“Within the histories of these lands are tales woven from time; tales of heroic knights, of knightly endevours, of battles fought for kingship and power. Magical tales trapped within time’s own landscape, of demons, of magic and the unexplained. For all to see and enjoy. Our earthly plane has always been a place of mystery and mythology, of historical deeds, of legendary bloodlines and valiant endeavours by the brave to unlock the riddles of the past, to unravel the mysteries. Humans have tried for centuries to find the pieces of an ancient puzzle, often hidden within the very land itself; each piece has been carefully placed, often just out of reach but well within plain sight. Let me share some experiences that i have enjoyed… “

‘Raising the Devil’ at St Mary’s Church, Akenaham, Suffolk

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St Mary’s Church near Akenham in Suffolk is right off the beaten track; up an inclined grassy pathway that winds past Rise Hall (formerly Rice Hall); one of the church’s ancient manors. The church nestles timelessly in the beautifully English countryside or so it would seem… This lovely little, almost abandoned church does however hold some secrets connected to a very interesting past. It has the nickname of ‘St Mary’s in the Fields’ and stands on a rise amidst the meadows, over a quarter of a mile from the nearest road and a challenge in itself to actually locate it. Once at St Mary’s the views across the surrounding countryside are truly stunning. Yet again, another church that seemingly no-one wants ‘outsiders’ to find and like Borley Church there are no road signs or directions to it. We ended up having to ask directions a few times from folks who seemed quite reticent to give them. There are several very interesting tales about St Mary’s Church, stories of strange ‘happenings’, folks seeing ‘ghosts’ appearing in the church windows, a world war two bomber, on hs way home, literally dumping his bombs nearby and obliterating the church, and there are the reports from the village of the bells ringing for no reason. It has even been said that one can ‘raise the devil’ by walking thirteen times, widdershins around the church – a challenge indeed!!

Raising the Devil

So here we were, all ready and expectant outside this small church in Suffolk where we were about to put the ‘raising of the devil’ tale well and truly to the test. We had our ‘willing’ volunteer, who was about to travel widdershins around the church thirteen times while being filmed and monitored at different stages on his way to prove, is it myth, is it legend or is it real?

 

Off goes the willing volunteer – 13 times widershins! Beware the darkening sky!

So, the journey began and as our ‘willing’ researcher made his tentitive way widdershins (anti-clockwise) around the church, we all waited expectantly. As he journeyed around the church, we all began to notice some strange changes in the overall atmosphere of the area, and more than one of our party experienced some definite ‘pressures’ to the forehead with a feeling of tenseness occurring, around about the 6th lap. On completing all the laps, a weird unexplained ‘darkness’ had descended and quite quickly and to be honest the whole atmosphere had changed, around the church. It had become decidedly ‘heavy’ and the little monitor we had with us to record the ‘frequencies’ had certainly changed in the time we had been there, so we knew ‘something’ of some kind had happened.

So was it the very ‘devil’ himself making his presence know, or was something else afoot, were there unexplained ‘energies’ there on the site, or maybe just coincidence? Although as anyone knows there is no such thing as coincidence – not in this world!

Important to note that when our volunteer went around on the 6th lap of the church, a black cloud arrived overhead, yet ONLY above the church and the immediate vicinity with hail stones occurring – yet not down at Rise Hall or anywhere else for that matter! On our volunteer’s 6th lap widdershins, our head researcher, had an intense pressure in the front and side of his head which was also when the black cloud arrived. It was strange to observe, fascinating and interesting…

Of course, one has always to keep an open mind and decide entirely for one’s self. England is full of these such tales and experiencing them for one’s self can be an eye opening experience. Why not make a trip out into the rural wilds of magical England and see and experience for yourself…..

“Places of power

Where enegy abounds

Hidden tales

Within our lands”

 

‘The Keeper of Scrolls’ AKA ‘moon.willow@ntlworld.com’

January 2021