Mar - Spirit Society of PA

Spirit Society of PA.
A P P A R I T I O N S
A Monthly Journal of News & Upcoming Events • Vol 14, Issue 3 - MAR. 2009
“ROO’s” BOOS - Notes from Kelly
In the photo Teddy and I freeze at Gettysburg’s High Water Mark
on Feb. 14 as John & I celebrated our Anniversary... I’m so glad
Spring is right around the corner! I think I speak for a lot of us
when I say that I’m excited to see the trees blossom with color
and watch the tiny faces of flowers peeping out of the ground.
I’m counting down the weeks! I’m far from a snow bunny, and
love spring and the delightful fragrance that the earth gives off.
This month in anticipation of planting flowers and gardens, I’m
going to write about making a magical scarecrow.
My neighbor always has a neat scarecrow and each year it is
different. One year it was a pirate. It was very creative and made
me smile every time I walked by with Teddy. Another year it was
a princess. Perhaps the
kids each get a turn making the straw friend each
spring. I’m eager to see
what guards their garden
this year. It adds a sense
of whimsy to your garden.
This year, get creative and
make a scarecrow that
gives off a part of your
personality. You do not
even need a garden to try
this fun project. Enjoy
some magical history of
the scarecrow!
Scarecrow Magic
They have been known
by many different names
through the centuries.
Scarebirds. Jacks-ofs t r a w. Ta t t y b o g l e s .
Watchers of the Corn Sprouts. Terrifiers. Although we call
them scarecrows, these eerie human effigies frighten more than
birds. Countless legends describe scarecrows who come to life
under the Full Moon or serve as hosts for dangerous, disembodies spirits. Though friendly, clown like, scarecrows dominate
today, the jack-of-straw’s traditional, more sinister nature lurks
just behind the tattered cloak.
Scarecrows are as ancient as agriculture, and many different
types developed around the world. The Zuni and Navaho hung
dead crows from poles in their corn fields. They hoped the sight
of rotting carcasses would serve as a warning to other birds. The
ancient Greeks placed wooden statues of the ugly god Priapus
in their vineyards, and the Germans took Witch figures to the
fields in early spring. After the Witches drew the evil forces
of winter from the ground, they remained as scarecrows until
the fall harvest. During the years of the Black Death, British
farmers began making ‘modern’ scarecrows by stuffing old
clothes with straw.
The Pennsylvania Dutch erected scarecrows in pairs. A male
figure, called the bootzamon or bogeyman, stood at one end of
the field. The bootazfraw or bogeywife stood at the other. The
two worked together and kept each other company. This custom may be the source of
the folk belief that scarecrows travel in groups.
As soon as one is placed
in a field, others are sure
to follow, mysteriously
springing up overnight.
Japanese farmers invite
the god of agriculture
to leave his home in the
mountains each spring
and enter their scarecrows
called kakashi. The kakashi could see everything, and the birds who
landed on them whispered secrets to the god.
When the autumn harvest
was completed, the kakashi were taken down
and stacked in a pile. The
farmers prepared rice cakes to thank the god for his service and
to provide food for his long journey back to the mountains.
After the rice cakes were placed around the kakashi, the pile
was set ablaze and the god released. The ceremony was known
as “The Ascent of the Scarecrow.”
Even in this day of farming as big business, the scarecrow still
performs his ancient duties. Agricultural supply companies
sell inflatable scarecrows with moving arms and legs. A glowin-the-dark version is even available. But why not honor the
ancient traditions and make your own frightening tattybogle?
The goal is to create a figure that suggests a human being. The
simpler the form, the more menacing its appearance will be.
Before you begin construction, decide where you will put your
scarecrow. If he is going to be outdoors for an extended period,
he will get wet. Keep that in mind as you select your materials.
