Wednesday, 25 February 2026

Dr Richard Gallagher: Evidence for Evil Spirits (1)

​Who believed in magic when they were a child? I did. Even before I learned to read. My first favourite book was Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree and I couldn’t put it down because it filled me with joy and wonder. I was also blessed to have scant awareness of ‘evil spirits’ and so called ‘dark forces’ and even avoided our illustrated children’s bible because the scary images freaked me out too much. I had a similar experience much later in life when I connected with Jock Brocas and began writing and editing articles for his Afterlife Magazine, but it took me awhile to warm to his Paranormal Daily News publication primarily because of the predominantly dark imagery that accompanied most of the articles. I was the ultimate scaredy cat.

That was around 2016 but my timely, parallel shamanic healing art and energy medicine studies gradually helped me create a more balanced perspective about the ‘dark side’. I also learned that healing our wounds and traumas serves to strengthen, expand and protect our innate light and frequency, so much so that the lower, pesky, daemonic entities don’t have a hope in hell of getting anywhere near us no matter how hard they may try. Only then was I able to start editing PDN articles and contributing a few of my own. And ironically, my subsequent and unexpected research travels into horrific hidden realms of the death/blood cult world, served to dissolve all of my fears.

The parallel death/blood cult world has existed for thousands of years but has largely remained conveniently out of sight because historically, the majority of men and women the world over, never allowed the horrific sex and sacrifice rituals involving babies and children to be ‘normalized’. And nor should they be. That said, the word cult has also been extremely muddied and misconstrued in the western world in particularly, probably because of the socially engineered mass ignorance about the occult in general. For the record:

(Etymonline)

Abundant eyewitness evidence for evil spirits

​Given that the overarching theme of this article revolves around ‘evidence for evil spirits’, sensitive readers may find the following revelations extremely disturbing. But the wider community must be made aware of the fact that millions of babies and children are suffering beyond belief on our planet, 24/7, and that the government enabled child/human trafficking ‘industry’ is now alleged to being the trillions, rather than billions. Only then will we be able to link arms and demand full exposure, change and legislation to stop these and other horrific death cult crimes from continuing.

When generational cult survivor testimonials began to cross my path in 2020, I was horrified to my core by the amount of child sacrifice that goes on in the names of Moloch, Satan, Lucifer and other dark entities that I previously thought were mere myths; the violent ‘sex majik’ rituals involving babies and children that allegedly enable their equally violated abusers to access portals and supernatural powers; the male sorcerers who believe they can access other dimensions of galaxies and commune with ‘older and stronger entities than god’ through sex with young boys.

Former Freemason turned educator Dr Selwyn Stevens will tell you that Freemasons make energetic connections with dark entities when they take their oaths, and dark entities 'attach' to the energetic signature/DNA of the host via the chakra portal which the oath relates to. This is how curse energy can be passed down through generations within families. Ex freemason Dr. William (Bill) Schnoebelen will tell you about the little known masonic ‘Royal Secret’ belief that you can live forever by sexually vampirising children; and when he swore his oath to Satan and signed his name in blood, he was obligated to finding seven people to sell their souls to the devil, sort of like multi-level marketing, but for the devil.

Masonic abuse survivor and award winning investigative journalist Phoenix Caspian mirrors the growing ‘ponzi scheme’ claims of other masonic whistleblowers: “Most Freemasons think they are being given occult knowledge and power. In fact, they are being initiated into a giant ponzi scheme. In return for providing the 'higher' Freemasons with 'kompromat' (self-incriminating blackmail material) the initiate is advanced up the 'degrees' of the Freemasonic hierarchy. As a Freemason attains more 'power' they are installed in 'higher' positions of authority by those at the top of the ranks... It is for this reason that many court judges, politicians, business 'leaders', and police officers are Freemasons.” (The Cloud Pyramids)

Innocent children should not be forced to witness the reality of evil spirits

After many hours of listening to cult survivor testimonials, and reading comprehensive military intelligence reports, books and articles penned by esoteric/metaphysical scholars, researchers and cult whistleblowers, I developed a sense of deep empathy for anyone trapped in the chronically sad death cult realm. I am also of the view that no child should born into such extreme and traumatizing darkness where witnessing children and animals being murdered and evil spirits manifesting in front of them in frenzied rituals, becomes their ‘normal’. No child should be so brutally deprived of their sacred innocence; of ever experiencing the wonders of childhood - the joy, love, laughter, fun and adventure.

