Hitchers

Okay, it isn't a widely used term but considering there isn't one that's what I call them. Hitchers are random spirits you never knew while alive that latch on to you and follow you for an undetermined amount of time. They are not tied to any thing or place so you can pick one up anywhere: the mall, your gramma's house, the gas station, anywhere. Creepy, eh? Well don't worry, it might be unnerving but these are not psychic vampires, only lost spirits. The reasoning behind who they follow is speculated, much like the rest of the occult, but a good reason might be that the one they choose reminds them of something they were familiar with while alive. Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to get rid of them until they leave on their own. You can try a banishing but if their glue is stronger than your magick there's nothing you can do. Either way, most occurrences like this only last a few days so you shouldn't have to call a priest.

The Sickness

When it comes to the occult, one thing can have many different names depending on region or even the individual. In this case, I'm calling it the sickness. It is an ambiance released by some one who is seriously physically ill or on heavy drugs. Typically, it can only be detected within a five foot radius of the person and causes tension in the seer; it can even produce a visible clear screen around the person depending on the severity.


It is almost impossible to determine the source of "the sickness" because illness and drug use register the same. Most often one must use the process of elimination to reach a conclusion in regards to the cause. However, the cause is irrelevant; if taken as a warning The Sickness does its job either way.

How to Banish A Strigoi

Romania will probably be touched on a lot in this log, because even in present day extreme measures are taken to both deter and evoke demonic or otherwise evil aspects in the everyday life of the Romanian. This particular post is about the strigoi, the beings from whom I adopted my name, and a ritual often performed in an effort to banish them.

The strigoi are in encyclopedia terms the undead, both spirits and physical forms, that rise from the grave to seek vengeance or otherwise haunt the countryside, feasting on either the life force or actual flesh and blood of its victims. The Romanian engage in the following practice to rid the burdened of the strigoi:

There are a few variations on this ritual depending on region and oral tradition, but the basics remain the same: The suspected deceased is exhumed by the victimized with more often than not a holy man present, for protection I suppose, and more often than not without consent from the dead man's family. The victims then cut out the heart and burn it to a crisp, then grind it into a fine powder. The powder is then mixed with a few ingredients including water, maybe oil, and often alcohol. Finally the concoction is heated to a near boil to make sure the powder is soaked and evaporated into the other ingredients, and a cup is passed between the victims who proceed to drink the brew of powdered heart.

Today only rural areas of Romania practice this, and even then it isn't very often the dead rise. Even though modernized parts of Romania no longer practice acts of this nature, urban and rural alike still both believe and fear these beings and take superstitious measures to evade their attention.

The Penanggalan

It was oh, ninth grade I suppose, when I was actually bored enough to utilize the library of my humble high school in my oh-so-Baptist hometown. I didn't expect to find anything of interest but to my surprise the school actually gave in to the 'freedom of religion' schtick and provided the holy bible, and according to law a few other less checked-out books. One of them was called The Picture Book of Devils, Demons and Witchcraft, and it was in this book that I discovered the glory that is the penanggalan. Needless to say, I never returned it.

Originating in the Malay Peninsula, the penanggalan is a rather gruesome breed of vampire. There are many explanations of what causes the creation of such a
monstrosity, but one of the most prominent is the belief that it is the detached head of a woman who died during childbirth, that in her madness ravages the region in search of blood and flesh. The penanggalan is always depicted as a severed and floating female head with entrails and bit of bone hanging from the neck, as well as the heart.

According to oral tradition, the creature appears as a normal woman during the daytime, and it is only at night that the head detaches from the body and perches on trees or roofs of houses of women who are in labor, waiting to drink the blood left by afterbirth. The women who have been preyed upon almost always contract a fatal wasting disease and die soon after. The penanggalan is also referred to as the penanggal, and in the Philippines, the manananggal.