Occult crime, Pagan policemen and a Todmorden mystery
A series of ‘Satanic’ sheep killings grips the New Forest – but the Pagan Police are investigating
In an echo of Dr Eric Dingwall’s work as a police consultant on criminal cases with occult angles [see FT300:50-54], the Police Pagan Federation (PPA) have been called in to assist Hampshire Constabulary, who are investigating a series of grisly crimes with elements of black magic in and around the village of Bramshaw. During November 2019, two sheep were found to have been stabbed to death, with pentagrams and the number ‘666’ spray-painted on them, two heifers stabbed in the neck, and the exterior and interior of St Peter’s, the village’s parish church, was desecrated. Inverted crosses and phallic symbols had been spraypainted in gold on church doors and windows. Nearby road signs and noticeboards were similarly defaced. Three cows were also found stabbed in nearby Linford.
The 200-strong PPA was originally formed in 2009 as a support group for Pagans within the police force, but its members’ expertise has subsequently been drawn upon during probes into horse maiming and attacks on churches. Sergeant Andy Pardy, the PPA’s head, pointed out that whilst the pentagram is “a very emotive symbol” that “always creates a furore”, its appearance is unlikely to be connected to practising Pagans at all, but may simply be due to children messing about, or a mentally ill individual. Use of inverted crosses and the number ‘666’ does not suggest Paganism, but rather some form of black magic, or indeed teenagers reenacting a Hammer horror film or Midsomer Murders episode.
Villagers deny that local children could be responsible, pointing out that everyone knows everyone else’s business in this small close-knit community. “It’s absolutely not local kids”, says Mike Mills, who runs the village’s only shop. The Rev David Bacon, 57, vicar of St Peter’s for the past 15 years, said: “There’s been witchcraft round here for hundreds of years – the New Forest is well known for witchcraft and black magic happening, and this has obviously gone up a level.” During this time, he said, there have been five small incidents: “Little rings of stones left on the church’s doorstep, for example. I think they’re just letting us know they are there. But they never come out of the shadows”. Light and darkness were the themes of his sermon for the first Sunday of Advent.
In identifying local Pagan groups, the PPA is not only examining possible suspects but offering support in case of a backlash. Simon Wood, a former
police officer and a member of the New Forest Pagans of Ytene group, said: “There are lots of clans in the New Forest. 20thcentury Wicca’s founder Gerald Gardner was associated with the area, and in the 1950s (see FT267:39), the prominent witch Sybil Leek lived in the village of Burley, a few miles from Bramshaw; but discrimination against Pagans is still widespread and we often find ourselves on the receiving end of abuse from local people when we hold our open ceremonies, for looking different, dressing different. There is a worry among us that this could be the work of someone trying to paint us in a bad light when really we are just as appalled as anyone else”.
In late December, another sheep was found dead, “slit from neck to crotch with entrails removed” and sprayed with “Satanic symbols”, in the village of Boldre in the New Forest.
Meanwhile, residents of Todmorden in West Yorkshire were puzzled recently by what
appeared to be a Vodou veve (a symbol representing a particular loa, saint or spirit in the Vodou pantheon (see FT140:32-38). chalked on the pavement. It was found by a window cleaner early in the morning of Thursday 19 December 2019, and according to the Twitter account Centre for Folklore, Myth and Magic, that posted the photograph, “local business very unsettled as worried whatever is meant is aimed at them”. The display is somewhat unclear; the chalked veve and the crossed keys are indicative of Papa Legba, guardian of crossroads and opener of ways, who is called upon before any others may be petitioned, whilst the rum and cigarettes are generic Vodou spirit offerings. The goat’s skull and black candle, however, are atypical of Legba, whose day is Monday, not Wednesday or Thursday. Strange doings are afoot. BBC News, 22 Nov; metro. co.uk, 24 Nov; D.Mail, 25+30 Nov, 5 Dec; Times, 30 Nov; @ CentreMyth, 19 Dec 2019.