1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,360 Speaker 1: Hello, it's Richard mc lean smith here. Due to the 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: recent arrival of another Minnie mc lean Smith, there'll be 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,480 Speaker 1: a slight pause on new episodes, so for the next 4 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,640 Speaker 1: two weeks will be dipping back into the vaults, before 5 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: continuing rather aptly with the next episode of season eight 6 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: on Friday, the thirteenth of June. This week, we're heading 7 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: back to season one, episode ten. The world of Horror 8 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: is littered with unnerving locations, places that both draw from 9 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: and have in turn seeped into the public imagination. For many. 10 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: There is one place in particular that continues to fascinate 11 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: like no other in the UK. With its combination of mystery, 12 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: intrigue and its atmospheric location. You couldn't make up a 13 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: better setting the place Burleskin House. This is unexplained Season 14 00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: one episode ten, The Spaces that Linger. The world of 15 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: Horror is littered with unnerving locations, places that both draw 16 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: from and have in turn seeped into the public imagination. 17 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: Perhaps the most symbolic of them all being the forest, 18 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: the archetypal liminal space of what Joseph Campbell termed the 19 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: hero's journey. Not only is the forest dark and mysterious, 20 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: but it is of course profoundly symbolic, being as it 21 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: is a manifestation of our deep unconscious. As we venture 22 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: deeper into the forest, so too do we journey deeper 23 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: into ourselves in our quest to confront our greatest fears, 24 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: before with any luck, ultimately emerging victorious and changed. But 25 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: for all the creatures and the hidden and unknoble fears 26 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: we might discover along the way, the forest, in a 27 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: sense remains a space that is our own, those fears 28 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:14,079 Speaker 1: within our own to decipher and overcome. Far more chilling, therefore, 29 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: are the places that, when entering, we find ourselves crossing 30 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: a threshold into a world that is very much not 31 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: our own, Places where no longer are we at the 32 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:29,519 Speaker 1: whim of our darkest unconscious, but rather that of somebody else's. 33 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: God forbid you ever find yourself checking into the Bates Motel, 34 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: as found in Robert Box's Psycho, or stumbling into the 35 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 1: family home of leather Face, so disturbingly depicted in Toby 36 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: Hooper's mesmerizingly deranged Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What both stories have 37 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: in common is a location so inextricably linked to the 38 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: bad guys as to be almost inseparable from them. There 39 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: is the sense that even when empty, the locations will 40 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: somehow incubate the things that have happened inside. Both stories, incidentally, 41 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: were partly based on the life of murderer ed Gean, 42 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: whose proclivity for manufacturing ornaments and furniture from human bone 43 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: and skin continues to shock the world almost sixty years 44 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: after the event. After Gene's conviction, it was decided that 45 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: his house should be torn down. So incapable with the 46 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: local community from separating the location from the events that 47 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: had taken place inside, there was no other option but 48 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: to remove it entirely. A similar theme emerges in many 49 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: cases of alleged domestic supernatural disturbances, such as those that 50 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: took place at thirty East Drive in Pontefract or at 51 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: number two eight four Green Street in Enfield. In these 52 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: stories we find the recurring notion that any new resident 53 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: of the property is merely an invader occupying a space 54 00:03:55,400 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: that isn't theirs to occupy. At times, it might it 55 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: seems that in some way or another the property has 56 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: developed a soul all of its own. For many there 57 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: is one place in particular that continues to fascinate like 58 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: no other in the UK for its combination of mystery, 59 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: intrigue and atmospheric location. You couldn't concoct a better setting 60 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: the name Burleskin House you're listening to unexplained in dime 61 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: Richard MacLean Smith. The story of Bileskin House is inseparable 62 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,919 Speaker 1: from that of its most infamous former resident, Alister Crowley. 