Equally concerning is the danger that generational cult children pose to themselves and others as adults if there is no intervention. Tragically, deliberately breaking the mother-child bond at birth is key to controlling generational cult children - and all children - well into adulthood, and many children die at the hands of cult predators in ‘privileged’ aristocratic bloodlines, some of whom are so psychopathic that they ‘kill for fun.’ And get away with it. Then there are the men and women who are recruited into the various cult groups and don’t understand what they are getting themselves into until it’s too late. Another reason why basic occult and cult awareness and education is so important, especially during these crazy times when a minority of generational cult bloodlines that have lost their way so severely, are desperately trying to force the general population into accepting their horrifically wicked practices and subjecting all children to submit to extreme practices that inflict extreme trauma and suffering.

More recently, I received first hand information about an illuminati-driven baby/child murder and ‘soul stealing’ crisis in Adelaide, South Australia, during a brief online interaction with a woman who is a survivor of the illuminati’s cruel and damaging Monarch program. She made a public plea to the Police Commissioner to intervene because things were so out of control. Our comments were swiftly deleted but I found out more about her via her seemingly crazy podcast. The conveniently hidden horror show she speaks of appears to be largely driven by mentally diseased death cult diehards, illicit drugs and frenzied cult rituals that turn into murderfests and violent cannibalism of babies and young children. Adults are also killed and eaten during ‘spirit cooking rituals, and there is also no shortage of testimonials about evil entities manifesting in our earthly realm from the fourth dimension during rituals.

The CIA & Project Monarch Report

Author Ron Patton encapsulates the Monarch Project in his comprehensive Monarch Report - Full History, which all moral legislators and law enforcement men and women should read:

​'... A form of structured dissociation and occultic integration, in order to compartmentalize the mind into multiple personalities within a systematic framework. During this process, a Satanic ritual, usually including Cabalistic mysticism, is performed with the purpose of attaching a particular demon or group of demons to the corresponding alter(s). Of course, most skeptics would view this as simply a means to enhance trauma within the victim. negating any irrational belief that demonic possession actually occurs.'

Another common thread I discovered in my dark occult travels was a cult dependency on instructions and rituals from old books written by prominent, long dead occultists whose heavy hearts and minds were filled with old beliefs and uncontrollable addictions to violent sexual and sacrificial blood rituals. Some cult bloodlines have family members who are so far gone that they can’t live without daily blood baths. Then there is the belief that ingesting ‘young blood’ known as adrenochrome will keep you young and many people with money to burn are severely addicted. The lucrative adrenochrome ‘young blood’ black market is also booming, with elitist addicts from a broad range of professions having no regard for the extreme suffering of babies and children that provide them with their vanity drug. Withdrawal is allegedly worse than heroin.

Death/Blood Cult definitions

One of the most succinct definitions of the death/blood cult that I came across in my research travels was provided in a newsletter written by GAB CEO Andrew Torba:

At its core, this ideology venerates death. It champions the right to end innocent life in the womb, rebranding the slaughter of the unborn as “healthcare” and a sacred right. It encourages the chemical and surgical mutilation of healthy young bodies, a grotesque parody of medicine that severs the individual from their own biological reality. It pushes policies that dissolve the fundamental bonds of family and community, leaving isolated, atomized individuals adrift in a meaningless sea of consumer choices and state dependency.’

Another astute death cult educator and survivor is Max Lowen, whose latest article poses a wise question: Epstein Disclosure: How do we move forward? Lowen was sex trafficked through elitist circles and major institutions as a child, witnessed terrifying entities manifest at VIP rituals involving child rape and murder that still haunt her today, and eventually found her way out of the darkness and onto her healing path. She is now a trauma counsellor, podcaster, writer and contributor to various health and healing forums including the World Council for Health (1)

​Writes Max Lowen: ‘The sacrifice of children is nothing new. In ancient cultures babies were sacrificed to Moloch by being burnt alive as offerings. This cult ritual simply went underground in more modern times, literally under the ground at the Vatican, under the UN and other global organizations, in DUMBS, tunnels and other locations. I myself witnessed these sacrifices in the subterranean levels of the Vatican and at Elite events. The sacrifice of children also occurs above ground via the medical-pharmaceutical companies through vaccines, medications and transgender surgeries.’

With regard to Lowen’s question of how do we move forward, I would recommend the establishment of a global Truth and Restorative Justice Commission to assist cult survivors and victims of cult crimes be heard, acknowledged and compensated for decades of government and law enforcement negligence, and their perpetrators investigated and dealt with. Only then will they be able to focus on their healing journey and creating the life that they wish to live that is free from cult harassment and revenge attacks. Government run inquiries tend to provide recommendations for reform, but more often than not, they are not acted upon. Time for a new and independent strategy.

