s classic “Peter Pan,” Tinkerbell is characterized as a jealous fairy.  Those who suffered from malingering illnesses (see “Hag-ridden” and “fairy led”) were believed to be victims of malevolent fairies (and sometimes their mortal kin witches) who stole people from their beds at night and rode them through the night sky like horses. (Here we see the relationship between the words “hag” and “nag” both tied to horses.) Even so, not all fairies had unkind intentions toward their fellow mortal human beings and often acted as helpmates and agents for good such as granting wishes and even doing housework when the owners were away!                
                                             
In what was once Pictland, or Scotland, it was held in great esteem for a Scotsman to marry what was called then a “faery witch,” insuring a life with fine children and other comfort rewards. Fairies were still feared by some and blamed for outbreaks of fires, bad crops, or livestock going dry, becoming diseased, or crops experiencing blight.

When certain individuals woke up drained or tired in the morning, many sincerely believed to have been abducted by fairies the previous night. Fairy children or “changelings” were placed in the beds of children, while the real human child was stolen away to Fairyland. You had to also be careful of sudden "Elf-darts" shot by the fae which could cause sudden strokes.

 

Fairy Rings

Before there were crop circles, there were fairy rings. Fairy rings are most likely a natural phenomenon, such as a fungus growing beneath the grass creating the circles. Often, the circle is dotted with mushrooms, which is probably why we link fairies with mushrooms.

Like crop circles, the grasses inside fairy rings are either flattened or barren but with sprouts of tall foliage surrounding the area. It was believed and sometimes still is that the grass was flattened by the fairies circular dance. In other areas of the British Isles, the fairy rings were termed “hag tracks” thought formed by the coven dances and Sabbats of local witches. Some even speculated fairies stole horses at night to ride them all night in a circle forming the ring.

William Shakespeare wrote of fairy rings and fairies in his play The Tempest:

You demi-poppets that by moonshine,
Do sour the green ringlets make.

Where of ewe not bites, and you
Whose past times is to make midnight mushrooms.


Pictured is Robin Goodfellow leading his fairies in their making of a fairy ring. As you can clearly see, fairies were sometimes blamed for nocturnal emissions and other things human beings seemed to have no control over.

Few believe in actual fairy rings in our modern day. Crop Circles, a type of fairy rings, has usurped them as points of paranormal interest. Scientists have not found the cause, so assume these circles are a natural occurrence. However, when it comes to the fairies, we are never quite sure.

  Moonset Lily

Susan A Sheppard

 

Signs of Ghosts & Phases of Hauntings

Signs of Ghosts & Hauntings

Hauntings start out as very subtle but they have unmistakable first signs that can be overlooked if one isn’t paying attention or used to such things. Often the haunting begins as strange odors or the displacement of objects. You may find yourself always searching for keys, your cell phone, or purse to later discover them in areas you know you would never place them. You may suddenly arrive home and notice that an item you’ve not seen in years, such as an album of family photographs, placed in the center of your dining room table. Some household objects may levitate, or are picked up and dropped as if by unseen hands. Or, more typically, you will hear something go crash and see that an object has been tossed across the room while there is no other living soul around.

Changes in temperature are apparent in many haunted areas. This is especially true of cold spots and areas that are difficult to keep warm. At times the cold (and even hot) spots will move around, but you may find them centralized in one area. Why are there cold spots? Some theorize that spirits draw upon the thermal energies of an area in order to appear.

Other signs include electrical equipment going haywire, strange disturbances in the lights, television sets, telephones, lights switched back on after the person has turned them off and left the room. Ghost hunters know from experience that any haunting will drain electricity as well, so haunted houses tend to use up lots of light bulbs and ghost hunts in haunted areas deplete new batteries.

Disturbing dreams that involve characters the sleeper doesn’t know while in a waking state can indicate the presence of spirits. Hearing your name being called, and then turning to find no one is there is evidence of haunting spirits. When pets avoid certain rooms, or cower and bark as they do around strangers, or when frightened, is something to take note of.

Another odd phenomenon is hearing voices over the sound of a fan or air- conditioner or running water. (See “White Noise.”) As soon as the interference ceases, the voices will invariably stop. Most often the voices will appear to be whispering or the mumbling of several voices. Hearing your name being called or spoken and then finding no one there is not uncommon.

A number of haunted areas will have the sound of running water or plumbing problems, and yet the source of the problem may never been found. Water problems are typical in many hauntings.

Doors being repeatedly opened and closed either witnessed visually or just by hearing odd sounds in your home, such as footsteps, are typical in ghost infestations. Glimpsing shadows, lights or movement out of the corner of your eye indicates spirits afoot. Phones continually ringing, and no one on the line is also an indicator that a spirit wants to be in communication. (Make sure, though, it is not a bad link on a cell phone.)