63 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: It was a very particular journey that brought Crowley to Buleskin, 64 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: and it begins a short time before midnight on the 65 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: twelfth of October eighteen seventy five with his birth in 66 00:04:55,760 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: Royal Leamington, Spa, England. Crowley, who was christened Edward Alexander, 67 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: was the first of two children born to Edward and 68 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: Emily Crowley. Their second, a baby girl, would arrive five 69 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: years later, but would tragically die after only five hours 70 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 1: of life. The family was devoutly religious and belonged to 71 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: a Christian sect known as the Plymouth Brethren. The sect 72 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: were renowned for their belief in the literal truth of 73 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: the Bible and their puritanical attitude toward sin and the 74 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: dangers of temptation. It was into this deeply rigid and 75 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: conservative environment that Crowley was brought up, an environment which 76 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: many believe contributed to his utter rejection of all such 77 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: beliefs in later life. Owing to his share in the 78 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: lucrative family brewing business, Crowley's father, Edward, had been able 79 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: to take an early retirement, and as such divided most 80 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,479 Speaker 1: of his time between his family and volunteering as a 81 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: traveling preacher for the Sect. Despite the socially claustrophobic upbringing 82 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: and unhappy childhood, Crowley was utterly devoted to Edward. In 83 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,159 Speaker 1: March eighteen eighty seven, Crowley was devastated when his father 84 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: died after a short battle with cancer. The young Allister 85 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: was only eleven years old, and the death would prove 86 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: to be a significant turning point in his life. Crowley's 87 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: sorrow at the loss of his father soon morphed into anger, 88 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: as Crowley began attacking the very thing that had made 89 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: his life such a misery, rejecting what he saw as 90 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: the zealous and authoritarian scourge of Christianity. In the years 91 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: that followed, it would seem that Crowley had developed a 92 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: pathological yearning to commit the sins he had so studiously 93 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: been warned against. He started to experiment sexually, dabbled with debauchery, 94 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: and took any opportunity to point out what he considered 95 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,679 Speaker 1: to be the many inconsistencies in the Bible to anyone 96 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: who would listen. Crowley had the sense that he was 97 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: searching for something, but it wasn't until he arrived at 98 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,360 Speaker 1: Cambridge University that the pieces began to shift into place. 99 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: At some point, Crowley had become interested in the occult, 100 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: in particular the study of ritual magic, an enthusiasm that 101 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: was piqued after he read A. E. Waits's The Book 102 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: of Black Magic and Pacts. An acute interest in alchemy 103 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: brought him into contact with British chemist and occultist George 104 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: Cecil Jones, who in turn introduced Crowley to the Hermetic 105 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: Order of the Golden Dawn. The Order had been established 106 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty eight and was led by the charismatic 107 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: Samuel Liddell mac Gregor Mathers. Some of you may remember 108 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: that it was to Maths that the Alpha and Omega 109 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: group had stayed faithful, the same group to which Nettafornario 110 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: had belonged before her death under mysterious circumstances in nineteen 111 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: twenty nine. As we explored in Episode one, After graduation 112 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: and with the luxury of his family's brewing dynasty inheritance, 113 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: Crowley was able to untether himself from the usual constraints 114 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: of life. As such, he was free to throw himself 115 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: into his new and burgeoning obsession of ritual magic. A 116 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: year after leaving Cambridge, Crowley had moved into a luxury 117 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: London flat in Chancery Lane and had hired fellow Golden 118 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: Dawn member Alan Bennett to become his personal magic tutor. 119 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: It was Bennett who formerly introduced Crowley to ceremonial magic 120 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: and the ritual use of drugs, but most importantly to 121 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: the rituals of the goetia, the practice of invoking what 122 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: are commonly known as angels and demons, in particular the 123 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 1: AARs goetia, as found in the opening section of the 124 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:03,119 Speaker 1: seventeenth century Grimoire The Lesser Key of Solomon, a Grimoire 125 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: being another term for a book of magic spells. Mathers 126 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: was impressed by Crowley's dedication and rapid rise through the 127 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 1: various grades of the Golden Dawn, and the two became 128 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: close friends, but Crowley was growing increasingly frustrated with the movement. 129 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: His frustration was in part due to the reticence that 130 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 1: some of the more established members had about Crowley's membership. 131 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: In what was quite a rarity for the time, Crowley 132 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: was openly bisexual, a state of affairs that many members 133 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: sadly found uncomfortable. But what irked Crowley more than anything 134 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: was what he considered to be the inherent phoniness of 135 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 1: the group, peopled as it was by many esteemed intellects 136 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: of the day such as W. B. Yates and Brown Stoker. 137 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: Crowley felt that they were merely playing at magic and 138 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: treated the organization as a glorified salon. In what would 139 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: later become a feature of Crowley's life, he wanted more 140 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: and to go further than anyone had gone before. In 141 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight, Mathers introduced Crowley to a strange and 142 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: a mystical text called The Secret Book of Abramelen Magic. 