‘Dark to Light’ Translates to ‘Satan to Lucifer’

evil spirits

After five years of researching the many facets of this parallel death/blood cult world, I have concluded that power, politics, wealth and frenzied, bloodied, dark occult rituals have become far more intertwined than they should be, and the current state of mentally diseased play at the highest levels is detrimental to the mental and spiritual health of the world at large. This includes both innocent, unaware people and practicing dark occultists who are commonly known as sorcerers, queen mothers of darkness, warlocks, witches, high priestesses and various other labels. I have also concluded that the seemingly ‘privileged’ luciferian and satanic bloodlines are behaving like arrogant, power-abusing racketeers and can’t realistically expect the world to comply with their brazen attempts to the normalize demonic worshipping which includes adult sex with children and child sacrifice. And in their world, Dark to Light translates to Satan to Lucifer.

Should you be interested in learning more, I highly recommend this video essay by author, religious scholar and broadcaster Charles Swindoll Jr – Lucifer and the Luciferians: Masters of Deception.

Writes Chuck Swindoll Jr:

‘Luciferians have run the world since organized human history began. They have been steering and shaping the planetary cultural vector since long before the United States, Rome, or even the Egyptians. The cult goes way back. It is also known as ‘The Old Religion’.
They have maintained direct contact with a fourth dimensional being known as Lucifer for thousands of years. Luciferians communicate directly with Lucifer through the ritual practice of child sacrifice. This practice to evoke and convene with Leviathan originated in the cult of Baal. Baal is just a name for Leviathan or Lucifer or Moloch, which all reference the same energy - the cult of Baal... the ancient precursor to luciferianism which I personally consider to be simply a formalized and highly organized cult of Baal...’
‘Luciferianism is both a religion and a bloodline. Satanism is a lower echelon of luciferianism for those outside the bloodline, and wealth prerequisites to qualify as a true luciferian. Money can buy you into the luciferian cult but only bloodline accesses leadership. The highest ranks in the luciferian cult are not voted in, they are bestowed rank through female genetic lineage carefully steered by the cult through select breeding within the blue blood family lines like a king's executive rulership is stowed to his firstborn son.
Luciferians involve thirteen bloodline families plus one hidden royal bloodline, instead of just one family ruling like an imperial kingly monarchy. Luciferians have many at the top so it's a bit more complicated and integrates many more ranking members. There is much disagreement and infighting and personal agenda between the families but they all follow a singular agenda and that is to control and rule the planet.’
​Names are changed in luciferianism to hide the true identities of the individuals, or virtually every name in US Congress would be one of those 14 families and it would be obvious a coup has been pilfering the USA since its inception.

Wise Advice for Aspiring Dark Occultists

To conclude this part of my article, here is a timely quote from Leo Zagami’s comprehensive and insightful book Invisible Master - The Puppeteers Hidden Power. Zagami was born into a ‘black nobility’, masonic, illuminati bloodline and became hugely unpopular when he decided to blow the whistle on all the corruption and other criminal cult shenanigans that were going on behind the scenes, at great personal cost. This memorable revelation sums up what often happens to the majority of practicing occultists in the long term, so please keep this in mind if you decide to exercise your free will choice and dive head first into the dark side:

Writes Leo Zagami:

‘Aleister Crowley’s teachings influence members through initiation rituals for various degrees of his order, the Ordo Templi Orientis, and other sects. They are believed to gradually and consciously distort the chakra energy, polluting them so badly and sometimes irreversibly, to facilitate the demonic control of their minions.
Unfortunately, they think they are elevating themselves to new levels of consciousness, but they are actually doing the exact opposite, falling most of the time into the abyss that Crowley described as the last impediment before illumination. The risk of being overwhelmed by the abyss is high, even for a high level Initiate, as Crowley pointed out. Hence the famous admonition of Crowley, ‘Babe of the Abyss’ which appeared in his famous work called The Book of Lies, published in 1913…of being literally vampirized by interdimensional alien entities, something that happens to the majority of practicing occultists.’

Are spiritually ignorant mental health professionals detrimental to clients?

‘There are non-material realities that are impossible to adjudicate by what we now know as the modern scientific method.’ Dr Richard Gallagher

​This article was originally inspired by PDN Editor-in-Chief Jock Brocas’s Deadly Departed podcast with Professor of Psychiatry Dr Richard Gallagher. Their compelling, multi-faceted discussion about evidence of evil spirits captured my interest because of a ‘near-death experience’ in my late 20s, caused by a spiritually ignorant and extremely dismissive psychiatrist. I was traumatized by a debilitating assault perpetrated by white collar criminals whilst working in Adelaide’s frenetic media industry, which coincided with my spontaneous and wondrous spiritual awakening (of sorts) that sadly descended into something akin to a ‘crazy’ spiritual crisis. I suffered more damage and distress at the hands of this psychiatrist who completely overlooked my spiritual confusion and also the heinous crimes that were committed against me.

