Missing But Not Lost, Jodee Redmond [love letters to the dead .txt] 📗

can be traced back to the time when the Celts conquered by the Romans and became part of the Roman Empire. The Romans worshiped several deities, one of which was Pomona, the goddess of the harvest. Images of Pomona show her seated on a basket brimming with flowers and assorted fruits. Apples were considered sacred fruits (which seems surprising since they are so common to us) and were used for several types of games during Samhain celebrations.

The Hallowe'en mask is based on a very old custom as well. In ancient times, during times of drought or hardship, people wore masks in an effort to frighten off the evil spirits they believed were responsible for causing the misfortune.

The late fall, after the harvest was in and houses were warm and cozy, was thought of as a time when the ghosts outside in the cold, dark night might well be envious of all this bounty. When people went out in the evening, they wore masks so as not to be recognized.

As you observe Hallowe'en this year, keep in mind that the traditions we observe now have their roots in very ancient traditions.


What Is Old Hag Syndrome?

The Phenomenon of Sleep Paralysis

Aliens, witches, trolls, or the Devil himself? What does it mean when we are paralyzed temporarily while falling asleep or waking up?

According to legend, there are a number of malevolent entities who can be responsible for Old Hag Syndrome. In some cases, this condition is thought to be the work of aliens or the Devil. Other cultures speak of the Old Hag as being a deformed elderly woman who lies in wait to sit on the chest of a person who is asleep.

Twilight State

Sleep paralysis occurs when someone who is either falling asleep or awakening from a state of sleep realizes that they are unable to move their limbs or to speak. They are able to open their eyes. This "twilight state" appears to open the door to experiences the person would not have when he or she is fully awake.

In some cases, the person, on recognizing that he or she is paralyzed, becomes fully awake and regains the use of his or her arms and legs. The whole experienced can last anywhere from a few seconds to up to a minute.

In other cases, however, the experience is much more frightening. The person may become aware of another presence in the room, either through sight, sound, or a sixth sense. The paralyzed person may also report feeling a crushing or smothering sensation.


The Coffins that Kept Moving: Barbados Tomb Mystery

In a family crypt in Barbados, coffins belonging to departed members of the Chase family were rearranged a number of times. Who (or what) was responsible?

At Christ Church, Barbados, the Walronds (a wealthy family of planters) built a family tomb. It was made of rock and sealed with a marble door. In 1807, Thomasina Goddard, a family member, was placed there. In 1808, the vault was taken over by the Chase family, who were also slave-owning planters. Two daughters were buried there. One girl died in 1808 and the other one passed over in 1812.

No Sign of a Break-In

The girls’ father, Thomas Chase, died in 1812. When the tomb was opened, the girls’ lead coffins stood on end upside down. No signs of a break-in were found.

When the tomb was opened again in 1816, the coffins had been rearranged again. Thomas Chase’s coffin (which had been carried to the vault by eight men) was found leaning upright against a wall. At the next family funeral (two months later), it was discovered that the Chase family coffins had again been moved.

Governor Steps In

In 1819, Lord Combermere, the Governor of Barbados, decided to take action. He supervised workers who re-stacked the coffins. He also had seals put around the door. After receiving reports of “noises” coming from the crypt, he returned to the site one year later. Again, the lead coffins had been rearranged.
Theories
Were the coffins being moved by Black slaves bent on taking revenge against the family? No one could have entered the tomb without disturbing the seals on the door. No flooding had taken place. If the motion had been caused by an earthquake, then why was this vault the only one affected?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle suggested that the coffins were moved by some type of supernatural force. According to Conan Doyle, this force was protesting that the Chase family coffins were made of lead. (If a person is buried in a lead coffin, then the body does not decompose quickly.) He went on to say that this mysterious force was strengthened by the fact that both Thomas Chase and one of his daughters had committed suicide.

Conan Doyle’s theory does make sense to a certain extent. The wooden coffin of Thomasina Goddard was not moved. Only the lead coffins occupied by members of the Chase family were rearranged.

The Empty Tomb

The tomb was immediately emptied. It was never used again.


Coincidences of the Titanic

Was the sinking of the great ship foretold?
There are a number of strange coincidences associated with the tragic maiden voyage of the Titanic. Was a mummy's curse the cause of her sinking?

Before the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, another ocean liner described as a floating palace set sail from Southampton on her maiden voyage. She struck an iceberg and sunk with a heavy loss of life, since there were not enough life boats on board.

The “other” ship existed only on paper, though. This story was the subject of a novel written by Morgan Robertson. the book was written in 1898, 14 years before the Titanic began her fateful voyage. The name of the vessel in Robertson’s novel, Futility, was Titan.

