A Clash of Beliefs

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Bishop, Reading your past comments as it pertains to vampire origins gives me some concern. If I understand correctly you claim vampires have (Christian) satanic origins. This contradicts history however. The Christian devil/satan in the concept we know it as today (a literal not figurative figure) was not formed until the early middle ages. As Satan was (and still is) used as a tool of fear for control. "listen to me and do as I say or the devil is going to get you!" kind of mentality. So I'd like your take on how you feel vampires could come from a fictional character made up by the Catholic church? Thank you. —  Rev. Peter M. White, Salem Wizard, Our Lord and Lady of the Trinacrian Rose Church and Grove

"Our Lord and Lady of the Trinacrian Rose Church and Grove" is a pagan church based in Salem, Massachusetts (USA), which, according to its own self-description, "combines the modern and traditional aspects of the Wiccan Religion and Old World Sicilian Witchcraft of the Strega." It stands to reason that such a group will hold completely different beliefs to someone like myself who adheres to traditional Christian doctrine and teachings. I am a devout English Catholic who obviously disagrees with the beliefs, terminology and perceptions of those who consider themselves wizards, witches and the like.

The story of modern witchcraft definitively began with Gerald Gardner who was born on 13 June 1884 at Great Crosby, near Blundell Sands in Lancashire, England. Gardner definitely accumulated an extensive occult background. His formative years were spent in South East Asia where he became a Mason (in Ceylon) and also a nudist. In 1939 Gardner returned to England an avid occultist. He immediately became a member of the Rosicrucians and through such associations met a certain Dorothy Clutterbuck, known as “Old Dorothy,” who allegedly initiated Gardner into the New Forest Coven in September of that year. However, research suggests that Gardner did not discover a pre-existing witchcraft group. A paper by Gardner disclosed that he took the magical resources he acquired in Asia and a selection of Western magical texts and created a new religion centred upon the worship of the Mother Goddess which is precisely what has become the focus of modern witches and witchcraft.

Ten years after his self-proclaimed initiation, Gardner published a fictional account of witches called High Magick’s Aid. Then, following the repeal of the witchcraft laws in Britain in 1951, he followed this with a non-fiction book, titled Witchcraft Today, published in 1954. His high point must have come when he was invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace in 1960. Gerald Gardner, the founder of modern witchcraft, died on 13th February 1964 while returning from abroad on the SS Scottish Prince.

In addition to Margaret Murray, the influence of Aleister Crowley, Theosophy, Freemasonry, ritual sex magic etc all blended eclectically in the writings of Gerald Gardner. Out of the cauldron of his mind emerged modern witchcraft, or as it is commonly called, wicca. Robin Skelton, himself a witch, confirms in his book The Practice of Witchcraft Today that “Gardner’s work influenced the Old Religion deeply. His rituals owed much to the occult and kabbalistic tradition. His admiration for the occultist Aleister Crowley led him to include some of Crowley’s words and rituals … the sexual rituals and practices of Hindu Tantrism crept into occultism in the late nineteenth century and deeply influenced Aleister Crowley who, in turn, influenced Gerald Gardner and therefore Gardnerian witchcraft.” Gardner’s connection with Crowley has a deeper shared philosophical root. One of the founders of Ordo Templi Orientis was the Freemason Franz Hartmann, a companion of the theosophist Helena Blavatsky. Prior to Gardner’s discovery of witchcraft, he was a member of a Rosicrucian fraternity, the Fellowship of Crotona. This was an offshoot of the Temple of the Rosy Cross which was founded by Annie Besant, the British leader of a second theosophical society that sprang up after the death of Madame Blavatsky. An OTO writer in Pagan News (August 1989) maintains that “Crowley wrote the Gnostic Mass as the public ritual of the OTO … it should be remembered that sections have been incorporated into the Great Rite, the third and highest wiccan initiation.” Some hold that Gardner actually paid Crowley to write the rituals that have become fundamental to modern witchcraft. As far back as 1915 Crowley had advised: “The time is just ripe for a natural religion … be the founder of a new and greater Pagan cult.”

