In Search Of Bloody Mackenzie!

In Search Of Bloody Mackenzie
And The Ghost Of Greyfriars
by
Barry Van-Asten
 

Greyfriars Churchyard in Edinburgh has a long history of hauntings
and a walk around its old stones and mausoleums can be a beautiful
and scarey experience! It is said to be haunted by the so called 'Mackenzie Poltergeist' which on occasions can cause cuts and bruises to visitors and other nasty injuries.

I joined a small group of people on the City of the Dead tour of Greyfriars Churchyard (the only way to get into the Covenanters' Prison). We wound our way between the trees and monuments and as we reached the Covenanter's Prison we were ushered into the Black Mausoleum, site of many of the poltergeist attacks!'  We see in the photo the eerie tomb of James Cathcart of Carbieston and below is the great gateway into the Covenanters' Prison.                                    

                                                                                                                                       

The mausoleum was a short way down on the left hand side. I took in the surroundings of the tomb and I cannot swear that I stood within a so called 'cold spot', as I try to keep an open mind and nothing short of old Mackenzie himself materialising before my eyes and slapping my face would provide me with enough conclusive evidence of a haunting, but the night was suitably atmospheric and I concluded that there must be something to all the claims of mental distress and physical harm.

The next day I decided to make a second appearance at Greyfriars. After a short visit to the church and a look at the section of remaining 'Flodden Wall', I went back to the Covenanters' Prison (which is always locked, except for access with the City of the Dead tour). In the photo, the Black Mausoleum can be seen half way down the Covenanter's Prison on the left hand side.

It was a wet and cloudy day with short periods of sun shining on the dark stones.

At the Mackenzie tomb with its domed roof, I stopped and stood alone outside the impressive entrance with its black wooden doors. I peered through the little windows in the door and hurled obscenity after obscenity into the mausoleum by way of an introduction! (In the past, children would show off by knocking on the doors of the tomb and shouting 'Bloody Mackenzie! come out if you dare!') If indeed there is a poltergeist or 'demon' connected to the tomb, then he, she or it is very particular with whom they do business! This photo shows the first approach towards Mackenzie's tomb.



                                                                                                                               

The Covenanters' Prison is so named because it was where 'Covenanters' (those who supported the National Covenant signed at Greyfriars in 1638) were held prisoner after the Battle of Bothwell Brig in 1679. Twelve-hundred prisoners were taken to Edinburgh, and of those, four-hundred spent a horrendous four months being held at Greyfriars, awaiting trial. Conditions were appalling with only enough food to keep the poor souls alive and no shelter from the rain and the snow.

Some of the Presbyterian Covenanters died in the prison and others were executed; a small number managed to escape while some others were freed. Sir George Mackenzie 1636-1691 was Lord Advocate and he persecuted the Scottish Covenanters with such horrific torture and inhuman treatment that he became known as 'Bloody Mackenzie'!
The photo shows the impressive entrance to the Mackenzie tomb.

Since the awful atrocity, the churchyard and especially the Covenanters' Prison was known to be very active paranormally and Mackenzie's tomb became the focus for much of the disturbances. But it was in more recent times, in 1999, when things took a turn for the worse!
From the photo, it can be seen that the interior of the tomb was light enough to see within but there was definitely an oppressive atmosphere.



     

A homeless man, seeking shelter chose to break into Mackenzie's tomb. Finding the coffins, he broke them open and desecrated the corpses in search of valuable items. He fell through the floor of the tomb into a mass of rotting remains and ran screaming from the tomb, frightening a local dog walker. In the photo I was lucky enough to capture this 'old ghoul' outside the Mackenzie tomb doorway.



                                                                                                          
                                                                                                            

Since then, 'poltergeist' attacks have escalated and the case is well documented, but whether the mystery of Mackenzie's tomb and the Covenanters' Prison is ever solved or not, we can be sure of one thing, that Greyfriars will continue to be one of the most fascinating and frightening locations in the history of paranormal research!
The photo shows a final glimpse of the famous Mackenzie tomb.