143 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: The book, which is said to date back to the 144 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: fifteenth century, recounts the story of an Egyptian carbalistic magician 145 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: known as abrameln the Mage and his pupil, Abraham of 146 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 1: Vorms in Germany. As the story goes, Abraham found the 147 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: maid living in the desert outside Aratchi, an Egyptian town 148 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: near the River Nile. After agreeing to serve and fear 149 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: the Lord, and to live and die in his most 150 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: Holy Law, Abraham was instructed by Abramelen in the divine 151 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: science and true magic embedded within the two manuscripts. Abraham 152 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: was warned only to pass this knowledge on to those 153 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: he knew well and trusted. But now it was in 154 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: the hands of Alistair Crowley. Crucially, the book describes an 155 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: elaborate ritual known as the Abremellin operation, designed to conjure 156 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: up the magician's guardian angel. It became clear to Crowley 157 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: that this was the next step that he must take 158 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: in his path to complete enlightenment. It is a path 159 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:30,560 Speaker 1: that many believe to have led to fatal consequences. Not 160 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: wanting to leave anything to chance, the well heeled Crowley 161 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: embarked on a lengthy undertaking to find the ideal location 162 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:41,439 Speaker 1: for the operation. As Crowley later wrote, the house must 163 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,959 Speaker 1: be in a more or less secluded situation. There should 164 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: be a door opening to the north from the room 165 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: of which you make your oratory. Outside this door you 166 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 1: construct a terrace covered with fine river sand. This ends 167 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: in a lodge where the spirits may congregate. A year 168 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: after searching, Crowley had failed to find the perfect location. 169 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: That was until he found himself traveling into the highlands 170 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: of Scotland along the haunting shores of the majestic Loch Ness. 171 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: A short time later, Crowley arrived at a small grave 172 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: site by the side of the road overlooking the loch. There, 173 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: perched a short distance up the hill overlooking the graveyard, 174 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: he saw it for the first time, the house that 175 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:34,080 Speaker 1: would forever become synonymous with his name, Buleskin. The single 176 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: floored mansion, located on the eastern shore of Loch Ness, 177 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: was built in the late eighteenth century by a Colonel 178 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,680 Speaker 1: Archibald Fraser. It is not clear what exactly brought Crowley 179 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: to Buleskin, though the filmmaker and Croley ficionado Kenneth Anger 180 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: has pointed out that he may have been drawn to 181 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 1: the name and its similarity to Baal, the can and 182 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: god of Gods, later remodeled as the Lord of flies. 183 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,680 Speaker 1: In the Old Testament, Barull is represented by the symbol 184 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:05,320 Speaker 1: of the bull, the word boll from Boleskin, being an 185 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: ancient Scottish form of the same animal. Others believe, however, 186 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 1: that Crowley had in some way been preternaturally drawn to 187 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: the house. It was said that a medieval church had 188 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: once stood on the same site. One morning, with the 189 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:27,199 Speaker 1: congregation inside, the church mysteriously caught fire. As the congregation 190 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: rushed to escape, they found themselves inexplicably trapped inside. Unable 191 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,080 Speaker 1: to escape, they perished as the church burnt steadily to 192 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: the ground. Had something of the event remained something that 193 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: Crowley was eager to tap into. It is also said 194 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: that the graveyard itself was once a meeting point for witches. 195 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: Reports of a tunnel leading from the house to the 196 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: grave site, which some claim to have been used by 197 00:13:54,920 --> 00:14:01,720 Speaker 1: Crowley to conduct his own nighttime rituals, remain unsubstantiated. So 198 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: convinced was Crowley of the house's suitability that in August 199 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety nine, he paid more than twice its value 200 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: to secure the property. A short time later, he relocated 201 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 1: his possessions and began preparing for the great Operation. It 202 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: is important at this point to draw the distinction between 203 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: what many see as Crowley's unhealthy obsession with black magic 204 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: and satanism and what, in reality it was that Crowley 205 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: hoped to achieve whether there is a truth to it 206 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: or not. Crowley's intention and the sole purpose of the 207 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: ritual was to seek knowledge and conversation with his own 208 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: personal guardian angel. It is, by all accounts, a ritual 209 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: to invoke positive change, a force for good, But there 210 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: was one glaringly large catch. In order to do this, 211 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: Crowley would have to invoke and then bring under his 212 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: control the twelve Kings of Hell before beginning the ritual, 213 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: which required him to start in Easter. Crowley spent the 214 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: intervening months entertaining guests and readying the property in preparation 215 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: for the ceremony. The final stage was to cover the 216 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: outdoor terrace in a fine river sand. The reason was simple. 