Her knowledge and experience with mental health imbalances and disturbances were severely limited to textbook diagnostics and treatment with antipsychotic drugs. Within weeks, her ‘treatment plan’ almost culminated in my untimely death from a drug overdose, despite having zero suicidal thoughts prior to seeing her. When I told her that her deadly drugs nearly caused me to kill myself, she refused to listen, dismissed my warranted distress and told me that I was ‘highly creative’ and needed lithium. I could not believe what I was hearing and furiously told her to stick her drugs and that I was done with her shocking abuse. I walked out and never saw her again. My mother flushed the remaining deadly pills down the tra-la-la, and I eventually recovered enough to pack my bags and limp out of town. Several years later, I was informed that the psychiatrist suffered a nervous breakdown soon after our sessions ended. In hindsight, it was a dark time for us both, and she did me a huge favor by scaring me away from Australia’s mainstream mental illness system for life.

I don’t blame her for not having any idea about things like ‘spiritual crises,’ ‘psychic attacks,’ and even ‘demonic attacks’ because the Australian mental health curriculum simply didn’t ‘go there’ and probably still doesn’t, which is not only blinkered, but dangerous and backward. While I’m sure there is a place for anti-psychotic medication in certain cases, these days we seem to have an over-prescribing crisis where pill-profits and willful ignorance of the reality of spiritual imbalances, disturbances and crises override the primary goal of mental health practitioners - to help clients regain a balanced mental state and their life. Instead, suffering is often made even worse by the ongoing medication dependency, dysfunction and inevitable poverty which places even more pressure on the buckling welfare system.

Needless to say, listening to the Deadly Departed discussion about evidence of evil spirits with Jock Brocas and Dr Richard Gallagher, was divine music to my ears. Gallagher is also a psychoanalyst, Catholic scholar, member and scientific advisor to the International Association of Exorcists since the 1990s, and author of Demonic Foes: My Twenty-Five Years as a Psychiatrist Investigating Possessions, Diabolic Attacks, and the Paranormal. His book deserves a place on the reading list of all mental health study curriculums worldwide. And if the psychiatrist that I saw for those few dark months in early 1990 is still alive, she needs to read it too. As do her peers.

Deadly Departed Podcast: The Evidence for Evil Spirits

Premiered December 15, 2025 - Runtime 1 hr

Deadly Departed Podcast Quote – Dr Richard Gallagher:

I believe that what I write about is genuine knowledge. It's just that it doesn't fit the paradigm, if you will, of being able to do scientific experiments. In other words... when you're dealing with... evil spirits, you're dealing with creatures that want to confuse people and want to hide people. They're not going to be able to be subject for experimentation in a modern scientific sense. They also are perfectly capable of interfering with the study of them.’

Brocas and Gallagher explore one of humanity’s most enduring questions: Are evil spirits real, or simply the stuff of stories and superstition? Despite the expected level of skepticism in scientific and medical circles, it’s heartening to learn that a significant number of mental health professionals do believe in the existence of evil spirits. But are they adequately equipped with the knowledge and understanding they need to effectively address potential spiritual imbalances or interferences? If more mainstream professionals collaborated with experienced, competent spiritual interventionists to help them determine the root cause of ‘mysterious’ or ‘bizarre’ mental and emotional issues, they are bound to assist more clients return to a balanced state of health and wellbeing; a healthier outcome for the practitioner and client alike.

Evidence for Evil Spirits Podcast Key Points

  • Evil spirits: Belief persists worldwide, historically and today, with anecdotal evidence mounting from credible experts and centuries of reports.
  • Materialism vs. spiritual worldview: Science provides tools for investigation, but some phenomena demand approaches that transcend materialist boundaries.
  • Discernment is key: Not every evil act is caused by possession; careful investigation and rational analysis prevent over-attribution.
  • The conversation continues: Empirical research, open-mindedness, and balanced education are vital as we seek to understand anomalous experiences.

Part 2 of Deadly Departed: Evidence for Evil Spirits includes notable transcript highlights.

​References

Chuck Swindoll Jr Video Essay (28 March 2020 - 36 mins): Lucifer and Luciferians: Masters of Deception

*The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (1942) was written in a satirical, epistolary style as a series of 31 letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood, and explores the subtle ways demons attempt to lead humans away from God, using psychological manipulation and spiritual deception.

1. World Council for Health forum: Trauma-based Mind Control and Organized Ritual Abuse - A Healing Exploration.

Further Recommended Viewing

​Redacted Report (13 Feb 2026 - 39 mins) : The ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ Epstein CONNECTION is Dark and Disturbing

Man in America with Max Lowen (21 Feb 2026 - 24 mins) Is the World Run by a Satanic Cult?