1. Construct a wooden cross to serve as the scarecrow’s skeleton. If you don’t have the appropriate pieces of wood, tomato
stakes, broomsticks, or mop handles will work. Nail or attach
the horizontal piece about one third of the way down from the
top of the vertical pole. The horizontal will be the scarecrow’s
arms. The vertical will be his spine. Stick the vertical pole into
the ground or anchor it in a flower pot or bucket filled with dirt
or rocks.
2. The scarecrow’s head can be made from a variety of items;
a pumpkin, bucket, milk jug, stuffed pillow case, old mop or
broom top, plastic jack-o;-lantern. Mount the head on the vertical pole, then cover the neck with a scarf. Add a hat or clothe
your scarecrow in a hooded sweatshirt. It’s not necessary to
add facial features, but if you do, make them huge and simplejust eyes or leering mouth with a red rag dangling like a flapping tongue.
3. Finish dressing your creation. To use pants and shirt, the pole
can be one leg while the other pant leg hangs free. Use bales of
hay or if that is not available you can always drape an old sheet,
bedspread, or blanket over the form and tie a rope around the
scarecrow’s waist. Fray the hem or tear into strips so the tatters
will fly in the wind.
4. Add scarecrow’s hands. Old gloves are traditional, but twigs
that resemble skeleton fingers also work. You can suspend tinfoil pie pans from the end of the horizontal pole or give your
scarecrow a walking stick. As they flutter, the movement and
reflection will frighten the birds and other animals that invade
the garden at night.
Situate your scarecrow comfortably in the garden, then give
him a small offering: a flower, some kernels of corn, a handful
of seeds, or a green tomato. Do not neglect him. Check on him
from time to time, especially after storms. When the growing
season ends, be sure to thank him for his hard work. You can
store your scarecrow and bring him out again in the spring. But
if you believe in old legends, that won’t be necessary. Scarecrow’s despise the cold. As soon as the first frost touched the
fields, they vanish on their own!
USING THE PENDULUM - from Laura Shank I never
thought I could work with a pendulum. I had seen people use
it fraudulently. I just didn’t have faith in my ability to do it successfully.
We began working with the pendulum in our mediumship
class. I never bought a pendulum, since I never thought I could
do it. I use a necklace. Kelly taught us how to protect ourselves
and showed us different exercises to do with it to strengthen
our abilities. She also taught us how to keep our hands steady
while working with the pendulum.
I went to West Virginia on Feb. 20th to visit my oldest daughter Brie. She has mentioned in the past of a spirit she feels in
the apartment. I myself have been touched and have heard
feetsteps in the attic. After investigating the attic, there was
nothing up there physical, that would have made the footsteps.
I have also always had an uneasy feeling when I go up there.
My daughter Brie said she always feels like something doesn’t
want her up there.
My daughter and I were talking about my classes with Kelly,
and what we were working on in them. I told her about the
pendulum work. She asked if I could do it to see what is in the
house. I told her we could try. I said a protection prayer, and
then began asking questions to establish what is yes and what is
no answers.( Is my name Laura, Is my fathers name Bob, etc.)
I asked my first question- Can you tell me if there are spirits in
this house? The pendulum swung “yes”.
I asked if the spirits were female- It swung “no”.
I asked if the spirit killed himself. It swung “yes”.
I asked if he was young. It swung “yes”.
I asked if he was a teenager. It swung “no”.
I asked if he was 20. It swung “yes”.
I asked if he died in this house. It swung “no’’.
My daughters face looked shocked and she asked me to ask if
his name was John. I did and it swung “yes”.
My daughter had a friend who killed himself recently, and his
name was John.
I asked if he regretted killing himself. It swung “yes”, then
stopped in the middle. I knew he wasn’t there anymore.
Brie and I began talking about the main spirit she believes was
in the house. The pendulum began swinging in a small circle.
My daughter said she thought the spirit was evil.The pendulum
swung no forcefully. It was reacting to me and my daughters
questions.
I asked if this was his house. It swung “ yes”.
I asked if it liked people upstairs. It swung “no”.
At this time I began getting messeges, so I put the pendulum
away.