217 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 1: It was so Crowley could see the feet marks of 218 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: the spirits and demons he was about to invoke. The 219 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: ritual was to last six months and required the utmost conviction. 220 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: It would require him to live off little more than 221 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: bread and water, and to wake regularly at three a m. 222 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: To begin the invocations. Chastity had to be observed at 223 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: all times, and complete abstinence was paramount for the free 224 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: spirited Crowley. That in itself would have proved a tall order. However, 225 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: As the winter snow of eighteen ninety nine began to thaw, 226 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: and with it past the season of death, new life 227 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: was bursting forth throughout the surrounding hills. Spring had finally arrived, 228 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: and Crowley's dedication had not faltered. The time had come 229 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: to begin the ritual. Crowley began by preparing the talismans 230 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: that were essential for the operation. The talismans, which can 231 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: be found at the back of the Book of Abremelen, 232 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: are a set of magic word squares required to bring 233 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: the twelve kings of Hell into order. Crowley had moved 234 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: to the brightest room in the house to best complete 235 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: the task. The room, located at the front of the house, 236 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: overlooked the terrace and down to the dark and still 237 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: loch ness beyond. Crowley cut the squares from the material vellum, 238 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: and as a bright sun flooded the room with light, 239 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: he began to inscribe the squares with Indian ink. When 240 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: something strange happened despite the clear skies, the room began 241 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: to darken until the light had been almost entirely extinguished. 242 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 1: From this point on, Crowley was required to use a 243 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: large array of candles to keep the room alight. Even 244 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: during the brightest times of day. With everything in order, 245 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: Crowley embarked on his six month odyssey. Almost immediately he 246 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: received confirmation that he was on the right path as 247 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: he began to chant in the room. Even with all 248 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: its artificial light, it again began to darken, while all 249 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: around the lodge in Terrace became peopled with shadowy shapes, or, 250 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:38,679 Speaker 1: as Crowley writes, the demons and evil forces had congregated 251 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,560 Speaker 1: round me so thickly that they were shutting off the light. 252 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,920 Speaker 1: A number of friends had declined to visit Crowley, believing 253 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 1: he was going too far meddling with things he couldn't understand, 254 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:54,639 Speaker 1: let alone control. The Grimoire itself begins with the warning 255 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,880 Speaker 1: not to attempt any of the magic contained. Within only 256 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: a few weeks into the opera, already there were ominous stirrings. 257 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: One acquaintance named Russia, lasted only two weeks before terror 258 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,200 Speaker 1: forced him to flee, Crowley coming down to breakfast one 259 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: day only to be informed that Russia had taken the 260 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:22,200 Speaker 1: first boat in Vernesse that morning. At one point, Crowley 261 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,719 Speaker 1: returned to Buleskin one afternoon to find a Catholic priest 262 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:29,440 Speaker 1: waiting for him, in his study. The priest informed him 263 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: that the day before, his lodge keeper, who had not 264 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 1: touched alcohol for twenty years, had come home raving drunk 265 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: and attempted to murder his wife and children. Already, it 266 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 1: would seem that the ritual, despite being a very personal pursuit, 267 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: was provoking forces beyond Crowley's control. Although it may not 268 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 1: have been going well for those around him, the ritual 269 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 1: seemed to be working for Crowley, but all that was 270 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 1: about to change. Barely two months in, Crowley received a 271 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: letter from Samuel Mathers requesting Crowley's immediate assistance. In Crowley's absence, 272 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: the Order of the Golden Dawn had fractured into two 273 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 1: opposing schools of thought, with Mathers believing he was in 274 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: great danger of being usurped despite only being part way 275 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:22,240 Speaker 1: through the ritual. Crowley felt compelled to offer his assistance immediately. 