50 Voices of Ritual Abuse (August 23, 2023 - 8 mins) - Max Lowen Testimony

​Almost False (March 25, 2025 - 1 hr 15 mins): Former 33rd Degree Mason Reveals the Darkest Secrets of Freemasonry

Almost False (April 22, 2025 - 1 hr 05 mins) The True Life Story of a Former Satanic Vampire

​Ron Patton: CIA and Project Monarch Full History Report

Tuesday, 24 February 2026

Ancient Gateways to the Underworld from the Lethal ‘Ploutonion’ to Porta Magica

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Underworld Travel Guide - legendary ‘Gateways to Hell’ that still exist in Europe

The ‘Ploutonion’ at ancient Hierapolis (near modern Pamukkale in Turkey) was a religious site and a supposed entrance to hell dedicated to the grim god Pluto, he who ruled over the dead in Hades.

Discovered in 1965 by Italian archaeologists, and followed by studies carried out in 1998, the Ploutonion and the nearby Apollo's Oracle of Hierapolis are linked to a seismic fault, on which both sanctuaries were purposely built as part the Gateway to Hades/Hell/The Underworld. The site has been partially restored, with statues of Hades and his three-headed hound Cerberus now guarding the remains of the complex.

Pluto’s sanctuary is built on top of a cave which emits lethal toxic gas; animals would be thrown into the cave and pulled back, instantly dead. Fumes emitted from the cavern are still fatal; passing birds have suffocated after breathing the fumes emanating from the site.

Lethal gas said to be sent by Pluto, god of the underworld

The Ploutonion is a small cave, large enough for one person to enter. Behind the roofed chamber is a deep cleft, through which fast-flowing hot water passes, releasing the lethal gas, said to be sent by Pluto, god of the underworld. The fumes were so strong they could kill a human within just one minute of exposure.

Gelded priests of Cybele (‘the Galli’) descended into the chamber, crawling on the floor to inhale pockets of oxygen, or simply holding their breath. They then returned to the surface claiming a miracle had occurred and they were uniquely under Pluto’s protection.

In front of the ‘Gateway’ an enclosed area of 22,000 square feet was covered by the swirling, deadly gas, instantly killing many who dared to enter this area, except for the wised-up servants of Pluto who were aware the gases pooled closer to the ground, so kept their mouths and noses above the deadly clouds below; unlike the animals (including bulls) that were led to their deaths. The acquisitive priests naturally sold birds and other animals to visitors, who used them to test the deathly air as sacrifices. But their regular exposure to the CO2 in the surrounding atmosphere would have doubtless contributed to the hallucinations and eccentric behaviour displayed by the Pluto’s servitors.

Greek historian Strabo (63 BC – c. 24 AD) described the gate: “Any animal that passes inside meets instant death. I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell.”

For a fee, supplicants asked questions of Pluto’s human oracle, again topping up the sanctuary’s coffers; but when Christianity came to dominance, the area was closed off, and in time largely forgotten. The temple was mostly destroyed by an earthquakes in the 6th century AD.

But Pluto’s shrine is still deadly to some foolish enough to test the god.

Other Hellgates’ - The Roman Forum - home to no less than two entrances to Hades’ realm:

The Lacus Curtius

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lacus_Curtius.jpg

I’m a regular visitor to Rome’s fascinating ancient Forum; two sites are of particular interest to the investigators of esoterica.

The Lacus Curtis is arguably the most mysterious monument of the Roman Forum. The name suggests it was a lake, becoming smaller as drains were constructed, until a small dodecagonal basin was all that remained, called the Lacus Curtius. The Romans had three stories explaining the name. The first was that in 445 BC, lightning struck the area, and consul Gaius Curtius Philo ordered the construction of a fence around it. Livy (59 BCE - 17 CE) tells us that after the Rape of the Sabine Women, war broke out between the Romans and the Sabines, Roman champion Mettius Curtius, drowned in the marsh during the clash which was thereafter called the Lake of Curtius.

The third and most popular account says in 362 BC a great fiery cleft to the Underworld opened in the Roman Forum; seers claimed that to seal the fissure, Rome must throw "that what constituted the greatest strength of the Roman people" into the ravine. If they did so, Rome would last forever. The knight Marcus Curtius mounted his horse, pronouncing that youth was the most important thing, and jumped into the chasm, which then promptly closed.

To the east of the Lacus, the skeletons were discovered of a child, a woman and a man that were bound together and drowned in the lake, perhaps the victims of an ancient ritual, in which people were sacrificed by drowning ; perhaps the three were the profaners noted on the inscription on the nearby Black Stone (Lapis Niger).

