My Rendezvous with a ghost of Gettysburg

"Matthew Knox"

The name my aunt Kristin told me to write down as we were walking through the Soldier's National Cemetery at Gettysburg. We had been walking for about 45 minutes through the second most beautiful cemetery (Arlington is the first) I have ever seen. We had just walked past the hill where Lincoln himself spoke those famous words in dedication of the cemetery, four months after the war that changed history and the future all at the same time. 

The spot where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was this pair of trees. I have never seen more magnificent trees in my life. They were proud, at least 100 feet tall and the needles on their branches looked like feathers. These trees looked like they could fly. Ashli and I both darted toward them and underneath we went. When I was underneath the tree, I felt completely safe.

The cemetery is dotted with perfectly symmetrical, numerically ordered stones of the brave unknown.

Kristin told me that she saw two weary spirits standing by the Obelisk. She said they were pacing back and forth, one was taller and dragging his bayonet behind him. The other was shorter and was limping. She was motioning to them but they would not come closer. She finally captured their attention and the tall one said "No Ma'am, On duty." These spirits are guarding the grounds, eternally protecting the fields and the visitors they see daily. To me, this is tragic and beautiful at the same time.

 As I was taking this picture, someone declared to Kristin, "Matthew Knox, find Matthew Knox."

She described the spirit that told her this as a man with dark wavy hair and soft features, with a mustache. She said he was dirty and tired. I assumed she was talking about Matthew Knox himself and I got a very good image of him in my mind. I pictured him having blue eyes. 

We left the cemetery after Johnny was so grumpy he couldn't stand it any longer and we started to drive around the enormously large spread of battlefield grounds. We weaved around and ended up randomly stopping along the side of the road near the Peach Orchard. There were monuments sprinkled everywhere, in the middle of tall grasses, on the side of the roads and next to replica cannons. There were about 25 visible monuments where we stopped. I started looking at Google to see where we were, and Kristin started complaining and gave me a "LET ME OUT" yelp. She crossed the street and stopped in front of this monument.

 We walked around the back and to our complete and udder SHOCK:

Lieut. Edward M. Knox.

Kristin's jaw dropped and my spine started tingling. She wanted to lay in the grass. She started talking about how she was awestruck and I filmed her.

Then, she said she needed needed to run. "I NEED to! Wanna run? Ok, I'll go!" I watched her run, stop, back up, then squat low to the ground. Here is a video.

Kristin tweeted her experience and one of her followers gave us this information.

Second Lieutenant Edward Knox was one of 63 men who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in the battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1 - 3, 1863. On the afternoon of July 2 his battery was heavily engaged in the Peach Orchard area, repulsing three Confederate infantry assaults. The New York battery was forced by this heavy fighting to withdraw to replenish their ammunition, then returned to the Peach Orchard where they were met by an overwhelming Confederate advance. Unable to repulse this fourth charge, and believing his guns would be captured, Lieutenant Knox ordered his men to lay down and play dead. The enemy forces ran past them in their charge, expecting to return for the guns after overwhelming the remaining Union forces. A charge by the 72d New York Infantry halted the enemy advance, forcing them to retreat, once again bypassing Lieutenant Knox and his "dead" soldiers, along with their guns. When the rebel forces had passed, Lieutenant Knox ordered his men to their feet and their guns were successfully pulled back to the Union lines, during which action Lieutenant Knox was severely wounded.*

*Reference-http://www.homeofheroes.com/photos/1_civilwar/knox_edward.html

Kristin crouched in the field because Knox had his soldiers "play dead". We were scratching our heads all day yesterday, trying to figure out why she was led there, why she was told to run and why was she told to, "GET DOWN!" We have loosley concluded that, when a friendly spirit asks you to do something, you do it. You find out why later. 

Edward M. Knox lived out a long life in New York and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Take something, leave something!

I am currently reading Lewellen's 2015 Magical Almanac and there is a description of the magical uses of dirt, in particular, graveyard dirt. I have always thought that this was used for dark spells and Voodoo. I didn't think about the properties that this dirt could hold for divination, astral travel and communication with the dead. 

There is an old cemetery nearby and I thought that I would grab a jar full of dirt and pay respect to some of the dearly departed. I wandered around for a bit, looking for the right type of dirt, the right consistency and color. I wanted something that was moist enough to gather easily and I did not want to dig up any grass.

I found a flat grave marked, "MOTHER" . No date, but above the marble stone was the perfect dirt. I gathered some in a small apothecary jar and noticed something shiny out of the corner of my eye, paid no mind to it, laid a couple of pebbles on the stone, and said thank you. 

 I got back in the car and instinctively reached up and touched my left ear and immediately realized that the shiny thing that I saw in the dirt was my earring... and I remembered clearly at that instant that I looked at it in the dirt and knew it was my earring, but something blocked my mind from picking it up. I will take that as a trade for the dirt from above "Mother's" grave. Take something, leave something, but make sure it is worth something to you! Here is my other earring and I plan on collecting dirt from another cemetery soon. I will be leaving this earring... intentionally or accidentally. :)

Salem is full of Spirits

Salem

My husband had a class in Massachusetts over the weekend and I took the opportunity to drive up to Salem with my Aunt Kristin (a sensitive and an empath) and my son. I have always wanted to visit Salem, before I came into my spirituality, even before I considered myself a Witch. 

