Clearfield County Paranormal Investigations

Banshee:

Perpetrator of unearthly wailing that is much feared in Ireland and western Scotland as an omen of approaching death. The banshee is usually heard at night and its supernatural ululations are generally associated with a particular family or clan, who can often detail a history of such warnings from spectral (usually female) guardians. Examples of famous banshees include the one linked to the aristocratic Rossmore family of County Monaghan in Ireland, which was first heard in 1801 and has heralded the death of each successive heir to the baronetcy (including that of the sixth baronet in 1958).

Some claim that the banshee wail is made by the faeries, who sense the coming of death and want to warn the family.  Alternately the banshee is held to be a dead ancestor or perhaps the vengeful spirit of a woman who has suffered some wrong at the family's hands.

In some parts of Scotland the banshee is known as 'washer by the ford' because of her figure is seen washing bloodstained clothes of the person fated to die. Sometimes the banshee is not in the form of a voice, but is heard as a beating drum.

Bells:

Bells are almost universally credited with the power of frightening off bad spirits.  In churches, a "passing bell" is rung on the death of a local person, not only to summon the congregation to prayer but also to drive away any evil spirits lured by the presence of death.

On the darker side, a bell that tolls without someone pulling on the rope is a widely feared omen of death, which will strike down a member of the parish within the space of a week.

Specially cast hand bells containing mercury, lead, silver, gold, tin, copper and iron, and buried in a cemetery to "mature" for seven days figure prominently in the rituals of necromancy (the black art of calling up the dead to divine the future).

Black:

Of all the colors, black is the one most closely associated with evil and death. In Western culture it is the traditional color worn at funerals - not so much out of respect for the deceased but as a recognition (dating from Roman times) that everyone is subject to the dominion of death.

Black Dog:

Spectral dog of ancient English tradition, which is reputed to appear at places associated with death. Many churchyards and isolated graves claim a Black Dog in local superstition, and sightings have also been reported at sites where murders have been committed. Descriptions vary, some dogs apparently have huge eyes, while others lack heads altogether. Locals speak fearfully of the howling of the Black Dog, and many claim that the Devil himself oten manifests in such a form.

Blackbird:

In ancient British culture the blackbird was considered a messenger from the dead, and it has retained links with the unknown world of the hereafter ever since. Some families claim that blackbirds appear when the death of a family member is imminent.

Burial:

The business of interring the remains of the dead has always exercised great fascination, and the folklore of every culture is heavy with taboos and rituals tha must be observed if the souls of the deceased are to prosper and the living are to be untroubled by their ghosts.

One of the most widespread traditional beliefs is that the body should be buried in as complete a state as possible. If a limb is missing, for instance, the deceased risks spending the whole of eternity without it, and in the past people often preserved their lost teeth and so forth so that they might be buried in the grave with the rest of the body when they finally died. In northern England the dead person was often buried with his own Bible, hymn book and Sunday School class ticket, and elsewhere even with treasured personal belongings. Some people still balk, however at the idea of a wife being buried with her wedding ring or with other peices of jewelery, on the grounds that this will cause offense in Paradise.

The business of transporting a corpse to its final resting place is governed by a welter of taboos. When it comes to the actual interment yet more superstitions apply. Sites towards the eastern and southern boundaries of a graveyard are the most desirable, the northern quarter (colder and less open to the sun) being reserved in former times for criminals and suicides.  In the past, the opening of a new graveyard sometimes posed a significant challenge, for no one would volunteer one of their deceased relatives for the "honor" of being the first to be interred, despite the free choice of location. The reason for this reluctance was the widespread belief that the Devil always claims the sould of the first corpse for his own.  The difficulty was usually overcome by burying an animal of some kind first.

In eastern England, the burial of a woman is sometimes regarded as a cause for considerable local concern, reflected in the saying "If churchyard opens for a she, it will open for three." In France, meanwhile, the last person to be buried in the year becomes a symbol of death, and their image will be seen by those fated to die the following year.

Most curious of all is the ancient British business of symbolic burial, which involves the faked burial of a living person (usually a sick child) in the belief that this will fool the evil spirits causing the malady and promote the patient's recovery. In Ireland, the custom is particularly linked with children born at Whitsun, who are allegedly fated to kill or be killed. Similarly, "dipping" someone repeatedly into an open grave is said to be effective in the treatment of fever, whooping cough and rheumatism, among other ailments.

