Author, psychic and Death Enthusiast Nicholas R. Grossmann.
Through burning ashes to modern day magikal practitioners, this is my journey from witchcraft to what I believe is God. I come from Norwalk, Connecticut and growing up in the 80s/90s was a bit on the edge. I was always an outcast but I felt more like an outlaw than anything else. Yes, I was and I am a local weirdo! Most people in Norwalk know me as an occultist. This is because I used Magic to survive in that period of time.
My journey into magik started in middle school. I grew up seeing and hearing spirits. I couldn’t get rid of them. So I figured since they’re around to make use out of them. I asked them to carry out my deeds and they sure did. I had a lot of pull in Norwalk in those times but little did people know of my magickal abilities to communicate with the dead. The bully picked on me and I sent my bully after them. The gang beat me up so I sent mine on them. Ohhh but my gang was more powerful than theirs as we had the supernatural as our weapons and the best part is only I can see them and speak with them. But it was essential to use this type of darker magik to survive in a tough city like Norwalk. The word eventually got around and I slowly became known. My infamous gang of goons or should I say ghouls literally became infamous throughout the city itself.
I remember being in full communication with these non-human entities and I also figured out how to expel them out of my surroundings. I figured that good old fashioned salt worked. Whenever I spread the salt it seemed as if the beings wouldn’t be able to enter the room. Salt as well as some brick dust does that trick. I would then make deals and say I won’t rid you of my space if you do this and that.
I was fascinated by the occult long before I even started as in the 80s which was the golden age of horror my favorite movies were Warlock or Nightmare on Elm Street. I was obsessed with occult powers. I was that wizard master on the TV screen fictional. So I have learned many tricks of the trade and in this article I’m going to give you some pointers but be warned. Read on.
Before I get into how to hack reality I will get more into the history of my studies or more like an obsession. I worked at a clothing store back in 1996 and there was a craft store in the plaza of the store. On my break, I would go into the craft store and it was more like a candy store to me because I got inspired to start crafting all sorts of folk magic/magik paraphernalia. I started with the voodoo dolls or Vodou as they say it or poppets in the hoodoo faith. I made my own dolls and candle spells. After all, it was dirt cheap supplies. I also spent my paychecks at the bookstore in the occult section. I studied everything from light to dark and dark back to light. I have a spectrum of knowledge on all sorts of psychic abilities and magikal rituals.
I like to pretend to be a rock star psychic hahaha!!
The first book I got was a book on Wicca. I have performed the beginners spells and found it very effective. I started slipping more into the darker spectrum of the light. After all, I was drawn to it and I couldn’t sleep with these creatures or whatever they were, hovering over my bed. So I drank soda and stayed up researching and obsessed. I soon realized that my magickal ability came from myself and what I felt at the moment. My magik is energy manipulation. Hacking right into reality and getting what you need in life. I spell magik with a “k” because if it’s spelled with a “c”c that separates illusionist from real. Because of that. I was alone and hated it for such a long time but I really wasn’t alone in a sense and I learned to love myself being alone and got to know myself and did wonderful things alone like create oil paintings, which later led me into New York City Gallery. I even got to show my work in The Chelsea Museum of Art in Manhattan.I was a freak eccentric with powers.
I’ve met many types of different practitioners along the way. One of which was studying black magik and I saw a face come out of his stomach and reach out to me like it was a form of elastic. Psychics defying magik is real but who are we to break into the binary code of reality. Are we God? We’re not but read on.
I really got a lot out of Hermetics as in The Golden Dawn and Kabbalah. The Middle Pillar Ritual was very powerful and didn’t seem non holy to do. I got an energy bolt of electricity running like a pillar down my whole body into the ground. I was able to manipulate atoms very well with this practice. Also the envoicing of archangels and the banishing ritual of the pentagram had the rewards but it wasn’t the answer for me because I felt much more like a Shamanic person..
Gina Palumbo owns the metaphysical shop “Mystical Enchantments”. She has a long background in different realms of thought on the subject. When asked by friend and Connecticut Witch Gina Palumbo “What is a witch?” She replies “Once you are aware that you are a co-creator of your reality, you have the power to do just that. Being a witch is harnessing your inner abilities while using the external world to your advantage. Essentially, a witch is one who not only honors nature, but becomes one with it, and reaps the benefits in that way. Because witches hold awareness of secrets, mysticism, and manifestation. It is vital to hold ourselves to high moral and ethical standards.
Gina Polumbo also has strong roots in Stregheria.
Gina Palombo: “I am a death worker and a healer. I help those who are dying to cross over and I assist in helping the grieving using energetic and divine channels. I also do soul counseling, called psychopomp, which is a way to help those who have passed to transition and shed their earthly traumas. As a healer, herbs are my most intuitive mode of helping. This can consist of tinctures, potions, mojo bags, oils, aromatherapy, and so forth. Although healing and death appear to be opposite, they are the same in nature, only at opposite spectrums.
