The Green Stone

by Graham Phillips

‘The Evil One can often hear that which passes between us. I had the power to prevent this, but he never knew. But as I speak to you now, we are cloaked and screened from his senses.

  ‘At the Place of Darkness there exists a great force so terrible that for centuries none of us dared to release it. No one has the power to control or direct it. The Meonia Stone holds the key to this force. With it the Dark Gate can be opened. Since the force released from the Place of Darkness cannot be directed to destroy the Evil One, he must be lured there in order to be destroyed.

  ‘There is a way to make him come. He knows that I do not have the power to open the gate without first becoming manifest, but should I do so he can then overcome me and destroy the Stone. In such circumstances, the Stone can be destroyed. That is why I gave you the message to leave the Stone upon the mound. A message that he could hear. For now, he believes that I intend to open the gate and try to direct this force upon him. Knowing that I will not have time to do this before he can destroy me, he will appear at that place to seek final victory over me and the power of the Stone. In this way he would be free for eternity.

  ‘When you stood upon the Mount, I helped you to use the Stone to build the power at the Place of Darkness. The Dark Gate is now ready to be opened on this first day of February. I will use myself and the Stone as bait. But the power cannot be directed towards him until I have lured and brought him fully manifest to the Place of Darkness. The power you will then summon can destroy him. Marion, not I, shall use the Stone. You and the others now have the power to release the force from the safety of the Priory. You must open the dark gateway. He will not suspect anything. He does not know you have the power.

  ‘This communication is protected by my full power; he is not aware that I now speak to you. He is confident that the Stone will be placed upon the mound, and that I shall be there to use it.

  ‘Do not speak of this until it is completed, not even to each other. He cannot tell your thoughts unless I communicate normally to you without this protection, but he has the power to hear much of what you say.

  ‘Everyone except you must be made to believe that the Stone will be left at the mound. But you must only pretend to leave it there. Go through the motions but keep the Stone with you. Then, when he manifests at the mound, Marion must use the Stone to open the gate so that the Evil One shall be destroyed for ever. You will all be protected in the Priory, but do not leave its walls until all is done. At the moment of confrontation, you must find the extra protection by charging the sword with the power from the star. Graham must do this by thrusting the sword into the star. When you summon the force, you will know what to do.’

  The message stopped. Marion looked round. ‘The protection is fading,’ she said.

  ‘Quickly,’ Graham said, glancing at her. ‘How will we know when it’s safe to leave?’

  ‘When we see the flashes of light indicating that the power is released. Either way it will then be over, for good or for evil.’

  As the influence faded, Graham asked her, ‘But what about the White Lady?’

  There was no answer. They knew that to make the Evil One believe the charade she, too, would have to be exposed to the power of destruction. She had made the decision to forfeit her existence in order to destroy him.

  So this was it. Marion must use the Stone to unleash a terrifying force from the Place of Darkness. Something so devastating that it could destroy not only the Evil One but those who called it forth.

  The following day, those who were to take part assembled at the Shotton home: Mike, Alan, Terry, Gaynor, Marion and Graham. In the short time left, Terry had found three more volunteers to make up the nine. Chris Bourne, a close friend. A work colleague George Jackson, and his brother-in-law, John Goodwin. These three were eager to witness the strange events about which they had been told.

  At 6 pm, they all made their way to the grassy knoll in the fields behind Saverley Green to charge the star as they had been instructed. As they approached the spot, the two stone gate-posts that marked the entrance to the small pond stood out like sentinels in the gloom. A bird fluttered from one of the small trees overhanging the water. Passing through the gateway, they heard the stream that fed the pool. All was still. Only a faint wind blew across the fields.

  Marion, Graham, Mike and Alan were the first to arrive. As she reached the knoll, Marion felt a warm glow rising from it, a protective energy where they must place the star.

  The other three also felt it, a distinct heat spiralling from the ground below.