The mystery, the tragedy, the sadness and the history of Salem has always drawn me in. As soon as we got in the car and set our GPS I felt a magnetic pull.

Kristin sees spirits. I feel their presence. Sometimes. If I am lucky. When we arrived, we wanted to first go to the "Witch House" or Judge Corwin's house. This is the oldest standing building directly associated with the Witch Trials of 1692. 

The Witch House

A Recreation of the hearth in the common room

For those of you fans of the show

 

Gov. William Phips, Asshole.

 Left, Cotton Mather
Right, Increase Mather. 

Cotton Mather and his father Increase Mather were both prominent Puritan Ministers. Increase Mather wrote letters to Governor Phips questioning the trials and the acceptance of spectral evidence.

   

 The door on the left was original. I touched it, hoping for some energy. Nothing. Up the narrow, winding staircase, there was a bedroom to the left and one to the right. I immediately felt uncomfortable energy from the left. Greeting us on the left was a woman's gown from the time and a plaque explaining how at least 10 children were born on this bed.

 It went on to explain how birthing was a most dangerous time, and the women and babies had about a 50% chance of survival. The room would be full of midwives and nurses running about, doing all they could to assist in the birth. I could only stay in the room for long enough to read this and to capture a couple of pictures. I touched this door, and felt all of the residual pain lingering in the room.

To the right was another bedroom with some beautiful furniture, a mans outfit from the time and a magnificent loom.

The Witch House was beautiful. I was caught off guard by the 'birthing room' but other than that, spirit activity was low.

The Witch Dungeon Museum

(THESE IMAGES ARE GENUINE AND ARE NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USE)

Our next stop was sadly a reproduction. However, definately full of spirits. In the 1950's the original dungeon was discovered by a phone company and was destroyed to build a building on Federal Street. (There was no Historical Preservation Society back then) We were instructed to enter the theater for a short presentation.

As soon as we walked in, Kristin told me, there is a spirit next to you. I said, "Left? Cool!", and captured this shot.

The second image has been enhanced slightly to show the image of the skull that is apparent on the right.

This is a spirit that Kristin captured. She got the name William off of him.

After we took photos the presentation began. During the presentation, the speaker told us that the Doctor that diagnosed the young girls in Salem as afflicted by witchcraft and not a medical condition was named "William". We traveled downstairs into a replica of the dungeon that held the accused. There were small cells and even smaller cells. This was the most disturbing scene of all. "Gallows Hill" Kristin shielded my son's eyes and I began taking pictures.

 If you look between the two top left branches, there is what looks like a grey fuzzy ufo shaped orb in the right picture. The left is the first picture I took, the right is the second. I will show you what I found in the Orb when I zoomed in.

I spotted three faces.

Face one, a Man or woman looking down and to the right.

Face 2, A man with a mustache and a thick collar.

Face 3 to me looks like a child with a grimace

The next picture is the only remaining artifact from the original dungeon. It is a support beam. We were allowed to touch the beam. When I did, I started to hear cries of pain and felt very hungry. I couldn't keep my hand on it very long. Kristin said there was a flash of light shooting across and above me so she kept taking pictures trying to capture it. We thought we were unlucky but if you look closely, you can see we caught a bit of it in the bottom right. 

The Witch Trials Memorial

 This was on the top of my list. I needed to go to Salem to pay respect and honor those that were murdered during the hysteria in 1692. The memorial itself is disappointing. It is a U shaped wall made of stones, with slabs of different stones jetting out with the names, date of death and execution method of each victim. 

The first accused and murdered

This brave, innocent man suffered three days under the weight of crushing rocks, maintaining his innocence until he was crushed completely. His wife was accused and hanged days later.

 The Old Burying Point Cemetary is heartbreaking. some of the victims are perhaps buried here. There are unmarked graves, sinking deep into the earth. There are broken stones and stones that have tipped over from the ages. I tripped over one that my eyes missed, and I immediately dropped down and apologized. I felt pained as if this was one of the remains of a victim of the hysteria.  

 Here are several shots of this hollow ground, including a grave of a Mayflower passenger. It is known as the oldest cemetary in the country. The last picture is of what I call "the tree of anguish".

Thomas Mould aged 16 months, died Aug 1 1681, Elizabeth Mould aged 16 months, died August 20th 1684

Here Lyeth Buried Y Body of Cap Richard More Aged 84 Years Died 1692 Mayflower Pilgrim

The Tree of Anguish. I percieved the twists and turns of the branches as pain and torment absorbed into the tree as it grew.

Here I am touching the Tree of Anguish, crying, feeling the sorrow it absorbed as it grew.

A travelling Orb in Old Buring Point Cemetary

The House of the Seven Gables

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but the house is beautiful. We only went through about 6 rooms which was disappointing.

I snuck this picture of one of the attic spaces.

This was a fascinating trip of self discovery and remembrance. I met some people who opened my mind to things I already knew but didn't properly understand. I can't wait to go back!