Witchcraft empowers me as it is a calling to stand in one’s own abilities to make changes. It is a science and a call to action. Rather than being a bystander or passive in my life, witchcraft has put me front and center. It pushes me to learn more about myself and all things scientific (from quantum physics to noetic science), philosophic (mysticism to existentialism), metaphysic, religious, spiritual, occult, and so forth. Witchcraft is the key to every door that has ever been locked in my life. “ states Gina
I think Hoodoo I related to the most. I just loved it because they had a recipe or spell for everything you can imagine and it was so simple. One in which is to get haters to stop talking about you. You need a tongue or make a tongue out of clay. Get the tongue (butcher shops have them. But I used clay) and put salt on the tongue with the person’s name on paper. Put the paper on the tongue, fold it and put a screw through it. That will shut them up and last but not least bury it away from your home! Works like a charm.
Another powerful practice is to leave offerings to your ancestors which I found also had its rewards.Another friend of mine that has knowledge and wisdom is Luna Defosses. I asked about her view on witchcraft.
Photo of Luna
Luna: “Magick has changed my life by showing me that I am a powerful creator capable of changing my life and healing myself.
I knew from a young age that I was a witch. When other kids were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, and everyone would say a doctor, veterinarian, etc., my first answer was ‘I want to grow up to be a witch.’ But it was more than that; it was a calling deep within me that only grew louder with age. Once you hear that calling, you can’t ignore it. You just keep going down the rabbit hole.
My abilities include energy healing, clairsentience, claircognizance, and occasionally clairaudience. These abilities tend to manifest most when I am channeling Reiki but can also appear at random.
These abilities seem to run in the females on my mom’s side. We have always been highly intuitive, and spirit beings of all kinds tend to gravitate to us. It seems that every house we have ever lived in had heavy paranormal activity, but then we began to wonder if it was really the properties. After learning how to better control my own energy and practicing regular spiritual hygiene, I now experience fewer unwelcome spirit visitors. My mom still has quite a few encounters of her own, and I believe she has untapped abilities.” states Luna
I really got into what is called Chaos magik. Chaos magik is the use of sigils or magickal symbols. Yes, I’m spelling magick with a (k). You have to change these symbols there. Some people prefer more extreme ways to charge their sigils; however, I found to simply offer an offering like coffee or money to a spirit and ask them in return to charge the symbol with their energy. It works for a long time. It was as some would call this blacker magik. I say blacker because I don’t consider it black but more lukewarm. Or maybe a few depths beyond lukewarm.
So yes, I have a history of the forbidden arts. I’ve studied mostly for myself but have done many spells with covens of all sorts and kinds. One thing about me is I have such a close bond with God. I felt my close friendship with God fading away as I took matters into my own hands with witchcraft but I used the powers for survival purposes which wasn’t the best decision I’ve made. I was still young.. I was playing god and didn’t realize what I was doing. For me, the magik became more self centered and I’m anything but selfish.Therefore, each time I conducted a spell or ritual I stepped further from God. I’m not knocking you if you practice magik though. Everyone has their own journey spiritually and supernaturally. I, myself, have seen the supernatural and breathed it in and have embraced it so I know what’s out there.If magik works for you then that’s great but for me I found my faith in a more Christian Shamanism background which is technically still magik anyway. I used my powers to help people and this has been going on since 2004. So when I talk about dark magik it was quite some time ago for me.It’s through this faith (Shamanism) that I healed others and even a crippld man. That’s when it became real. I was on a ghost tour and there was a man with a kane. He couldn’t really do much on the tour but was there with his niece. After the event I always offer free healings to people who were in the tour group. He asked if I would try his severn knee as he called it. I laid my hands on his knee and said The Lord’s prayer for five minutes or so. He stood up and was jumping around the kitchen. Saying that I healed his knee. That’s when it became real after that one but I must admit, it’s not me doing the healings but God or Arch Angel Micheal using my body as a vessel.
A painting I did of ArchAngel Michael. I was into Renaissance art for a bit!
I know how to use my powers for the good now unlike before. If that works for you then that’s great. One thing about our Country here in the states is we have freedom of religion. And yes, I’ve found God. I realized I found him when he wasn’t just a story in a book but I knew he was real and someone I wanted to be like but could never come close to but still try and try.
A lot of witchy history or should we say WITCHERY in New England from as early as Connecticut and Massachusetts were colonized. I remember back in probably around 2008, Peter Cerow and myself ventured out to discover and study The Connecticut Witch Trials. One spot was in Fairfield. In Fairfield at the Town Hall they held the trial and had a ditch dug out and filled with water. They would then tie the Witch or victim’s hands and feet and throw her in. If she floated, she was a witch but if she sank, she was not. I stood and stood right to this very day in the middle of the ditch and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
We have a lot of history here which brings me to three infamous wicked witches of Connecticut. Yes, that’s right . We have some pretty bad ass witch ghosts that lurk around.