  Placing the star at the centre of the rise, they stood in a circle around it, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. Nevertheless, Marion felt it was done, and that the star was now charged with the protective energy they would need.

  They returned to the house for coffee. Marion and Graham said nothing about the previous night’s message. The success of their mission rested on this secrecy.

  At around 8 pm, Marion felt it was time to leave. In three cars, they drove the thirty miles to the Priory. As they drew nearer, the tension began to increase, an inner fear and the knowledge that they were preparing to face the evil itself. What horrors would the night hold? Would they be powerful enough to survive the confrontation?

  Leaving the A5, they drove in convoy through the village of Bishops Wood and along the small country lane that led to the Priory. Passing the Mount, they saw the solitary oak tree. Now they were almost there. The headlamps threw light on the road ahead, illuminating the hedgerows to either side.

  The narrow, muddied lane leaves the main tarmacked road, a sharp right leading to the Priory and the mound, the Place of Darkness. As the cars bounced along the rough track, the headlights cast eerie shadows on the rows of trees.

  Everyone was scared. The Priory was mysterious enough in daylight; by night, heavy shadows cloaked its four walls. They reversed the cars around, in preparation for a speedy getaway, should it prove necessary. Then they parked and stood on the furrowed lane. The cold night fell about them, nine huddled figures preparing to do battle with a force beyond their understanding.

  Marion, Mike and Graham set off along the narrow pathway to the Place of Darkness. The night was heavy as Mike’s torch shone back and forth across the mound, lighting up the dead trees and rough grass. Around them were more trees, a low rustling falling from the branches as the breeze brushed through them. The stream wound past the mound, a black ribbon on an already dark and forbidding landscape. Overhead, the hurrying wisps of clouds broke to unveil the starry sky. A disquieting heaviness was in the air, an aura of oppression almost seeping from the mound before them. They were uncomfortable, scared. Marion moved forward and placed a stone on the mound, an object of the same size which Mike took to be the real Stone.

  Hurrying away from the dark mound, they joined the others and made their way to the Priory. The medieval building stands alone in an open field, a monument once alive and vibrant, now forlorn and deserted. The roof has long since collapsed, exposing the moss-covered walls to the mercy of the elements.

  Silently, they stood in the darkness. Waiting. Waiting in the confines of the ruined Priory, its stone walls surrounding them with a thousand years of untold history. The old ruins that had once sounded to the solemn chanting of the long- departed Brides of Christ stood around them, dark and lamenting. The night was cold but calm, only a light and occasional breeze adding sound to the stillness.

  Through the archway in the stonework, they could distinguish the shapes and shadows of the surrounding countryside, ill-defined shadows that held unknown menaces. Darkness. Fear.

  Seconds passed, but still no one spoke as they stood, hands linked, in a circle. They glanced towards the star in the centre. The object they had built now seemed less familiar, more bizarre in that surreal setting at the centre of the circle, a multi-coloured, eight-pointed three-dimensional star. Several of them glanced up, watching the clouds give way to occasional patches of dark sky studded with silent stars. Still their eyes were dr
awn back to the copse, looking through the arch towards the black woods. It was in that small copse that it would happen, the final battle that centuries of trouble, fear and death had sought to postpone until that night. Soon. Very soon. But now there was darkness, cold, unmoving. The intermittent gusts of wind blew through the naked branches of the trees surrounding the grassy mound resting in the centre.

  It was so close, less than fifty yards away, their only protection the cold, stone walls of the Priory. All around was darkness. No lights. No houses. No one.

  Marion, who stood opposite Graham, broke the circle and held her right arm aloft, her fist tightly clenched. In their minds they reflected on the incredible and terrifying events which had led them here. The psychic messages, the sword and the Stone, the Order of Meonia and the Lights. And now this, the final confrontation with the evil force that for years had opposed them. It was beyond reason and unbelievable. But it had happened.