             

The White Lady of Cresswell

Illustration by Barry Van-Asten

THE WHITE LADY OF CRESSWELL

by

Barry Van-Asten

The night was still, and the full moon being just three nights old, cast a wondrous spectral light over Cresswell and far out over the North Sea.

Knowing nothing of the history of the place except for a tale related by a taxi driver from Ashington who saw the ‘white Lady’, my fellow paranormal enthusiast and I decided to investigate the site.
And so, at 1.20 a.m. we set off into the dark woods in search of some architectural remains of Cresswell Manor House. The woods were quiet and eerie and we soon came upon some stone wall which continued for some distance, broken in parts and beneath dense undergrowth. We examined the stones by torch-light and indeed they may have been part of the remains of William Cresswell’s Manor House, or perhaps after the house was demolished, the stones were taken to build a boundary wall; some stones did show signs of being worked.
Leaving the woods, we decided to investigate the reputedly haunted Cresswell Tower. On our way to the tower, we noticed the door set into the high wall that surrounds the site, and suggests it was a main entrance to the Manor House in the past. Following the wall, we turned at a right angle and cut across a grassy slope as the gloomy tower rose up before us, bathed in soft September moonlight. The silence heightened the anticipation of experiencing some sort of supernatural activity and as we peered over the low perimeter wall, we half expected the white Lady to reveal herself, perhaps weeping at the base of the tower, or looking far out to sea from an upper window.
The story goes that the white Lady, who may or may not be a member of the ancient Cresswell family, was in love with a Danish Prince. The romance did not favour well with the Lady’s family but the handsome Dane had won the fair Lady’s heart.
One day, in expectation of the Prince’s return from sea, the Lady climbed upon the roof of her home to look for the arrival of his ship. And indeed the ship did appear and anchored in nearby Druridge Bay. The Prince rushed ashore to meet the Lady and the Lady rushed down from the roof to meet the Prince. But before they could embrace the Lady’s three brothers ambushed the Prince and cut him down with their swords. The Lady witnessed the horrific murder of her beloved Prince and was devastated and lost the will to live. She eventually died of starvation and it is said, her ghost still haunts Cresswell Tower.
After a short vigil, we gave up the ghost, so to speak and headed towards the sand dunes of Druridge Bay and watched the waves breaking upon the mysteriously beautiful stretch of Northumbrian coast; but all the time, there was the strange mesmeric fascination to look towards the tower in the hope of catching a glimpse of the tragic white Lady of Cresswell.

FURTHER OBSCURITIES OF THE HEART

FURTHER OBSCURITIES OF THE HEART
BY
BARRY VAN-ASTEN


CHAPTER I

An intrusion upon time

It was on the fourth day of the second month of a not very remarkable eleventh year of the twenty-first century (1) in a decidedly provincial town of a country that had lost its identity that we find the curious and enigmatic character who went by the name of Dua Perar (2).
Now, this strange and devilish figure, whom wished to be known in certain circles as the ‘Greatly Revered and Holy One of Heaven whose will summoned into existence all that was and all that is and all that shall be, in order to create from No-thing, Some-thing and Every-thing...’etc, and to the acolytes of Dua Perar, for there were many, he was simply reduced to ‘the Eternal Emperor of all the known Universe and all the Unknown Cosmos that exists throughout all Time and Space’, but his close associates called him ‘God’ (3).
This ‘God’ (4) for we shall assume we are already closely associated to him, had alighted upon the world for no better reason than to ‘walk amongst an inferior species’, a ‘species’ he himself had created with a mighty sweep of his left hand (5). And this ‘inferior species’ was named mankind and unto each man and woman, for he had created two sexes for the purpose of procreation, (and some would also add as a punishment to each other) he alloted a general life-span of approximately seventy years (6). Certain ‘senses’ were gifted unto mankind and each ‘creation’ was to dwell in a specific portion of space and time (7) in accordance to the creature’s heart rate and general dimensions.
During those seventy years, the heart of a man and a woman would beat at around sixty beats per minute (a minute being a segment of recorded time) and the heart would be designated approximately 2.21 billion beats in a life-time (8).
Amongst mankind, other beings existed, known as the animal kingdom, and to each ‘animal’ was given various senses and heart rates peculiar to the species, size and life-span. Unto the cat was given fifteen years and a heart rate of 150 bpm (beats per minute), a total of 1.18 billion beats. Unto the dog was given seventeen years and a heart rate of 75 bpm for a total of 0.67 billion beats; unto the horse was given forty years and 44 bpm, which is 0.93 billion beats in a life-time. Unto the elephant was given seventy years and 30 bpm, a total of 1.1 billion beats and unto the whale was given eighty years and 20 bpm for a total of 0.84 billion beats, and so on...
Now, of all these ‘creatures’ only mankind was unhappy with the alloted life-span of years upon the world which is the Earth and so ever more ingenius ways were devised to cheat and defeat Death, for Death must come to all in the end, but to no avail, for God would counteract each plot against his will by the invention of a new disease or the return of an old one or he would simply create disharmony amongst his toy creatures and set them to war with each other and watch them dwindle. Mankind grew weary of God for what God would allow such atrocities as the destruction of innocent lives? Yet there were a few who remained faithful and blinkered to the truth that was all around them (9).