All Solicitors will be ABDUCTED!
John’s Scarecrow Design... Might keep annoying solicitors away
This is what I got (sensed): I got that he was a homeless man.
He “Thought” that it was his house. He had a very nervous
energy. I got that he froze to death in the house. I went to the
bottom of the attic steps. I could “see” him pacing back and
forth. I assured him that I wasn’t coming upstairs.( where he
was pacing, we established was where I heard the footsteps).
I wrote down everything I saw. I then brought my youngest
daughter, Arianna, over to me. She was a little freaked out but
I told her to write down what she felt and saw. I didn’t show
her or tell her what I got. And she didn’t show me what she
got. We both gave them to Brie and they were almost identical.
Brie did say that the landlord is planning on making the attic
another room/apartment. It will be curious what happens.
UFO AWARENESS DAY
Presented by PA MUFON
SUN. JUNE 28 at New Cumberland Sr. Center
Featured Speaker for this FREE Event will be
noted Roswell Researcher DENNIS BALTHASER
About Dennis Balthaser: Dennis
moved to Roswell in 1996 to pursue
his interest in Ufology, after retiring from the Texas Highway Department in El Paso, with 33 years
in civil engineering. Prior to that
he served 3 years in a U.S. Army
engineering battalion. He was the
UFO Investigator and served on the
Board of Directors for the International UFO Museum between 1996
and 1998. Today he is an independent researcher, investigator, journalist and lecturer.
Dennis has done over 350 TV, radio and other media interviews related to and since the 50th anniversary of the Roswell
Incident in July, 1997, including; CNN, MTV, SCI-FI, The
TODAY show, Dateline, Nightline, NBC, ABC Nightly News,
Jeff Rense, “Sightings on the radio”, Ted Loman’s “Off the
Record”, Rob McConnell’s “X-Zone Radio Show”, Art Bell’s
“Coast to Coast AM”, Discovery channel, National Geographic and History channel.
Dennis is a investigator with MUFON and is a board member
of the advisory board for the Great Pyramid of Giza Research
Association.
His main areas of research comprise the 1947 Roswell Incident, Area 51, Underground Bases and the pyramids of Egypt.
He currently writes editorials for 31 web sites and UFO magazine, pertaining to his research, and works closely with wellknown researchers Stanton Friedman, Frank Warren, Scott
Ramsey and many others.
Dennis’ web site; “www.truthseekeratroswell.com” has had
over one million visitors since 1998.
•Event is Free to the public and will begin at 12 noon. Other
Speakers & Details to be finalized in the coming months.
Presented by the PA Division of the Mutual UFO Network.
A Strange Night in Room 317 - by Kelly Weaver
With much anticipation John, Teddy Bear and I arrived at the
Holiday Inn, Gettysburg on Friday afternoon, February 13. We
decided to take a mini vacation to celebrate our 18 year Anniversary and Valentine’s day close to home in case in inclement
weather. Of course we planned on enjoying the new visitor’s
center and the Will’s house along with much needed R&R.
We had reservations at a local Italian restaurant for Valentine’s
day dinner. The weekend was perfectly planned and we were
both excited to have some much needed fun and delve into
Civil War history. (The new visitor’s center and the Will’s
House were fabulous… a must see)!
On Friday evening we decided to have a quiet night in the
hotel room and ordered pizza. We needed to get a good night’s
sleep in anticipation for the busy day that awaited us.
As usual, we each grabbed a double bed. Teddy and I cuddled up with the extra covers and called it a night. I remember
watching John fix the clock radio to the correct time, but he did
not set the alarm. By my side was my cell phone so I could see
the time or use the small light to get to the bathroom in this very
dark room. (I could not see the alarm clock the way it was positioned on the nightstand). Right after we turned out the light,
the cell phone lit up, which is very unusual. (we both have the
same phone and John mentioned that it was strange that it went
off). I shrugged it off and started to drift off to sleep.
About half hour later I was awakened to a loud buzzing noise.