  The cry came from the woods. It sounded like a strange bird. They froze. No one dared speak. Could it have come from any ordinary bird? The second screech swept away their hopes, a horrible, unnatural wail. Terry tried to speak, but Marion quickly silenced him.

  The cry came again, nearer and higher, climbing skywards from the dark copse. Towards them! Terry, Alan and Graham broke the circle in fear. Again, Marion pulled them back, shouting at them to stand firm. Then the noise was overhead, circling and swooping in the darkness, a sickening shriek seizing their minds and bodies with fear.

  Marion shouted to Graham, ‘Quickly, take hold of the sword.’

  A terrible cry, like a woman in pain, rang through the cold night air above the copse. Again, the screech from above, loud and long, diving onto their fragile circle below. It circled and fell towards them with a final, defiant screech as it receded into the woods.

  The screech was followed by a dreadful howling. Marion threw back her arms and mentally summoned the power of The Nine, the Stone and the powers of all that is light and goodness to destroy the nameless evil that assailed them. At her command Graham thrust the sword into the star, a painful jolt coursing through his arms as the cold metal pierced the object.

  A blinding light exploded from the wood, a massive flash tearing away the darkness, accompanied by an ear-shattering crash. Within seconds there was another huge flare. The landscape lit up for hundreds of yards, pure white light as bright as the sun. A second crash followed, as a third circle of light erupted into view and, for several seconds, hovered over the copse itself, almost blinding them with its brilliance.

  Finally, a deafening cry tore through the woods as two spheres fused together, exploding like a thousand suns, and bringing an impossible daylight.

  Then silence.

  Marion burst into tears. It was finished. She knew they had succeeded. The destruction of the Evil One had finally been accomplished. They knew, indisputably, that they had triumphed in their fated task.

  Hurrying away from the Priory they made for the cars, eager to escape from the cosmic battlefield. The age-old evil had been destroyed, totally and utterly, by the devastating power released by the Meonia Stone.

  Later that night, they sat huddled around the comforting fire in Terry’s house as Pat listened to their story. Only Gaynor seemed undisturbed by the experience.

  ‘Is that really it?’ asked Alan, his voice still trembling. ‘Is it all finally over?’

  Gaynor lifted her head and smiled.

  ‘For some of us,’ she said, ‘perhaps.’

  Reflections

  Leaving aside the overriding theme, the content of the psychic messages and speculation about what may have been happening throughout, we are left with an impressive chain of paranormal experiences. Each incident deserves far more space for discussion than is presently available. In all, we have related no fewer than one hundred and thirty-two experiences that appear to be paranormal, fifty-one of which were - as far as we can ascertain - objective physical phenomena. Anomalous, but nevertheless real events very often witnessed simultaneously by a number of people.

  There is, in fact, nothing particularly unusual about people claiming to have experienced such strange phenomena. There are many reports of normal families forced to leave their homes because of poltergeist activity, of sane and responsible people attesting to the appearances of ghosts and apparitions. All over the country, there are spiritualist mediums who fall into trance during which spirit beings purportedly communicate with the living. Sometimes, we read about people seeing visions of the past, and even of archaeological discoveries aided by those with psychic gifts. (1) And not least of all, stories of close encounters with UFOs and their occupants often appear in the popular press. But what makes this particular series of events so remarkable is that so many different paranormal phenomena are interrelated.

  There is only witness testimony to verify that these events took place. However, it is not merely a case of one or two close friends, or a small group of people from the same household, street, or office. In all, forty-six separate witnesses are mentioned by name in this book. People from all over the country: London, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and North Wales, most of whom came to know one another only because of what took place. Another aspect which also makes it so unusual is that they have such diverse backgrounds, age groups and professions: municipal council officers, school teachers, law students, service men, ex-police personnel and a government tax inspector to mention but a few.