CHAPTER II

In the ghost-age of Menthu – Dua Perar
 

Throughout the centuries, mankind increasingly turned towards the darker aspects of belief, and in turn, to God’s adversary – the Devil (10). One man who followed such a belief, known as the ‘black arts’ was named Isak Sabaft.
Isak was a man in search of truth for he had already given up the notion of a benevolent God at a young age, for what God would allow water to pour from the sky and ruin the daily lives of his servants unless he were an evil God, in which case he should not be praised but forgotten and all images worshipped in his name destroyed. This Isak believed with all his heart for his life had been filled with such pain; physical pain from an injury to his spine in childhood which caused him to walk with a stick. He was mocked as he grew up and learnt to distrust those around him and felt very lonely at times, but his interests in strange and various subjects gave him a joy for living, but the company of the human heart evaded him. Isak had the appearance of a man in his late thirties and seemed to be always impeccably dressed, though he had no occupation and so his finances were a mystery. He spoke with a slight foreign accent which gave him an oddly old fashioned and noble air. That he was unlovable, there is no doubt; that he practised a certain system of spells and conjurations known only to appointed ‘adepts’ is a fact, and that Isak had successfully performed a certain ritual which gave him mastery over particular knowledge through an act of devotion towards his Holy Angel (11) is also a known fact. And the name of Isak’s Angel – the infernal Dua Perar!
Isak was a good student of the occult and excelled particularly in alchemy and ceremonial magic. He kept a note book of his ‘experiments’ and daily thoughts and practises and one such entry reads: ‘it occurs to me that the perception of ‘’existing’’ is brought about by the naturally occurring ‘’drug’’ administered through the respiratory system, thus perpetuating the ‘’false’’ reality of space and time dimension of which we are locked into until the circle is broken by a breakdown in the anatomical system which disturbs and eventually damages the system beyond repair, and death is the inevitable result; there is then a freedom from that restricting ‘’drug’’ known to science as O2 (oxygen)’. And thus it was that Isak worked in solitude, for here again we read: ‘If we are allotted a certain ratio of this drug oxygen and the heart has a certain allowance of beats, then surely a sedantry life would increase longevity? If the heart rate could be lowered, say by half, through certain ‘’training of the mind’’ then why should one not live twice as long?’ Isak drifted from one extreme abstract notion to the next in his search and that he came to exude some hidden light of darkness, or negative energy, there was no doubt, for birds and beasts expired dead at his feet only to regain life once more at his passing (12).

