Rituals
#79 · May 22, 2009
When I was in my early teens, my family and I began to notice small dead animals appearing around our home and property. After the first week of this we began to become a little paranoid about who or what was doing this. A little research by my father showed that our area had been known for some witchcraft rituals back in the day. Associated with the witchcraft practices were the placing of small piles of stones stacked on top of one another.
Within the next few weeks we began to spot small piles of rocks forming near our home and in the community. One day I happened to be ¼ mile from my home, down a dirt and gravel trail along a large creek . While I was milling around, I caught a glimpse of something very peculiar. In the middle of the creek, on top of a large boulder, there was a stack of rocks about three feet high. It gave me the willies to see that, knowing what it might be symbolic of.
Another time my dad happened to look out of our back porch window and saw amongst the scrub grass and underbrush, a pile of stones about two feet high and positioned so there would be a hole in the center of the pile. My dad investigated it and looked through the hole – our house was perfectly centered in it.
By mid spring I decided to take a video camera and do a little investigating in the woods behind my home. Dressed in my woodland BDUs and combat boots, I headed off to see what I might uncover. Before entering the forest I saw a dead garter snake with its head pulled off. It was a little spooky. Fifty yards into the wilderness I found what appeared to be a bird that looked like it had exploded. Feathers, blood, and body parts were scattered. I ended up going down into a marsh to check the soft ground for tracks and could not find anything for the first hour of trying. Getting a little tired, I went over to some hard ground, plopped myself down, and took a breather. There were still a few patches of snow in the area and I happened to look down at the one next to me. What I saw sent chills through my body.
A human footprint, sized larger than my 10 ½ “ boots, which I would estimate was 11” to 12”. I could see the toes, arch, and heel. Plopping my dad’s VHS camcorder on my shoulder, I filmed the print next to my foot for a comparison. Seeing that print spooked the heck out of my and I quickly left the area and showed my video findings to my dad, mom, and sister. They quickly thought I was making up the entire story of the footprint, even when I showed them the video tape of it. I asked how I could make such a large foot print with my own foot, considering my foot was smaller. They had no explanation and began to wonder if something was really out there.
Over fifteen years later I still have not been able to explain the large foot print. Why would someone travel all the way out into a marsh just to put their bare foot into the already melting patch of snow? Was it a joke? Was someone watching me and managed to determine what direction I was heading in and placed the track? Or maybe it really was “something else”! The dead animal occurrences tended to cease after that day and have not returned.
#Area/Woods #Visual/Footprints #visual/DeadAnimals