  Very often, the witnesses had absolutely no knowledge of what had previously been happening. Some knew a little, but more importantly were sceptical about the claims. In fact, many of those who became involved had never had any form of psychic experience, or indeed ever witnessed any paranormal phenomena. For example, the strange phenomena that took place at the White Ladies Priory on 1 February 1982. Here there were nine witnesses, three of whom had had no previous involvement.

  Regarding the paranormal experiences themselves, it is easy for us to comprehend - even if we cannot fully explain - some of the phenomena that have been outlined. However, we cannot even begin to conceive how it was possible that some of these ever happened. But, by the same token, we need to record what occurred, however incredible it might seem.

  We could continue with other examples. But all we wish is to emphasise how impossible it becomes in trying to evaluate the story from a paranormal research or para-psychological perspective. We do not claim that this book is the result of paranormal research, although paranormal researchers were involved. We could have attempted perhaps such a work, and maybe others will undertake this task in the future. Now we wish to record only what actually happened. It would be unwise to venture further into the treacherous realms of conjecture while so many questions remain unanswered.

  This incredible story has not ended! Even as The Green Stone was completed the phenomena continued.

  We have documented these later events as they happened and are now preparing a second book covering these new developments.

  October 1982

  Notes

  References quoted do not necessarily cite the original publisher or publication date, but are the editions consulted by the authors.

  Chapter Two

  The account of the Avis case was presented by Andy Collins and Barry King in the magazine Flying Saucer Review in two parts. The Aveley Abduction, FSR Vol 23 No 6, and Vol 24 No 1: 1977

  Astral Projection, also called Out of the Body Experiences, is the strange phenomenon that many people claim to have undergone, where they find themselves temporarily separated from their physical bodies.

  For a fuller account of the Sunderland family experiences read Alien Contact by Jenny Randles and Paul Whetnall, Neville Spearman. 1982.

  Chapter Three

  The Deerside Advertiser, Thursday 4 October 1979. The Chester Chronicle, Friday 5 October 1979.

  Photograph reproduced on page 45 of Alien Contact.

  Chapter Four

  Bury, Berry or Bery: A specia
lisation of the Old English, Burh or Byrig, meaning an enclosed or fortified place, which still survives in many local names. Oxford English Dictionary.

  Knights Templar Suggested Reading:

  World of the Crusaders, Joshua Prawer, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972.

  The Knights Templar, Stephen Howarth, Collins, 1982.

  Chapter Five

  See: Gunpowder Treason and Plot, C. Northcote Parkinson, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976.

  Full English translation of the Fama made by Thomas Vaughan in 1652 begins on page 238 of The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, Frances A. Yates, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972.

  Second Rosicrucian document known as the Confessio. Vaughan’s full English translation begins on page 251 of The Rosicrucian Enlightenment.

  Third Rosicrucian document known as The Chemical Wedding. An English translation made by Ezechiel Foxcroft in 1690 appears in A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology, Paul M. Allen, Rudolf Steiner Publications (New York) 1968 as do Vaughan’s versions of the Fama and Confessio.

  For an objective study of the Rosicrucian mystery see: The Rosy Cross Unveiled, Christopher McIntosh. Aquarian Press, 1980.

  See: The Morning of the Magicians, Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, Granada, 1971.

  Chapter Six

  Confession of Thomas Wyntour in his own handwriting, now preserved at Hatfield House, the home of Lord Salisbury.

  As an ancient Celtic fire festival, the 31 October is a day long believed to hold magical significance. Only in recent years has it become commercialised. There are eight such festivals: the solstices, equinoxes and half days of the Celtic calendar. The main four are Imbolc on 1 February, Beltane on May Eve. Lughnasadh on 1 August, and Samhain on November Eve. Samhain later became All Hallows Eve and thus Halloween. On these eight days, the ancients believed that great magical power could be evoked, and modern-day witches still revere these days calling them Sabbats. For further information see: In Search of Lost Gods (a Guide to British Folklore), Ralph Whitlock. Phaidon Press, 1979. Pages 128-58.