The similarity between the two ships didn’t end with the names. Titan and Titanic were approximately the same size, were capable of attaining the same rate of speed, and both were capable of carrying approximately 3,000 people. Both ships were described as “unsinkable” and both ships went down in the same area of the North Atlantic.

In 1892, another man, journalist William Thomas Stead, wrote a short story that was also similar to the Titanic disaster. Stead was also a Spiritualist who had received messages through mediums urging him not to set foot on the Titanic. He disregarded the warnings and was one of Titanic’s passengers. Stead lost his his life when Titanic went down, along with 2,223 others.

Omens and Signs

The Titanic was the subject of several bad omens and signs. Some have even suggested that the name “Titanic” is cursed. It is alleged that when Titanic left port, a cockerel crowed during the day; this is considered to be a very bad omen by sailors.

As Titanic made her way past the Isle of Wight, people living on the Island stood by the shore, waving and cheering. A Mrs. Marshall suddenly grabbed her husband’s arm and cried out, “It’s going to sink, that ship is going to sink! Save them! Save them!” No one listened to Mrs. Marshall, who appeared to be mentally disturbed. What Mrs. Marshall didn’t know at the time was that her mother was a passenger on board the Titanic.
A number of people (about 20) who had booked passage on the Titanic had dreams about the ship sinking. Some of them canceled their trip at the last minute.

A Mummy’s Curse?

Perhaps a clue to the Titanic’s fate has been found in the records stored at the British Museum. The Titanic was carrying an Egyptian mummy, along with allegedly cursed artifacts, in her hold. The relics were on their way to a museum in the United States. The mummy (of an unidentified pharoah) had already been dubbed “the accursed mummy” by the newspapers of the day.

Everyone who had photographed the mummy had died under mysterious circumstances. As the mummy was being loaded on board the ship, it was dropped; one of the dock workers suffered a broken leg.
Another Strange Coincidence

Yet another strange Titanic coincidence is that in the summer of 1975, a family in Bedfordshire (England) was watching a movie about the sinking of the Titanic on television. Just as the 1935 version of the film got to the point where the ship struck the iceberg, a huge block of ice crashed through the roof of the house!


The Versailles Time Slip

In August of 1901, two visitors to the gardens at Versailles caught a glimpse of life before the French Revolution.

It's August 10, 1901. Two women, Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, are walking through the palace gardens at Versailles. The ladies (both associated with St. Hugh's College for Women at Oxford University) were looking for the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's private chateau. As they walked, both women experienced a heavy, dreamlike quality in the air but neither one mentioned this change in atmosphere to the other.

They noticed that the grounds seemed surprisingly lacking in visitors for the time of year. They saw two men, who they took to be gardeners, wearing long coats and tricorn hats. The men motioned for them to keep walking straight ahead.

Next, they came to a small bandstand beneath a group of trees. A man with a sinister appearance wearing a cloak and a large hat was sitting beside it. Uneasy, the two women moved on. They were able to get directions from another man dressed in old-fashioned clothing.

As they approached the Petit Trianon, Miss Moberly observed a woman sitting on the grass, sketching. The woman stared at her, which Miss Moberly found to be quite rude. The oppressive feeling lifted after they entered the Petit Trianon.

Several days later, the two ladies compared notes. They had both come to the conclusion that the Petit Trianon was haunted. It is interesting to note that Miss Jourdain never saw the woman who had been sketching on the lawn.

Further research conducted by the two women revealed that on August 10, 1792, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were being held in Paris awaiting trial. Miss Moberly wondered if perhaps the Queen, in her anxious state, had turned her thoughts to a much happier time in the gardens at Versailles before the Revolution. They also found out that the grounds at Versailles in 1789 had been very similar to what the two women had observed in August of 1901. Miss Moberly even found a portrait of the Queen that she recognized as the woman on the lawn! Marie Antoinette had been on the lawn at the Petit Trianon when she learned that an angry mob was marching toward Paris in October of 1789.

When this story was published in 1911, it (understandably) caused a sensation. Some thought the women had been hallucinating, while others were of the opinion that they had stepped back in time temporarily. Still others wondered if they were somehow caught up in a doomed queen's memories.
Electrical storms were reported over Europe on August 10, 1901 and the air was heavy. Is it possible that this is somehow a natural phenomenon and that certain weather conditions can open the door to another time?


The Devil's Footprints: Mystery in Devon

One snowy morning in the 1850's, a mysterious trail of footprints in the snow was found. Were these animal tracks, or something more demonic at work?

The night of February 9, 1855 was a cold, snowy one in Devon, England. In fact, a couple of inches of snow blanketed the ground.