CHAPTER III

Moon under glass – a dream
 

One day, Isak Sabaft returned to his room in the Spitalfields area of London and recalled a strange dream he had the previous night. In the dream Isak was being restrained by a dark figure named Ia-Besz. When Isak questioned him as to the whereabouts of his female companion, he was told that she was being taken by Ia-Apophrasz to the top of the silver hill. Somehow, Isak managed to break free from the clutches of Ia-Besz and grasped his neck, squeezing it tightly. Isak realised what he was doing and not wanting to kill Ia-Besz released his grip but as soon as he did so Ia-Besz continued to have the life choked out of him by what seemed to be an ‘invisible hand’ of which Isak had no control. Isak ran along a tree-lined track and saw an image of his female companion seated in a room and at each side of her sat a young boy and a young girl (13). The next thing Isak recalled was that he was climbing a tree and suddenly finding himself completely naked, realised he had no pockets in which to keep the key to his house. And so the dream ended, and realising the dream held an important hidden message Isak set to work at its interpretation and he concluded that the key to the mysteries would be given only after the sacrifice of six witches incorporating the pentagram and the astronomical sign of the sun (14).

CHAPTER IV

Into the forbidden

Being of such infernal magnitude it shall not be written

CHAPTER V

A mysterious malady

Time passes, yet Isak lost all notion of time (15) and gradually found it difficult to speak and retain his thoughts. He sought the opinion of a doctor named Hodgkinson who was at a loss in finding a cause for poor Isak’s illness of his mind but he was in no doubt as to the robustness of Isaks heart for it almost burst from his chest, yet something was definitely wrong.
Isak’s dreams were becomming increasingly strange and peculiarly vivid. In fact, the line between dreaming and the real world had shifted, causing Isak to question his own sanity and those around him. Much of his dreams were frequented by the Angel entity known as Dua Perar and in one dream Dua Perar spoke to Isak saying ‘Child brother, acquaint thyself with poison’ (16) to which Isak responded dutifully, his will seemingly not his own. Also in another dream Dua Perar showed him how to produce the ‘lost sound of the ancients’, this was a sacred voice that issued from the stomach and left the body through the mouth, somewhere between a whistle and a scream, and it was all done by contracting the throat muscles as if sneezing and shouting at the same time.
Several days later, seeing no improvement, Isak went once more to see Doctor Hodgkinson.
‘I’ve been having difficulty sleeping Doctor Ockingen’ (17).
Doctor Hodgkinson examined Isak and said ‘you have a fever of the mind; an air-born inner-city disease, that is all’. Isak looked puzzled and repeated ‘a fever of the mind! You’ll excuse me for requesting a second opinion Doctor Octagon’. And the good Doctor referred Isak to his colleague the eminent physician and psychologist Doctor James Bobola. Before leaving Doctor Hodgkinson made a few notes of reference for the esteemed Bobola to look over (18).
‘What is it Doctor Octopus?’
‘Just some notes’ said Doctor Hodgkinson, continuing ‘you see, in my opinion, and I’m rarely wrong in this, I would prescribe a good dose of the power of prayer and get yourself right with God!’ (19) And here we see that the humble Doctor Hodgkinson was nothing short of that most nauseating of creatures – a Christian! And it was known that lately, the good Doctor was becomming ‘involved’ with a ‘large lady church-goer’ – a most inappropriate affair!
‘Are you married Mister Sabaft?’ questioned the biblical beast.
‘No Doctor Ostrich’, stammered Isak.
‘Is there something wrong with you?’ Hodgkinson said, pulling a face as if the grace of God had suddenly kicked his plump posterior!
‘I never held marriage very highly’, Isak said as the Doctor coughed and sneezed and yawned at the same time.
‘The ‘’lost voice’’’, Isak whispered.
‘I beg your pardon’ the Doctor said, as Isak was leaving.
‘Oh, nothing Doctor odious, good day!’

