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Tag: occult

13 May 2024

Our Peculiar Relationship with ‘666’, an Ancient Evil in the Modern World

In the iconic 1976 horror film The Omen, an American ambassador and his wife unknowingly adopt the baby Antichrist following the death of their newborn son. As the movie progresses, young Dameon’s parents realise something is incredibly wrong with their toddler who throws a passionate fit outside of a cathedral, inspires monkeys at the zoo into a frenzy, watches as...
Categories Paranormal Encounters/Weird History
8 September 2021

The Bizarre Exploits of Helen Duncan: Ectoplasm Producing Medium and Britain’s ‘Last Witch’

Helen Duncan, ‘the last witch’ of Britain, was born in the small town of Callander, Scotland in 1897 to Archibald McFarlane and Isabella Rattray. As a child, Helen (born Victoria Helen) was said to cause distress at school by tormenting her classmates with frightening prophesies. And from a young age Helen believed she was clairvoyant and could see the spirits...
Categories Weird History
28 July 2021

John Dee and Edward Kelley: Visual Depictions of the Renaissance Occultists at Work

The stories of John Dee and Edward Kelley, notorious Renaissance occultists, are a peculiar mix of history and folklore that continue to influence artists and writers hundreds of years after their deaths. The small sample of artistic representations of Dee and Kelley below explore the lasting romantic impression they left of black magic, alchemy, and spiritualism during the English Renaissance....
Categories Weird History
14 July 2020

Devil Worship and a Ghostly Bride: The Confusing (and Eerie) History of the Hellfire Caves, West Wycombe

Located in the National Trust’s West Wycombe village in Buckinghamshire, the Hellfire Caves are a peculiar landmark alongside an otherwise idyllic high street. Extending a quarter of a mile into West Wycombe Hill, The Hellfire Caves were dug between 1748 and 1752 for two mundane reasons: the relief of local unemployment and to provide chalk for the construction of a...
Categories Offbeat Travel/Paranormal Encounters/Weird History