{"id":1182,"date":"2021-09-28T04:48:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T04:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walkingtheshadowlands.com\/?p=1182"},"modified":"2024-11-16T21:54:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T08:54:32","slug":"episode-72-haunted-cursed-objects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walkingtheshadowlands.com\/?p=1182","title":{"rendered":"Episode 72: Haunted & Cursed Objects"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Episode 72: Haunted & Cursed Objects
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Haunted items \u2013 or so called haunted items, are available for sale seemingly everywhere you look on the internet today. A quick Google search resulted in about 21,400,000 results, on the day I Googled it. This buying and selling of supposedly \u2018haunted\u2019 items has become a popular trend. EBay has a whole section devoted to it, also on Facebook you can find any number of groups that dedicate themselves to the sale and purchasing of these items. But, can items truly be haunted? Can spirit attach themselves to an inanimate object? Is it indeed possible for a spirit to stay with a physical item it loved during life, or an item that possibly caused their death like a car? (Which we\u2019ll discuss later in the show).<\/p>\n

As we saw last episode, with my wonderful guest Duane Cerny from the Chicago Antiques market, that sometimes pre-loved items do come with \u2018extra\u2019s\u2019 added to them. In this episode I\u2019m going to discuss a number of supposedly haunted or allegedly cursed items, are they the same thing even? Some of you may have heard of these items. Some may be new to you? But the question as always is; are you willing to walk with me into this part of the shadowlands and see what awaits us there? Then let\u2019s begin.<\/p>\n

Haunted & Cursed Objects<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The subject of haunted items is nothing new. It\u2019s been around as long as our ancestors have. In fact, in many cultures people make items especially, to house spirits. Masks being the most common item used in this way, especially if they are to be used for ritual or spiritual purposes. In many cultures, as the mask is being made, the maker asks a specific spirit or deity to inhabit it. And supposedly, when this mask is then used, it helps the wearer to tune into the specific spirit or deity. In some cases, the wearer can be temporarily taken over or possessed by said being.<\/p>\n

But any single item, or multiple items can have spirits or energy attached to them. The simple reality is, that we are energetic beings, and we are constantly shedding energy. Think of it like house dust, that goes everywhere. Every single thing that we touch, we leave a little of our energy on. So just imagine some item that you treasure above all else, you hold it, stroke it, touch it, admire it, you infuse all your loving energy or negative energy into this item, whatever it may be. You infuse it with your emotions at that point in time, positive or negative. So, it\u2019s already got a large portion of your energy attached to it. Is it such a stretch of the imagination to consider that any object, whatever form it takes, was so loved of its owner, that they don\u2019t want to let it go and so stay near it. The same works for items that are less friendly and supposedly \u2018cursed\u2019.<\/p>\n

By the way, people who are very sensitive are quite capable of \u2018reading\u2019 the energy on any object, and getting information about the deceased or previous owner, or history and situations associated with that object. In fact, some police departments, in different countries have used sensitives who have this gift to help them solve crimes. A number of television shows have been created using sensitives, to obtain information about an unknown victim. This is done by holding a photo of them (in an envelope, so they can\u2019t see what the person looks, or by holding a personal item, or piece of clothing belonging to that person. This particular gift is called psychometry.<\/p>\n

Some people may not recognize that they have this ability, but perhaps just feel uncomfortable when touching an object, or feel emotional, or feel the object calls to them in some way, as with Duane\u2019s friend last episode. They react on a mostly subconscious, visceral way, to the energies put off by the object. Now, cursed items are a wee bit different. How do negative energies or entities become attached to such objects? And thi,s is
\nalmost always deliberately done. The person usually does this in a form of a ritual of some sort or another, from shamanic rituals practiced in some cultures, to other occult or ritualistic practices, always intentional. They then summon a spirit or lower level entity and bind them to the object for a specific purpose or set of purposes.<\/p>\n

Whilst this practice is still done by some today, it was more common in earlier centuries, however it is very likely that there are still very old objects in circulation that have entities still attached to them. Likely these would be small wearable items, but not always \u2013 and I\u2019ll talk specifically about a couple of larger items later on in this episode.<\/p>\n

However; for now, I\u2019m going to share part of a conversation with Robert Bitto, a guest coming up in about 3 episodes. When I was interviewing him, I asked him if he had ever come across a haunted object in his business of buying native artefacts mostly from Mexico. Here is the interesting story he told me.<\/p>\n