CHAPTER VI

The Great Bobola

The next day, Isak opened the door to that great walking wonder of the age; that giant amongst pygmy physicians, the high and mighty Doctor James Bobola! And in stepped the miraculous marvel himself, a tall gentleman of a dark complexion who swept through the hallway as if carried by golden wings as he opened his mouth and said in a sing song voice:
‘Oim Doctor bobola. What can oi do for yow, yoong man?’ (20)
‘I would like your medical opinion on my condition Doctor Boobyhole. Did you receive Doctor Hobgoblin’s notes?’
‘If yow could call ‘em notes, then yes oi did, and worryin’ they were too! But oi likes a challenge and oi likes to form me own opinion o’ things, so let’s see and oi’ll judge what’s the matter with yow!’ And so Doctor Bobola did see and Doctor Bobola did judge and after a thorough examination of Isak he said ‘never in all moy years as a medical practitioner ‘ave oi see such a case as yow! Now prepare yourself Mister Sabaft, it is moi conclusion that moi colleague Doctor Hodgkinson has made the correct diagnosis and yow is not lung for this world oim afraid!’
Isak fell into his chair and Doctor Bobola having less tact than Doctor Hodgkinson, in fact, he had no tact whatsoever, continued ‘yow see, in a more enlightened age I would prescribe a good dose of hard work followed by plenty more of it, which never hurt anybody anyway, but as we are sadly of a decidedly un-enlightened age, oi say ‘’prepare thy soul to meet thy maker Mister Sabaft!’’’ (21)
Isak was wretched with tears.
‘yow’ll probably be dead within the ‘ower!’ the Doctor said almost smiling at his inflated ego and his correct diagnosis.
Isak blamed everybody and everything from the Pope to the Goetia and in his rage went to strike Doctor Bobola, but being decidedly weak, did no more than brush a stray hair from the Doctor’s shoulder.
‘Now, now Mister Sabaft, Oi ‘ardly think there’s call for that!’ and as the Doctor turned to leave Isak shouted with what strength he could muster ‘I’ll see you in Hell Doctor umbrella!’ and with that the good Doctor under the weight of his own astonishingly handsome and magnificently inflated ego swept once again from the room on wings of crystal tears as he mumbled something to himself about ‘his eyes may be good for summat, but the rest of ‘im’s roobish!’

CHAPTER VII

And the cosmos wept

And so Isak was near to drawing his last breath when who should appear at the death scene but that mysterious and mystically illuminated personage in the form of – Dua Perar.
Isak’s eyes flashed with the old anger once more to see the dark angel of his nightmares, but he was not alone, for with the unholy entity were the twin sister corpses of what must have been at some point in time, two very fascinating and beautiful young ladies, and they were named Ada and Uda. The twins were perfectly balanced and complemented each other for Ada radiated with positive energy and Uda, the opposite.
Isak was now beyond speech and deteriorating rapidly when Dua Perar stepped close to him with a frightening smile as he bowed his head saying ‘your obedient servant’ to which he gave a little click of his heels. Isak was delerious and unable to focus his eyes and with his deathly gaze fixed on the two dancing corpses of the twins, Ada and Uda he repeatedly raved ‘two identical objects, matter and form, cannot similtaneously exist!’ to which he would add ‘for sore eyes – a urine eye wash!’ (22)
And so Isak passed from this world into the next without much argument on his side. During his life he had seen some major events and there was talk from certain quarters that Isak had known the great Macgregor Mathers in Paris during his research into the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, (23) but of course it was all nonsense. There were rumours that he corresponded with the Russian mystic Madame Blavatsky – more nonsense I’m afraid, Isak was much too young to have been around in those times for as I have said, Isak was a man in his late thirties. But the rumours persisted and it even came about that Isak participated in the Battle of Blythe Road and the breaking up of the Golden Dawn magical society. And further, that he knew the notorious Aleister Crowley in Paris (24). Isak said that Crowley was a ‘vicious thug but a charming thug and a genius’ and they shared a love of chess, after an early encounter in Saint Petersburg! More nonsense! He could not have possibly known Crowley or witnessed any such events!
After Isak’s death, found amongst his few possessions was a birth certificate in a bad state of deterioration. Upon the certificate could clearly be read the following: Alexei Nikolayevich Tsarbatski, 13th November 1855, Tsarskoye Selo, Russia. It looked genuine but why it was in Isak’s possession is anyone’s guess. Along with the certificate was an old photograph, black and white of course, of a gentleman dressed in a elegant manner and by his side is a younger man. The young man did have the appearance of Isak and the older gent had a vague likeness to Oscar Wilde, which of course it couldn’t have been, but who can say for sure? But the most remarkable and singularly important document was a hand-written letter, again in a terrible state of preservation but clearly legible which read as follows:
‘Dear boss,
I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. ha. The next job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn’t you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife’s so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good luck.