The principal instructions and rituals mingled Crowley’s magic with Masonic symbolism and ingredients from the East. And from this a new generation of advocates for a new feminist spirituality has emerged. Among these are Alexander Sanders, Sybil Leek, Raymond and Rosemary Buckland, Margot Adler, Jim Alan, Jessie Wicker Bell, Gavin and Yvonne Frost, Doreen Valiente, Zsuzanna Budapest, Donna Cole, Ed Fitch, Janet and Stewart Farrar (replaced after his death by Gavin Bone), and numerous others, including many rogues and charlatans. Alex Sanders had the greatest impact in England during the 1960s at the time of the counter-culture, occult explosion, and the fast growing mass media.

Witches practice clairvoyance, divination, astral projection, spells, curses, and herbal healing. They are supposed to follow a principle of ethics known as the wiccan rede where the effects of magic are believed to return threefold upon the person working it for good or ill. Not all adhere to this voluntary code. Their very belief in gods and goddesses, whether symbolic or not, identifies witchcraft groups as embracing a polytheistic conceptualisation of the universe. Modern witches, however, do not necessarily believe in a pantheon of male and female deities, but that reality itself is understood in many different ways. Truth is not a matter of correspondence between language, the world, or any one conceptual model. Put differently, there is no singular expression of truth. Truths that are contradictory are held to simultaneously. Symbols that accompany wiccan lore include the amulet, the talisman, the ankh, the pentagram, the athame (ritual dagger), the cup, the pentacle, the rune, the sigil, the wand, the tarot, the cauldron, the altar, the fith-fath (effigy) etc.

Witchcraft is sharply at odds with Christianity. Divination, spiritism, magic, sorcery, witchcraft, and the occult in general are condemned in the Bible. The polytheism in witchcraft is also a blatant contradiction to the strict monotheism of Christianity. Like most other non-Christian religions and religious cults of the world, witchcraft obliterates the distinction between Creator and creation. Wiccans deify nature in such a way that both God and nature are identified as synonymous. Furthermore, since divinity lies in nature and in the cosmos, it also resides within each person. Here it can be observed that wiccan thought closely parallels Hinduism and other Eastern paradigms. Traditional Christian thought holds that witchcraft has its source in Satan, the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4: 4). Some wiccan groups are indeed an introduction to overt diabolism and devil worship, but by no means all act as a front for fundamentalist Satanism. Principal influence of the occult revival in the twentieth century is undoubtedly Aleister Crowley without whom there would be no modern witchcraft movement today.

Wiccan thought offers a variety of views concerning the existence of evil and very few would deny its existence. However, the most common view among witches is to understand evil, not as a separate reality apart from good, as do Manichaeans, Satanists, and other groups, but rather as a necessary aspect of good. Yet is the evil that human beings encounter in the world and in history an acceptable and healthy aspect of a reality that, according to wiccan thought, has no flaws to begin with? How can such a view of evil be reconciled to the wiccan rede: “That ye harm none, do what ye will”? Is not evil harmful? To the victims and families of a murderer it certainly is. If there is no one absolute standard or set of truths exclusive of all falsities, how can even the wiccan rede be regarded as true? To grant that it is, is to grant that there is at least one absolute truth. Many witches are willing to live with this blatant contradiction because of either naïveté, intellectual dishonesty, or convenience.

For Christianity, God is the source of all truth, and the Bible is God’s revelation of such truth, deemed necessary for the world. There is a clear choice between the paths of darkness and the one true path that beholds the Light of the World.

Satanism is commonly referred to as devil worship and is the general term for worship of the biblical Lucifer, or Satan (Genesis 3: 1 – 15; Isaiah 14: 12). The history of satanic cults and devil worship is a difficult one to recount. Evidence and sources prior to the seventeenth century are scanty; even the post seventeenth century data are difficult to access because of the witch hunts whose victims oftentimes owed no connection to either witchcraft or indeed devil worship. These were frequently political acts, or the behaviour of mean-spirited folk towards those they happened not to like. Devil worship was therefore probably exaggerated when witch hunting was in its heyday. Satanism nonetheless existed then, as it still does today.

Vampires, when correctly defined, do not come from "a fictional character made up by the Catholic Church." They are demonic in origin and manifest as predatory entities, sometimes in corporeal form, as machinations and devices of Satan (the Devil). Reports of such phenomena predate the existence of the Catholic Church. The notion of vampirism has existed for millennia; cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks and Romans had tales of demons and spirits that indubitably were the same phenomenon as modern vampires. 