Whosoever (will violate) this (grove), let him be cursed. (Let no one dump) refuse (nor throw a body ...). Let it be lawful for the king (to sacrifice a cow in atonement). (Let him fine) one (fine) for each (offence).

The Lacus Curtius was the place where the aged emperor Galba was lynched by soldiers on the fifteenth of January 69.

Umbilicus Urbis Romae/Mundus

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When Romulus founded the city, he instructed a circular pit be dug in the Forum. The first fruits of the year were then thrown in as a sacrifice; apparently in archaic times all new citizens of Rome then had to throw in a handful of dirt from their place of origin. The Mundus was an underground structure considered a gate to the underworld, ritually opened just three days each year. These days were dies nefasti—on which official transactions were forbidden on religious grounds, because evil spirits rose from the Underworld to wander the city.

Porta Alchemica, aka The Alchemical Door, The Magic Portal or The Alchemy Gate

​A way not to the Underworld, but to somewhere else...the mysterious.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Porta_magica_2.JPG

The Alchemical Door, also known as the Alchemy Gate or Magic Portal (Italian: Porta Alchemica or Porta Magica), was built between 1678 and 1680 by Massimiliano Palombara, marquis (nobleman) of Pietraforte, in his residence the villa Palombara, located on the Esquiline Hill, near Piazza Vittorio in Rome. This is the only one of five former gates of the villa that remains.

In a story collected by Francesco Cancellieri in 1802, a pilgrim suspiciously named ‘Stibeum’ (‘Antimony’ - a brittle silvery-white poisonous metal) was a guest in the villa for a night. That night, the pilgrim, identified later as alchemist Giuseppe Francesco Borri/Giustiniano Bon, scoured the gardens of the villa in search of an obscure herb capable of concocting gold. The next morning, he disappeared through a door, leaving behind flakes of gold and a mysterious paper full of puzzling symbols and equations, describing the ingredients and transmutative process required.

The marquis had these symbols engraved on the five gates of the villa Palombara and on the walls of the mansion, hoping that one day they would be translated. Another legend holds that between 1678 and 1680, the same Giuseppe Francesco Borri along with Athanasius Kircher and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, designed and built the gate for the marquis. The marquis Palombara developed a passion for alchemy in 1656, when he visited the alchemical laboratory in Riario Palace, now known as Palazzo Corsini. It was rumoured that Palombara, Bernini and Kircher were all poisoned on 28 November 1680, probably by Borri, for having revealed the secret formulas through the inscriptions on the gate. Cancellieri published his account in 1806, including his interpretation of the inscriptions on the Porta Alchimica. His work was published much later in June 1895 in French by Pietro Bornia as an issue of the periodical L'Initiation.

Inscriptions on the Porta Alchemica include alchemy symbols and incantations

Around the circle at top: “The centre is in the triangle of the centre.”

Also: “There are three marvels: God and man, mother and virgin, triune and one.” And the Hebrew inscription, Ruach Elohim, meaning “Spirit of God.”

Beneath: “The Hesperius dragon guards the entrance of the magic garden, and, without Alcides, Jason would not have tasted the delights of Colchis.”

There are six sigils on the jambs, each with its phrase.

Saturn/Lead: “When in your house black crows give birth to white doves, then you will be called wise.”

Jupiter/Tin:The diameter of the sphere, the tau of the circle, the cross of the globe do not benefit the blind.”

Mars/Iron: “He who can burn with water and wash with fire, makes heaven from earth and precious earth from heaven.”

Venus/Bronze: “If you will make the earth fly upon your head, you will convert the waters of torrents to stone by its feathers.”

Mercury: “Azoth and Fire: by whitening Latona, Diana will come without dress.” Antimony: “Our son lives dead, the king returns from the fire, and enjoys the occult conjunction.”

On the base, Vitriol: “It is occult work of true wise to open the earth, so as he may germinate health/safety for people.”

In another plate, now lost, was the device VILLAE IANUAM TRANANDO RECLUDENS IASON OBTINET LOCUPLES VELLUS MEDEAE 1680 (Passing by opening the door of the villa, Iason obtained the rich fleece of Medea 1680).

And on the doorstep, “SI SEDES NON IS,” a palindrome, meaning both “If you sit, you do not go,” and “If you do not sit, you go.”

The Statues

The figures on both sides of the ‘door’ represent the Egyptian god/semi-divinity Bes. A patron of the home, childbirth, and infants in ancient Egypt, Bes was well-known in imperial Rome, where in pre-Christian age several people followed Egyptian cults.