Yours truly
Jack the Ripper

Don’t mind me giving the trade name

Ps wasnt good enough to post this before I got all the red ink off my hands curse it No luck yet. They say I’m a doctor now. ha ha


The letter was tested and found to be genuine though how Isak came to own it is unclear!

NOTES

1. It had been an exceedingly long-winded year indeed!
2. Look to the Latin.
3. In accordance to Plato’s actuality of presence; ie – of Being, which is the ‘form’ of knowledge, and of Becoming which is the sensory world of pure belief and of the state of non-being, the nothing of ignorance, all matter is human and form presents itself as either male or female (see Aristotle). The Divine has no substantial direct discernable frame work to reside in and is thus an incorporeal unlimited substance; a pure and positive essence, as opposed to a corporeal, finite ‘matter/form’ relationship or an incorporeal limited substance, or ‘pure form’ of a finite nature, such as spiritual entities ie, angels and the discarnate soul (see Thomas Aquinas, three levels of Hierarchy of Being). Therefore, if such a thing as ‘God’ does exist, must exist alone since no distinction can be made in Him alone between the essence that is He and His existence; in fact, all the positive aspects of His divine presence – there is nothing, except the potential and no divine positive manifestation as He is not.
4. The non-existence of a ‘Supreme Being’ or ‘God’ was declared on 1st August 1987 by Mr Andrew Carnegie of 37 St Agatha’s Road, Worcester, as reported in the Worcester Gazette, which basically states that for every ‘action’ there is an opposite ‘re-action’ and no two actions can be positive without the negative effects being felt, thus for every death there is a birth and for every poison an antidote (not necessarily discovered) and so, God being unable to discard the negative for the positive action must be subject to a greater power and not therefore God! Matter extends into space; matter is a created substance along with the other created substance – the mind, which though thought, shapes rational ideas: matter is finite – God is infinite and unlimited (see Descartes) a single substance. A monad, and not created. The senses can give knowledge of experience, but not receive beyond abstract questions (see Spinoza), but a truth of reason can be known without any sense-experience as a priori knowledge and a truth of fact is only possible through an examination of the world around us as a posteriori knowledge (see Leibniz – monad and God). The struggle for existence, by empiricism and reason, Aposteriori, and a priori’s constant struggle, like bellows, through the attainment of knowledge by reason (a priori) and empiricism (a posteriori, world and experience). However, this has not deterred the major faiths of the world, in fact, it has strengthened them and their differences are embraced, once and for all!
5. It must be noted that Dua Perar is not actually the all powerful Being known as God and anyone wishing his whereabouts should refrain from contacting the author who only has a passing resemblance and should seek medical help. Dua Perar is in fact, merely a ‘dark angel of the lowest order’ or a figment of the author’s deranged mind.
6. This rule does not necessarily apply to (a) the English Monarchy, who are washed with the sins of the poor, and (b) the Church of England, whose sins are wished away behind a closed door!
7. Time is an illusion created by the succession of experiences. We can think of time as being in three stages: time gone (the past), time now (the present) and time to come (the future). We exist in time now, the present, but to think of time now is to be conscious of time gone (the past), as the experience overides the thought, we have entered time to come (the future) and so we are never really in time now, just as the light from a distant star is observed, we do not perceive the star in actual ‘time’, we are seeing a recording of its past; and so we view the world around us constantly in time to come (the future).
8. This was irrespective of religeous beliefs, though I hasten to add, certain belief systems were given prominence over others and claimed priority!
9. This is especially evident in the twentieth century and shows no sign of diminishing in the twenty-first.
10. Satan, in the Old Testament was first seen as one of God’s servants but after the Jews returned from their captivity he was identified with Ahriman, the evil spirit in continual conflict with Ahursa Mazda, the spirit of good. Good and evil were regarded by the primitive mind to belong to one power alone – the division into God and Devil, priest and witch is identified in a higher stage of civilisation. The worship of evil, or of Satan, personification of evil, seems to have developed alongside Christianity. Ceremonies in which participants celebrate the ‘Black Mass’ are also opportunities for sexual excess and debauchery, something devout Christians saw as sinful, yet more modern and enlightened members of the Church of England now see as compulsory if performed in private and vehemently denied.
11. The particular ceremony was performed over a period of 329 days. (see also ‘Liber Samekh’ by Aleister Crowley)
12. This was witnessed by more than one person on several occassions.
13. The Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Other aspects of the dream are not suitable and not reproduced for fear of offending ‘delicate minds’.
14. The six witches: (1) Martha Tabram. Tuesday 7th August 1888. George Yard, London. (2) Mary Ann Nichols. Friday 31st August 1888. Bucks Row, London. (3) Annie Chapman. Saturday 8th September 1888. 29 Hanbury Street, London. (4)Elizabeth Stride. Sunday 30th September 1888. Duffield’s Yard, Berner street, London. (5) Catherine Eddowes. Sunday 30th September 1888. Mitre Square, London. (6) Mary Jane Kelly. Friday 9th November 1888. 13 Miller’s Court, London.