"If ever there was in the world a warranted and proven history, it is that of vampires: nothing is lacking, official reports, testimonials of persons of standing, of surgeons, of clergymen, of judges; the judicial evidence is all-embracing." —  Jean Jacques Rousseau, “Lettre à Mgr. de Beaumont, Archevêque de Paris,” (Annex to the Contrat social) Librairie Garnier Frères, Paris, page 489.

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Demonic Auric Imprint

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Can buildings be vampiric in nature? As in "The Hungry Stones"? — Fanny Dugong

Where supernatural contamination has occurred there can remain an aura of evil which seems to drain those of the requisite sensitivity when they enter the environment where the aftershock still persists. Such a place was the neo-gothic Victorian mansion known as the House of Evil on the borders of Highgate and Hornsey in the early 1970s. All that remains of the House of Evil today is its ruin façade, now incorporated into the design of the new building which replaced it after it had been demolished by public demand. Prior to the original Victorian mansion being razed to the ground (well, almost), a successful exorcism had taken place. Yet the memory of that supernatural evil is enough to haunt residents and visitors to this day. Even the most hardened sceptic cannot repress a shudder when ascending the stone steps and passing through its still extant gothic portal that refused demolition. Time, it would seem, has failed to erase the chill of the shadowless presence when — not so long ago — this same place gave witness to unearthly terror as the door between us and another world was practically ripped off its hinges. And something dark, demonic and predatory entered. Though successfully exorcised in early 1974, the auric imprint of that vampiric contagion remains and even now can be felt by visitors to the building that stands on the same unforgotten site of evil.
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Summers' Dark Shadow

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I have long appreciated Rev. Montague Summers' writings, however some dark shadows are still cast on the late clergyman's life. His entry on Wikipedia raises some questions on his reputation, especially the charge of pederastry. Two rather damning sections go as follow: ''Summers was ordained as deacon in 1908 and worked as a curate in Bath and Bitton, in Greater Bristol. He never proceeded to higher orders, however, probably because of rumours of his interest in Satanism and accusations of sexual impropriety with young boys, for which he was tried and acquitted." And: "Despite his conservative religiosity, Summers was an active member of both the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology, to which he contributed an essay on the Marquis de Sade, and of the Order of Chaeronea, a secret society which cultivated a pederastic homosexual ethos. Summers' interests also show in his edition of the poems of the sixteenth century poet Richard Barnfield, which partly are openly homosexual.'' Would you care to comment? — Sylvain Durand

I would care to comment because I, too, find myself faced with the same dilemma as yourself where Montague Summers is concerned, which is why I have only judged and assessed him as a chronicler and believer in the supernatural, most notably vampires. In my own concise vampirological guide I give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest that if he did belong to an occultic fraternity on the Continent it was probably to "infiltrate and learn of its goings-on so that he might better defeat its evil purpose." (The Vampire Hunter's Handbook, page 93). Perhaps I was projecting too much of myself onto Summers?

In the same book I speak of how Summers was "unshakable in his belief in the dreadful reality of the forces of darkness and their evil emissaries, no matter how bizarre their outward manifestation" for which, like me, he was "outrageously misrepresented and parodied by those seeking cheap jibes." Yet there are some uncomfortable allegations regarding Summers that we must not shy away from (without wanting to sit in judgement on someone who has been dead and buried for the last sixty-four years).

I have not previously needed to comment on his personal life because my own views on such perversions as some, rightly or wrongly, have alluded to in his case are well known and, of course, in line with the position that has always been upheld by mainstream denominations whether Anglican, Catholic or Orthodox; and, moerover, postulated unequivocally within both Old and New Testaments. What I would say, however, is that when Montague Summers was brought to trial he was found not guilty of what is undoubtedly the worst of these offences. As far as I am aware, he was not charged of any other crime or perversion.

We must not gloss over the fact of his acquittal while at the same time conceding without question he held an unhealthy interest, whether or not a  proclivity, in these unwholesome areas. Likewise, he had an interest in all the darker aspects of the occult and indeed the most malign manifestations of supernatural evil imaginable.

One of the more disturbing allegations is that in 1908 Summers is reported to have participated in a Black Mass. Furthermore, Geoffrey Evans Pickering claims that he personally partook in a Black Mass presided over by Summers at his residence on Eton Road, Hampstead, on Boxing Day of 1918. We might, therefore, surmise that between 1908 and 1918 Montague Summers possibly involved himself in occult practices for whatever reason, but, evidently, abandoned them some time between 1918 and 1923 when he severed his friendship with Evans Pickering. Something, I posit, occurred which so terrified Summers that it compelled him to turn against his former "involvement" and lent the fervour of a reformed sinner to his published attacks on all things occult, commencing with the 1926 publication of The History of Witchcraft and Demonology.

