Cosmic Witch: Magic, Witchcraft, and the Supernatural

I am so happy to announce the English version of my book Cosmic Witch (The Witch - La Strega in Italiano) is now available on Amazon. Feeling, excited, accomplished, nervous, happy, and relieved.

There is a strong autobiographical component to this book where I recount my experiences with mysterious lights, and other paranormal phenomena, and how those encounters shaped who I am, both as a researcher of exceptional human experiences, and as a witch.

I am an introvert, it has never been easy for me to be so open, and I am fully aware of how strange what I write about will sound to most people, but I believe in my heart that my initiation as a witch occurred when I first experienced the strange, mystical lights in the sky, which some people identify as UFOs. The encounters I write about occurred mostly in Canada and around the Great Lakes.

In a spiritual sense, I view them as messengers from the star goddess, and throughout my life they have extended to me their cosmic invitation, and allowed me to participate in their magic.

This book came about through a series of synchronicities that brought me together with my publisher Le Due Torri in Bologna Italy, and lays the foundation for future planned projects where I discuss some of the experiments I have conducted in conjuring UFOs, including a reworking of the famous 1970s Toronto "Phillip" sessions. Its is a book written from my heart and perhaps guided occasionally by unseen hands.

The beautiful artwork is by Miguel Romero aka Red Pill Junkie, who captured the spirit of Cosmic Witch with this breathtaking image.

COSMIC WITCH: magic, witchcraft, and the supernatural Available through Amazon in English and Le Due Torri in Italiano

Synchronicity, Terror, Technology, and Angela

Our world has been plunged into a very liminal state during these last six months, and as a consequence the veil is much thinner so to speak. I was discussing this with a friend from New York who is a professional psychic, and she agrees with me that these strange times are producing many more stranger experiences. UFOs are flying, ghosts are appearing, and I am noticing synchronicities more often than I usually do, and I am a person who sees the symbolic dream-like language of our collective reality quite readily.

In the last couple of weeks we've experienced a number of odd things here in our mountain village, which I wanted to write down before their memory becomes blurry. 

On July 20th we decided to attempt to photograph comet Neowise. It was not easy to do as the comet was very faint, and while awaiting for it to get sufficiently dark enough I downloaded the Randonautica app. This is something I wanted to try out for a while and for me the timing seemed good. I have linked to the Ranonaut homepage for those who are unfamiliar with it and want to learn more, but in a nutshell it is an app that gives geo-cords based on intentions you set. The idea is to venture to potentially new and random places where synchronicities may be produced with your own intention.

This is our comet photo. 

My intention that night was to see UFOs, which is no surprise to anyone who knows me. The co-ords given were somewhere in the middle of a forest close to where we live. It was very late, and at night the forest here is populated by wild boars, and wolves, and other creatures I prefer to avoid while giving all due respect IE: no way were we going at night. 

So, we waited until going home and used Google Earth to check out where this place is, and make a plan to visit there during the day. What we saw surprised us because right at that location exists the ruins of a large church that we had no idea was there. You literally have to hike into this location to find it, and you can bet we will do so when the weather is a little cooler. The photo below was found on the internet and has the photographer's name below.

Photo: Francesco Marucci

I tried using the Randonautica app the next two nights in a row with the same UFO intention and it sent us first to our local cemetery, and then a bakery! What to take away from that, but the UFOs are related to the hungry dead?!!  

I haven't used the Randonautica app since, but it is a lot of fun, and if you are into synchronicities, and random adventuring its worth trying out in my opinion.

High strangeness and the paranormal and synchronicities tend to manifest spontaneously and when you least expect them. Therefore it was not too surprising to me when a few days after the randonaut, comet chasing adventure, we had a very strange event in our car while out doing some morning errands. 

We had just finished grocery shopping, something that really ranks high up there in the mundane, and routine. When we opened the car doors to put our purchases inside we were both assaulted by an extreme smell of perfume. It was so strong it was as if someone broke an entire bottle of the stuff in the car! I could literally taste it. 

Neither Massimo or I could come up with a reasonable explanation for it, and as the car began airing out the scent was clearly identifiable as roses.

This type of paranormal smell is not new to me. I had a similar occurrence in a house I lived in during the 1990s. The appearance of the rose scent at that time heralded the beginning of a three period of intense high strangeness that at times was frightening for me and my children, and others who came to our house and witnessed these weird things. 

I have to wonder if this new out of place rose smell will spark the beginning of similar cycle of high strangeness... 

The mysterious smell of roses is associated with Catholic Saints, so when it happened I immediately thought of Saint Catherine of Bologna. She was a mystic, artist and visionary and so her life story, and shrine intrigued me. 

I visited this incorruptible saint twice in 2018, and the photo above is one I took of her.  You can read about her and my visit here.  

Later that day I received a DM from an American friend who said she had a very vivid and highly symbolic dream about me, which would have roughly coincided with the timing of the mysterious perfume in our car. Her first name along with 5 generations of women in her family is a variation of the name Rose. Was she bi-locating to me with the scent of roses? 

