#ashleyhall

Ashley Hall School, Charleston South Carolina

A private independent school for girls. The iconic shell house is a former aviary that today is a lounge for senior’s.

Shell house at Ashely Hall School

Shell house former aviary for exotic birds at Ashley Hall in Charleston South Carolina

Wrought iron gate entrance

Private girls school from lawn

Thursday Doors

Thanks for…

Himeji Castle - Okiku's Well

Himeji Castle is the largest castle in Japan and is allegedly the location for one of Japan’s most famous ghost stories.

A young, beautiful lady named Okiku was blamed for the loss of a plate - one from a set of ten, a valuable family treasure. Okiku counted the plates again and again but could only find nine.

The penalty was death.

Okiku was suspended over a well on the castles grounds, beaten, lowered in and submerged to near drowning before being taken out again…. to have the torture repeated until she was eventually killed.

Her body was thrown into the well and then covered.

Okiku has since been seen to appear at the well, count to nine, then cry out in anger, fear and frustration before disappearing again.

It is said you can end Okiku’s suffering, but just for a while, if you say ‘ten’ after she counts to nine… the plates all accounted for she can rest peacefully… for a while until she next appears to repeat her task.

Okiku’s story has been turned into a number of famous plays and has formed the basis for many similar stories, as such you may hear a different telling at times but the poor girls fate is always the same, her life is ended at this well.

Comment here or over at: http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/himeji-castle-okikus-well

Are you superstitious? Know any interesting ones?

A superstition is a belief in supernatural causality. It is the belief that one event (or object, or action) can cause another without there being any physical process linking the two.

Ideas such as rabbits feet bringing good luck, an apple a day keeping the doctor away, toads causing warts, or that a black cat crossing your path is a bad omen are all types of superstition.

There are many, many superstitions out there from all over the world, some quite sensible (walking under ladders could spell bad luck... if someone working up one drops something on your head!) but others quite out there. Now by saying that I do not mean to detract from a persons belief as when it comes to the paranormal/supernatural you just never really do know... just that on the outside some superstitions can seem a little bizarre to the uninitiated!

Some superstitions can, in a way, be similar to some urban legends or the fact that at their core many urban legends come to form a lesson or a real world warning that has been packaged into a more threatening or intriguing tale. Some superstitions are just really bite sized urban legends.

Do you have any superstitious beliefs or know of some interesting ones? And what of their origins (if you know them)?

The Vampire of Düsseldorf

Peter Kürten, 'The Vampire of Düsseldorf', went to the guillotine for the murder of nine people and drinking some of those victims blood.

His last words were "Tell me, after my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be the pleasure to end all pleasures."

When you read those final words of Peter Kürten you might wonder why or how the sound of his "own blood gushing from the stump of my [his] neck" could constitute pleasure.

Kürten had a sexual fetish for flowing blood. When he was interviewed about his crimes by Dr Karl Berg, he admitted that the murders were for sexual pleasure and the more stab wounds in some victims was because it took him longer to achieve orgasm.

He went to the guillotine July 2, 1931, at the age of 48. He had been found guilty of 9 murders but confessed to 68. After he was decapitated, his head was dissected so his brain could be studied to see if there were any abnormalities present that could have caused him to become the monster that he was.

His brain was normal.

Photos: Left - Peter Kürten Right - His dissected head on display

Do you believe that some UFOs are extraterrestrial vehicles?

A UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) is any object that is seen in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer. Seen day and night these objects can be seen as bright lights through to fully solid structures and everthing else in between.

With thousands of sightings around the world each year is it possible some of these objects are not from this planet?

There are always people out to provide an explanation for the strange things that people see... as a matter of fact that (should be) the job for a paranormal investigator too, to try to provide a logical answer (and failing that maybe, maybe putting it in the 'paranormal' basket).

With these answers generally falling into quite earthly categories - strange cloud formations, geological events, meteors, as yet unclassified aircraft, misinterpretation of known technology - is there room for the extraterrestrial vehicle explanation?

What are your thoughts? If at least some UFOs are not of our world, what are they... extraterrestrial vehicles or something else? If you have a UFO experience that leaves you in no doubt that it was not of this planet please share that too!

Leave your answers in the comments below or over at: http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/do-you-believe-that-some-ufos-are-extraterrestrial-vehicles

Have you ever come into possession of a haunted object?

Items and objects come and go throughout our lives and many people believe that some of those objects might still contain the residual (and in some cases intelligent) energies of those who have owned them before us - and that we just might leave a portion of ourselves on the objects we come into contact with.

It is not thought that any old object will form a place for energy to attach but rather objects with meaning, often used, very much loved and with sentimental value.

Objects such as tools of a trade, jewellery (especially wedding rings), clothes, paintings, furniture and in many cases entire rooms or buildings (we will keep haunted houses etc for another time) and more have the potential to be haunted by one or more persons energies who frequented them.

Often these items are passed down through the generations and if haunted or active at least the history of the object is known and often the very 'who' who inhabits it.

But more often than not these objects can end up in second hand stores, car boot sales or just found lying around on disused estates... and these are the real mysteries.

A gift, a good find in a thrift store, an object picked up off the ground... all have the potential to bring something into your home.

Have you ever come across a haunted object? How did things change for you after it came into your life? How long did it take for you to realise that the activity might stem from the object? Did you discover the identity of the haunting?