I have only ever approached Summers in his capacity as a scholar, vampirologist and as someone with deeply held Catholic convictions. He was certainly no sceptic. He absolutely believed, as do I, that the dark forces he shared with his readers were completely true and that such malevolent entities as vampires, and those who are damned to be transformed into wolves through occultic means, really happen. Indeed, not believing in such things, according to Summers, was akin to heresy or worse. These things were not disorders of the mind, but of the soul.

Summers was undoubtedly a throwback to an earlier age, an unreconstructed Jacobite who longs for the restoration of Catholic England. In that regard, plus his willingness to seriously address the reality of Luciferic demonry in all its manifestations, indicates we have much in common. But that is where it ends.

Montague Summers may be admired and celebrated for his scholarly works as a Catholic demonologist and chronicler of vampires. The rest is shrouded in mystery, conjecture and, invariably, circumlocution.

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Silver

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What is the importance of silver? — Robert J

A silver crystal.

Pure silver has the highest thermal conductivity (the non-metal diamond and superfluid helium II are higher) and one of the highest optical reflectivities, albeit a poor reflector of ultra-violet. Silver has a brilliant white metallic lustre and is slightly harder than gold. It is very ductile and malleable, exceeded in these properties only by gold and palladium. Sterling silver (92.5% silver, with copper or other metals) is used for silverware and jewellery.

Silver occurs native and in ores incuding argentite (Ag2S) and horn silver (AgCl). Lead, lead-zinc, copper, copper-nickel, and gold ores are other prinicipal sources of silver. Commercial fine silver is at least 99.9% pure. Commercial purities of 99.999+% are available. Silver is stable in pure air and water, but tarnishes when it is exposed to air or water containing ozone or hydrogen sulphide; the latter forming a black layer of silver sulphide which can be cleaned off with diluted hydrochloric acid.

For the exorcist or any person wanting to ward off evil entities, silver is invaluable. I am never without a crucifix made of the finest silver available, and I prefer to always use silver when dispensing the Sacraments.

Vampires have a strong aversion to mirrors and silver (sometimes used in the making of mirrors). The invention of the silvered-glass mirror is credited to German chemist Justus von Liebig in 1835. His process involved the deposition of a thin layer of metallic silver onto glass through the chemical reduction of silver nitrate. This silvering process was adapted for mass manufacturing and led to the greater availability of affordable mirrors. Nowadays, mirrors are often produced by the vacuum deposition of aluminium (or sometimes silver) directly onto the glass substrate. The mirrors in my home are all made of silvered-glass.

In the past, silver crosses and icons were frequently displayed in houses for protection against evil spirits, particularly vampires. Various other methods have been used to ward off or even rid a contaminated area of vampires. Driving a stake of ash or aspen wood through the undead's heart during the daylight hours will end its nocturnal wanderings beyond the tomb. Until 1823, when it was made illegal, it was common practice in England to drive a wooden stake through the heart of suspected vampires. According to folklore, thorns of wild roses and garlic will also keep vampires away. Pure or fine silver is hateful to such supernatural predatory wraiths as vampires, and this element can also be used to protect from all manner of other demonic manifestation.

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Copyright Infringement on YouTube

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"I am pleased to announce that two of my videos recently suspended on YouTube, In Search of the Highgate Vampire and In Search of the Truth have now been restored following an investigation into a ‘copyright infringement’ claim submitted by one [Bishop] Sean Manchester." — David Farrant
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I did rather more than submit a claim via the online form provided by YouTube. Due to my objection to material I own being hijacked by an extermely hostile source to supplement what I absolutely know to be fraudulent claims in two self-aggrandising videos, I filed two legally-binding DMCA notices which oblige the receipient, YouTube, to act upon them, and I did so on pain of perjury if what I claim is false.

The videos were disabled. Mr Farrant contested this action and to my amazement the videos reappeared. It was not explained why this happened by either YouTube or indeed Mr Farrant who did, however, have this to say on his blog yesterday: "The ‘copyright infringement’ of which [Bishop] Manchester was apparently complaining was not precisely specified by YouTube, although they naturally had no choice but to suspend both videos until they had conducted their own investigation in accordance to policy."

