night fell Prince ambushed Terriss as he unlocked the stage door in Maiden Lane and stabbed him. Terriss died in Jessie Milward’s arms, whispering ‘I’ll be back’. Prince was tried and convicted of murder but declared insane. He spent the rest of his days at Broadmoor prison, where he passed the time writing his own plays and, of course, playing the heroic lead.
The first sighting of Terriss’s ghost was in 1928. A stranger in London, who did not know about the murder, saw a male figure dressed in grey Victorian clothes suddenly vanish in Maiden Lane. Later he identified the figure as Terriss from a photograph.
Again in 1928 an actress who was using Jessie Milward’s old dressing room, felt light blows on her arms, a sensation of being grabbed and the inexplicable shaking of her chaise longue. She also saw a green light above her mirror and heard tapping on the door. Later she discovered that Terriss used to tap Milward’s door with his cane when he passed it. In 1962 there was another sighting: a greenish light that took the shape of a man was seen by a frightened workman. The light opened the stage curtains and then proceeded to the stalls and tipped down the seats.
Members of the station staff at Covent Garden tube station, which now occupies the site of a bakery where Terriss stopped daily, have several times reported hearing disembodied gasps and sighs after hours. One young porter, Victor Locker, immediately requested a transfer after encountering the phantom, an experience he described as being immobilized with an oppressive weight pushing down on him. In 1955 ticket collector Jack Hayden reported seeing on numerous occasions an elegant phantom with ‘a very, very sad face and sunken cheeks’, attired with opera cloak, cane and pale gloves walking the platform or ascending the spiral staircase. Hayden left Covent Garden in 1964 and the sightings have been less frequent, but Terriss still puts in the occasional cameo appearance, especially in the train tunnels between Covent Garden and Holborn.
ADEPT
One who has achieved the highest mastery of mystical and/or occult powers. An adept is particularly proficient or knowledgeable about the nature and laws of the universe.
Those who wish to become adepts may become apprentices, or ‘chelas’, to adepts, in which case the latter are known as masters. The activities of adepts are diverse. They can control forces both in the spiritual and physical worlds and prolong their lives for centuries. Adepts can use their wisdom both for good or for evil purposes. The term ‘adept’ was also employed by medieval alchemists to denote a master of their sciences.
AEROMANCY
One of the oldest forms of divination, practised by the priests of Babylonia, aeromancy is a method of divination by observing atmospheric - air or sky - phenomena, such as wind currents, cloud shapes and formations, comets and falling stars. Examples include the Bethlehem star heralding the birth of Christ and the appearance of Halley’s comet around the time of the battle of Hastings, supposedly foretelling the victory of William the Conqueror. There are several different forms of aeromancy, including austromancy (wind divination); ceraunoscopy (observing thunder and lightning); chaomancy (aerial visions); and meteormancy (meteors, especially shooting stars).
AFFIRMATION
A positive phrase or sentence that through frequent repetition uses the power of your mind to create a truth or reality. Even though you may not be consciously aware that you are doing it, everyone uses affirmations (i.e., positive self-talk) to boost confidence and motivation at some time or other.
Affirmations are powerful verbal messages repeated over and over again, so that they become embedded in your brain and create new pathways of thought and action. In other words they provide your intuition with new avenues for insight and opportunity and prepare your mind for change. Once the mind is prepared for change and new opportunities it is thought to be far easier to create those opportunities.
Using your will power
Affirmations are easy to do and can be beneficial if used correctly. It takes three to four weeks for the mind to absorb new information, so you need to be patient and persistent.
Think about what you want to improve in your life. Are you happy with your job? Do you want to stop smoking? Would you like to lose some weight? Choose your goal, but make sure it is achievable.
Let’s say you want to lose weight. You now work out a statement suggesting that you are reaching your goal. Be careful how you word it though, because if you say something like ‘I don’t want to be fat anymore’, your mind will focus on being fat, not on your goal, which is weight loss. But if you say something like ‘I want to be thin’, this is too vague for your mind to assess. However, something like ‘I am going to lose six pounds this month’ gets you in touch with the end result and is specific at the same time. It gives your mind something constructive to work with. Now write this affirmation down, and repeat it to yourself several times a day for at least three to four weeks.
Of course, besides affirming the statement, you also need to use your common sense and take the necessary steps to help you towards your goal, such as regular exercise and healthy eating if weight loss is your goal. Remember, the mind is a powerful tool, and affirmations can be a key factor in success because they help replace sabotaging negative self-talk with optimism, goal-setting and positive resolve.
Affirmations are typically used by men and women in sport and business but they can be useful for any career or life skill where goal setting and mental strength is crucial. Psychotherapists, motivational speakers and life coaches tend to use them as tools to help empower their clients and build self-esteem, and alternative medicine therapists tend to suggest the use of affirmations to encourage the body’s self-healing process.
AFRIT
The Afrit comes from Arabian and Muslim folklore and is alleged to be a spirit demon who rises up like smoke from the spilt blood of murder victims. They are said to inspire unspeakable terror and, because of the unjust, brutal nature of their demise, they are ruthless towards their victims. Sometimes they are said to appear in the form of desert whirlwinds, and it has also been said that they can take on a form similar to the Christian Devil, with hooves for feet and horns on their head. Driving a new nail into the bloodstained ground is thought to prevent their formation.
AFTERLIFE
Afterlife (also known as life after death) is the continuation of existence beyond this world or after death. There are various sources for this belief, but the one most relied upon is the testimony of individuals who claim to have knowledge of the afterlife because they have:
