Incubus and Succubus

Incubus

Succubus

WHAT ARE THEY?

According to www.Meriam-Webstercollegiate.com the definition for these two spirits is as shown below:

Incubus: An evil spirit that lies on persons in their sleep; especially one that has sexual intercourse with women while they are sleeping.

Succubus: A demon assuming female form to have sexual intercourse with men in their sleep.

History

The word incubus is derived from Late Latin incubo (a nightmare induced by such a demon); from incub(āre) (to lie upon). One of the earliest mentions of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian King List, ca. 2400 BC, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu. It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams. Two other corresponding demons appear as well: Ardat lili, who visits men by night and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and visits women by night and begets from them. These demons were originally storm demons, but they eventually became regarded as night demons because of mistaken etymology.

Incubi were thought to be demons who had sexual relations with women, sometimes producing a child by the woman. Succubi, by contrast, were demons thought to have intercourse with men. Debate about the demons began early in the Christian tradition. St. Augustine touched on the topic in De Civitate Dei ("The City of God"). There were too many attacks by incubi to deny them. He stated, "There is also a very general rumor. Many have verified it by their own experience and trustworthy persons have corroborated the experience others told, that sylvans and fauns, commonly called incubi, have often made wicked assaults upon women." Questions about the reproductive capabilities of the demons continued. Eight hundred years later, Thomas Aquinas lent himself to the ongoing discussion, stating, "Still, if some are occasionally begotten from demons, it is not from the seed of such demons, nor from their assumed bodies, but from the seed of men, taken for the purpose; as when the demon assumes first the form of a woman, and afterwards of a man; just so they take the seed of other things for other generating purposes." It became generally accepted that incubi and succubi were the same demon, able to switch between male and female forms. A succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Even though sperm and egg came from humans originally, the spirits' offspring were often thought of as supernatural.

Some sources indicate that it may be identified by its unnaturally large or cold penis. Though many tales claim that the incubus is bisexual, others indicate that it is strictly heterosexual and finds attacking a male victim either unpleasant or detrimental.

Incubi are sometimes said to be able to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is sometimes referred to as a cambion. An incubus may pursue sexual relations with a woman in order to father a child, as in the legend of Merlin

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, exorcism is one of the five ways to overcome the attacks of incubi, the others being Sacramental Confession, the Sign of the Cross (or recital of the Angelic Salutation), moving the afflicted to another location, and byexcommunication of the attacking entity, "which is perhaps the same as exorcism." On the other hand, the Franciscan friar Ludovico Maria Sinistrari stated that incubi "do not obey exorcists, have no dread of exorcisms, show no reverence for holy things, at the approach of which they are not in the least overawed."

Variations

There are a number of variations on the incubus theme around the world. The alp of Teutonic or German folklore is one of the better known. In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa primarily attacks men and generally behind closed doors. "The Trauco", according to the traditional mythology of the Chiloé Province of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women and seduces them. The Trauco is said to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women. Perhaps another variation of this conception is the "Tintín" in Ecuador, a dwarf who is fond of abundant haired women and seduces them at night by playing the guitar outside their windows; a myth that researchers believe was created during the Colonial period of time to explain pregnancies in women who never left their houses without a chaperone, very likely covering incest or sexual abuse by one of the family's friends. In Hungary, a lidérc can be a Satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light (an ignis fatuus or will o' the wisp) or, in its more benign form as a featherless chicken.

In Brazil and the rainforests of the Amazon Basin, the Amazon River Dolphin (or boto) is believed to be a combination of siren and incubus, that shape-shifts into a very charming and handsome man who seduces young women and takes them into the river. It is said to be responsible for disappearances and unwanted pregnancies, which metamorphoses back into a dolphin during the day. According to legend the boto always wears a hat to disguise the breathing hole at the top of its head.

The Southern African incubus demon is the Tokolosh. Chaste women place their beds upon bricks to deter the rather short fellows from attaining their sleeping forms. They also share the hole in the head detail and water dwelling habits of the Boto.

In Germanic Folklore, there is the mara or mare, a spirit or goblin that rides on the chests of humans while they sleep, giving them bad dreams (or "nightmares"). Belief in the mare goes back to the Norse Ynglinga saga from the 13th century, but the belief is probably even older. The mare was likely inspired by sleep paralysis.

In Assam, a north-eastern province of India it is mostly known as "pori" (Assamese: পৰী, meaning "angel"). According to the mythology, Pori comes to a man at night in his dreams and attracts towards her. Gradually the victim's health deteriorates and in some cases a tendency to commit suicide generates in him.

In Turkish culture, incubus is known as Karabasan. It is an evil being that descends upon some sleepers at night. These beings are thought to be spirits or jinns. It can be seen or heard in the nightmare and a heavy weight is felt on the chest. Yet people cannot wake up from that state. Some of the causes are sleeping without adequately covering the body (especially women) and eating in bed.

Scientific Explanations

Victims may have been experiencing waking dreams or sleep paralysis. The phenomenon of sleep paralysis is well-established. During the fourth phase of sleep (the deepest stage, also known as REM sleep), motor centers in the brain are inhibited, producing paralysis. The reason for this is ultimately unknown but the most common explanation is that this prevents one from acting out one's dreams. Malfunctions of this process can either result in somnambulism (sleepwalking) or, conversely, sleep paralysis - where one remains partially or wholly paralysed for a short time after waking.

Additional to sleep paralysis is hypnagogia. In a near-dream state, it is common to experience auditory and visual hallucinations. Mostly these are forgotten upon fully waking or soon afterwards, in the same manner as dreams. However, most people remember the phenomenon of hearing music or seeing things in near-sleep states at some point in their lives. Typical examples include a feeling of being crushed or suffocated, electric "tingles" or "vibrations", imagined speech and other noises, the imagined presence of a visible or invisible entity, and sometimes intense emotion: fear or euphoria and orgasmic feelings. These often appear quite real and vivid; especially auditory hallucinations of music which can be quite loud, indistinguishable from music being played in the same room. Humanoid and animal figures, often shadowy or blurry, are often present in hypnagogic hallucinations, more so than other hallucinogenic states. This may be a relic of an ancient instinct to detect predatory animals.

The combination of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucination could easily cause someone to believe that a "demon was holding them down". Nocturnal arousal etc. could be explained away by creatures causing otherwise guilt-producing behavior. Add to this the common phenomena of nocturnal arousal and nocturnal emission, and all the elements required to believe in an incubus are present.

On the other hand, some victims of incubi could well have been the victims of real sexual assault. Rapists may have attributed the rapes of sleeping women to demons in order to escape punishment. A friend or relative is at the top of the list in such cases and would be kept secret by the intervention of "spirits".

©https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incubus
https://drintimacy.wordpress.com/incubus-and-succubus-sex-demons-of-the-night/
Google Images

Hungry Ghost Festival Taboos

In 2015, the Hungry Ghost Festival will begin on Augusr 14, 2015 and will end on September 12, 2015. 

Taboos to Follow:
1. Avoid swimming during the 7th month. It is believed that those previously drowned evil ghost might cause you to drown in the swimming pool. Such ghost need to find victims in order for them to be go for rebirth. 

2. Children and young adults are also advised to return home early and not to wander around alone at night. This belief is due to the reason that the wandering ghosts can possess children easily.

3. Avoid moving into new homes and opening new businesses this month as it is considered inauspicious and bad luck on new ventures.

4. Avoid getting married during this month because couples will have bad ending. Some bad ghost may cast a bad spell on couples during their wedding. 

5. Avoid going for jungle trekking and going on camping trips as chances of injuries, possession and death are high. 

6. Drive very carefully during this month to avoid accidents, as there may be many wandering spirits who died of accidents previously that are searching for next victims so that they could be reincarnated. 

7. Protect your entrances with the genuine Peachwood Sword. This is the most excellent protector of ghost and evil spirits, claimed by many of our customers. Alternatively one may also choose to use the Seven Stars Sword of Chung Kwei.

8. Avoid starting any construction work or engaging in renovation repairs at home such as fixing a tile or banging the floor and wall for the entire month. 

9. Avoid spitting and blowing your nose in the street or at any tree/plant.

10. Do not leave open wounds unattended as this will attract ghosts in following you home. Keep them plastered at all times.

11. Do not make negative comments or crack jokes about offering items in the streets or poke fun about chinese opera seen with empty chairs of chinese communities. Those chairs are for the ghosts.

12. Do not pick up anything including money found on the street and never bring it home.

13. Avoid getting emotional and crying in the middle of the night. A weak, sad and emotional mind gives ghosts the opportunity to possess you and harm you. 

14. Do not whistle after the sun set. This will attract the attention of ghosts that may stick to you for a long time giving your a spate of long term bad luck.

15. Keep away from the walls as it is believed that ghosts like sticking to walls. 

16. If you are born during the ghost month, avoid celebrating your birthday at night and blowing your cake. It's better to celebrate during the daytime.

Hotel Taboos:
For those who are travelling, they may want to be cautious when staying in hotels. The hotel is considered as a "yin place" and is normally a favorite settlement for ghosts. The following are some tips that one can follow when staying in hotels to prevent ghostly encounters:

1. Provide a respectful knock on the bedroom door before you enter for the first time. 

2. Avoid entering the room right away. Whisper to yourself that you are renting the room to stay temporarily, as a form of asking permission. Let any spirit leave the bedroom first before you enter. 

3. Place your pair of shoes or sandals facing the door. The shoes must be away from the bed. One side of the shoe points to the door and the other side point inwards. 

4. Display a glass of salt water next to your bed. Salt is an excellent antidote for dirty energy. 

5. You are encouraged to flush the toilet bowl first before using it. 

6. You are also encouraged to avoid wearing black or striking red colored clothings. 

7. Normally there is a bible or quran in the drawers. Please avoid touching or moving them from their original positions. 

8. Always keep the toilet's door closed with lights turned off when you go to sleep. 

9. Try to avoid facing the mirror when you sleep. If the mirror is designed in this manner, try to cover it with a towel. 

10. Avoid placing any shoe next to the bed when sleeping. 

11. Watch out the mouth from mentioning anything about ghost. Ghost story telling must be avoided by all means. 

12. Display a 7 Star Sword made from Peach wood. It must be made from "genuine peach wood" to be effective in chasing away ghosts and protecting one with a good night's sleep. 

Protection Required:
1. During the Ghost Festival, feng shui practitioners will display the Chung Kwei, the ghost catcher whose specialty is to devour the ghosts that he catches, in many areas of their homes. And at least one of the images must face the entrance (door or window). This act serves to scare away any roving spirits from intruding the particular household. As such the whole family will be able to avoid ghost spells.

2. Ghosts enter through entrances such as the maindoor, side door or back door. For thousands of years, the most powerful door protector of doors are the Door Gods. No spirit of the darker realm is able to bypass the Door Gods. Apart from that, Fu Dogs are also potent feng shui animals that when displayed at the maindoors or in its vicinity facing out would scare away bad wandering spirits and ghosts. They usually work hand in hand with the Door Gods.

3. Wear protective amulets to prevent bad luck, ghost possessions and accidents due to ghost disturbances. One such powerful type of amulet that is currently very popular is the Mythical Bird Dzi. The mythical bird is associated to the Garuda, considered as an evil subduing bird in Tibetan Buddhism. 

4. Taoist practitioners can choose to carry along the powerful Kwan Kung amulet for protection. No evil dares to fool around when the Kwan Kung is there.

5. For those who are travelling afar, going for late nights or regularly visiting yin places, the Chung Kwei amulet is an excellent protection. You are being easily targeted or harmed by suicide ghosts who are looking for chances to reincarnate. 

6. Hang the 8 Auspicious Objects at chi entry points of your house such as windows to deflect away any evil energy. Also hang one of it in your car to prevent accidents. For taoist feng shui practitioners, you may opt for the Elliptical Coin and hang on the door knobs of all entries you want to protect. Some would even go for higher form of protection with the bagua hung above their maindoor.

7. Carry along, hang in the car or in the house the powerful Peach Wood 7-Stars Sword. It is the most indispensible tool for Taoist Exorcism from ancient times till today. 

8. Families should burn at least a bunch of incense sticks in an empty can (cleanly washed from used food can) on the 14th day of 7th lunar month. This should be done after 7pm and the burning of the incense sticks are to be done outdoor, close to the main entrance.

©http://www.fengshuibestbuy.com/hungryghostfestival.html

Hungry Ghost Festival 盂蘭節

The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival in modern day, Zhong Yuan Jie or Yu Lan Jie 盂蘭節 is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held in Asian countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).

In Chinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Double Ninth Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, during Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living.

On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is veneration of the dead, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals (often vegetarian meals) would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. Other festivities may include, buying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.

Origins

Buddhists from China claim that the Ghost Festival originated with the canonical scriptures of Buddhism, but many of the visible aspects of the ceremonies originate from Chinese folk religion, and other local folk traditions (see Stephen Teiser's 1988 book, The Ghost Festival in Medieval China). This process of syncretism is not limited to China: the ghost festival has parallels in Theravada Buddhism, such as the Cambodian Pchum Ben festival, reflecting the same assumptions about an annual opening of the gates of hell, and with the same (ultimately canonical) role of King Yama. In Tang Dynasty China, the Buddhist festival Ullambana and the Ghost Festival were mixed and celebrated together.

Ullambana origin
The Buddha's joyful day

To Mahayana Buddhists, the seventh lunar month is a month of joy. This is because the fifteenth day of the seventh month is often known as the Buddha's joyful day and the day of rejoice for monks. The origins of the Buddha's joyful day can be found in various scriptures. When the Buddha was alive, his disciples meditated in the forests of India during the rainy season of summer. Three months later, on the fifteen day of the seventh month, they would emerge from the forests to celebrate the completion of their meditation and report their progress to the Buddha. In the Ullambana Sutra, the Buddha instructs his disciple Maudgalyāyana on how to obtain liberation for his mother, who had been reborn into a lower realm, by making food offerings to the sangha on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Because the number of monks who attained enlightenment during that period was high, the Buddha was very pleased.

Maudgalyāyana and his mother

The Buddhist origins of the festival can be traced back to a story that originally came from India, but later took on culturally Chinese overtones, as the motifs "all appear in a tale that had already been translated into Chinese by the end of the fourth century". In the Ullambana Sutra, there is a descriptive account of a Buddhist monk named Maudgalyāyana, originally a Brahmin youth who later ordained, and later becoming one of the Buddha's chief disciples. Mahāmaudgalyāyana was also known for having clairvoyant powers, an uncommon trait amongst monks. "The tale is contained in...a canonical collection of short sutras translated into Chinese by Gautama Samghadeva between 397 and 398."

After he attained arhatship, he began to think deeply of his parents, and wondered what happened to them. He used his clairvoyance to see where they were reborn and found his father in the heavenly realms i.e. the realm of the gods. However, his mother had been reborn in a lower realm, known as Avīci, or the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. His mother took on the form of a hungry ghost (preta) – so called because it could not eat due to its highly thin and fragile throat in which no food could pass through, yet it was always hungry because it had a fat belly. His mother had been greedy with the money he left her. He had instructed her to kindly host any Buddhist monks that ever came her way, but instead she withheld her kindness and her money. It was for this reason she was reborn in the realm of hungry ghosts.

Maudgalyāyana eased his mother's suffering by receiving the instructions of feeding pretas from the Buddha. The Buddha instructed Maudgalyāyana to place pieces of food on a clean plate, reciting a mantra seven times to bless the food, snap his fingers to call out to the deceased and finally tip the food onto clean ground. By doing so, the preta's hunger would be relieved. Through these merits, his mother was able to be reborn as a dog under the care of a noble family.

Maudgalyāyana then sought the Buddha's advice to help his mother gain a human birth. The Buddha established a day after the traditional summer retreat (the 14th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, usually mid-to-late August) on which Maudgalyāyana was to offer food and robes to five hundred bhikkhus. Through the merits created, Maudgalyāyana's mother finally gained a human birth.

Religious festivities

The Ghost Festival is held during the seventh month of the Chinese calendar. It also falls at the same time as a full moon, the new season, the fall harvest, the peak of Buddhist monastic asceticism, the rebirth of ancestors, and the assembly of the local community. During this month, the gates of hell are opened up and ghosts are free to roam the earth where they seek food and entertainment. These ghosts are believed to be ancestors of those who forgot to pay tribute to them after they died, or those who were never given a proper ritual send-off. They have long needle-thin necks because they have not been fed by their family, or as a punishment so that they are unable to swallow. Family members offer prayers to their deceased relatives, offer food and drink and burn hell bank notes and other forms of joss paper. Joss paper items are believed to have value in the afterlife,considered to be very similar in some aspects to the material world, People burn paper houses, cars, servants and televisions to please the ghosts. Families also pay tribute to other unknown wandering ghosts so that these homeless souls do not intrude on their lives and bring misfortune. A large feast is held for the ghosts on the fourteenth day of the seventh month, when people bring samples of food and places them on an offering table to please the ghosts and ward off bad luck.

In some East Asian countries today, live performances are held and everyone is invited to attend. The first row of seats are always empty as this is where the ghosts sit. The shows are always put on at night and at high volumes as the sound is believed to attract and please the ghosts. Some shows include Chinese opera, dramas, and in some areas, even burlesque shows. Traditionally Chinese opera was the main source of entertainment but the newer shows, concerts, dramas, wars and so forth are referred to as Getai. These acts are better known as "Merry-making".

For rituals, Buddhists and Taoists hold ceremonies to relieve ghosts from suffering, many of them holding ceremonies in the afternoon or at night (as it is believed that the ghosts are released from hell when the sun sets). Altars are built for the deceased and priests and monks alike perform rituals for the benefit of ghosts. Monks and priests often throw rice or other small foods into the air in all directions to distribute them to the ghosts.

During the evening, incense is burnt in front of the doors households. Incense stands for prosperity in Chinese culture, so families believe that there is more prosperity in burning more incense. During the festival, some shops are closed as they want to leave the streets open for the ghosts. In the middle of each street stands an altar of incense with fresh fruit and sacrifices displayed on it.

Fourteen days after the festival, to make sure all the hungry ghosts find their way back to hell, people float water lanterns and set them outside their houses. These lanterns are made by setting a lotus flower-shaped lantern on a paper boat. The lanterns are used to direct the ghosts back to the underworld, and when they go out, it symbolizes that they have found their way back.

Concert-like performances are a prominent feature of the Ghost Festival in Singapore and Malaysia. Those live concerts are popularly known as Getai 'Koh-tai' by Hokkien-speaking people. They are performed by groups of singers, dancers and entertainers on a temporary stage that is set up within a residential district. The festival is funded by the residents of each individual district. During one of these 'Getai', it is known to be bad luck to sit on the front row of red seats, as they are there only for the Ghosts themselves, if anyone were to sit on them, they would become sick or such like.

Taiwan: Ghost Month

Traditionally, it is believed that ghosts haunt the island of Taiwan for the entire seventh lunar month, when the mid-summer Ghost Festival is held. The month is known as Ghost Month. The first day of the month is marked by opening the gate of a temple, symbolizing the gates of hell. On the twelfth day, lamps on the main altar are lit. On the thirteenth day, a procession of lanterns is held. On the fourteenth day, a parade is held for releasing water lanterns. Incense and food are offered to the spirits to avoid them visiting homes and spirit paper money is also burnt as an offering. During the month, people avoid surgery, buying cars, swimming, and going out after dark. It is also important that addresses are not revealed to the ghosts.

Japan: Chūgen and Bon
Chūgen

Chūgen (中元?), also Ochūgen (お中元?), is an annual event in Japan on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, when people give gifts to their superiors and acquaintances. Originally it was an annual event for giving gifts to the ancestral spirits.

One of the three days that form the sangen (三元?) of Daoism, it is sometimes considered a zassetsu, a type of seasonal day in the Japanese calendar.

Bon

Obon (sometimes transliterated O-bon), or simply Bon, is the Japanese version of the Ghost Festival. It has since been transformed over time into a family reunion holiday during which people from the big cities return to their home towns and visit and clean the resting places of their ancestors.

Traditionally including a dance festival called Bon Odori, Obon has existed in Japan for more than 500 years. In modern Japan, it is held on July 15 in the eastern part (Kantō), on August 15 in the western part (Kansai), and in Okinawa and the Amami Islands it is celebrated as in China on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month.
Vietnam: Tết Trung Nguyên

This festival is viewed as the time for the pardoning of condemned souls who are then released from hell. The "homeless" should be "fed" and appeased with offerings of food. Merits for the living are also earned by the release of birds and fish. The lunar month in which the festival takes place is colloquially known as Tháng Cô Hồn - the month of lonely spirits, and believed to be haunted and particularly unlucky.

Influenced by Buddhism, this holiday coincides with Vu Lan，the Vietnamese transliteration for Ullambana.

In modern times, Vu Lan is also seen as Mother's Day. People with living mothers would bear a red rose and would give thanks while those without can choose to bear a white rose; and attend services to pray for the deceased.

© https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Festival

Creepy Doll Found in a Busy Singaporean Street

Even if you aren't a believer of the paranormal, this story will give you chills. On a busy street in Singapore, locals stumbled across a small doll that was leaning up against a tree. It looked like an antique and its eyes were bound, with strange writing on the cloth. No one was nearby to claim the doll. After researching the doll's backstory and the words written on the blindfold, it became clear that this wasn't an item to be returned to the lost and found.

According to the person who posted the pictures online: The doll was found beside a busy street in Singapore. The Arabic word on the cloth is translated as "bismillah.” (I think it's to trap whatever jinn or curse is inside from coming out or following the owner back home. Others speculate it's a product of black magic.) Stories from Twitter revealed the following: That the doll is possessed and has been moving around on its own when the original owner isn't home. She bound the eyes and left it far away from home so it wouldn't follow her back. Some say the doll could be heard talking when it's left alone in a room and is found with its head turned in a different direction. People heard it speak in the Malay language and sound like an adult female. The original owner found that the only way to get rid of it and make sure it won't come back is to cover its eyes. The curse is rumored to have passed on to someone else who found it and untied the cloth unknowingly. The doll has been missing since being discovered.On the very day the locals found it, there was a freaky suicide (guy hanging beside an apartment block) and murder case, which could be coincidence. Source: Reddit Trusting dolls is always a bad idea. As it turns out, this doll in particular was created by an artist that specializes in creating creepy dolls.

© http://www.viralnova.com/creepy-doll-singapore/

13 Facts About the Number 13

1. There are 13 months in the pagan lunar calendar.

2. More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.

3. 13 turns make a traditional hangman's noose. Anything less would not complete the execution.

4. Airplanes have no 13th seat and airports skip the 13th gate.

5. Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

6. Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.

7. On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.

8. Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue

9. In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.

10. On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Phillip IV of France ordered the arrest of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar and his senior knights and other members who were tortured in to admitting "wrongdoings" and executed.

11. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.

12. There were 13 people present at The Last Supper (Jesus and the 12 Apostles).

13. Alfred Hitchcock was haunted by the number 13 which is why he incorporated it in some way in many of his movies. He would have turned 100 on April 13th, 1999 which happened to be a Friday.

© http://paranormalstories.blogspot.com/2012/01/13-facts-about-number-13.html

The Randy Ervin Haunting

Below is the story writthen by Randy Ervin himself, about the haunting that happened to him almost 4 decades ago.

Randy Ervin

The House on Church Street
By Randy Ervin

This is a true story of my experience in the supernatural. The title I choose expresses the nightmare I once lived which started in 1972. This is a story about a haunted house I lived in about 30 years ago. In Standish, Michigan. I was only 21 years old when I moved into this very innocent looking, but very haunted house. After moving in, sometime later I had opened doors I could not close. I was to find out I had awoken the spirits that inhabited a Native American Indian grave site under the house.

My life turned into a nightmare that would escalate into a battle between good and evil nightly for four years. Many years ago, my dad purchased an old house that was estimated to be about 100 years old. While digging underneath the house in preparation to level it with jacks, he stumbled upon some bones. After a little thought and some dismay, he determined that the bones appeared to be human. He was very upset and dumbfounded by this discovery. Still in shock and disbelief, he turned the bones over to an official to be tested. Later, he was told that the bones had been from the body of a Native American and that there could be more bones under the house. They believed that my dad may have discovered a Native American burial ground. At that time no one seemed concerned, as Michigan was known to have Native American burial sites state-wide.

My dad did not wish to disturb the burial ground any more than he already had. He placed the bones back under the house and buried them in the same spot he had found them. He did not continue to investigate, hoping he had not disturbed any spirits that were at rest or protecting the burial ground. It was a well known fact that many burial grounds in the state of Michigan were thought to have had curses placed on them by the Native Americans years ago for protection against intruders.

While researching for my book years later, I searched for a reason for the horrifying intensity of my encounter with the supernatural. I began to collect as much data as I could find. At the local area Pinconning Library, I discovered an interesting book about the area's Native American villages. The Arenac County historian at the time was Calvin Ennes, the author of the document titled History of Arenac County, Michigan. The document is a 200-year genealogy of the Arenac County glossary of several Native Americans. This placed several tribes somewhere within the towns of Sterling and Augres and the city of Standish over many hundred years, although their exact location was unknown. The water shoreline at that time would have brought some of their villages into the city of Standish today.

In this research I came across the findings of a Native American Indian camp that was located just in the City limits Of Standish. They had a tribe Shaman among them. (This is a term for an American Indian holy man, basically a spiritualist (medium), who would communicate with the spirit world for guidance.) They believed that there were good and evil spirits dwelling in the spiritual realm. This shaman was known to intercede with the spirits called "The False Faces" (they would carve an image of a distorted face from a living tree, cut a long strand of hair from the tail of a horse, and attach It to the back of the faces). They would dance around the sacred fire while wearing these wooden faces as masks to summon these spirits to come forth. When these distorted bodiless beings appeared, they would be sent to haunt and terrorize the enemy villages throughout the surrounding areas of Arenac County including their family members and of course, "anyone else who would get in their way".

Public Appearance "New Dominion Pictures" will re-enact a story I wrote. It will be aired on National TV over, "The Discovery Channel", in a one hour presentation on the series called "A haunting". It will air sometime in Oct, 2006.

The haunting of Randy Ervin is also told in an episode of A Haunting (S03E04) titled "The Unleashed".

© http://paranormal.about.com/library/blstory_august06_25.htm

15 Mysterious and Frightening Photos

1. Mysterious Victorian Photo

2. Strange Amazon River Creature

3. 1945 Car Accident

4. Holes in the Russian Forest

5. John Torrington, a Royal Navy stoker who’s body was found and exhumed in 1984.

6. Facial Composite of Mozzart

7. Mysterious Sea Creature

8. Kiera Hitler, Adolph's Mother

9. Mysterious Photo Bomber

10. Comparison of a Lotus Feet to a Tea Cup and a Regular Shoes

11. The Scary Appearance of the Wealthiest Hand of St. Valentin

12. The Kiss of Death

13. This husband took this photo 2 days after his wife died

14. Security camera footage shows a creature on top of a man who died few hours before this photo was taken

15. This is Madam Valvet – voted as the scariest women alive in UK

© http://buzzive.com/frightening-mysterious-real-photos/

Trans Eastern Airlines 395 Omens

Trans Eastern Airlines 395 was a scheduled flight from Johannesburg to Grandview, Driscoll County, that on May 11, 2006 crashed in Grandview killing all 228, but 20 victims were not identified; 2 victims on ground, including Andrea Marino.

The aircraft took off on May 10, 2006 from Johannesburg, and during the flight the cabin pressure dropped dramatically causing a drop in temperature. The depressurization occured when the plane was flying over the Atlantic. With the pilot dead, the plane slowly descended, the ghost of the pilot frequently appeared to Melinda Gordon during the days of May 10 and May 11. The pilot told Melinda the passengers were only sleeping, so they must not have died until the plane crashed. The Pilot told Melinda that the plane had yet to crash, forcing Melinda to called the FAA and other Organizations to let them know the plane had no living pilot. While no one believed Melinda or even Andrea, Melinda got a visit from a stewardess, who told her they were flying from Johannesburg. Melinda told Andrea, whose brother was flying from Johannesburg that day, and she left the store minutes before the plane flew over Grandview's Main Street and crashed seconds later.

