Most houses declare the activities they shelter; they are the clear expressive cuticle of a life flowing close to the surface; but the haunted Winchester Mansion, know as Llanada Vila, is a mystery that is as impenetrable as death. The tall windows are like blinking eyes, the great door is a shut mouth. Inside there may be sunshine, the scent of daisies, and a pulse of life through all the arteries of the huge frame; or a mortal solitude, where vampires, demons, and ghost ledge in the disjointed walls and the 2,000 solid gold keys to the doors remain unused. Winter approaching, and Mrs. Winchester finding herself once more alone, it was surmised among her women that she must fall into a deeper depression of spirits. However, far from this being the case, she displayed such cheerfulness and equanimity of humor. The wind stripped the gardens of their exotic plants and bright flowers. The European black locust, English yew and English walnut, Peruvian pepper were all dormant, but the date palms, Spanish and Norfolk pines were still standing strong. The unique collection of towering monkey puzzle trees, seemed to come alive as the branches swayed hither and tither. Mrs. Winchester kept her room in this black season, sitting over the fire, embroidering, reading books of devotion, and praying frequently in her observational tower. As for the servants, aching with rheumatism on the marble floor, they galloped through the mansion like men and women with witches after them, preparing for the arrival of Mrs. Winchester. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

A moment later, the door to the parlor opened, and there stood Mrs. Winchester. She held her Hypnotic Colombian Emerald Estate Ring of 10.75 carats in one hand and had drawn a scarf over her shoulders; but the rich saturation and fine vivid hues of blue and green shone through it like the moon in a mist, and her countenance sparkled with beauty. Suddenly, there was a loud noise at the other end of the salon, as a heavy object being dragged down the passage; and presently a dozen men were seen hauling across the threshold the shrouded thing from the ox-cart. Mrs. Winchester had grown pale. Before her eyes was a crypt. They sky turned to a steel grey, against which Lalanada Villa stood out. A wind strayed through the mansion. Mrs. Winchester fell in a swoon; and when she came to her senses, in her own chamber, she heard the butler had locked the doors to the observational tower and forbidden anyone to set foot in there. The place was never opened again until the butler died thirteen years later; and then it was that the other servants saw for the first time the horror that Mrs. Winchester had kept in there. When the crypt was opened, it flooded the mansion with a sense of violence, grotesque visions, fragmentary images of the souls taken by the Winchester Rifle, tormenting lines of verse, obstinate presentiments of pictures once beheld, indistinct impression of rivers, towers, and cupolas, gathered in the length of journeys half forgotten. Someone opened the widows and let in a blast of that strange, neutral air which walks the Earth between darkness and dawn. Someone let a demon into the house. He walked vaguely, like a blind man on creaking boots. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

Mrs. Winchester stood, as it seemed, on a threshold, yet no tangible gateway was in front of her. Only a wide vista of light, mild yet penetrating as gathered glimmer of innumerable stars, expanded gradually before her eyes, in blissful contrast to the cavernous darkness from which the demon had emerged. She stepped forward, not frightened, but hesitating, and as her eyes began to grow more familiar with the melting depths of light about her, this demon confirmed for the first time that witch covens still existed and revealed what he described as some of the ancient secrets of the cult—even though half of them were of his own creation. He stopped short of revealing some of the inner secrets of his cult, although ironically one of the vows of newly initiated witches was that they should not speak of the mysteries at all. He gave Mrs. Winchester new plans on how to build her mansion, and she promised to keep his presence a secret. However, by opening the doors of his covens and revealing some of the rudiments of ritual worship, the demon stirred up a new hornets’ nets. Although many people in Santa Clara County responded and began enquiring about the vast expansion of the Winchester Mansion, the Sunday papers took up the gauntlet, and one after the other ran exposes of what Mrs. Winchester and her staff of witches and warlock do, under intriguingly lurid headlines proclaiming the dangers of black magic and the “frenzied dances rituals at Midnight in the Grand Ball Room” of the covens. A new witch fever developed; important church men spoke out against this infectious evil. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

