It had been raining hard since 3 three o’ clock in the morning. I was thinking about the secret passages and rooms. In the beginning, I did not believe in ghosts. However, when night fall, when I was alone in the dark, I feared what I might find. The Winchester Mansion loomed out of mist and murky sky, not only was it dark and formless, it was also huge and supernatural. I have heard that there is an old story, told amongst the country people, to the effect that the devil built this place. I had, at least on a dozen occasions, perceived, vaguely, things that puzzled me, and, perhaps felt more than I had ever imagined. Then, as the years pass, I became more often aware of something unseen, yet unmistakably present, in the rooms and corridors. Every part of my home is laden with symbolic meanings and every domestic object is haunted by mysterious and sometimes fatal powers. It is a true labyrinth vessel of desire and of terror. Some of my ancestors had been executed for witchcraft. Some could not see why people wanted to be wiser than their ancestors, and believed it was the old way of selling oneself to the devil. Though what the devil wants with some of these souls is one point in his character that I have never been able to understand. It is a weakness on his part—I am afraid it is a weakness. When I hear all those worthy people mumbling their sing-song formulas, without attaching any meaning to them, and chanting forth vague curses into their air, I close my eyes, and can sometimes almost fancy myself on the Brocken, in the midst of the Witches’ Sabbath. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6

I had just received news that a farmer, working late one night, had been killed.  Folke Swedenborg’ death was rather mysterious. Folke had gone out for a late walk, taking his gun with him, as was custom. He had walked along the line of the fruit orchard, and then turned off into the country. I have some many acres of land that one could walk for miles. As he did not come back at his usual time, two of the servants had gone out to look for him, and found him lying on his back in a path, quite dead. His throat was fearfully torn, but there was no other wound on him. There had been no struggle, and the gun was still loaded. Footprints of some animal were observed in a patch of soft ground nearby, but it was not certain whether this was the beast the had killed Folke; for what footmarks were like those of a small cat, the wound seemed rather as if inflicted by the teeth of a bear. A hunting party had searched for miles without funding any dangerous animal. I simply could not get it out of my head and it made me very gloomy and depressed at the dinner-table. I suddenly heard a crash of thunder across the sky. Then, as I listened, came a faint sound of footfalls rapidly growing louder, as if something was coming down the stairs. I did not stop to face whatever this might be; but I did not pause to think what I should do. In a blind and fortunate impulse of overpowering terror, I ran to the door of the dining room and flung the heavy door to, plunge the key into the lock and as I was opening the door, something came against the opposite side of the door with a thud that almost shook the hinges loose. Then there was a moment of quite, and I, listening behind the door, could catch a quick, hoarse, heavy panting, as of some beast of prey. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6

Then came another great shock, and another; and at every blow the good door, creaked and shook, but it held firm. Next there was a grating, rending sound, as if teeth and claws were tearing at this last obstacle between my life and its destroyer. Zip was laying, sleeping near my chair. Without warning, the flames in the fireplace glowed with a strange, heavy, crimson twilight that gave the shadows behind the chairs, and tables a deeper depth of blackness; and wherever the light struck, it was as though luminous blood had been splashed over the room. The plaster and floorboards shook with terror.  Down on the floor, I heard a faint, frightening whimper, and something pressed itself in between my two feet. It was Zip, cowering under my dressing gown. However, he was usually as brave as a lion! I began to fear that I might live through this night. I was certain that I was surrounded by the spirits of those who had left their corporeal form behind but had not yet been admitted through the pearly gates of Heaven and so were left to haunt my mansion, crying aloud, desperate to be heard, causing disarray and torment wherever they went. Transfixed with horror, as in a nightmare, expecting to feel the fangs of the unseen demon close through my throat. It was years in agony—it may have been only minutes of time. To feel that something fiendish, brutal and merciless was slowly tearing its way its way to me. The frozen blood coursed through my veins. Jitters crawled down my spine. I tried to settle back and relax, but the air felt heavy. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6

When I looked to the right, I saw an intolerable blackness inside of my home, pierced by a remote twinkle of light. The atrocious darkness seemed to creep into my soul, filling me with despair. The door to the altar room opened. The darkly paneled bedroom was immense. I could see nothing distinctly—only a shadow with glowing blood red eyes. Suddenly, I became conscious that I was no longer in their chair. I seemed to be hovering above it, and looking down at something, huddled and silent. In a little while, a cold blast struck me, and I was levitating, floating like an angel, up through the darkness. As I moved an icy coldness seemed to enfold me, so that I shivered. As I hovered there, the end came. The noise ceased. I turned and saw the demon was gone. Then every tense fiber of my body seemed to give way, and I fell like one dead on the floor. I was wakened from my swoon by thunder at the door, and the sound of human voices. “Mrs. Winchester!” cried Harvey. “Thank God are alive! We had been so frighted about you.” I told him that I had fainted. I could not yet speak of what I had gone through. “Well, do you know,” he said, as he took my arm, and helped me up the stairs, “we had such a scare upstairs! Just after you sat down for dinner, something smashed through an upstairs window, and over when a few books, and we were in the dark. And when we got light again, you never saw such a scared set as we were; but there was nothing to be seen. Did you have a terror, too?” “Something did come down here,” I managed to articulate; “but don’t ask me about it—not tonight. I want to sleep first.” “I think we all want that,” Harvey said.” #RandolphHarris 4 of 6