All 228 on board the plane died when the plane crashed, though Amy Fields, an air hostess, died beforehand while visiting Melinda the previous day. 2 victims were on ground, which included Andrea Marino, who was driving in her car towards her brother's apartment, whom she believed to have been on that flight. There was only one survivor, a young girl who was in the car with her mother when the plane flew over the car she was in and killed her mother who was driving.

A memorial service for the victims of Flight 395 was held at the crash site on May 11, 2007, where a monument was placed to commemorate all 230 fatalities of the crash where friends and family would walk the site holding a single candle in their hands.

The Omen

Throughout the days of May 10 and May 11, Melinda Gordon experienced confusing omens of the plane crash and her best friend's death from it. In the morning of May 10, a dove flew into Melinda's bedroom window, causing her to wake up and investigate. Death of a Dove is one of the show's bad five signs, later explored in the series, which is an omen for the death of a loved one. Later, Melinda and Jim Clancy find the fridge frozen inside, destroying all the food, and the kitchen windows also frozen. Soon after, Melinda hears banging and a female voice, which is later explained to be the air hostess, reanacting when she was on the flight banging on the door to the pilot's cabin telling him it's too cold and something is wrong. When crossing the Square, Melinda notices a bus full of people, but while they are normal to everyone else, to her she sees them as frozen screaming ghosts. This would be how the passengers of the plane would be. In Village Java, Melinda is the only one who can hear a loud noise of a plane landing. Melinda tells Jim she has a horrible feeling of dread, that something terrible is going to happen. She also feels a "heaviness in the air".

When Melinda goes home after seeing Jim in the Firehouse, she realizes the temperature is cold. Then the whole house begins to shake as if it was an earthquake. Romano appears outside the living room window, which is also frozen. Melinda has a dream of everything going faster than she is, and a man points to a window with an outline of the Wide Brim Hat Man, who then smashes the window similar to how the windows in Grandview Square's stores smash when the plane crashes later in the episode. The watch Andrea bought for her brother keeps stopping. The second time it stops the time is revealed to be 10:30am. This turns out to be the time the plane crashes on Grandview, and also Andrea's time of death. It stops for a third time when Melinda and Andrea are at a cafe talking about the Ghost Pilot. When Melinda is visited by the Ghost Pilot for the second time, he tells her that the captain goes down with his ship, and that the others are still sleeping. Present tense. He tells her that they are close. Melinda sees the Laughing Man in the middle of Grandview Square holding the watch Andrea bought for her brother, Mitch. The Ghost Pilot stands on top of a building and tells Melinda the plane is still flying and has yet to crash.

© http://ultimateghostwhisperer.wikia.com/wiki/Trans_Eastern_Airlines_395

Knock

"Knock", written by Fredric Brown, is a science fiction short story that starts with a short-short story based on the following text of Thomas Bailey Aldrich:

Imagine all human beings swept off the face of the earth, excepting one man. Imagine this man in some vast city, New York or London. Imagine him on the third or fourth day of his solitude sitting in a house and hearing a ring at the door-bell! (Ponkapog Papers, 1904)

Fredric Brown condensed this text to "a sweet little horror story that is only two sentences long." Knock then goes on to elaborate on those two sentences and build a more complete plot around them.

It was published in the December 1948 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. There have been three different radio adaptations (Dimension X, X Minus One and Sci Fi Channel's Seeing Ear Theatre). The story was reprinted in The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949,

Plot

The first three lines are a complete story by themselves:"The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door..."

The Zan have killed off all life on Earth other than pairs of specimens for their zoo of exotic Earth fauna. Walter Phelan is the last man on Earth, but Grace Evans, the last woman, is not overly impressed with him and maintains her distance.

The Zan, who are immortal, become disturbed when, one by one, the other animals begin to die. They turn to Walter for advice. He tells them that the creatures have perished from lack of affection, suggesting that they pet the survivors regularly to keep them alive. He demonstrates with one of them. When the Zan begin to die, they depart the planet in fear. It is then revealed that the creature Walter advised them to pet was a poisonous snake.

Then Walter discusses the future of the human race with Grace. She is shocked by his proposal and leaves as he intended to use the Zan technology left behind to create "the master race". The narrative then ends as it began:"The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door..."

© http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_(short_story)

The Real Haunting in Connecticut

In 1986 Carmen and Al Snedeker moved to the small town of Southington, Connecticut, with the purpose of being closer to the hospital at which their oldest son was being treated for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Having fallen on hard financial times, the family jumped at the chance to rent what appeared to be the perfect house. It was large enough for their family, which included three children and a cousin, and the rent was in their affordable price range. It was while they were moving in that Al made a startling discovery: In the basement was a peculiar room that was complete with embalming tables and tools. The house, it turned out, used to be a funeral home. Moreover, the basement, which was sectioned into several rooms, was the only room deemed large enough to serve as the two boys’ bedroom.

