The Witches Castle of Forest Park- Portland

We had heard about this Old Stone structure ( Witches Castle ) in the City Park in Portland. We ventured off over a week ago to see this site for ourselves.

The story goes in the mid-1800s, a man named Mr. D Balch bought a large portion of land around the area while Portland was still in the process of being developed. It was a big enough region, that he had to hire help to clear the area, so he hired a man named Mortimer Stump, who lived in the cabin on the property.

As time went on, Stump and Balch’s daughter Anna, fell in love, and eventually, Stump asked Balch for his Anna’s hand in marriage. Balch refused, resulting in Stump and Anna threatening to elope. Balch became enraged and told Stump that he would murder him if they married. But the couple didn’t listen to the warning and decided to elope in November of 1858.

A few weeks after, Stump and Anna came back to the cabin, and in a fury, Balch shot Stump in the head and killed him. Balch was arrested and he was executed in mid-October of 1859, which became the first legal execution in Oregon.

The Log Cabin was abandoned and the 1950’s Park Service built the stone structure in its place for Ranger offices and visitor restrooms. In the ’60s, it was abandoned by the park service and after that, it has been used as a gathering place (partying and drinking) for teens from around the area and they gave it its name “Witches Castle”.

Rainbow being an empath, did pick up some interesting energy there. Note she declined to walk in or on the upper levels of the structure. making me a little nervous because I highly respect her psychic abilities. As I was climbing all over the structure taking pictures, I did catch an entity hanging out in the lower level of the stone structure. I didn’t feel threatened at the time.

Rainbow felt that there were Dark and Light ceremonies performed there over the years and maybe some type of sacrifices, probably small animal types. The Light Ceremonies were in Pagan nature, honoring Mother Earth. She also felt that portals were opened during certain ceremonies, and closed. This would keep other entities from using the portal to enter this realm and cause havoc.

If you decide to go the Upper Macleay Parking area it’s about a ¾ mile hike from there to the stone house – Witches Castle. If you start from the Pittman Mansion parking lot and go down to it, it’s quite a hard hike back up, as we found out first hand.

Sleep Tight – and let your dreams carry you to happy places
MWiz

Twilight of the Witch – Is it all True Series # 435

twilight

As night brings the shadows of trepidation, twilight brings the reminder that there is the constant balance of both worlds. Twilight isn’t just the witching hour for goblins and ghouls, it’s the moment in which seers, witches and shamans see both worlds at once. It’s a glimpse into otherworldly lives and realities that intertwine with our own. In the scheme of things, we really aren’t that different from parallel universes or dimensions, our rules of etiquette and customs is what sets us apart … well almost.

The interesting thing is, with a few witches that have crossed my path, there was no way to know they were witches by appearance alone. They talked, laughed and smiled just like everybody else; the main difference which at times made them dangerous was when they become angry. Their smile seemed to hide a slight hint of malice but their eyes easily revealed the silent castigation of their dark mind. This kind of look makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up and putting up your guard isn’t just an understatement but a survival instinct put to the test.

There are a few interesting facts about witches that isn’t talked about much. One, is that there are witches who are “lifetakers” meaning they either take over a body at an untimely death usually by their influence or they reincarnate bringing remembered knowledge with them. The reincarnated witches are usually stronger and more viable for covens and cults. This doesn’t always mean they are dark but the immeasurable amount of knowledge they carry within them makes them equal to some archaic beings. The “lifetakers” are usually dark by nature and they are the ones to stay away from.

“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
Mark Twain

The saying, “Times 3” isn’t something to take lightly. Words have power and witches know this and use this to their advantage. Understand that just verbally saying a spell isn’t going to make it work, it’s how the words are spoken, chanted or sung. The time of day or night, the place used and the elements all play a part into making the completed spell. Enchantments were the old ways of keeping in check human villages or large towns that were dangerously close to the fairy folk. Elementals are masters at creating lost time to keep at bay those who travel (unaware more than likely) too close to the private dwellings of natures enchanted beings.

Twilight gives a boost to spells, curses, meditations and prayers only because it is the one time humans can see the sun and moon dance and woo each other, almost embracing yet always outside of each other’s reach. It’s the romantic hour of old but it is also the moment in which the obstructed daylight can no longer keep at bay, the undesirable darkness and its minions. The moon illuminates anything passing by her, so the sky is a heavily traveled highway, full of the unimaginable, winged cohorts of ancient Goddesses and Deities of old magic, beings waking up from a sleepy rouse and people dreaming of the impossible . If most people knew what happened at twilight also known as the “witching hour,” they would probably run indoors or wonder about their yards in anticipation of catching glimpses of all that is magical.

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” 
Edgar Allan Poe

Twilight in the days of old, used to be the bargaining chip, the moment in time that favored neither the light nor dark. Light beings, winged beings, dimensional visitors, and silent slithering beings or for that matter, two legged beings all understood the potency of neutral ground, for it gave everyone the upper hand in a universal way. Light and dark are the keepers of balance and twilight is the reminder of this promise, atonement for those living in both worlds, especially the victims of the dark arts.

Those who have become as enamored with the moon as others the sun, are more so than not darker in spirit yet I find that I love the gentle moonlight just as much as I do the rays of the sun. It’s the Egyptian in me, I love them both.  Twilight of the witch can be called many things; I prefer to see it as a chance to view the coming together of two worlds that for a split second look like they are one with each other.

Balance, that seems to be what we all strive for. Every evening, the painted sky towards the west becomes the signal to us all that we are more than we ever could imagine. The morning dawn awakening nature and humans, is twilights second calling, reminding us every day is a magical world. What we do with it says so much about how we see the twilight in our lives and dreams. It’s no longer the “witching hour,” more so the magical hour.

“Love prefers twilight to daylight.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Rainbow

 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/4624490.Edgar_Allan_Poe

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/54835-everyone-is-a-moon-and-has-a-dark-side-which

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/twilight.html