Originally, the statues were found on the Quirinal Hill, where there once stood a huge temple dedicated to the Egyptian gods Isis and Serapis; over centuries its rich decorations, reliefs and small obelisks were dug up and ‘relocated’ to ornament different parts of the city.

In 1888, during the works for the opening of Piazza Vittorio, the statues were moved from their original location to the Porta Alchemica - and therefore were not part of the original design.

And briefly, some other European ‘hellmouths’

The lake at Lerna, Greece

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Lerna was one of the entrances to the Underworld, and one could gain entry to the netherworld via the Alcyonian Lake. The lake is called "the Lake of Darkness" in Shakespeare's King Lear.

According to Pausanias (110-180 AD), “There is no limit to the depth of the Alcyonian Lake, and I know of nobody who by any contrivance has been able to reach the bottom of it since not even Nero, who had ropes made several stades long and fastened them together, tying lead to them, and omitting nothing that might help his experiment, was able to discover any limit to its depth. This, too, I heard. The water of the lake is, to all appearance, calm and quiet but, although it is such to look at, every swimmer who ventures to cross it is dragged down, sucked into the depths, and swept away.

Cave of the Sibyl, Cumae, Italy

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The Cumaean Sibyl was a priestess who presided over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony near Naples. Her cave was discovered by Amedeo Maiuri in 1932, basing his identification on the description by Virgil in the 6th book of the Aeneid. The cave is a trapezoidal passage over 131m long, running parallel to the side of the hill and cut out of the volcanic tuff stone, and leads to an innermost chamber where the Sibyl was thought to have prophesied, aided by volcanic fumes direct from Hades, or perhaps additional pharmaceutical help. A younger Claudius consulted the Sibyl in I Claudius:

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The Sibyl in I Claudius (BBC2, 1976)

“What groans beneath the Punic curse and strangles in the strings of purse before she mends must sicken worse. Ten years, fifty days and three, Clau-Clau-Claudius shall be given thee a gift that all desire but he. But when he's done, and no more here, nineteen hundred year or near, Clau-Clau-Claudius shall speak clear.”

"The hairy sixth to enslave the State/ Shall be son, no son, of this hairy last./ he shall give Rome fiddlers and fear and fire./ His hand shall be red with a parent's blood./ No hairy seventh to him succeeds/ And blood shall gush from his tomb." (referring to Nero)

A tunnel complex in nearby Baiae (part of the volcanically active Phlegraean Fields) leads to an underground, geothermally heated stream that conforms to the description in the Aeneid of Aeneas's journey to the underworld and back

Lake Avernus, Italy

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Lake Avernus was once synonymous with Hell/the Underworld. Its name means ‘birdless’ in classical Greek, due to the toxic fumes (them again) seeping from the area, which, like Cumae, is part of the Phlegraean Fields of dormant/semi-active volcanoes. The ancient Roman believed Lake Avernus was the entrance to Hades, and its name grew to be a synonym for the underworld itself. In Virgil's Aeneid, Aeneas descends to Hades through a cave near the lake.

St. Patrick’s Purgatory, Ireland

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Christian tradition links Patrick to Ireland’s Station Island (Lough Derg, County Donegal), where Christ showed St Patrick a cave, sometimes referred to as a pit or a well, that was an entrance to Hell. Legend maintains that St. Patrick was depressed by the doubts of his potential converts, who demanded proof of the Creed. St. Patrick earnestly prayed to God to aid him in converting the heathen Irish, and in return, Jesus revealed to him the hole where Purgatory could be seen; a place in which the joys of Heaven and torments of Hell may apparently be glimpsed rather than actually experienced. This supposedly convinced those pagan-backsliders who gaped into the chasm. Not technically an underworld entrance to Hell, but more a spiritual peep-show of sorts.

The cave has been closed since October 25th 1632, but descriptions by early pilgrims survive, referring to it as a cave or cellar or an enclosed pit. The entrance was narrow: about 0.6 m (2 ft) wide and 0.9 m (3 ft) high. Once inside there was a short descent of about six steps. The cave was divided into two parts: the first was about 3 m (9 ft) long, probably with banked sides and only high enough to kneel in; after a turn there was another niche about 1.5 m (5 ft) long.[5] The site has never been excavated, so we can only rely at this point on these descriptions of the cave. It was probably an ancient pre-Christian structure, likely an ancient sweat house. People would enter these enclosed places to inhale medicinal smoke produced by burning various plants, a place that people went to for physical or spiritual healing of some kind.

Cape Matapan Caves, Greece

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The caves at Cape Matapan lie at the end of the Mani peninsula in Greece. The entrance to the caverns is located at sea level, leading to chambers under the cliff face; marked by the ruins of a Spartan temple on top of the cliff. The Ancient Greeks believed in several different entrances to the underworld, of which Matapan is the most famous.