Other signs of hauntings are the witnessing of white or black wisps floating about, seeing mysterious balls of light, either captured on cameras or witnessed by the naked eye, hearing slamming noises or the sound of broken glass.

A number of spirits announce themselves as muffled voices, disembodied whispering, or low-level growls. You may also hear moaning or soft crying. An area that remains dim or cold, not matter what you do, implies the presence of a haunting.

Some experience their haunting or spirit attachments as Old Hag night terrors, feelings of being brushed up against or touched, physical objects being tossed and witnessing full-blown apparitions, all imply ghosts like to hang out in your corner of the world.

What to do?

You can start to investigate your ghost or haunting or more simply, ignore it. Most hauntings eventually peter out and go away on their own. Oh, this doesn’t mean you’re rid of ghosts. Just learn to accept them. There is very little danger they can cause you. But if ghosts are attracted to you, they probably always will be. If you don’t want this, you should not be reading a book like this. Study of ghosts tends to open a window allowing their spirits to pour through.

If you find yourself suffering from a number of headaches, depression, bad luck or some form of substance abuse, you might want to move out, if you believe your house to be haunted. Not everyone is cut out for communications with ghosts. If these problems continue to plague you, learn how to spiritually protect yourself, through casting a circle, white lighting exercises, chants and prayers. Better yet, take a vacation from it all. A positive frame of mind will only attract positive spirits. The negative ones won’t be attracted to your positive energy and love light and they will quickly go away.

Let’s go over the most universal elements involving hauntings and ghost appearances:

Signs of Hauntings

>Dark, cold areas in a home or building that are difficult to warm or light.

> Hearing whisperings, mumbling or even clearly enunciating voices.

> Shadows or lights in the peripheral vision, such as images reflected in mirrors, windows of in the computer screen that should not be there.

> Unusual odors or smells.

> Hearing moaning or growling.

> Hearing scratching inside the walls or at the door.

> Doors opening and closing on their own.

>Much more rarely, windows opening and closing on their own.

> Glass rattling or the sound of glass shattering.

> Infestations of insects in certain rooms.

> Seeing a full-blown apparition.

>Feeling pressed down, or attacked in your bed.

> Waking up paralyzed or unable to move even a finger.

> The sound of footsteps in areas of the home where no one is.

> Feeling touched or brushed against.

> Getting sudden chills for no apparent reason.

> Seeing what looks like smoky light, balls of light, sparks or what looks to be a sudden camera flash.

Phases of Hauntings

To know what phase your haunting is in, read the following explanations of how the appearances of ghosts tend to progress:

> First Phase. Most hauntings start out as barely noticed. They may involve the moving of objects, the misplacing of objects and objects turning up in unexpected or unlikely places. Places in the home will seem abnormally cold or difficult to heat. Pets may begin to act strangely and refuse to enter certain rooms. Strange shadows may be noted out of the corner of the eyes fleetingly.

>Second Phase. There are smells or odors that stand out as being not attached to the place, such as old-fashioned perfume, the smell of a pipe, cologne, cigars, fresh cut flowers, gasoline, or what is associated with the spirit in life. You may hear low moaning, crying sounds and conversations, thinking the television or radio is on.

> Third Phase. The haunting will progress into loud noises such as the sound of footsteps, often above or below the floor where the witness is, the opening and closing of doors, windows opening, shutting, creaking in the walls and rapping and banging sounds throughout the house. Sometimes lamps will swing. You may feel breezes pass by, with no one there.

> Fourth Phase. Lights and other electrical appliances may malfunction, but most specifically, turn themselves off and on. This alone, is very noticeable and may be the very thing that convinces the family or individuals they are caught in the midst of a haunting. Light bulbs and other energy sources get drained quickly. Instead of going out, light bulbs will explode or make a loud noise While doing so.

> Fifth Phase. There may be the feeling of unseen hands or a touch or brush of the hair. Perhaps indistinct voices, such as whispers, and the sound of your name being called will attract attention. There can be the noise of breaking and shattering glass, but when checked upon, nothing is amiss. Objects may be tossed or will fly about, usually just as you have turned a corner, or have taken your attention away from where the ghostly actions is. Marking, writing or shapes may appear on the walls, or carpets.

> Sixth Phase. Full apparitions will appear, as real living people or as shadow people that tend to be quite elongated or tall. Dark figures may move about the house or haunted area. There may be the attempt to communicate with the living, such as having a bizarre dream, then waking up to feeling a presence at the foot of the bed. (IF the spirit does not attempt or show any interest in communication, then it is probably a residual or imprint haunting.) Sometimes there will be the shape of a person glowing somewhat, like an aura without a body.