And even later that night, we were sitting outside and I kept hearing what I thought was church bells. This might not be so unusual, but the bells which started out melodic turned more and more into a cacophony, AND it was 9 pm on a Tuesday night! Of course I thought of the nearby abandoned church and wondered if what I was hearing was coming from some other reality. Massimo who was sitting with me did not hear them the way I did. 

Riding the weirdness wave, I decided to try a little impromptu ghost hunting. After a few minutes of quiet meditation I turned on the GhostTube app, which was created by my favourite ghostly Youtubers at Amy's Crypt, and is free to download.  Almost immediately it  said the name Angela. It repeated the name Angela a few times, also the words peaceful, and sailor. I had no idea what this might have meant. The only Angela that both my husband I know is the lady at the cat shelter where we adopted Pixie and Merry, and she seems to be alive and well.

After getting ready for bed I opened up my phone for one last check of messages and news and this was the first image that popped up. It startled me so much I got Massimo to take a pic of my phone screen with his. This is what we saw....

The article is about the worst terror attack in the history of Italy. On the morning of 2 August 1980, Fascist terrorists planted a bomb in the waiting area of the Bologna Centrale railway station resulting in the death of  85 people and wounding over 200 more. It is known as the Bologna massacre. The poignant image above depicts a memorial at the station and a hand touching the name of one of those victims... Angela. 

My husband had been scheduled to arrive at the train station 2 hours after the bombing occurred. He had been visiting his sweetheart in Finland and was taking the train from Milan's airport to his home in Bologna. In those days there were no mobile phones, no social media, and no easy way to communicate, so at the time his family were in anguish not knowing if Massimo had been caught up in the horrific events of that day. I can only imagine my husband's horror when he was able to get back to Bologna.

The synchronicity between the Ghost Tube session, and the photo of the memorial is striking to me.  Angela's full name was Maria Angela Marangon and she was 22 years old when she died, almost the exact same age as my husband was in 1980 at the time of the bombing. 

Clearly my husband is tied to that event, as are all the people of Bologna within living memory, and this is our home. Along with the name Angela the word peaceful came up more than once in my session. I hope that she and her loved ones, and all those who have suffered such an immense and senseless tragedy have found some peace. I honestly don't know if I ever could, and I plan to bring a flower for Maria Angela to the train station memorial the next time I am there. 

I cannot with 100% confidence say this was a message from the other side, or know how deeply inter-connected these strange experiences over the last couple of weeks are to each other. But I do strongly suspect they are connected on some deeper level. 

My take away from the Angela synchronicity is that this was a reminder of the preciousness and fragility of all of our lives. 

Be well and good to each other. ❤

Saint Catherine of Bologna; Mystic, Artist, Incorruptible

Saint Catherine of Bologna, Catherina de 'Vigri, was an Italian Poor Clare nun, writer, teacher, mystic, and artist.

Caterina was born in Bologna, on September 8, 1413, she was the daughter of the Ferrarese nobleman Giovanni de'Vigri, professor of law at the University of Bologna. Despite being born into wealth and privilege she preferred to follow a very spiritual path and followed a monastic life of seclusion.

An image of Santa Catherine in life

She was described as being well loved during her life, and with a lively personality. She became interested in art, music, song, dance, painting and literature. There is a viola, some paintings and various writings created by her, including  her book The Seven Spiritual Arms, The Twelve Gardens, the Rosarium, and The Sermons, which has been preserved. 

Artwork by Caterina of Bologna 

Caterina died on 9 March 1463 and was buried, without posessions, in the bare earth. Surprisingly her body after death did not decompose. 

Testimony from 1463:

"When the grave was ready and when they lowered the body, which was not enclosed in a coffin, it emanated a scent of indescribable sweetness, filling the air all around. The two sisters, who had descended into the grave, moved with compassion on His beautiful and radiant face, covered it with a cloth and placed a rough table a few inches above the body, so that the clods of earth would not touch it. Yet they stared at him awkwardly that the face and body were still covered when the pit was filled with earth. The sisters often came to visit the cemetery, cried, prayed and read at the grave, and always noticed the sweet smell that surrounded it. Since there were no flowers, no herbs next to the grave, but only dry land."

And after her exhumation:

 "When we found the body and cleaned our faces, we noticed that it had been crushed and disfigured by the weight of the wooden table that had been placed on it. In addition, by digging, three of the sisters had damaged it with a spade. We placed it in a coffin, and we were about to rebuff her, but a strange impulse prompted us to place it temporarily under the portal. And it was then that the crushed nose and the entire face gradually regained their natural form. The deceased became white, beautiful, intact, as if she were still alive, her nails were not blackened and she smelled delicious. All the sisters were deeply agitated; the scent spread in the church and in the convent, impregnating the hands that had touched it, and there seemed to be no explanation. After she became quite pale, she began to change color, becoming redder, while her body began to emit a pleasantly perfumed sweat. Passing from the pallor to a color of incandescent amber, She exuded an aromatic liquid that at times seemed like limpid water, and sometimes a mixture of water and blood."