Mount Etna

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Etna was thought in ancient times to be the forge of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and blacksmithing. The rumbling of the volcano was assumed to be the hammer of Hephaestus striking his anvil. Etna was also believed to be a gateway to Hell.

In later times, the Devil left his footprint on the volcano and he whisked Elizabeth I there as she lay dying.

Hekla, Iceland

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Iceland’s Hekla volcano was believed to be another ‘Gateway to Hell’. The activity at Hekla, which includes lava flows and fountaining, looking like a veritable Hell on Earth; birds that were seen flying in the area were thought to be damned souls queueing to enter the Pit. Hekla still carries an evil aura for the superstitious, for they claim it is where witches gather to meet Satan himself.

Houska Castle

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Houska Castle in the Czech Republic is infamous for a legend claiming it was built over another toxic "Gateway to Hell". The gassy fissure was allegedly so deep that no one could see the bottom of it; animal-human hybrids supposedly crawled out of it, and dark-winged, otherworldly creatures flew in the vicinity. When construction began on the castle, prisoners that were sentenced to death were offered a pardon if they agreed to be lowered by rope into the hole, and reported back on what they saw. When the first person was dangled, he began screaming after a few seconds, and when pulled back to the surface, he looked as if he had aged 30 years. Houska’s inhabitants include a bullfrog/human creature, a headless horse, and an old woman as well as the remains of "demonic beasts who escaped the pit".

Fun Fact: the courtyard walls face inwards, as if to keep something in.

The castle was the inspiration for Michael Mann’s 1983 motion picture The Keep? - especially since in World War II, the Wehrmacht occupied the castle and the Nazis were said to have conducted occult experiments there.

Cresswell Crags

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Creswell Crags is an enclosed limestone gorge on the border between the English counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Its caves contain the northernmost cave art in all of Europe, as well as hundreds of later ‘witch marks’ recently discovered there. One collection of scratchings, carved around a four-foot round hole in one of the caves, is said to warn of an entrance to the Underworld.

Hell’s Gate, the East Riding of Yorkshire

Close to the Cresswell Crags, but not really an entrance to Hell as such, but the burial place of thirteen decapitated Anglo-Saxon ‘criminals’. Their heads had probably been displayed on poles as warnings to others, a known practice in Anglo-Saxon England. The use of an ancient pre-Saxon barrow site for the mass grave indicates the executed were excluded from the community, even unto death. The site had been known locally as ‘Hell's Gate’ – suggesting an enduring folk memory from its days as a public execution site.

More Eerie Underworld Entrances

The are other entrances to Hades in the UK, including close to where I currently live.

Marston Moretaine’s (Bedfordshire) - Devil's Stone, marks the spot where Old Nick played a game of leapfrog with three foolish local lads. When they leapt over his back, an entrance to hell opened, and they were never seen again. The Horned One was showing off his muscles to villagers and lifted the tower away from the main body of the building, but had to drop it when his back hurt.

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Not an entrance to hell as such - but of interest I hope to readers; standing outside the west side of St Giles-in-the-Fields in central London, is a gateway built in 1800 by William Leverton.

This is actually a cast of a much earlier original oak panel, kept inside the church, apparently carved in 1687 by someone called Love. It depicts the Resurrection, with Jesus standing in the centre while angels proclaim judgement day and cadavers clamber out of the graves to await their fate. One side shows the godly ascending to heaven (at the right hand of God), the other those fated to eternal damnation.

From Ornamental Passions:

The tympanum depicts Christ bursting onto the world in a blaze of light, announced by angels with trumpets filling the sky. Beneath his feet, a nasty little imp with bat's wings, tail and claws scuttles off to her master, Satan, who stands in the mouth of Hell at the bottom right hand corner (which is on Christ's left, or sinister, hand). Flames and smoke belch from the infernal regions, as sinners are dragged down to eternal torment. All along the bottom, graves spring open and the dead arise, some as skeletons, others as rather gruesome shrouded corpses. An angel holds a naked man with one hand, pointing heavenwards with the other. Another man grasps him by the leg, hoping to get a lift to glory. Two women sing and play the harp as they arise.

Nice.

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Extra:

Hellam Township in the US, near York, Pennsylvania, is the subject of a modern urban legend claiming that it contains the Seven Gates of Hell.

Plus some related motion pictures:

The Gate (1987)

Antrum (2018)

As Above, So Below (2014) - ‘The Gates of Hell’ scene

Stephen Arnell’s novel THE GREAT ONE is available on Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-One-Secret-Memoirs-Pompey-ebook/dp/B0BNLTB2G7

Sample Chapter:

Judas Priest - Gates of Hell

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