The Reading Doll<\/strong><\/h3>\n

from Robert Bitto<\/p>\n

I had a woman who was selling to me when I had a retail store and she was the granddaughter of a witch. And she had all of these healing properties and stuff like that. She was a very weird, a strange character, you know, someone who would live on the outside of town like we were talking about. But she said, you need to be burning incense in this place. There’s, there, I can feel the energies of these of some of these things, these dolls that you have, these sculptures, they were made with feeling and meaning. And, you need to be burning sage, and you need to be doing all this stuff. And I’m like, yeah, whatever, blah, blah, blah, whatever.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

And then a few weeks later, I opened up the store with an employee, so I have a witness. There was one piece of merchandise \u2013 there was a sculpture. It was a storyteller sculpture. It was a woman. A seated woman telling stories with an open book with cats. She was a cat lady, that had like six cats. One on her shoulder – two on her shoulders, you know, and just the cats were like listening to her read. That sculpture had moved on the shelf about one foot. And, it had moved all of the other pieces – clay pieces on the shelf away, and there were some on the floor, OK? Yeah, there was some on the floor and my employee was like, what are you doing? You’re trying to trick me or whatever. I said, No, you just came. You came in when I did right here. I didn’t do this.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

And, it was as if something happened in the middle of the night to move the sculpture and to knock out the others that were on the shelf. And then I said to him, you think I’m going to ruin merchandise like this? This costs me money. There’s stuff on the floor that’s broken. You think I would do that just to scare you? No, but and then that wasn’t the first time too. I’d have things fall off the wall and yeah, some things did happen. But, you know, like that woman, the granddaughter of the witch said, you know, you, you don’t know how some of this stuff was made, you know, with what intention is behind all of this. And she said, you need to be burning some sage and doing some things to clear out all the bad stuff that might be in here. So, yeah.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As I consistently say to members of my Facebook group and in various episodes of this podcast, intent is everything. Intent is absolutely everything and you do not know with what intent an object was made. The maker might have been having a really tough time, or was angry, hurting, grieving \u2013 who knows? When they made that object, and they put those, their energies and that intent into it. OR, absolutely it could have been a deliberate intent added.<\/p>\n

But, what sort of items can be haunted or cursed and where can they be found? Well, as the saying goes, how long is a piece of string? Here are some places where you can possibly and innocently pick an item that has an attachment.<\/p>\n

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  • Antique shops<\/li>\n
  • Auctions Estate sales, especially larger items such as furniture, mirrors, but even smaller items like a ring or a chain, or even a mixing bowl, can have attachments and you might not even be aware until you start experiencing strange things at home.<\/li>\n
  • Flea markets & Antique fairs Inheritance Roadside finds. Very often if you find an item that\u2019s been chucked out, that\u2019s in good condition even if a wee bit old, it may have been chucked not only because the owner no longer wants it, but because of what comes with it.<\/li>\n
  • Thrift or second-hand stores<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Because there are so very many stories of haunted or cursed objects, I\u2019m really having a struggle to limit the examples. And really what does that tell you about how easy it is for our energy to attach to inanimate objects? But, perhaps I\u2019ll begin with that most innocent of children\u2019s toys. The doll, or more specifically haunted dolls. For those interested, there are photos of these items, where I could find them on this episodes page of the podcast website: www.walkingtheshadowlands.com. Let\u2019s begin with possibly one of the most famous and well-known of haunted dolls:<\/p>\n

    Robert The Doll<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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    Robert the Doll<\/p><\/div>\n

    Robert is handmade and one-of-a-kind. He was created around the turn of the century. He has blank features that were once painted on, but have been lost with time. He stands over three feet tall, is stuffed with wood shavings, and is dressed in a faded sailor suit. The doll takes its name from its long-time owner, Robert Eugene Otto, who lived in Key West, Florida. Otto actually used the name Eugene. He, named the doll Robert. As a child, Eugene often blamed the doll for accidents and other misbehaviour. His parents and visitors to the Otto household often heard Eugene talking with the doll, while another, unrecognizable voice answered. Eugene\u2019s other toys were found mutilated or destroyed, acts he inevitably attributed to Robert. Neighbours \u2014 especially children, claimed to see the doll peering out from different windows of the house.<\/p>\n