As Mrs. Winchester gazed, her heart beat with a soft and rapturous surprise; so exquisite a promise she read in the summons of the demon, which told her as long as she continued construction on her mansion, she would have eternal life. “And so death is not the end after all,” in a sheer gladness Mrs. Winchester exclaimed aloud. “I always knew it could not be. I believed in Darwin, of course. I do still; but then Darwin himself said tht he was not sure about the soul—at least, I think he did.” Her gaze lost itself in the ethereal remoteness of her mansion. “How beautiful! How satisfying!” she said. “Perhaps now I shall really know what it is to live.” The Oakland Tribune claimed that the Winchester Mansion was “forged by the biggest upsurge of black magic and timeless secrets of witchcraft since the Middle Ages.” That was not an overstatement. If they only knew it, these towers, turrets, curved walls, cupolas, cornices, gables, balconies, ornamental finials and finely detailed trimwork that gave the mansion a castlelike appearance were just the tip of the iceberg. “I have never n that fullness of life which we all feel ourselves capable of knowing; though my life has not been without scattered hints of it, like the scent of Earth which comes to one sometimes far out at sea,” said Mrs. Winchester. “Many words define my home, love and sympathy are those in commonest use, but I am not even sure that they are the right ones, and so few people know what they mean.” What had been emerging for some years during the construction of the Winchester mansion was an astonishing revival in occult interests and ritual magic. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8

Passersby said they felt the darker forces of the occult and the so-called black magic groups emanating from the estate. For those newspaper investigators to whom the whole occult community could be wrapped up into one malevolent package, there was sufficient evidence from interviews to show that the witch cult was very much alive and expanding the mansion day and night. In the eyes of the enquiring beholder, the Winchester Mansion was not only beautiful, but bizarre. They could see witchcraft in the stained glass, black magic in the observational tower, and satanism in the main house. It was, of course, too much to expect witch fraternity, the massive home could not be seen nor understood by the general public. Magic is magic, and because the secrecy surrounding the estate, Mrs. Winchester was bound by an oath of silence. However, the newspapers became intent on exposing what went on being the closed doors of the witches’ “temple.” With rumors of devil worship, and blood-lust abounding it, Mrs. Winchester and her estate made an excellent source of entertainment for the valley. Nothing like it had been seen for many, many years and suddenly the media were filled with witch stories. The gossip from the towns people, one could hear their voices rise and fall, like the murmur of two fountains answering each other across a garden full of flowers. Nothing had changed in the public’s perception of the occult and the paranormal. The discovery of black magic rites being performed on their own doorstep put the fear of God into the villagers. There was always suspicious of witches covens locally. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

People used to talk vaguely about them; witches, black magicians, no one could differentiate because they had no knowledge on which to judge. One morning in March of 1889 it was discovered a huge granite slab covering one of the graves in the village churchyard had been moved, and the remains of the body of a girl Maria H. who died in 1720 had been removed. The story gradually unfolded when one of those taking part in what transpired to be a black mass staged inside the old Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph confessed to a newspaper. The skull and bones of Maria H. had been taken from the grave and arranged inside the church over a makeshift altar. A Celtic cross in a circle was painted in blood-red paint on the wall and a white chicken was sacrificed in an hour-long ritual. Over one years later, locals still talk of the witches of the Basilica because, at the time, it caused an uproar of protest culminating in a powerful article published in the Oakland Tribune, which dismissed talk of white witches who heal and do good and thundered “in our considered opinion witchcraft and black magic are a state of mind…youngsters out for kicks will find only depravity, disillusion and destruction in this thing called witchcraft.” Everyone has heard stories about witches and the Winchester Mansion. After the death of the Mrs. Winchester in 1922, the mansion remained closed for a year, but no one knew why. When it was opened, investigators discovered that thirteen people including a priest had been killed and left in the mansion. Santa Clara police admit that after the place was closed it was the scene of satanic rituals as well as drug dealing. Historians speculate that the mansion rests on the bones of angry Ayrans. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8