YouTube, of course, did have a choice. If they felt I had no case they could have ignored my complaint, but they disabled the videos because I made a declaration that images had been reproduced from a book of which I am the author. The question arises how Mr Farrant could counter-claim when he apparently had no idea what he was specifically counter-claiming about.

When I received YouTube's notice of a counter-claim having been made, I sent them attachments of the precise pages in my book where the images infringed in the two videos uploaded by Mr Farrant occur. That I thought would be an end to it, but Mr Farrant is one of those people who persist with something for the sake of it and, in this case, it would certainly seem without any of the salient facts.

The above photograph (second image) of a bricked-up tomb appears in Mr Farrant's video in violation of my copyright. It is found on page 61 of the first edition of The Highgate Vampire. It is found thirty minutes into Mr Farrant's video. There can be no doubt whatsoever that my picture has been illegally reproduced. The same picture is also found on page 91 of the second edition of The Highgate Vampire.

A minute or two later in the same video another photograph in violation of my copyright appears. It is of a Victorian house with tree branches in the foreground. The house was demolished while Mr Farrant was still serving a five years' prison sentence. This image, unlawfully reproduced by Mr Farrant, is found on page 114 of the first edition of The Highgate Vampire (shown above) and also on page 128 of the second edition. The proximity of the tree branches to the building make this photograph easy to identify.

The same picture of the Victorian house with tree branches in the foreground found in my copyright protected book is infringed again by Mr Farrant half an hour into a second video uploaded onto YouTube. There can be no doubt that the above photographs have been illegally copied and used without consent in the two videos I have reported and filed DMCA notices over. So why has YouTube ignored these legally binding notices and permitted the material to be published on their service?

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Vampire Research Society Membership

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I have recently read numerous reports about the Highgate case and have discovered your very interesting blogs and the Vampire Research Society. I would be very interested in learning more about this and perhaps - after due consideration - obtain membership in the Society. Perhaps you could tell me something about the requirements, I believe reading somewhere that "membership is by invitation only"? I wish to add that I am not just some "Twilight" fan but someone who has a serious interest in occult matters and has explored demonology, vampirism and similar topics for some years. I am currently studying theology at university and am firmly rooted within the Catholic tradition. — Patrick Hofer

Prospective candidates, in normal circumstances, are approached by an existing member with an invitation. The candidate then tenders a written application and at a later stage is vetted by at least three executive members in person, ie face to face.

The VRS is pro-active and is not a club for those to share their interest in the genre. The kind of work the society does is self-evident from its title. Pro-active means operative vampirology/demonology as distinct from speculative vampirology/demonology. Due to the sensitive nature of the subject under scrutiny it has proved more efficacious to operate with stringent security measures in place so that privacy can be established and maintained at all times. Concerning its investigations post-Highgate, the VRS does not co-operate in any way with the media and certainly does not make disclosures to the press. This enables folk to have confidence in sharing their experiences and knowledge without fear of their privacy being violated.

Membership of the research society, founded on 2 February 1970, remains strictly by invitation. Nothing said by strangers or anyone else wishing to gain entry is taken at face value or will circumvent this rule.

This procedure became necessary to avoid the inevitable time-wasters and others of more dubious intent, eg infiltrating journalists believing a sensational and thus lucrative story might be in the offing. Despite numerous attempts having been made, none have so far managed to compromise the integrity of the research society which these days enjoys relative obscurity.

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Transsubstantiatio

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Dear Bishop, have you painted anything of interest since your portrait of Pius XII last year? — Laura

I have been quite busy in the interim, but the picture recently completed that I would like to share is given the title Transsubstantiatio, which, when looking at the images, is self-explanatory. The medium, as most frequently used, is oil on canvas.

Pius XII was very much still alive when I was investigating Catholicism as an Anglican choir boy many years ago in the last days of the pre-Vatican II era, and I therefore have immense affection for him. That notwithstanding, I harboured some concern over how my portrait would be received when it was exhibited last year and shared online with other Christians. I need not have worried. It was overwhelmingly appreciated by most who saw it. The symbolism and hopefully transcendental quality with which I attempted to imbue this posthumous portrait appear to have been understood by almost everyone who viewed what is in effect a purposely primitive treatment on a large canvas. I am also very aware that sometimes symbolism can eclipse the more subtle aspects of a subject, but I hope and trust I have found the right balance with these two pictures.

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