276 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 1: He packed his bags and headed straight to London, and 277 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: with that the magic ritual was broken. It had been 278 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: Croley's intention to return and complete the spell, but with 279 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,719 Speaker 1: one thing leading to another in the summer of nineteen hundred, 280 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: Crowley instead moved to Mexico. The ritual remained incomplete as 281 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,239 Speaker 1: Kenneth Anger notes, if you invoke spirits to help you 282 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: or teach you, there is something that has to be 283 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: done afterwards, they must be bad. But Crowley never did that. 284 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: It is said that soon after a dark cloud appeared 285 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,879 Speaker 1: over the house that failed to disperse for many months. 286 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,119 Speaker 1: Locals refused to go by the house, instead preferring to 287 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,360 Speaker 1: travel the entire circumference of the loch rather than pass it. 288 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,479 Speaker 1: As for Crowley, there are some who believe that failure 289 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: to complete the ritual left him dangerously open to demonic possession, 290 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: that the twelve kings of Hell may well have somehow 291 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:32,120 Speaker 1: found their way inside him, using him for their own purpose. 292 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: Some consider what later became of Crowley to be directly 293 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 1: linked to this moment, and for those that came to 294 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,400 Speaker 1: Boleskin after Crowley, it is hard to resist the temptation 295 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: to think that some strange gateway had indeed been opened 296 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: that has never since been closed. Some time after nineteen thirteen, 297 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,959 Speaker 1: the property came into the possession of Major Edward Grant. 298 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,440 Speaker 1: Not a lot is known about Grant's period of ownership, 299 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 1: except that one morning, while his housekeeper, Anna McLaren, had 300 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:05,719 Speaker 1: been working in the garden, the family dog had come 301 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: running up to her playing with something in its mouth. 302 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: It looked like some kind of bone, but knowing there 303 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:14,600 Speaker 1: was nothing of that sort in the house, Missus McLaren 304 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: grabbed it from the dog and threw it away. A 305 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 1: short time later, Anna called in on the Major, only 306 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: to make a horrific discovery. There, slumped in front of 307 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: a large bedroom mirror was the body of Major Grant, 308 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: lying next to a recently discharged shotgun. His head had 309 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: been completely removed by the blast. The dog had indeed 310 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: been chewing on a bone. It was a piece of 311 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 1: Major Grant's skull. In nineteen seventy, the house was bought 312 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Page had for a 313 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,719 Speaker 1: long time been fascinated by the occult, and in particular 314 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: the life of Aleister Crowley. However, due to his rigorous 315 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 1: touring schedule and other commitments, rarely visited the house and 316 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,399 Speaker 1: had invited his friend Malcolm Dent to look after the 317 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:08,680 Speaker 1: property in his absence. Dent and his family moved into 318 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 1: the property soon after, and it wasn't long before they 319 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:17,400 Speaker 1: realized something in the house wasn't quite right. Despite Bileskin's reputation. 320 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: Dent was a confirmed skeptic and had little time for 321 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: what he considered to be nothing but superstitious nonsense. Before long, 322 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,159 Speaker 1: Dent and his family became plagued by a series of 323 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 1: inexplicable noises moving throughout the house. Doors would slam mysteriously 324 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: all through the night, and carpets and rugs would be 325 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: mischievously pulled up. Another regular occurrence was that the doors 326 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 1: would suddenly spring open, as if someone was running through them, 327 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,480 Speaker 1: even on a calm day. Dent recalled sitting in bed 328 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: late at night when something outside the room began snuffling 329 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: under the door. It sounded at first like a dog, 330 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:02,159 Speaker 1: before growing in intensity, becoming louder and louder. He snapped 331 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,640 Speaker 1: on the light, only for the noise to become even 332 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: more intense. As the door began to rattle violently. He 333 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 1: had the sudden feeling that something huge and evil was 334 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,080 Speaker 1: trying to get in. Then, as quickly as it had begun, 335 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: it stopped. Was this one of the twelve Kings of 336 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: Hell that Crowley had failed to banish, or something else 337 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: that had entered through a strange gateway he had failed 338 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,680 Speaker 1: to close. Dent later discovered that the room he was 339 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: in at the time had been the same room that 340 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 1: Crowley conducted his ritual. In nineteen ninety one, the house 341 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: was sold again to a Ronald and Annette mac gillivray, 342 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: who stayed in the property event free for almost ten years. 343 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: Following the death of Ronald in two thousand two, the 344 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: house was again put up for sale and was later 345 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: bought by a Dutch family, who also reported nothing unusual 346 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 1: in all their time staying at the house. The demons, 347 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 1: it would seem, had finally taken leave, or had they. 348 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: In December twenty fifteen, the owner's daughter and partner arrived 349 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 1: at Burleskin House intent on staying for the Christmas holidays. 