The next day, Hicks and Guthrie went out for more firewood, but their luck rand out. The ominous clouds drifted ever closer, pushing before an increasingly chill wind, and before the sun was noon-high, it was swallowed up in a rolling gray mass of clouds. Sleet rattled off the wagon canvas like buckshot, and the only thing favoring them was the wind on their backs. The mules needed no urging, voluntarily picking up their gait, while braying their discomfort. The rain began to turn into hail. Their situation was worsening by the minute. “Ain’t no more than two more miles,” Guthrie shouted, veering his mule to the left. They faced the storm-bred wind with their hats pulled low. The wind howled across the plain, and the temperature dropped even more. There were many standing dead pines whose bark had peeled off, leaving them gaunt and naked among their more fortunate companions. Quickly the men dismounted, and swinging their axes, felled a number of the dead pines. The wind tugged  at their hats, blew it frigid breath beneath their coats, and numbed their hands and feet. The men looped their lariat over the butt end of a fallen tree, dallied the loose end around their saddle horn, and hauled it back to the Winchester Mansion. But suddenly Hick’s mule nicked and reared, and he fought the reins, trying to calm the animal. When Hicks had brought the frightened mule to trembling standstill, the other mules were equally spooked. In the vain the men looked for the cause, but could not see more than a few feet in the heavy rain. “I’ll lead ‘em the rest of the way, Guthrie shouted. Like phantoms, the prairie wolves swirling rain. Guthrie drew his Colt and shot one of the brute, missing another when his mule spooked. His companion feared no better, as his mule reread and plunged. A spewed anger and horror. One of the wolves sank its fangs deep in Hicks thigh, and he smashed the beast’s skull with the muzzle of his Colt. The vicious attack ended as abruptly as it had begun. Three wolves lay dead, while three more vanished. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6

I adjure thee, Emperor Lucifer, as the agent of the strong living God, of His beloved Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and by the power of the Great ADONAY, ELOIM, ARIEL, and JEHOVAM, to appear instantly. I do conjure thee, O thou Spirit Caim and your 30 Legions of the Order of Angels, and your 30 Legions of Spirits Infernal. Though the oppression of tyrants attempts to encompass me, the blackened fire of spirit and sorcery works through my mind to impose my desire upon the corporeal realm of stasis and limitation. Aum mani padme hum. May the power of darkness eternal be revealed through me now! Uiciamhak ihsav iamhay iamha adzam ahgnanam utnal ohsoares uhov ioh ta idhzic mutar hsibmuha mad iom arhtic itnhe ioy ahgnes iop awht aj-merhterev ek. It is the daeva yasna who stands victorious and reveal the teachings of that which is hidden! Let it be known that it is I whom am creator and consumer of Worlds! May evil mind and evil speech guide this power according to my will through the essence of Angra Maniyu and the nightside of my eternal soul! Uhob mesha acahzi hsitiamra ay acsamen, ehahsa hsitiavtsa ahteag hsiniacnerem am eheysan-apa erdexapa esaniv hsxurd apa aravd hsxurd apa esan hsxurd apa, itiadarf-ovead esan ethsrakarf-ovead esan erhtic-ovead esan hsxurd ivead esan ascatneps achsitiamra acsadzam iriap tatnayhsibt on-atap. I devour the limits of the enemy Mazda and the Amesha Spenta from this mansion of sorcerous power! Perish now influence of Spentas! Perish now brood of the tyrant! Perish now creation of stasis and imposed limitation! Rush away Spentas of Ahura Mazda for I exorcise thy limits which enslave! I now banish and tear the powers of spiritual limitation from imposing its limits upon this mansion, expelling them from the Winchester Mansion in the name of eternal darkness and all of its power and glory! #RandolphHarris 6 of 6

The Winchester Mystery House

In August of 2003, a talk dark figure was seen by a witness who became extremely distressed. Another witness reported hearing “footsteps behind me and (I) looked around and in the shadows I saw a hooded figure that said in no uncertain terms, ‘Get out!’” Oddly enough, a couple visiting the mansion earlier that year reported that, “My husband and I were walking around the door-to-nowhere when, without warning, it went icy cold all around us and we both heard a voice, in whisper rasp say, ‘Go away!’”

Paranormal experts had suggested that the solid foundation and thick walls might account for the high level of supernatural activity. However, Mrs. Winchester had also experienced heartbreak, joy, sorrow, and tragedy, so it was not surprising that some of these feelings would linger on. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

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