> Seventh Phase. Think of all of the above, but intensifying. Furniture may shake. Items may fly and shatter. Voices are getting louder or at least more violent in nature. Having frequent “Night (Old) Hag” occurrences, or the feeling of nocturnal assault or rape. You may find unusual scratches or bite marks on your body. These, however, are not your typical haunting.

The fact of the matter is, no matter how your frightening your haunting may seem it will eventually die down on its own by doing absolutely nothing. But this is not what Hollywood movies and ghost stories are sold on-- malevolent ghosts. Most of the time spirits are harmless and have no wish to be troublesome.

 It is best to keep in mind, the more you talk about your haunting, the more you are afraid or even excited, spirits will draw upon these emotions for energy and will just become stronger. If you are not comfortable with ghosts and their appearances, consider moving.

Once you get used to your ghosts, they usually leave since you are not giving them the attention they want. In 99.9% of the cases no one ends up hurt at all.

Moonset Lily

Susan A Sheppard

(Séance photo-collage by Mark Carlos Hernandez)



What Are Corpse Candles & Counterspells?

 

 

Corpse Candles

 

“Corpse candles,” called canwyll corph in Gaelic, are phantom lights or Welsh portents of death.

Corpse candles have a long history and legend in Wales. Witnesses have described them as mysterious lights that hover over the body of a person shortly before he or she dies. Corpse candles are also alleged to waft over the roofs of houses when a death is about to occur inside the home or on the spot of a fatal accident. Many claim corpse candles often appear along a route or road the night before the funeral procession the next day. Legend tells that Saint David, patron saint of Wales, prayed that the people of South Wales would have a warning of their deaths, and this is the reason corpse candles are mostly in the regions of South Wales.

At Glyncorring, hundreds of corpse candles appeared before some miners where they later killed in a mining accident. Two lights were also reported at the mouth of Ogmore River more than a century ago. Later, two brothers were drowned while attempting to wade through the tides. Some believe corpse candles to be the same as Will’O the Wisps or Jack O’Lights – nothing more than strange, unexplainable lights appearing at the edges of swamps and bogs.

In 1880, in Carthmathenshire, a local sea captain was away in the Asian seas. One night, a dim light in his room was noticed. The captain’s cousin asked his mother, “Is Jack home now?” The mother shook her head “No.” “Who has a candle in his room then?” the man persisted. “No one,” she answered, “Why do you speak so?”

Later a man passing by the manor saw what looked to be a rushing taper being carried throughout the manor. When he rapped on the door, he found no one at home. Before long, the mother walked in on a strange light hovering over the captain’s bed. It soon dissipated.

Within days the family was notified that the Captain had fallen from his boat and drowned before docking in the bay at Singapore. Corpse candles, or corpse lights with a reddish tint implies a male will die while a white tint indicates a woman is about to die. A weak light generally indicates in the death of a child.
 

Counterspells

“Counterspells” are spells to counteract hexes or curses. They are used by people who believe they are victims of sorcery or some malicious form of magic. Sometimes a counterspell can be used to turn around bad luck or jinxes, or to return an instant karma back on the person who has sent negativity or psychic attack.

A common counterspell used by the Pennsylvania Dutch was tacking a horseshoe over the door of the
barn, and sometimes the home, to repel evil spirits and banish other troubles.  Even in our modern day, the horseshoe is a good luck talisman. Also according to the Pennsylvania Dutch, as a counterspell, a broom can keep a witch from entering your house.

Mental shielding, such as white-lighting exercises, where the hexed individual imagines himself surrounded by a white chrysalis of light, can thwart any harmful intentions or energies.

The best tool that can be used in a counterspell is a mirror. Sometimes it is as simple as hanging a mirror over the bed of the person who is the victim of the spell. The mirror tends to turn the energy around on itself, completely counteracting it.

 In English folklore, one counterspell to use if you believe yourself to be the victim of a curse is to walk around a graveyard three times counter-clockwise. This will rid your life of any jinx, bewitchment or hex.

Also in England, hag-stones, stones with a natural hole in them, are thought to be extremely powerful in warding off bad luck and bewitchments.

In the 19th century, those who felt they were bewitched would take an iron nail and drive it into the footprint of the person they believed had bewitched them. This was thought to bring an end to the curse entirely.

Cloves have extremely popular use in counterspells. It is believed in English households cloves should be kept in drawers, in pillows and arranged in the four corners of the houses to keep bad luck curses and hexes from invading the home.



Dark Phase of the Moon

Dark Phase of the Moon is the eleven to fourteen days following the full moon. This is traditionally the best time to banish spirits and do clearings.  The dark phase of the moon is also a good time to do ghost investigations and other research into hauntings. It seems to yield almost as many positive findings as the full moon does, traditionally the best time to investigate hauntings or communicate with the spirit world.

 



 

 

MoonSet Lily

Susan A Sheppard