Lastly, it is maintained in many societies that great misfortune will attend anyone who destroys a graveyard or otherwise disturbs the dead.

Calling the Dead:

A person who calls out the name of a deceased person in a dream or fever is presumed in both US and African cultures to be close to death.

If a dying person speaks the name of someone living this too is ominous, for the person named will be next to die. German superstition claims that calling out the name of a dead person three times on Christmas Eve is sufficient to cause their ghost to appear.

Caul:

The amniotic membrane that sometimes covers a newly delivered baby's head. Cauls have always been much prized by the superstitious, especially by sailors, who believed among other things, the person would be protected from death by drowning. It is maintained by some that a caul should be buried with its owner when he or she dies, or the ghost of the deceased will walk abroad in search of it.

Churchyard Watcher:

The spirit of the person most recently buried in a churchyard, whose duty it is to watch over the people buried there until the time comes to summon another living person to the grave and thus to be relieved. In some rural areas there may be contrversy when a churchyard is closed; the relatives of the last person buried there may complain that this means the deceased is comdemned to watch over the churchyard forever. In past times unseemly brawls would sometimes break out when two funeral parties met in the churchyard at the same time. Each would try to ensure that their own friend or relative was not the last to be laid to rest and thus delayed from departing this Earth. The sound of the churchyard watcher's cart making its way down country lanes was much feared in many communities. Variants on the tradition around the world include the Ankou figure of Breton folklore, who is said to lay an unseen hand on those who are doomed to die or to scythe down anyone who comes within his reach.

Clock:

Timepieces are inextricably linked with the coming of death due to the passage of time, so most of the superstitions associated with them are of a dark hue. Many legends talk of clocks that chimed or otherwise stopped at the moment when someone died, and it was once the custom on both sides of the Atlantic for all the clocks in a house to be stopped manually when there was a death in the household. They were not rewound until the body had left the house.

A church clock that strikes while a hymn is being sung is an omen of a death in the parish within the week. It is also deemed unlucky if it should strike during a wedding service, suggesting the death of one member of the couple within the first year; some brides will refuse to enter the church until the clock has finished chiming.  A town hall clock that chimes while church bells are ringing is a warning that a fire will shortly break out in the vicinity.  If two clocks strike together, a married couple in the parish will shortly meet their deaths.

Coffins:

European tradition warns that it is wreckless in the extreme for anyone to lie in a coffin, even for a joke, before their time has come. In addition no corpse should be laid in the coffin wearing clothing belonging to a living person; as the clothing rots, so the owner of the clothes will suffer a decline in health. It is customary for coffin lids to be nailed shut, but some people prefer to leave them loose, so that their occupants may be able to escape more easily on the day of resurrection. Any chair or table upon which a coffin rests should be tipped over when the coffin is removed, to guard against another death occurring in the household in the near future. Amulets and rings made from the metal fixings of old coffins are said to prevent cramps, while coffin nails banged into the bedroom door will ward off nightmares.

Corpse:

The handling of human corpses is the focus of a myriad of superstions around the world, most of which have the twofold aim of easing the deceased person's passage to Paradise and allowing the living to continue their lives untroubled by ghosts and free of any curse invoked by improper disposal of the dead.

The moment death has taken place superstition insists that the eyes, if still open, be closed, or their gaze will summon another person who is present to accompany the departed to the grave (in some countries the eyes are prevented from reopening by covering them with coins).  Distraught friends and relatives should not allow their tears to fall upon the body, as their distress is believed to trouble the departed soul.

Corpse-Lights:

Spectral lights that glow in places of death, such as churchyards. Norse sagas spoke of such lights at sacred burial spots, and reports of them have continued into modern times. Often the lights hover over the grave of a newly buried person, or else trace the route that the funeral procession is due to take. Sometimes it is said that the lights are warnings sent to the living by dead friends and relatives to advise them that they are soon to die and should make the necessary preparations.

Crossroads:

The intersection of four roads, long regarded as an ominous location. Anything that forms the shape of a cross is significant, but crosses made by roads are heavy with symbolic meaning and many people dislike being delayed at such a place for fear of meeting a ghost, a vampire or death in person. Primitive peoples often erected their altars where roads met and engaged in human sacrifice there; ever since, crossroads have been associated with death, not least through the traditional erection of the gallows at such spots.

Suicides, vampires and criminals were formerly buried at crossroads in the belief that, should they arise from the grave, their vengeful ghosts would not know which of the roads led back home.