From  the circular window of her altar you can see Saint Catherine (my photo) 

Immediately after her death she was hailed as a saint, and on 22 May 1712 she was canonized by Pope Clement XI.

The incorrupt body of Santa Caterina de 'Vigri is preserved in Bologna in a chapel of the Sanctuary of the Corpus Domini monastery in Bologna founded almost 600 years ago.

On a sunny Wednesday morning this April I visited the monastery located on a quiet street in a very non descript neighbourhood of Bologna. The church is very plain from the outside, but beautifully humble and uplifting in the interior. I had been hoping to spend time with the Saint, and although it was not a day the public were normally allowed to be with her, the kind nuns allowed me to spend time alone with Caterina.

My photo.  My reflection in the glass with Saint Catherine.

She is perfectly preserved with the exception of her blackened skin from centuries of candle smoke, and there is a smell of flowers that surrounds her. She sits upon a gold chair with her bible in her hands.

Words cannot truly express the emotion and feelings I had in her presence. I am not Catholic. But I felt joy, and a sense of peace with her. I have visited several chapels and Cathedrals in Italy and I can truly say none has moved me so much as the Sanctuary of the Corpus Domini and Saint Catherine.

Witches, Feminism, and a 15th century Bolognese Countess

From high atop the Sasso Marconi mountainside one can view the Palazzo Sanuti-Bevilacqua a 15th century villa, and home to a most remarkable medieval woman, and early Italian feminist. 

While I was hiking through this stunning and atmospheric area I was amazed to learn about Nicolosa Sanuti.

Nicolosa Sanuti was the daughter of Antonio Castellani, a notary, and Margherita Franchini. After her marriage to the Count Nicolò Sanuti, she became the owner of a vast lands in the province of Bologna. Along the bank of Reno River, the Sanuti family built the villa that was their residence and still bears their name, Palazzo Sanuti. From the beautiful fountains located inside the property the adjacent hamlet took its name, Fontana. 

Madonna and child

Inner courtyard including a photograph below from the turn of the last century depicting the fountain from which the hamlet took its name.

The Palazzo Sanuti Bevilacqua Degli Ariosti is currently in use as a private residence and office, but the influence of the original Countess is still very much felt and remembered. 

The historic plaque above recalls Nicolosa's fight against draconian laws which dictated what women could and could not wear in public.  In 1453 Roman Catholic Cardinal Basilios Bessarion of Bologna enacted his own particularly restrictive sumptuary laws, especially with regard to women.

In response, Nicolosa Sanuti wrote to the cardinal (in perfect Latin) arguing against his politics, in which she underlined the injustice of having to oblige women to adopt different and more modest customs than those of all the other Europeans. She also pointed out that fashion was viewed as symbol of femininity, and that women were already prevented from wearing the clothes of magistrates, militia and priests. She accused him of not wanting to take into account the greatness of women who all descend from Sappho, Artemisia, and Cornelia.

Not only was her letter one of the precious few in that time period to be written and conceived by a woman, but she was the only one who contested the theoretical assumptions underlying the sumptuary laws.

The reaction from the government of Bologna was negative. Cardinal Bessarion left her letter unanswered. And the canon Matteo Bosso publicly questioned the identity of the author considering a woman incapable of writing with such eloquence, and in Latin.

Countess Sanuti was a contemporary of Ginevra Sforza the wife and counselor of Giovanni II Bentivoglio, Lord of Bologna, and Gentile Budrioli, wife of the notary Alessandro Cimieri and student at the University of Bologna, who was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake in 1498.

All three of these women were unpopular with the Church and State, the Countess for challenging the sumptuary laws, Ginevra for having the ear and influence over her powerful husband, and Gentile for her skills as a healer and astrologer. While the first two women had powerful stations within society, Gentile did not and she may have paid a price for the sins of her feminist counterparts with her brutal execution in the main square of Bologna.

Nicolosa Sanuti died in 1505 in Bologna.

During the same year and due to several conspiracies the Pope ordered the Bentivoglios including Ginevra to leave the city, their properties in Bologna were looted and the Palazzo Bentivoglio was razed. Ginevra was excommunicated by the Church and she died on the 16th of May 1507. Her body was buried in a common grave.

The Palazzo Sanuti-Bevilacqua is located in an area where I have been studying local folklore. La Rupe of Sasso Marconi is geologically significant and has a rich history. In 1283 it was chosen as a site to build a shrine and sanctuary to the Venerated Virgin of Sasso. Over the years the rock mountain had been excavated, and there are a series of tunnels still visible, where in centuries past poor people lived like cavemen. On the night of June 23rd 1892 the side of the cliff facing the river crashed down and crushed the houses below it. 14 people died that night and many others were injured.

Following the tragic event stories of black magic, witchcraft, and strange mystery lights have plagued the area. Before hiking through the area I had not heard of the feminist Countess Sanuti before. And after researching more about her and her contemporaries Ginevra and Gentile, I now wonder if the accusations of witchery in the area and black magic somehow link back to the courageous Nicolosa Sanuti?

All of the photographs above with the exception of those from the historical archive were taken by me in March 2018.