Not long after, Carmen says she began experiencing strange phenomena, like items disappearing and her children reporting seeing strange people in the house, as well as hearing voices and the sounds of hundreds of birds taking flight. Her oldest, who was at the time in the middle of radiation treatment, began to exhibit radical personality shifts, becoming withdrawn and angry. He brooded and began writing poetry with necrophiliac themes. During one intense episode he attacked his cousin with the intent to rape her. His family had him arrested and taken for an evaluation, where he was pronounced schizophrenic. He was removed from the house and seemed to get better until returning.

Other phenomena that were reported by the Snedekers included the repeated and brutal rape of both Carmen and her niece, as well as acts of sodomy being performed on her husband, by unseen entities. Mop water was reported to turn blood red, and the scents of rotting flesh and decay were reported throughout the house. She was also frightened of apparitions that she saw, one with long black hair and black eyes, the other with white hair and eyes and wearing a pinstriped tuxedo. It was then that Carmen decided to contact controversial paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Along with John Zaffis and a few investigators, the Warrens moved into the house for several weeks until they’d experienced everything the Snedekers claimed. During their time in the house, they claim to have seen first-hand the damage the “demons” in the home could inflict, with many members being slapped and beaten, pushed, and slammed to the floor. Investigation into the history of the house supposedly revealed that one of the undertakers at the funeral home was found guilty of necrophilia, which fed fuel to the fire. It got to the point that the Warrens deemed it necessary for a full-scale exorcism of the property, after which the house was judged “cleared” by the Warrens. With the evil banished from the house, that should have been the end of the story. But it wasn’t.

The Haunting in Connecticut, 2009

This haunting story is featured in the movie "The Haunting in Connecticut", 2009.

A Haunting poster

A more realistic version of the story is portrayed in an episode of the TV show "A Haunting" titled "In Connecticut".

© http://www.dreadcentral.com/cold-spots/10965/a-haunting-in-connecticut-what-really-happened/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haunting_in_Connecticut

Ouija

The ouija also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", "hello" (occasionally), and "goodbye", along with various symbols and graphics. It uses a planchette (small heart-shaped piece of wood or plastic) as a movable indicator to indicate the spirit's message by spelling it out on the board during a séance. Participants place their fingers on the planchette, and it is moved about the board to spell out words. "Ouija" has become a trademark that is often used generically to refer to any talking board.

Following its commercial introduction by businessman Elijah Bond on July 1, 1890, the Ouija board was regarded as a harmless parlor game unrelated to the occult until American Spiritualist Pearl Curran popularized its use as a divining tool during World War I.

Paranormal and supernatural beliefs associated with Ouija have been harshly criticized by the scientific community, since they are characterized as pseudoscience. The action of the board can be parsimoniously explained by unconscious movements of those controlling the pointer, a psycho physiological phenomenon known as theideomotor effect.

Some mainstream Christian denominations have "warned against using Ouija boards", holding that they can lead to demonic possession. Occultists, on the other hand, are divided on the issue, with some saying that it can be a positive transformation; others rehash the warnings of many Christians and caution "inexperienced users" against it.

Original Spirit Board Design, 1894

Scientific investigation

The Ouija phenomenon is considered by the scientific community to be the result of the ideomotor response.
Various studies have been produced, recreating the effects of the Ouija board in the lab and showing that, under laboratory conditions, the subjects were moving the planchette involuntarily.Skeptics have described Ouija board users as 'operators'. Some critics noted that the messages ostensibly spelled out by spirits were similar to whatever was going through the minds of the subjects. According to Professor of neurology Terence Hines in his book Pseudoscience and the Paranormal(2003).

The planchette is guided by unconscious muscular exertions like those responsible for table movement. Nonetheless, in both cases, the illusion that the object (table or planchette) is moving under its own control is often extremely powerful and sufficient to convince many people that spirits are truly at work... The unconscious muscle movements responsible for the moving tables and Ouija board phenomena seen at seances are examples of a class of phenomena due to what psychologists call a dissociative state. A dissociation state is one in which consciousness is somehow divided or cut off from some aspects of the individual’s normal cognitive, motor, or sensory functions.

In the 1970s Ouija board users were also described as "cult members" by sociologists, though this was severely scrutinized in the field.

Ouija boards have been criticized in the press since their inception, having been variously described as "'vestigial remains' of primitive belief-systems" and a con to part fools from their money.Some journalists have described reports of Ouija board findings as 'half truths' and have suggested that their inclusion in national newspapers lowers the national discourse overall.

Ouija, 2014

The Ouija Board is featured in a 2014 horror movie entitled "Ouija".

© http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouija

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouija_(2014_film)

mentalfloss.com