A place of ritualistic black magic performed by one of the evilest players in the game.
Boleskine House is a mansion that lies on the banks of Loch Ness. A ruin now since suffering a severe fire. IT happened in December 2015, causing near destruction. Only part of the interior and the shell survived. A further fire in July 2019 destroyed the rest of the interior. The house is now under refurbishment to restore it to its original stature. Boleskine House is a category B listed building and is under ownership by a non-profit organization. Restoration work started in December 2019. Considering its evil history, they would do well to leave it in ruins?
The property occupied the site of a Kirk (church) that had burnt down during a church service. The congregation was in attendance, and everyone inside died. Boleskine House also suffered a fire that caused a certain amount of damage. But later, more severe fires almost demolished the entire building. Built around 1760 by Colonel Archibald Fraser as a hunting lodge. He carried on extending the house until 1830 and formed a tunnel that links the house to the graveyard.
The house and its surroundings have a history of strange happenings. They go long into its distant past.
In one incident, a minister named Thomas Houston (1648-1705), had a gruesome task. Laying corpse back in their grave, after a local wizard had raised the dead from the village graveyard. It isn’t likely, but it gives credence to the strangeness of the place.
The Frazer family sold the house in 1899 to Alistair Crowley. An occultist, dubbed by the press, as the evilest man in Britain.
The house contained evil long before Crowley moved in. But it was he that invoked the spirits that led to several demons living there. Crowley performed rituals to conjure up various spirits. One ritual interested him in particular, from a book called The Book of Abramelin. The purpose of the detailed ritual was to invoke a person’s, Guardian Angel. The person has to prepare themselves for several months. It includes the summoning of several demons brought in from hell as well.
Many consider “The Book of Abramelin” to be the best book on magic available, and relate to an Egyptian magician known as Abramelin the Mage. First published in 1900 and translated from a French script. Written by Abraham for his son Lamech. This book was Crowley’s inspiration, and he based much of his sadistic work on this literature. The contents provide rituals for both black and white magic. If carried out to the letter, it could produce successful results. He was only interested in the darkness.
While carrying out this ritual, Crowley left midway for Paris. He never finished the ritual. This released evil into the house and the surrounding area as demons from hell. There were many strange occurrences around the place.
Who knows what Crowley released? But it had severe and sometimes tragic consequences on several people around him. His housekeeper himself suffered the loss of two children. A 10-year-old daughter, and a 1-year-old son, who both died under strange circumstances.
Another incident involved one of Crowley’s employees. That had long given up alcohol, got drunk, and attempted to murder his whole family.
A further incident in 1965 involved the then owner, an army major by the name of Edward Grant. He committed suicide by using a shotgun on himself in Crowley’s old bedroom.
The housekeeper, Anne McLaren, foresaw the incident as a premonition she had. While alone in the garden, she heard the shotgun go off inside the house. She went to investigate and found no one. The incident took place for real a week later. This time, the major had half of his head blown off.
Alistair Crowley sold and left the house in 1913. The demons didn’t. They stayed to reek their evil on any unsuspecting victims that came their way. Crowley had added to the already macabre mystery of the place. While Crowley lived at the house, he admitted his rituals and his evil practices had gotten out of hand.
In 1969, the house was for rent. A filmmaker named Kenneth Anger rented the place for a while. His interest in the occult and the property’s history drew him. But shortly after, he moved out for some undisclosed reason.
In 1970, Jimmy Page, of the band Led Zeppelin, heard about the house for sale and purchased. Again, because of its history and Jimmy’s interest in the occult and also in the antics of Aleister Crowley. He had a special interest in Crowley, and was one reason that attracted him to the house. He owned the house for the next 22 years until 1992. Jimmy planned on restoring the house, but spent very little time there. Instead, he put a friend of his in charge: Malcolm Dent.
Dent moved into the Boleskine House and found it in a sorry mess. The grounds were in a state of decline, the garden overgrown, the house in dire need of repair.
After a while, Dent experienced strange happenings. Such as rumbling noises coming from outside his bedroom door. He experienced noises one night coming from the same vicinity that sounded like a beast of some sort. He never opened the door in fear. Dent also experienced various other events. Doors opening and closing and furniture moving. A friend of Dent’s reported an attack in the night, by a devil, he said.
Dent continued to live in the house despite all this.
In 1992 the house sold. Ronald and Annette MacGillivray became the new owners. Though still needing much repair. They spent a large amount of money on the property for renovations. It was later turned into a hotel.
When Mr. MacGillivray died in 2002, the house changed ownership again. This time Dutch owners who preferred to remain anonymous. They converted the property back to a private dwelling, used as a holiday home.
On the 23rd of December 2015, a fire damaged the house. Although the house was ablaze, no-one was home, so luckily, no casualties.
The house is now owned by an organization that intends to restore it. Being a grade B listed building has piqued interest. With its reputation of evil, a place of devil worship, Satanism, and occult practices, it would be better to leave well alone. Instead, the demons are getting their dark house back. A place where the evilest Satanist in Britain once lived. Where a portal opened up to let free hell’s inhabitants. A place where evil feelings move through the atmosphere. Many locals have given it a wide berth in the past and still do to this day.
D. Marsden © 2020
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