Haunted Clifton Hall, Nottingham

Ghosts at Clifton Hall

There have been a variety of reports at this impressive mansion, ranging from dark apparitions the height of children, unexplained banging and tapping on walls and doors, and unexplained voices as though a conversation is taking place. There have also been unexplained bloodstains appearing on bedclothes and floors.


Anwar Rashid, a rather rich man having made a fortune on Nursing Homes and a hotel in Dubai, moved his family into Clifton Hall in January 2007. The building, located in Clifton, Nottinghamshire, has been around for close to a thousand years.Rashid had purchased Clifton Hall for about 3.6 million pounds, and hoped for it to become his family home, as well as a stunning backdrop for people to hire for their weddings and other ceremonies and events.Within eight months Rashid and his family had left the building, fearing for the safety (and sanity) of his family.

From their very first night in Clifton Hall the Rashid family had experienced strange events, the very first of which came in the form of a knocking on the wall. This was followed closely by a voice saying "Is anyone there?"

The knocking and the voice repeated itself, and when Anwar Rashid went to see who the late night caller was, he found no-one there. The house was tightly locked up and the windows were tightly shut to keep out the Nottinghamshire winter wind.
Although quite confusing, they thought nothing of the disturbance.
People had warned Rashid that the house was haunted, but he did not believe it. Stories of the ghosts of Clifton Hall go back at least as far as the 1970's, but if the hauntings are in fact true, then they no doubt go back further still.
Clifton Hall has been around since at least the 11th century, and in the 13th century ownership was transferred to the Clifton family, who were the lords of the manor of Clifton. For 700+ years the massive Hall/manor has seen much of the Clifton family’s histories, including times of joy and tragedy.
It has undergone extensive renovations numerous times, but at the time Rashid Anwar purchased it, the home had 17 bedrooms, ten reception rooms, several ballrooms/halls, a cinema and a gym. At one stage, the home held a dozen of so apartments, while at another stage the buildings were used as a grammar school for girls, a university and once more as a hall.

It was during the 1970's when Clifton Hall was used as Clifton Hall Girl's Grammar School that a majority of the experiences prior to the Rashid's experiences are told.

The most common of these stories concerned a bricked up doorway and a sealed off room. The cries of a baby could be heard coming from inside the bricked up room, and legend has it that a maid had grabbed the baby and jumped from the third floor window, killing herself and the baby. This was said to be revenge and a release, born from a relationship with the lord of the manor, as his jilted lover.Other stories told of apparitions and 'doppelgangers', the entities within had taken up the likeness of students in order to travel the halls, which had, at times, seen students running into themselves in the halls.The grounds and secret tunnels located about the manor and surrounding area were once used for black rituals. The stable had the claim for being one of the locations of these rituals, with a circle drawn in animal blood and broken mirrors placed throughout its space. The sharp, pinchy smell of burnt herbs hanging in the air.After Rashid and his family had spent some time in the home the activity started to ramp up, with much of it taking the shape of the stories that had been told of the buildings haunted past. One of the spirits began to take on the form of the Rashid’s eldest daughter, who would be seen about the house when she was fast asleep in bed. Often the vision would be seen in the early hours of the morning.Dark shapes, the cry of a young child and more voices began to be heard over time.

Anwar Rashid began to believe the stories of the ghosts, as he was experiencing it first hand, and soon friends and family would not come to visit. With the stories circulating about the ghosts, and Rashid’s want to hire the manor out as a wedding venue (the local council soon denied permission to hold ceremonies there), he called in a team of paranormal investigators to get to the bottom of the haunting and hopefully move the spirits along.

Although the investigators had some experiences of their own, and felt the fear in the location, they were unable to move the hall’s unseen residents along.The ghosts obviously wanted the Rashid family to leave and had the upper hand. What could Anwar and his family do if they could not directly confront their tormentors?
In August 2007, only eight months after moving in, the Rashid’s experienced what would be the final straw. Random stains and marks that looked like blood spatter began to appear around the house, and on the day the spatter appeared on the quilt of his 18 month old son, Anwar and his family had had enough.
They left that day and never returned. They defaulted on the loan, and the bank took back the property.
Anwar Rashid cites his experiences as being very similar to those seen in the movie 'The Others'. It was as if the ghosts were living alongside him, but just out of reach. However, the ghosts knew they were there and did not want the Rashid family to have their house.
In the end, the ghosts got what they wanted.

Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3042568/Spooked-businessman-flees-haunted-mansion.html
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/History-Clifton-Hall/story-12175614-detail/story.html#axzz2Nj5VqTwY
http://www.silentvoices.org.uk/#/the-clifton-hall/4547541848
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/family-abandon-their-haunted-dream-home-937575.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton_Hall,_Nottingham#Haunting

Scariest Tree & Jesus on the Tree Stump

:: FACE OF JESUS ON A TREE STUMP ::
An image of the face of Jesus Christ has appeared on a tree stump in a Belfast cemetery. The tree, which was recently felled at Belfast City Cemetery in west Belfast, appears to show the face of a bearded man resembling Jesus on the remaining stump beside a grave. A video (below) of the mysterious image has been posted to YouTube, with the message: "An image has appeared on a tree stump in Belfast's City Cemetery. "Upon close inspection, its hard to tell just how this image got there. "Recently City Council employees trimmed trees in the cemetery, and as a result this phenomenon appeared." Source - Here