(3)

                                   
                             (6)                                                                                      (2)                                         

                                                                                                                       

(1)

                                  (5)                                                                            (4)
                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                     

15. Succession is the illusion of ‘time’ – this exists at different times, just as those things are simultaneously which exist at the same time. All changes are continuous. If something exists outside my present time-frame, then it is not seen by me, and it is therefore, not empirical to my nature.
16. A partial list of intoxicants should include: Hemlock (Conium maculatum), Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna), Jimson Weed [thorn apple] (Datura stamonium), Death Camas (Zigadenus), Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Darnel (Lolium temulentum), Yew (Taxus baccata), Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) etc.
17. Isak found it increasingly difficult to pronounce certain words and the good Doctor’s name was one of them.
18. From the notebook of Doctor Hodgkinson: ‘patient seems to be suffering from dysuria, haematochezia, slight erythema, accute ataxia, severe emesis, diarrhoea, chronic bruxism, cachexia, bradycardia, haematoma, dyspnoea, lethargy, marked tenesmus melena, polyuric, tachycardia, tachypnoea, polydipsic, coprophagia, blephrospasm etc etc – a hopeless case! Reminder: golf on Saturday with George!
19. Mr Andrew Bannister of Fife in Scotland argues that God was to be found in a certain beetle – [Geotrupes stercorosus] and that a search would yield the answers to the as yet impossible questions of life. His wife, Mavis, not being a lover of beetles took an intense dislike to her home being invaded by bugs and spent many a delightful hour when Mr Bannister was away, in stamping upon his precious collection of beetles, numbering at last count 19,786. They perished in the name of science and the search for God continues in Fife! In Temple Meads, Mr Trevor Parkinson [48 The Grange] declared in his theory that ‘mankind is only a bacteria, plain and simple, nothing more and nothing less; an impurity upon the wonder of God’s pure world, and that He in all His Wisdom and Power produces ‘natural disasters’ to eradicate such unwelcome vermin as humanity, just as the gardener attacks his greenfly with a hint of satisfaction at their destruction.
20. It seems that Doctor Bobola had spent a long time in the wilderness of Birmingham, bringing penicillin to the natives of that grand old city!
21. The soul is not external and therefore not governed by time, without memory, past would not exist and we would live in a present time-frame, unaware of pre-being. (How can a substance that is not matter [the soul] be contained in matter?) See The Golden Bough by Sir James frazer.
22. This was actually prescribed by Queen Elizabeth I’s physician.
23. Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers 1854-1918, discovered a strange and rare manuscript in the Biblioteque de L’Arsenal in Paris called The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, as delivered by Abraham the Jew unto his son Lamech A.D. 1458.
24. This was possibly January/February 1914. See The Paris Working by Aleister Crowley.