Almost everything will eventually be restored, although you can find spots where the cracked plaster has not been fixed after the 1906 earthquake. This has been left on purpose, like a frozen moment in time, to show people how the house actually looked when Mrs. Winchester lived there. Many say the house is haunted. The house was once a community showplace, and is today still surrounded by velvety green lawns and overlooks the hill. The mansion was once the sight of lavish teas, balls, musicals and banquets for visiting dignitaries. From there, the Winchester Mystery House was born and is now open for tours of the 110 of the 160 rooms. There once were 500 to 600 rooms and over 700 acres of land. The Winchester Mystery House has continued to expand and flourish, and has accumulated what can only be described as a substantial band of followers, some taking the stories as gospel, others using them as guidance and adjusting them to meet their own requirements. The Wicca movement has left contenders waiting in the wings, wondering if the rituals work and if they will ever see the manifestation of Mrs. Winchester. Well can always try. O THOU great, powerful, and mighty KING AMAIMON, who bearest rule by the power of the SUPREME GOD EL over all spirits both superior and inferior of the Infernal Orders in the Dominion of the East; I do invocate and command thee by the especial and trye name of GOD; and by that God that THOU Worshippest; and by the Seal of thy creation; and by the most mighty and powerful name of GOD, IEHOVAH TETRAGRAMMATION who cast thee out of Heaven with all other infernal spirits; and by all the most powerful and great names of God who created Heaven, and Earth, and Hell, and all things in them contained; and by their power and virtue; and by the name PRIMEUMATON who commandeth the whole host of Heaven; that thou mayest cause, enforce, and compel the Spirits of William W. Winchester of Sarah L. Winchester to come unto me here before this Circle in a fair and comely shapes, without harm unto me or unto any other creature, to answer truly and faithfully unto all my requests; so that I may accomplish my will and desire in knowing or obtaining any matter or thing which by office thou knowest is proper for him to perform or accomplish, through the power of GOD, EL, Who created and doth dispose of all things both celestial, aerial, terrestrial, and infernal. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

Unite physical and spiritual discipline in order and create a dynamic of synergy which will assist in tearing the veil between physical and spiritual realms. Allow powerful changes to take place as your powerful spirits integrate and merge with mine. Allow the inner darkness to spill from the crown into outer darkness and mold and shape the energy of your spirits as a clear vision before my eyes. Allow my consciousness to expand until it is made whole and able to oppose all creation and all limitations. I CONJURE thee, O Spirits of William W. Winchester and Sarah L. Winchester that you will appear unto me to answer to such things as I would have desired of thee, or would have been satisfied in; I do in the name, and by the power and dignity of the Omnipresent and Immortal Lord God of HOSTS IEHOVAH TETRAGRAMMATON, the only Creator of Heaven, and Earther, and Hell of all things both visible and invisible, bless thee, and fulfill thee of all thine office, joy, and place; and I do bind thee in the Winchester Mystery House there to remain for eternity! Let all the company in Heaven bless thee! Let the sun, moon, and all the stars bless thee! Let the LIGHT and all the hosts of Heaven bless thee into the light of udder salvation, and into joy unspeakable. And as thy names and seals contained in this mansion, your eternal home is prepared for the blessed and the damned spirits, and there to remain for eternity, and be remembered as immortal and eternal before the face of GOD and man, who shall come to bless thee and thy World with love and joy. Surrender yourself into my will; I will conduct your undertaking to your best interest. By the Twelfth Table, laid upon the Table or Seal of the Spirits, I compel you to appear immediately, and to serve in all things. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8

Winchester Mystery House

Sarah L.Winchester’s arrival to Santa Clara Valley would be the equivalent of a billionair moving to a small farming town and spending $100,000,000 building a mansion, and someone owning three Rolls Royce sedans, just as a perspective. Featured above is one of Sarah’s beautiful SIX kitchens 👩‍🍳 What are you preparing in your kitchen today for Thanksgiving? https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/