350 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,199 Speaker 1: Shortly after one pm on Wednesday, the twenty third, the 351 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,680 Speaker 1: couple had left the house to get some much needed 352 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:25,160 Speaker 1: supplies for the days ahead. At approximately one forty pm, 353 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: a motorist on the A eighty two road on the 354 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,359 Speaker 1: opposite side of the lock reported seeing flames and smoke 355 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: coming from the direction of Burleskin House. By the time 356 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: the couple had returned, half the building was on fire, 357 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,640 Speaker 1: with the flames rising over twenty feet into the air. 358 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 1: Multiple crews of firemen battled the blaze until the early 359 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: hours of the following day. By the next morning, sixty 360 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: percent of the house had been incinerated, as it remains 361 00:24:55,359 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 1: to this day. After an extensive investigation, the fire was 362 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: found not to have been started deliberately. The precise cause 363 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: of the fire is a mystery that remains to this 364 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 1: day unexplained. For more on the story of that greatly 365 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:23,439 Speaker 1: misunderstood Aleister Crowley, please listen out of episode ten extra, 366 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 1: where we'll be delving a little deeper into the beliefs 367 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,400 Speaker 1: and magic of the man once described as the wickedest 368 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: man in the world. As for Burleskin House, whether you 369 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: care to believe all the stories or not, the will 370 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: forever remain something compelling about this most beguiling of places. 371 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:45,160 Speaker 1: Whether that is because of what we have projected onto 372 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 1: it or due to something perhaps a little more unearthly, 373 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: is anyone's guess. In fact, there is something of this 374 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: in all buildings, even those without such ominous connotations. We 375 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 1: feel it in our fascinae with ruined and abandoned places, 376 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 1: because although they may be empty, it is impossible not 377 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: to sense something of those that had come before, and 378 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: perhaps in some way still remain. I will leave you 379 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 1: with a passage from Thomas Pinchon's Gravity's Rainbow. In the 380 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,120 Speaker 1: novel pinch and Rights of a place known as the Zone, 381 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 1: a sort of liminal space metaphorically caught somewhere between life 382 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 1: and death. The novel's protagonist Slothrop, is traveling through the 383 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: Zone in the aftermath of the Second World War when 384 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: he finds himself inside an abandoned factory, once a throbbing 385 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: heart of industry, now quiet and stilled, though found adrift 386 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: and haunted, full of signs of recent human tenancy. This 387 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 1: is not the legendary ship marries Celeste. It isn't bounded 388 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:57,919 Speaker 1: so neatly. These tracks under foot run away fore and 389 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:02,639 Speaker 1: aft into all stilled Europe, And our flesh doesn't sweat 390 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:06,159 Speaker 1: and pimple here for the domestic mysteries, the attic horror 391 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: of what might have happened, so much as for our 392 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: knowledge of what likely did happen. It was always easy 393 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: in open and lonely places to be visited by panic, wilderness, fear. 394 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,639 Speaker 1: But these are the urban fantods here that come to 395 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 1: get you when you are lost or isolate inside the way. 396 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 1: Time is passing when there is no more history, no 397 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:32,680 Speaker 1: time traveling capsule to find your way back to, only 398 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,560 Speaker 1: the lateness and the absence that fill a great railway 399 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,720 Speaker 1: shed after the capital has been evacuated, and the goat 400 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: God's city cousins wait for you at the edges of 401 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 1: the light, playing the tunes they always played, but more 402 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:51,680 Speaker 1: audible now because everything else has gone away or fallen Silent. 403 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:04,879 Speaker 1: Unexplained is an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard 404 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: mclin smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music, 405 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: are also produced by me Richard mc cleinsmith. Unexplained. The 406 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:18,080 Speaker 1: book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. You 407 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,920 Speaker 1: can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. 408 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,680 Speaker 1: Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get 409 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with 410 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,919 Speaker 1: any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on 411 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:35,720 Speaker 1: the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own 412 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: you'd like to share. You can find out more at 413 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:42,560 Speaker 1: Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online through Twitter 414 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:47,360 Speaker 1: at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward 415 00:28:47,360 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: Slash Unexplained Podcast. The b the to