Mirror, Mirror On The Wall...

From fairy tales to real life, mirrors, reflective surfaces, and still water all have something in common. They can be used for divination, magic, stealing souls and repelling evil. The first reflective surface used for divination was a body of still water. Mirrors are a basic tool for magical work (Greer, 310). The Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks made their mirrors from bronze or silver. The Chinese and Hindu also used metals. It wasn’t until the 13th century in Venice that glass mirrors were introduced (Guiley, 372).

In tribal societies it is the belief that ones reflection is actually ones soul. And by exposing ones soul it is made vulnerable to evil influences and even death. It is believed that mirrors are tools in which souls may be stolen for evil purposes. Mirrors have been used as tools to increase clairvoyance and/or to gain knowledge of past lives. All class levels have used mirrors to tell their futures. From the middles ages to the 19th century, mirrors have been used by everyone including Catherine de Medici and Henry IV (Guiley, 372).

It’s not only mirrors that have created concern for people’s souls. The Motumotu of New Guinea believed their reflections were their souls the first time they saw their likenesses in a looking glass. The Basutos believe that the crocodiles have the power of killing a man by dragging his reflection under the water. Saddle Island residents in Melanesia believe there is a pool in which a malignant spirit lives. When someone’s reflection is seen in the water, it is feared that they will die and the spirit will do evil with his soul. The Greeks regarded seeing ones reflection in the water as a death omen for they feared the water spirits would capture the person’s reflection (soul) and drag it into the depths of the water thus leaving the person soulless (Bartleby.com)

Mirrors are often associated with evil, either as a means to repel evil or as a way to further evil growth in the world. Mirrors are thought to be portals into another dimension or world allowing evil, spirits, etc. to wreak havoc on the world. Superstitions about mirrors are many. For example, if one breaks a mirror one can expect at least seven years of bad luck, disaster or death. If the mirror falls on its own, then it is believed that death is coming for someone in the house. If a dead person is in a house with mirrors, their soul could be trapped forever in the mirror unless the mirror is covered (. And if one looks into the mirror on the night of a full moon, repeats “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary” then evil is let loose upon you with no mercy!

If it is true that one sees their soul in the reflection of a mirror, then that must be why vampires can not be seen in them. Vampires have no soul. We also have it on good authority that vampires do not have reflections. After all, it was Bram Stoker’s Renfield who noticed the lack of mirrors in castle Dracula (Melton, 170)! Taking Stoker’s lead in vampires, Hollywood has reinforced this belief.

It has been a belief that mirrors can be used to protect one from vampires and witches. In Europe it became fashionable for one to wear small looking glasses on ones hat. This was done to repel the evil eye and protect the wearer from evil (Guiley, 373).

For paranormal investigators mirrors or other reflective surfaces wreak havoc. When taking photographs (35 mm or digital) especially whenever there is a flash involved, the reflection of light can create images that are not really present. One example of this occurred when taking a photo of some clothes hanging from a metal rod located in front of a mirror. The clothing and the reflection gave an illusion of a nose within the clothes as if someone was peaking out. Mirrors draped with lace or near hanging lace can also present the illusion that someone is present within the folds and design on the lace. The same can be said of still bodies of water. Water in a pond or the bottom of a bowl will also create illusions which I am sure helped to fuel these beliefs.

Derek Acorah Charged After Southport Car Crash

Derek Acorah is best known for
 the Living TV show Most Haunted

A 63-year-old TV psychic has been charged with careless driving following a car crash in Merseyside.

Derek Johnson, widely known as Derek Acorah, was driving a Nissan GT that was in collision with a Ford Ka in Southport, on Saturday.

The 52-year-old Ka driver and her passenger, a man aged 21, were taken to hospital with "whiplash-type" injuries.

Mr Johnson, who was not injured, was bailed and is due to appear at Sefton Magistrates' Court on 30 December.

Merseyside Police said he had also been charged with failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis, following the crash in Scarisbrick New Road.

Mr Johnson, of Scarisbrick, Southport, is best known for his work on the Living TV show Most Haunted.

Smash: Acorah's red Nissan 370z

Damaged: The Ford Ka

The 63-year-old, who found fame on Living TV's Most Haunted, was held by police after his Nissan 370z collided with a Ford Ka on Merseyside

Celebrity psychic Derek Acorah has been charged with careless driving and failure to supply a specimen of breath for analysis after his sports car was involved in a collision last night.

Police were called to Scarisbrick New Road in Southport at around 6.15pm yesterday after his after his red Nissan 370Z collided with a Ford Ka near his Merseyside home.

Acorah, 63, who found fame with the Living TV show Most Haunted, was not hurt in the crash.

But the 53-year-old female driver of the Ka and her 21-year-old male passenger were taken to hospital with whiplash.

Onlookers immediately took to Twitter to talk about the incident involving Acorah, who famously claims to be able to speak to dead people.

One said: "Just seen a crash on southport road, who gets out the car but @derek_acorah #spooooky hope you’re ok m8."

Earlier Acorah had been on Twitter wishing his 18,000 followers a good weekend – unaware of the incident which was soon to happen.

He tweeted: "Have a good weekend all, whatever you may be doing."

The medium has been charged by police under his real name, Derek Johnson.

A police spokesman told the Liverpool Echo: "Derek Johnson, aged 63, from Scarisbrick, Southport, has been charged with careless driving and failing to supply a specimen of breath for analysis."

He has been released on bail and will appear at Sefton Magistrates Court on December 30 at 9.30am.

Acorah famously attempted to contact the spirit of dead singer Michael Jackson for a Sky TV show in 2009 – later branded "worst TV programme of 2009" by voters on Yahoo!

Ghost Hunters Mistaken For Burglars In Gettysburg!

Police in Adams County are investigating a complaint concerning a ghost hunt that went bust after a police officer mistakenly thought it was a burglary in progress.

The Gettysburg Times reports that the Thanksgiving night ghost tour ended with two tourists and their guide being detained at gunpoint.

A patrolman passing a closed store in Gettysburg says he saw flashlights inside, so he went in and handcuffed and searched the three ghost hunters.

Police called the owner, who confirmed the tour operator had permission to use the allegedly haunted Civil War-era building.

The first Union general killed in the Battle of Gettysburg was brought to the building after being fatally wounded.

The owner of the Victorian-style photography studio that occupies the building and permitted the tour has declined to comment. 

Clovis Ghost Hunter Falls 30 Feet Inside An Abandoned Winery!

A woman is in the hospital after an accident inside an abandoned winery in Clovis early Monday morning.

Authorities went to the building on Clovis Avenue near Ashlan around 1a.m Monday. They said several people were inside and one of them fell about 30 feet from a walkway.

It's unclear what they were doing, but family members say the group was ghost hunting.

"It's a spooky old building but I'm not sure what they were doing. Up to no good, goofing around that's for sure," said Curt Fleming, Clovis Police Department.

The victim, whose name has not been released was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. It is unclear if the people will face any trespassing charges.

Shanley Hotel Ghost Cat (+playlist)

Police and medical staff document America's real-life possession: Official reports claim boy, nine, walked backwards up hospital wall and police captain was too scared to enter family's 'haunted' house!

A nine-year-old boy walked backwards up a wall and ceiling as startled medical staff looked on after his mother claimed he and his two siblings had been possessed by demons, according to official reports.

The unlikely-sounding event was detailed in official documents after a child services case worker and a nurse both said they saw the boy 'glide' backwards on the floor, wall and ceiling. 

Both were shocked to see the boy apparently float after their mother had been subject to months of scepticism when she claimed her home in Gary, Indiana, was haunted and all three of her children were possessed by demons.

Latoya Ammons said her 12-year-old daughter also levitated in the home, and all three of her children showed signs of being possessed including 'evil' smiles and unnaturally deep voices, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Miss Ammons' home was officially exorcised by a catholic priest who said the ceremonies were officially authorized by the Diocese of Gary.

Police also observed strange goings on at the house and a captain of the city's force has said he 'is a true believer' that the house is haunted.

After a string of apparent paranormal events at the house hardened police officers - including the local captain - even declared themselves too frightened to stay there after nightfall and numerous city officials refused to go to the property. 

Mother-of-three Ms Ammons, 32, said she was only rid of the spirits that haunted her family's home in Gary after she moved away and underwent multiple exorcisms and police dug under the house to check for graves. 

The Indianapolis Star obtained hundreds of pages of official documents and carried out more than a dozen interviews with police, the Department of Child Services, psychologists, relatives and a priest to uncover the bizarre details - which seem like something straight out of a horror movie.

Eerie: Cops and child protection workers were also spooked during visits to the home in Gary, Indiana (pictured). In this image, a figure appears in a window, right, although no one was home

What is it? A close-up of the image shows the cloudy white figure in the window of the home

Gary Police Captain Charles Austin told the paper that he had initially be skeptical of the family's claims, but after conducting interviews and visiting the home, he now admits: 'I am a believer.'

The story began when the Ammons family - Latoya, her mother, Rosa Campbell, and three children - moved into the rental house on Carolina Street in November 2011.

Soon after, they began noticing odd incidents, such as flies swarming the house throughout December, footsteps in the basement and wet bootprints across the living room floor, Ammons said.

But the terror stepped up on March 10, 2012 when the family had friends visiting late into the night. Ammons got up to check on her 12-year-old daughter.

On hearing Ammons' screams, Campbell ran to the room and saw the girl was levitating above the bed, unconscious, she said.

'I thought, "What's going on?"' Campbell said. "'Why is this happening?"'

