Paranormal Studies

[preternaturalstudies]

Barguest

A goblin or phantom of mischievous character traditionally reported in the north of England and also in Wales. The meaning of the term is disputed, some believing it to be ‘‘town ghost’’ (burhghest), others suggesting it derives from the German berggeist (‘‘mountain demon’’). The goblin often appears in the form of a monstrous dog with huge teeth and claws. Another tradition suggests that the phantom is named from his habit of sitting on bars or gates. A writer in the mid-nineteenth-century Encyclopaedia Metropolitana relates a story of a woman he knew who had been brought up in the country. As a child, she had been passing through the fields one morning and saw someone sitting on a stile; as she drew near, however, the figure vanished.

[preternaturalstudies]

Angel's Hair

A fine, filmy substance observed falling from the sky, sometimes extensively. It has been explained as cobwebs from airborne spiders, but the strands of angel’s hair may vary in length from a few inches to over a hundred feet, and often dissolve in contact with the ground. Possibly the earliest account of angel hair occurred in 1741 when it was reported that ‘‘flakes or rags about one inch broad and five or six inches long’’ fell on the towns of Bradly, Selborne, and Alresford in England. In 1881 Scientific American carried an account of huge falling spider webs (one as large as 60 feet, over Lake Michigan). Other falls have been reported over the years, and accounts were collected by Charles Fort, famous for his assemblage of accounts of anomalous natural events.

In the 1950s angel hair became associated with UFOs. A famous case occurred in France in 1952 during which a local high school principal reported seeing a cylindrical-shaped UFO and a circular one. The flying objects left a film behind them, which floated to the earth and fell to the ground covering trees, telephone wires, and roofs of houses. When the material was picked up and rolled into a ball, it turned gelatinous and vanished. Occasional additional accounts have appeared in the literature over the years, though angel hair is by no means a common element of UFO reports. Analysis of angel hair has proved elusive as the material seems to dissolve very quickly.

[preternaturalstudies]

Agla

A Kabalistic word formerly used by rabbis for exorcisms of the evil spirit.  It is made up of the initial letters of the Hebrew words, Athah gabor leolam, Adonai, meaning, "Thou art powerful and eternal, Lord."Not only among the Jews was this word employed, but among the more superstitous Christians it was a favorite weapon with which to combat the evil one, even so late as the sixteenth century.  It is also to be found in many books on magic, notably in the Enchiridion ascribed to Pope Leo III.

[preternaturalstudies]

Abracadabra

A magical word said to be formed from the letters of the

abraxas, written as pictured above. The pronunciation of this word, according to Julius Africanus, was equally efficacious either way. According to Serenus Sammonicus, it was used as a spell to cure asthma. Abracalan, or aracalan, another form of the word, is said to have been regarded as the name of a god in Syria and as a magical symbol by the Jews. It seems doubtful whether the abracadabra, or its synonyms, was really the name of a deity.

[preternaturalstudies]

Abigor

According to Johan Weyer, Abigor is the Grand Duke of Hades. He is shown in the form of a handsome knight bearing a lance, standard, or scepter. He is a demon of the superior order and responds readily to questions concerning war. He can foretell the future and instructs leaders on how to make themselves respected by their soldiers. Sixty infernal regions are under his command.

[preternaturalstudies]

Abaddon

‘‘The Destroyer,’’ from a Hebrew word meaning ‘‘destruction.’’

Chief of the demons of the seventh hierarchy. Abaddon

is the name given by St. John in the Apocalypse to the king of

the grasshoppers. He is sometimes regarded as the destroying

angel or prince of the underworld, also synonymous with Apollyon

(Rev. 9:11).

[preternaturalstudies]

Aaron's Rod

A magic wand deriving from the biblical narrative of the rods of Moses and Aaron that were used in the miracles of dividing the waters of the Red Sea and in causing water to gush from a rock in the desert. When Aaron cast his rod before pharaoh and his magicians (Exodus 7), the rod transformed into a serpent, hence the occult use of Aaron’s Rod with a motif of a serpent. An old Jewish legend states that Aaron’s rod was created on the sixth day of Creation and was retained by Adam after leaving the Garden of Eden, subsequently passing into the hands of a succession of patriarchs. An apocryphal Christian legend states that the rod was cut from the Tree of Knowledge, eventually came into the possession of Judas, and was the beam of the cross on which Christ was crucified.

The hazel wand used by water diviners in dowsing echoes the water finding by Aaron’s rod in the desert. Some form of wand has always been a symbol of authority. The wand also survives as the magical staff of modern conjuring magicians.

[preternaturalstudies]

A∴A∴

A secret society founded by Alister Crowley (1875-1947), claimed to comprise the three orders: the Silver Star, the Rosy Cross and the Golden Dawn; also described as the Great White Brotherhood. However, the latter term is more properly applied by Theosophis. The initials A∴A∴ indicate Argenteum Astrum, and the triangle of dots signifies a secret society connected with ancient mysteries.

During his period in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Crowley considered that he had reached the exalted stage of the Silver Star and was thus a Secret Chief of the G.D. After 1906 Crowley launched his own order of the Silver Star or A∴A∴ using rituals and teachings taken from the Golden Dawn.