    There\u2019s a story that says an aunt convinced Eugene\u2019s parents to get rid of the doll. Which was then moved into the aunt\u2019s attic. Soon after Robert was moved, the woman was found dead of a stroke. In spite of these things, Eugene retained ownership of the doll well into adulthood. Some say he even dedicated a room in his house to Robert. He decorated it like a child\u2019s room and filled it with furniture and toys from when he was a child.<\/p>\n

    Eugene passed away in 1974. By the time of his death, Eugene\u2019s home had become a local attraction known as the Artist House, because it was so colourfully painted. After Eugene\u2019s death, Robert the Doll continued to haunt the property, which by then had become sold to Myrtle Reute. rFootsteps and giggling in the attic room where Robert was kept were frequently heard. According to the Key West Art & Historical Society, a plumber once turned around to find that the doll had moved across the room on its own. A reporter named Malcolm Ross visited Robert, and later claimed that the doll\u2019s expression changed in reaction to things that were said in its presence. Malcom, felt that the doll was listening to their conversation and possessed some sort of intelligence.<\/p>\n

    Myrtle, who bought the home after Eugene\u2019s death, kept Robert with her even after she moved homes. She finally donated the doll to the Fort East Martello museum in 1994. Upon donating the figurine, Myrtle confirmed the rumours that Robert was haunted. She claimed; it had scurried around her house.<\/p>\n

    Now when Robert\u2019s stay at the museum began, staff almost immediately noticed a significant change in atmosphere soon after he went on display. Visitors complained that handheld cameras and electronic devices stopped working, whenever they stood near him. Their devices began start working as soon as they moved away from him. Then letters started arriving at the museum that were addressed to Robert. The letters were from previous visitors, apologizing for acting rudely to the doll and begging for forgiveness, as misfortune had befallen them since their visit to the museum.<\/p>\n

    Letters continue to arrive at the museum, where Robert remains on exhibit, to this day. In fact, the staff of the Fort East Martello Museum recommends that patrons behave respectfully while in the doll\u2019s presence, that patrons ask permission before anyone tries to take his photo. They even suggest politely introducing yourself, just to be on the safe side . . .<\/p>\n

    Elmo Knows Your Name<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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    Elmo Knows Your Name<\/p><\/div>\n

    A cute little furry red Muppet from Sesame Street, is our next experience. Elmo is a very, very popular character and has remained so, for many decades now. And a specific Elmo toy was released by Fisher & Price who manufactured them in 2005 called \u2018Elmo knows your name\u2019.<\/p>\n

    This cute toy absolutely topped the list of toy of choice for wee ones that Christmas. Not only because he was such a lovable character on Sesame Street, but because this particular toy was interactive, in that it was programmed to recite the owner\u2019s name, along with some other personalised phrases. A very clever marketing device and made Fisher & Price a lot of money that year and in subsequent years, undoubtedly.<\/p>\n

    Now this particular story begins in 2008 three years after it\u2019s release. A wee two year-old lad by the name of James Bowman had been given one of these adorable wee toys by his parents, who thought they were giving him this lovely, cute, interactive playmate. And they were, initially at least.<\/p>\n

    However, this particular Elmo knows your name toy didn\u2019t only know James\u2019 name, BUT, it liked to include the word \u2018kill\u2019 before saying it. Yep! You heard that right. Kill. Elmo would say \u201cKill James\u201d repeatedly, until his naturally upset Mum, took the toy away from the wee toddler. Apparently, this Elmo only began spouting these death threats, about an hour after it\u2019s batteries had been changed, when the original ones that came with the toy had died.<\/p>\n

    James\u2019 mum Melissa said:<\/p>\n

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    \u201cIt’s not something that really you would think would ever come out of a toy, but once I heard, I was just kind of distraught. About an hour later, I noticed exactly what it was saying, and my son was repeating exactly what it was saying. Kill James. Kill James. Kill James”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    The parents naturally contacted Fisher & Price, and Melissa in an interview with the local news channel said on contacting the company,<\/p>\n

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    \u201cConsidering the fact that my son was repeating it, really upset me. And, there\u2019s nothing that they are even going \u2013 they didn\u2019t even sound concerned about it really, when I, when I spoke to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    The Television company then contacted the maker who offered a replacement and said they had \u2018experts\u2019 who could evaluate the toy. On this episodes page of the podcast website at www.walkingtheshadowlands.com there is a video which you can see of the actual interview with Melissa. Was this the result of some programmer adding a little extra to the program that parents had to download to get the toy to work, or was it something else entirely? You decide for yourself.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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