The group prayed until the girl eventually moved back down on to the bed - but she could not remember anything about the incident. The visiting friends refused to return to the home.

Ammons said that she was not financially in a position to move so instead had to endure the terror.

The family contacted churches and clairvoyants - and while most would not listen, others gave them advice to wash the children's hands with oil, make an altar in the basement and burn sage and sulfur throughout the house.

The clairvoyants warned that the home was haunted by more than 200 demons, Ammons said.

Despite their efforts, they still felt the demons in the house and the children showed increasing signs of being possessed, Ammons and Campbell said.

The children's eyes bulged, wore evil smiles and deepened when they were taken over by the demons, they said. The youngest boy would sit in a closet and talk to a child no one could see, and on one occasion, he was thrown from the bathroom, Campbell said.

Ammons would also be taken over and said she felt weak and warm, and her body would shake.

When Ammons went to their doctor, Dr. Geoffrey Onyeukwu, he went with medical staff and child services personnel to meet the children - who cursed at him in low voices, Campbell said.

During the visit, a DCS report said the youngest child was 'lifted and thrown into the wall with nobody touching him'. The boys were taken to hospital.

Before the incident, someone had called the DCS and asked the agency to investigate Ammons for possible child abuse or neglect, speculating she might have a mental illness.

While in the hospital, a psychiatrist evaluated Ammons and concluded that she was of 'sound mind'.

DCS family case manager Valerie Washington also interviewed the family while they were at the hospital and said the youngest boy began growling and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Washington added in her DCS report - which was corroborated by a nurse - that the nine-year-old boy displayed a 'weird grin' and then walked backward up a wall to the ceiling.

He then flipped over his grandmother and landed on his feet, while never letting go of his grandmother's hand.

'There's no way he could've done that,' the nurse told the Star.

Washington said in a police report that she believed an 'evil influence' could be affecting the family.

And when asked if the boy had walked up the ceiling in an acrobatic maneuver, she said it was in fact a slow glide that could not have been performed naturally. 

The children were taken into custody by child services after workers found Ammons was neglecting their education; she said it was because the ghoulish activity kept them up all night.

But records from clinical psychologists also indicate that the younger boy acted possessed when he was asked questions he didn't like.

Later, Washington went to the home to check on its condition and was joined by three police officers.

During the visit, one of their recorders malfunctioned and another recorded audio in which a voice whispered 'hey', according to police records.

They also took photos of the house and when these were looked at later, it appeared as if cloudy faces were in the images.

The police chief added that, after he left the house, the radio in his car malfunctioned and that his garage later refused to open.

Even more chillingly, Austin said the driver's seat in his other car started moving backward and forward on its own - which could have caused an accident, according to his mechanic.

During a second visit to the home, in May 2012, they were joined by a priest, Reverend Michael Maginot, who had been asked by a hospital chaplain to perform an exorcism on one of the boys.

While at the home, a DCS family case manager said that she touched liquid she saw in the basement and later suffered finger pain and felt as if she was having a panic attack.

'We felt like someone was in the room with you, someone breathing down your neck,' she said adding that she later experienced a serious of medical problems, from burns to numerous broke bones.

After the visit, Maginot performed a minor exorcism on Ammons which consisted of prayers, statements and appeals to cast out demons.

But after he says he was given the go-ahead by Bishop Dale Melczeck of the Diocese of Gary, he decided to carry out three more powerful exorcisms on Ammons in his church in Merrillville in June 2012. Police officers were present.

'I was hurting all over from the inside out,' she remembered. 'I'm trying to do my best and be strong.'

Afterwards, Ammons, who had moved homes to Indianapolis, said that the problems subsided. After six months, she regained custody of her children.

The house in Gary now has new tenants, but the landlord said there have been no further problems at the address.

Of the bizarre activity at her former home, Ammons said: 'When you hear something like this, don't assume it's not real because I've lived it. I know it's real.'

EVICTING THE DEMONS: WHAT DOES AN EXORCISM INVOLVE?

Exorcism is the practice of ridding a person of demons or other spiritual entities that they have been possessed by.

According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, signs of demonic possession include superhuman strength, aversion to holy water, being able to speak in unknown languages, spitting and cursing.

Most religions claim that humans can be possessed by demonic spirits and even though it might seem archaic, exorcisms continue to be performed.

In Ammons case, the Catholic exorcism involved prayers, statements and appeals to cast out demons. The priest praised God and condemned the devil and pressed a crucifix against Ammons' head as he spoke. The priest noticed her convulsing and said that was a sign that the demons were strong. After she fell to sleep, he gave a prayer of Thanksgiving.

But exorcisms can have deadly consequences. In 2003, an autistic 8-year-old boy in Milwaukee, was killed during an exorcism by church members who blamed thought a demon was to blame for his disability. In 2005, a nun in Romania died after a priest bound her to a cross during an exorcism, gagged her and left her for days without food or water.