I’d like to say my favorite of all time is Hannah Crannan aka Wicked Witch of Monroe (1783-1859). Her story is very interesting. The people of Monroe feared her. She would threaten them with black magik and curses and tell them if they don’t leave an apple pie on the window sill, they will be cursed. Hanna Crannnan was Gangsta!!! Lololol
Gravestone of Hannah Cranna
She then, according to history or folklore, summoned a familiar. For those that don’t know, a familiar is a spirit you manifest into a form of an animal. Imagine Church the cat but instead of it being out of control, it’s at your aid. She summoned a rooster. As she got sick, she planned her funeral. The funny thing is no one in town liked her. They were terrified but she got them to give her anything she wanted because they were afraid. She asked her casket to be walked out to the grave site. When she died, they put her casket in a wagon instead of walking like she asked. All of a sudden, her casket fell out of the back. Her house then got caught on fire.
I’ve had my share of paranormal while investigating the cemetery itself. I’ve seen a disembodied hand waving at us towards the woods and when we went to the woods, which is the outskirts of the cemetery, there was something big making noises but when we shined our lights, nothing was there. Also if you leave three pennies on her grave, she grants wishes. My friend Ray Jaro, a well established photographer and friend used to go there and he in a way made friends with Hannahs spirit. He would always give her three coins. One day, he and his dog took their usual walk and he went to her grave and said “Sorry Hannah, I only have 2 coins today”. As soon as he put the two coins on the gravestone, his dog got pushed over and slammed to the ground. Big shout out to Ray as he’s fearless. We have been on some dangerous adventures. Ray pushed me to go beyond my limits. For instance, taking the kayak in an underground river under The City of Hartford too climbing sketchy rusty towers hundreds of feet up.
There’s also Maude Evans ( 1888 -1891) of Voluntown who is a Connecticut Creeper on my paranormal list. Spooky dark lands and windy roads. As a witch that was killed by British Soldiers. She was either a real witch or falsely accused but she haunted the grounds of a haunted burial site. I paid a visit years back and saw a giant black leather snake over the stone wall so I followed it. As I hopped over the stone wall, it was then gone. I walked the trail a ways and got rocks thrown at me . I couldn’t see who or what was throwing them. Her grave is actually a beautiful foundation with woods and forest.
This was in around 2020 in a haunted cemetery next to Maude Evans site.
Here’s a friend who has a Santeria upbringing. She has something interesting to say also. Jessica Moon Skye is her name.
Photo of Jessica Moon Skye
“Growing up in such a wild, diverse city (NYC), I was exposed to many religions and faiths. My maternal grandmother practiced Santeria with Catholicism. My father practiced spirituality and is very open to the other side till this day. He was an orphan growing up in the streets of Puerto Rico in the 50’s and he swore he survived due to the strength his spirit guides gave him as a child. On the other hand, my mom has the capability to know who has passed away or who will pass away through dreams & visions. She despises when she dreams or envisions things like that, because it comes out to be true in real life. It’s been this way
since always.
In conclusion, I am a natural born, green witch. Green, because of the way I take care of my plants and flowers, of the way wild animals come to me so I can feed them, of the way children love being in my presence, of the way I can tap into my higher self or my spirit guides, The fact that I am strong willed, have a strong soul, and fearless to any negative energies… I can walk into a haunted room and feel my own presence loud and proud.” States Jessica Moon Ske
This is the grave of Goody Bassett. It rose from the ground because they didn’t give witches a proper burial at that time.
And last on my list is Goody Bassett (1620-1651), wicked witch of Stratford. No one knows if she was a real witch or just a victim. I personally as a psychic believe she was a real witch. In Stratford Connecticut by the Library is her grave. We discovered the garage. She was noticeable because the casket was out of the ground and witches didn’t get a proper burial.
I have not had too many experiences at the cemetery but I did where she was on trial and that’s by the Shakesphere theater. Unfortunately, recently some kids burned it down but there’s a lot of history as well as a mansion with a poltergeist getting cleansed by Lorraine and Ed Warren.
We were exploring the theater and I wanted to play a prank on my friend. I can’t deny, I need to prank one of my teammates once in a while in a haunted location. lololol. Anyway I knocked on the wooden door and my friend got scared. Anyway he ran off. We called it a night and I went back to my home in Norwalk. This was about 15 years ago and I layed in my bed. All the sudden a black orb was over my bed changing colors. My prank actually unintentionally attracted the spirit and it followed me home.Next to the property of the theater there’s a bolder. When they were dragging her to get into the wagon to be executed, she grabbed onto the boulder and left scratch marks.
Whether you’re for witchcraft or not, back in the days of witch trials we would all be considered witches. Just think of it like this…. Your Smartphone is a magical instrument.