It sounded like the fuzzy noise a television would make when
not tuned into a channel. White noise. It was loud and startled
me. I turned on the light (much to John’s dismay) and found
it was the clock, which was in the off position for the radio or
alarm. OK. I was annoyed but climbed back into bed hoping
that it was the last interruption of the night. I tossed and turned
and Teddy was getting pretty tired of that so he joined John.
(Another very unusual scenario).
Another hour passed by when I heard a loud knock on my
headboard. It was not from another room, it was right above
my head in that very bed. Now, I’m getting really irritated because if you mess with my sleep I’m a bear in the morning and
that is the last thing I wanted to be on our anniversary. I had
promised John before we went to sleep that if anything happened that seemed paranormal to get him up and he’d check it
out. This was after I had seen a pink/blue mist coming out of
the bathtub years ago while at the hotel. He was upset that I
did not wake him up so he could check it out.
I tossed and turned thinking about this odd noise for about
20 more minutes and decided to make a trip to the bathroom.
This room was as dark as a cave and my little cell phone light
was not any help. I did not want to turn on the lights again
and wake up John, so I stumbled around in the dark. Although
this is not paranormal, I found myself not being able to find
the toilet and then after some searching I had to find my way
out of the place. Imagine my surprise by almost getting hit in
the head with the iron and had to quickly grabbed the ironing
board to avoid getting clobbered. John was still sound asleep,
thank God. I had made it to and from the bathroom in solid
darkness and avoided an accident along the way.
More tossing and turning on my part. By now hours have passed
and I was getting angry. I just wanted to sleep, enough already!
I finally had started to drift into a light sleep when there was a
very loud bang on the other nightstand off to my left. I was the
sound of what I would say was a large water bottle hitting the
table and rolling on the floor. I knew I had left my water bottle
in the car so I found that odd. Once again, this was not your
typical hotel room sound from another room. This was a few
yards away from me. It was loud and it was real.
I had just about enough and turned on the lights and woke
John up. Being the skeptic that he is and of course not fully
awake, he went to the nightstand both saw a three fold sign on
the floor. “That’s it, Roo, it was the sign.” “No, John it was not
the sign, it does not sound like a water bottle hitting and rolling on the floor.” We checked around the table and there was
nothing that could have made that loud sound. “Do you want
me to sleep with you?” he asked. I quickly nodded my head
and was glad for the offer. What he could have done to protect
me, I don’t know, but I was really tired of whoever was trying
to get my attention. Teddy Bear remained in John’s bed the
rest of the night, most likely enjoying the entire bed to himself.
I did not sleep well after that incident but did manage to get
some much needed sleep, even if it was an hour or two.
The next morning, John decided to do some EVP. It seems like
we may have captured something on the tape. The next night
I asked to switch beds and that seemed to do the trick. I slept
like a baby and had no more strange The next morning, John
decided to do some EVP. It seems like we may have captured
something on the tape. The next night I asked to switch beds
and that seemed to do the trick. I slept like a baby and had no
more strange encounters with whoever was trying to get my
attention that night in room 317.
John’s Comments: Kelly and I have stayed at the Holiday
Inn Battlefield perhaps 6-7 times. This is the first time I recall
we stayed in what is the “north” half of the hotel, and this
may indeed have an effect on “who” was there that evening.
