Posts Tagged ‘Witch’

The Real Bell Witch Of Tennessee

The Real Bell Witch Of Tennessee

Part 1: The Beginning of a Haunting

The story of the Bell Witch has been a mainstay around campfires in the Tennessee area for many years. It is considered to be the most well documented haunting in American history. In 2005 the story received national attention when it served as the basis for the movie An American Haunting starring Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland. The movie, unfortunately, was not an accurate retelling of the story. It took the basics of the story and shoehorned it into a Japanese style ghost-revenge flick. The real story of the Bell Witch is far more interesting and frightening than the movie ever thought about being.

The Bell Witch

The Bell Witch

Some hauntings are known only in the places where they occurred and by a handful of people who truly believe in them. However, other interactions between the living and spirits of the dead have been far more popular and have been spread far and wide to the point where these ghosts and their stories become almost famous. One such legend is that of the Bell Witch (also known as the Bell Witch Haunting) from the folklore of the southern United States. The story of this haunting has been the inspiration for countless books and even modern movies like The Bell Witch Haunting of 2004 and An American Haunting from 2006. This renowned poltergeist revolved around the Bell family who were living in the tiny town of Adams, Tennessee during the early 1800s.

Types of Modern Witches

Types of Modern Witches

Countless stories in traditional folklore all over the world has some type of magic wielder as a character. Humans are obsessed with creatures who can bend the rules of the natural world through unbelievable powers. A human who could control these powers was known as a witch in most cases, although some traditions like to claim witches to only be women or have a different term for a man who uses magic like a wizard or sorcerer. However, these ancient legends were warped over time with the spread of the religions of Abraham—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For a long period of time, if someone could even be remotely linked to the use of “magic,” the religious establishment would quickly torture a confession from that person before killing them. The ancient pagan religions that had multiple gods and goddesses as well as a link to nature were forgotten and given up as the heretical past of ancestors. However, over the past century, the strict and brutal treatment of followers of these old religions by the dominant religious faction has inspired a curiosity and even a resurgence of the pagan belief system. Just like with every other religion though, there are schisms, sects, and multiple factions with this growth in the ancient uses of magic and belief in nature deities. The one binding foundation of these new, resurgence of pagans is that they all subscribe to a belief in magic and their ability to harness magic with certain rituals and spells after a great deal of practice. They are all witches.