The Hellingly Hall Pentagram

Some of you may have been aware of the strange “Pagan” pentagram symbol that appeared on the floor of Hellingly Hall towards the end of 2006. There’s been discussion on the internet about it being for devil worshipping, monsters, sacrificing sheep, chavs being dicks, etc.

One of the people behind it has been in touch – this should hopefully clear up why it is there, and what it was used for…

I must thank RIPA for this article and the photos that follow…

I run a paranormal group that has been around in one guise or another for three years or so. The name RIPA (Regional Investigators of Paranormal Activity) which we no longer run under although back in the day we did, we began much as you would see Most Haunted on the TV, idiots with cameras looking for ghosts.

After much research into religion both mainstream and otherwise, it became apparent that witches and occultists were really the only people who claimed to be able to directly raise and influence powers from beyond (gods and demons and the like), and after all as daft as it sounds witchcraft pre-dates any mainstream religion you care to name, there must be something in it, and why go looking for ghosts if you can dial them up? At this point RIPA was actually a public group with over 200 members, and during its time we performed mini experiments using things such as blood during seances, forming human pentagrams amongst other things. To be honest these almost always worked in one form or another – we had people in tears and shock, people who had been ‘touched’ and experienced sudden emotions – it was like Derren Brown power. Anyway it wasn’t long before the word of our exploits got out and in certain psychic circles branded us as devil worshippers, having contacts in those kind of places we quickly found out that our name had spread far and wide. Shortly after it all began blowing up, disruptions split the group, and the work was abandoned.

Along with the occult type research a deep understanding of psychology is required. In our experience going into the kind of building you would expect in a horror flick does play tricks on you, but in addition, the subjects heightened anticipation raises awareness, in those kind of environments a person can sense on all levels far better than if they were at home or somewhere comfortable.

All of this combined with our latest seperate branch into urban exploration, which is itself a damn good rush, and interesting too. We decided over a pint or three that it would be a good idea to try this, so we consulted with the Wiccans, and acquired someone who was willing to raise spirits (whatever it was) As you will see from the piccies he is the person the centre of the pentagram.

Another photo will show me marking out some lines with the good old table salt, all we used was string and salt! Simple.

We didnt expect to leave a mark in all honesty, an unexpected side effect. I can only guess that the hygroscopic properties of the salt pulled moisture from the air and deposited it into the wood as salty fluid, which will depending upon the prevailing humidity appear and disappear as it dries and moistens.

We decided to go at night to perform an evocation ritual and what better place than Hellingly’s great hall, the pentacle serves no purpose than as a backdrop for our activities. Along with cameras, dicta-phones and some passive onlookers, the main man in the middle and four assistants (myself one of them) we proceeded to recite passages of Wiccan spells tailored for the occasion. We then waited…

The whole idea ultimately was to catch a ghost on camera, which we did not do at all. Despite several cameras running, neither one of them got a thing, however almost all of the dozen or so people did see the dark figure like shape moving steadily around the room, two of us felt the cold rush as it moved past and a couple of others felt their clothes move in the rush of air as it past. There were two of us in the room that some would call sensitive and can sense spirits around us, I am one of them, and we did, and it was not happy. At that time there was definitely something in the room with us, after it had circled us a couple times it rushed towards our main man in the middle, who naturally fled without torch away up the corridors, like a man possessed. It was over, whatever it was vanished and we packed up ready to get out.

In a way it was a success but also we have nothing to show on tape, there are talks to try again elsewhere….

I hope this about gives you a half decent run down of events of the day and leading up to. If there are any other question you would like to ask please feel free.