Crow:

The death-black coloring of the crow, in combination with its intelligence, has led to the bird being regarded as one of the most ominous of all creatures. Once considered a messenger of the gods and later a familiar of the traditional witch, the crow is now viewed by many as a harbinger of death and disaster, particularly feared if it alights upon a house or taps at a windowpane. A crow settling in a churchyard is likewise deemed an omen that there will be a funeral in the near future.

Dead Hand:

The hand of a corpse, whose touch was once held to have considerable healing powers. This macabre notion applied particularly to the bodies of suicides and newly executed criminals, and in former times patients frequently petitioned executioners to be allowed to touch the body of a recently hanged man, usually paying a small fee for the privilege. The treatment was recommended especially for those suffering from cancer, scrofula, warts, sores and neck and throat problems, the dead man's hand being used to stroke the affected part.

Death:

As might be expected, death is the focus of a vast body of superstition.

Door:

The door is the usual entrance by which luck or evil spirits enter or leave the house.

Funeral:

The somber business of interring the dead is naturally enough the focus of many superstitious beliefs.

Ghosts:

The spirit of someone who is dead, around which idea numerous superstitions have evolved.

Nail:

Being made of iron, nails are reputed to have numerous magical powers, notably as a means of protection against evil and in the treatment of various medical ailments.

Neck:

An aching neck is, according to Dutch superstition, a warning that the person concerned is fated to die by hanging.

Night Jar:

Superstition regards the nightjar, with its nocturnal habits and eerie cry, with a jaundiced eye.; Called the lychfowl or corpsefowl in parts of central and northern England, and the whippoorwill in the US, the nightjar is supposed by some to the reincarnation of a child's sould that has died unbaptised.

North:

Superstition assigns various qualities to the directions of the compass; the north is considered the least inviting of the four directions. The north side of the church is the least favored for burial, being cast in shadow much of the time; some churches reserve the luckier south door for the entrance of brides and others, while the north - or "Devil's" door is reserved for letting demons out during Christening services.

Pinch:

Giving someone a pinch for luck is an old tradition particularly associated with seafaring communities. In former times, families of sailors newly returned from long voyages used to give the man concerned a good pinch to confirm that he really was there in the flesh and that it was not his ghost standing on the threshold.

Raven:

Like other black birds, the raven (an attendant upon the gods of both ancient Greece and Scandinavia) was widely considered a creature of ill omen and is feared for its apparent ability to foresee death.

Red Hot Poker:

Ornamental garden flower with vivid red and yellow blooms, which may be regarded unfavorably if it should flower twice in the same season. Such an occurence is widely thought to presage the death of someone in the gardener's family.

Rook:

In common with other black birds rooks are widely associated with death, but are otherwise unusual in being regarded by landowners throughout the British Isles and elsewhere in Europe as harbingers of good luck.

Rose:

The rose is perhaps the most significant of all flowers in terms of the superstitions attached to it. In ancient Roman times, roses were traditionally planted at gravesides in the belief that they had the power to protect the dead from evil. Over the centuries, white roses, symbolic of innocence, have often been planted at the graves of virgins. This association with death probably lies at the root of the body of generally pessimistic traditions now linked to the flower. Superstition warns that if a rose drops its petals while someone is holding it, is an omen that the person is soon to die.

Royalty:

Superstition, in remembrance of the days when kings and queens claimed semi-divine status, attaches special importance to members of a royal family, sometimes crediting the individuals with special healing powers, or otherwise connecting the death of ruling monarchs with various supernatural happenings. The appearance of meteorites or other celestial phenomenon may be interpreted as a prophecy that a king or queen is about to die, and extraordinary among birds and animals may also be read in a similar way.

Another tradition involves the "royal storm"; a period of foul weather that is always said to accompany the passing of a ruling monarch. Among other superstitions said to forecast the death of the king or queen is the ominous failure of the ash to produce any of its customary winged seeds (as is reputed to have happened throughout England shortly before the execution of Charles I in 1649).

Saining:

Age old superstition, recorded in various parts of the British Isles, involving a ritual ceremony by which a newborn baby or recently deceased body is offered special supernatural protection. The more or less defunct practice of saining requires the whirling of lighted candles in a sunwise direction around the bed in which the baby or body lies.

Scissors:

Being made of metal and having the power to cut, scissors are regarded as potential objects in superstition.