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:: WORLD'S MOST SCARIEST TREE ::
The spooky looking beech tree can be found in the grounds of a nursing home in Stowlangtoft, Suffolk. Many think the 70ft monstrosity is reminiscent of the Whomping Willow which lies in the grounds of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School. But David Garnham, who spotted the unsightly work of nature, thinks it looks more like Edvard Munch’s Scream painting. He told the Mail Online: ‘It really does show nature’s true beauty and also says a lot about what the imagination can conjure up. ‘It’s a bit like an enchanted forest… I can’t imagine too many people wanting to go climbing up that tree. ‘I’ve called the photo ‘Nture’s Scream’ because I think it does have an uncanny resemblance to Edvard Munch’s classic work.’ Stowlangtoft Hall was originally built for the Maitland Wilson family before it became a nursing home in 1969. Source - Here

Possessed & Haunted Forests SlideShows

:: GHOST FAIR - INDIAN POSSESSED ::

:: WORLD'S MOST HAUNTED FORESTS::

Spiritual Rituals

Group Drumming with a Spiritual focus
Neopaganism
Neopagans have created another type of drum circle. At Neopagan festivals, people gather around a large bonfire, the drummers generally sitting on one side to encourage better listening. The musicians sit together and play while dancers dance and circle around the fire. Often, those present will stay and play throughout the night until dawn, treating the evening as a magical (or alchemical) working. Sound is not limited to drumming alone; there is also chanting, singing, poetry, and spoken word pieces. This type of drum circle is not usually facilitated.

Shamanic Drumming Circles ( Full Moon )
Drumming is another form of meditation.It is thousands of years old, it is a tool that has been used for communication,for communicating with the spiritual world,for healing mainly from the higher spirit.
This type of circle tends to center around Native American Cultural Drums and rattles but is primarily focusing on the spiritual rather than the musical aspects of the culture. They are a facilitated circle (This statement is questionable) but the leader is facilitating a shamanic journey type process rather than a musical event. Shamanic drumming is generally simple and repetitive, often considered as a form of prayer or method of trance induction, rather than as music or entertainment. During a shamanic trance or shamanic journey, the shaman uses the steady beat of the drum as a "lifeline" to find the way back to the world of ordinary consciousness. Note that in these cultures, the term "Drum Circle" would certainly not be used. Rather, the terms 'drumming ceremony" or "ceremonial drumming" would be more accurate.

Medicine Wheel Drumming and Prayer Ceremony
Practiced by various groups, and outlined step by step in the book, "Finding Sanctuary in Nature: Simple Ceremonies in the Native American Tradition for Healing Yourself and Others," by Jim PathFinder Ewing , "the medicine wheel drum circle prayer ceremony" recognizes the four directions—east, south, west, north—as spiritual Powers that can help balance and heal. The ceremony has four rounds, with drumming by all participants at the instruction of the leader allowing the energy of each direction in each round to come into the circle to facilitate prayers and healing. It has been described as "like a sweat lodge without the sweat" . Ewing held these ceremonies each month for seven years, as outlined in the book, in addition to shamanic drum circles, and at various sites from coast to coast in the United States since the late 1990s. Groups based on his example and the instructions outlined in the book have resulted in other groups forming worldwide. Note: This description is not of a drum circle, in the sense that the term is commonly used. It is a drumming ceremony that takes place in a circle, but very different in content and form than a drum circle (improvised community drumming jam). This type should probably be listed under shamanic or spiritual drumming and not under drum circles.

Can Spirits See You?

By actively participating in the paranormal (ie: investigating, ganzfeld experiment) or the occult (ie seances, ouija boards) you open yourself up more spiritually and make it easier for spirits to “notice” you. Can spirits see when you open up to them?

There should be a concern and a respect for these methods and devices because they have the potential to be powerful tools.
Investigating the paranormal is entering into a new lifestyle in general. Your awareness of the unknown is heightened. Now are spirits really following you, or are you senses heightened to the point where anything that moves is a shadow/ghost/spirit? You know it’s there, and there seem to be an extra eye open and you notice your surroundings in greater detail than you did before you began investigating. When you start investigating, especially going against more malevolent beings, it is possible that they will notice you and know who you are. When you approach an investigation and you ask for communication with spirits, they know who you are. Many investigators do a protection ritual and make it very clear that they cannot harm or follow them.

The Ganzfeld Experiment is a fascinating element of parapsychology. Does the Ganzfeld Experiment open yourself up to experience things you couldn’t in your everyday life? Maybe it does. Does it permanently leave you vulnerable to psychic and spiritual phenomenon? It has the potential. Does participating in this leave a permanent bullseye for any spirit to notice you and possibly go after you? Its always better to consult someone who knows more about it than you.

When it comes to things like seances and ouija boards, that is another ballgame. When investigating, you are asking for communication. And with seances and ouija boards you are requesting communication. It’s a fine line, and there is a difference. Seances come in many forms. Seance comes from the French term, “sitting” or “seat” and rose in popularity when Spiritualism broke out. There is something to be said sitting in a circle with other people trying to communicate with spirits, especially through a medium. And with ouija boards, it can be quite tricky. There are many incidents where people have experienced too many negative things tied with a ouija board, especially when it comes to the disposal of one (always bury, never burn). Ouija boards are typically associated with bringing in an inhuman spirit. It is ironic that ouija boards are sold in toy stores and made by Milton Bradley. There are also ouija board necklaces being sold. Paranormal investigating or “ghost hunting” is already seen as a novelty as it is. Technically you don’t even need to buy a ouija board, you can draw a board on a piece of paper or napkin and go from there. It’s that simple. There is a possibility that these things can do potential harm.Wearing a necklace with a ouija board shouldn’t be a fashion accessory or seen as cute. That could open you up for potentially negative activity as well.
Before using a ouija board you need protection which is very important. There is a fine line between not protecting yourself and building a wall so thick that you cut yourself off from any activity.

When you decide to investigate the paranormal, you need to make sure you do what you can to stay safe while still allowing yourself to experience activity ( for purposes of collecting evidence and documentation). And protecting yourself not only during an investigation but during your normal everyday life.