This hotel is actually built on land that should be part of the
NMP. This area of East Cemetery Hill saw an attack late on
July 2 by Hays “Louisiana Tigers” (5th thru 9th LA) Brigade
from Early’s Div. of Ewells 2nd Corps. Defending the hill in
a line that essentially runs thru the center of the hotel were
the 107th & 25th Ohio of Howards 11th Corps. (Union flank
markers can be seen by the water tower fence on the hill behind the hotel.) As Hays men moved up the hill, facing fierce
fire from the Federals, the last 75 yards they covered are where
the north side of the hotel sits. The Confederates eventually
withdrew after taking heavy casualties. In prompting EVP, I
asked if anyone from Ohio or Louisiana was present. Tonight
I’ll play one clip that to me, sounds like the name of a town
in LA. You can be the judge, but clearly there was something
happening in our room that weekend. JDW
Karl Petry
Kelly Weaver
Craig Telesha
Sue Sereno
Rick Fisher
Five Great Presentations
One Haunted Historic Site
The 8th Annual PA
Paranormal Conference
April 18th 2009 at Bube’s
Brewery, Mt. Joy, PA
9am-6pm; Lunch Included
Details/Registration Info. at
www.paranormalpa.com
New! Free Download from SSP: P.I.D. 101
Paranormal Investigation
Development 101 is a
comprehensive guide to
understanding the procedures & policies SSP
has refined over 12 years
of investigating haunted
places. It’s a “must-read”
for anyone who wants to
become involved with
SSP field investigations.
Many thanks to Melissa
Telesha for preparing this
.pdf document, which can
be downloaded free at
www.spiritsocietyofpa.
Spirit Society of PA.
AA PP PP AA R I T I O N S
Story & Photo Contributions are Solicited - send to:
John & Kelly Weaver, 43 Essex Rd, Camp Hill, PA 17011
E-mail: weaviate@aol.com
S.S.P. Website: www.spiritsocietyofpa.com
Thanks to Melissa Telesha for contributing the following article
from over 100 years ago!
Daily Local News (Perry Co.), September 9, 1907
If you pull a flower to pieces you will die of consumption.
If a person smells flowers gathered from the cemetery he will
lose his sense of smell.
Country Beliefs About the Mints--Luck and Ill Luck
With Flowers
To have flowers wilt quickly in the hands denotes ill health.
There is nothing which grows around which there is more
superstition woven than the homely mints. Not only is mint
the crowning enticement of a julep, and a thing which makes
sedate tabbies gambol and roll like six-month old kittens, but,
according to tradition, the different mints have supernatural
properties, and there are good and bad mints. Pennyroyal, aside
from its qualification as a flea discourager, is said to make a
quarrel-some husband and wife stop bickering, if it is given to
them by some friend. Catnip on the other hand when chewed creates quarrelsomeness, and is said to make even mild and gentle
people fierce. It catnip is held in the hand until heated and then
put into the hand of another, it will, so goes the superstition, so
control that person that he or she cannot leave you so long as
the catnip is retained in the hand.
If some one gives you a purple flower you are going to have
tears and trouble.
If some one gives you a yellow flower you are going to have money.
Spearmint will prevent illness, so long as it is worn about the
wrist. If spearmint is mixed with salt and applied to the bit of
a mad dog the wound will heal, it is said. In the olden days the
children used to put a bit of spearmint in the cots on Christmas
Day, believing that at the exact time when the Saviour was born
the mint would blossom.
The superstitions which cluster around flowers are as many as
there are different flowers. It is considered unlucky to gather
flowers out of season, as before and after the season they are
said to belong to the fairies. The first wild flowers which are
gathered by a young woman in the spring should spell the initials
of her future husband, if the superstition holds true.
Here is the schedule of superstitions about finding the first
flower of the season:
If found on Monday, good luck all the year.
If found on Tuesday, large undertakings which will be successful.
If found on Wednesday, a wedding in the family.
If found on Thursday, hard work with little profit.
If found on Friday, unexpected wealth.
If found on Saturday, misfortunes.
If found on Sunday is the best luck of all.
Some of the numberless flower superstitions are:
If any one asks for the flowers pinned on your dress and you
refuse, you will have immediate ill luck.
To burn faded flowers is a sign of coming sorrows.
To plant a flower hedge is to bring good luck.
If you point at buds they will blight.
To hand a flower reversed to any one is to bring bad luck.
If a person wears flowers with the stems upward, it is a sign
that he or she is in love but does not know it.
Kelly & Teddy on the Haunted Trostle Farm Lane - 2/14/09