Hello, Operator? Spirit Realm, Please.
Realms Of Existence & How To Reach Through The Veil
Will the Real Hat Man Please Stand Up
What could possibly cause a hat-wearing entity to show up in your bedroom in the middle of the night?
Magical Musings, with Michelle Angone
A few years ago, I wrote a memoir piece about my experiences growing up in a spiritually active old house. In this story, I told of an encounter with an entity that watched me throughout my childhood. He was a dark, shadowy silhouette of an average-sized man, wearing a cowboy hat, and he stood in my open doorway at night. He also seemed to live down the hall in a little alcove by the home’s only bathroom. The man in the cowboy hat was not the central theme of my story, just one of many odd things that I had dealt with as a kid.
In and of itself, the mention of him meant nothing special to me. He existed, and when I was small, he scared the hell out of me. As I grew older, I found him to be an annoyance and learned to live with him. My dude was an upstairs guy who didn’t follow me when I moved to the first-floor bedroom.
I moved out when I was nineteen and only had to deal with this weird figure when I visited and inevitably had to use the bathroom at my family home. This should have been the end of my thoughts and feelings about the man in the cowboy hat. But life and strange entities have a way of circling back when you least expect them.
While working on Mystic Memoirs Vol 1, I had the opportunity to work with some of the authors and read/edit their stories. I was utterly shocked to read not one, but two other women had written about their experiences with a shadowy man in a hat that watched them as children.
Let me be clear: it did not seem to be the same man, but they all had one thing in common - all the men wore hats. As I explained, my guy wore a cowboy hat. I was entirely sure he wore a cowboy hat because I knew what a cowboy hat looked like.
One writer depicted two men, and they wore bowler hats. Not being too sure what a bowler hat looked like, I had to look it up, and it looked nothing like a cowboy hat. The other writer’s man in a hat had red eyes and could chase her. Obviously, we did not see the same man. We also lived in three very different parts of the country and belonged to three distinct generations.
It was a Scooby Doo type mystery, and I needed to know the answer. Of course, I took it to my kids, a teen and a twenty-something. They told me I was being messed with.
“Everyone knows about the Hat Man,” they laughed. “It’s a Slenderman thing.”
Apparently, I was supposed to know what Slenderman was and already be well-versed in the phenomenon of this so-called Hat Man. It turns out that Slenderman videos are available on YouTube, featuring urban lore, horror stories, video game playthroughs, and other similar content. Being a fan of Slenderman was sort of a rite of passage for Gen Z kids. I dove in and watched more videos than I care to admit.
Who does YouTube think this Hat Man is? There is no consensus, but numerous theories exist. One theory is mass hysteria. One person reports an encounter with Hat Man, and then everyone who watches the video suddenly claims they, too, have had an experience with him. That explanation didn’t fit with the three of us. My experiences occurred in the 1970s, while one writer’s experiences took place in the early 1990s, and the other writer’s experiences occurred in the early 2000s. We predated the YouTube explosion of content about this entity.
The second theory is that the Hat Man is just a symptom of night terrors. This did not explain my situation. I suffered from night terrors as a child. Still, those episodes left me unable to move or scream, and involved a completely different entity that resembled the early 1970s version of Hamburgerlar. My Hat Man was not a night terror. When he inevitably showed up in my doorway, I was able to pull the covers over my head, cry, and scream for someone to help me. I terrorized my family every few nights for a good chunk of my childhood.
Although there are no ancient accounts of a Hat Man, there are a lot of superstitions concerning hats. The list below of hat superstitions stems from the idea that bad luck and evil spirits will visit the offender if they commit one of the acts.
1. Do not leave a hat on the bed. Leaving a hat on the bed is an omen indicating a death is sure to follow.
2. If you sit a hat upside down indoors, it means someone will be sick.
3. Hanging a hat on a doorknob means someone in the house will die soon.
4. Wearing a hat backwards will bring a man bad luck with the ladies.
5. Placing a hat on the kitchen table means an anger-fueled quarrel will happen soon.
There aren’t any superstitions that I could find that indicate an entity wearing a hat will find you for breaking the rules. So what could possibly cause a hat-wearing entity to show up in your bedroom in the middle of the night? Personally, I believe the internet has it all wrong. There isn’t one shadowy figure in a hat that shows up in random locations now and again. Instead, I feel it is a bit more personal.
Men of bygone eras wore hats of all shapes and sizes. Considering the superstitions about hats and how easy it could be to offend the spirits with ill-fated hat placement, maybe there are just a lot of hat-wearing ghosts. Perhaps every old house has its own personal hat man. Maybe those hat men are just as weirded out by you being in their home as you are at them being in your house.
I hope the new owners of my childhood home learn to co-exist with my man in the cowboy hat. I kind of miss the old guy.
IN PART TWO OF THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER, MICHELLE WILL SHARE A VIDEO TUTORIAL ON PRACTICES TO KEEP THE HAT MAN AWAY! STAY TUNED.
Did You Just Do An Exorcism On Me?
“I felt as if some dark energy was lifted off my entire body as you were playing the 14-inch gong above the chakras of my body.”
Everyday Healing Vibes with Peggy Patty
“Did you just do an exorcism on me?”
I laughed when my client Lori blurted out this question at the end of her 45 minute Healing Sound Vibration session with me.
Lori had been relaxing on my massage table after experiencing the soothing vibes of Crystal bowls, tuning forks, and my beautiful gongs.
I was caught by surprise since this was the first time anyone brought up the word “exorcism” regarding my sound vibrational instruments!
Each person has their own meditative experience with the vibrations as I offer them. As a trained Sound Vibrational Practitioner, I approach all of my instruments with great respect knowing that they can have a deep calming effect on an individual’s body, mind and spirit.
In short, it’s important to always monitor the client’s energy, plus never play the sound instruments too loudly in their energy field.
I’ve discovered each person‘s response is different when immersed in the instrument’s healing vibrations while I’m activating the Sound.
However, Lori‘s proclamation was quite dramatic. “I felt as if some dark energy was lifted off my entire body as you were playing the 14-inch gong above the chakras of my body.”
A smile spread across her face as she beamed, “I feel much lighter now!”
Even though I’ve been offering Crystal Bowls vibrations for a couple of decades I’m still surprised by clients like Lori’s reactions. It’s so common for profound feelings of peace and calm to surround the client afterwards.
Yes, scientific research has confirmed the overall relaxation effects that meditative sound vibrations have on our bodies – lower heart rate and blood pressure, deeper sleep, etc.
But is there something else going on other than pure science? My clients have shared with me so many experiences over the years that I no longer doubt the healing effects of Sound on a deep energetic level.
Have you experienced the healing power of Sound?
IN PART TWO OF THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER, PEGGY WILL PROVIDE A SOUND HEALING SESSION! STAY TUNED.
Uncommon Messengers of the Black Feathered Sort: How a Game Character Partnered with The Morrigan to Transform My Life
I lived my raven dreams through this gothic Victorian-styled, tea-drinking corax who spoke her mind without fear of repercussions.
The Wild Hearth with Mela the Hedgewitch
Join me at the wild hearth just as you cross the hedge. Sit! Have a cup of tea and relax. I’ve got the perfect autumn tea for you to sip as we chat. I start with 2 parts black tea and 1 part hibiscus flower to a cup of hot water. Add in a few teaspoons of grated ginger and finish with as much honey as you like.
The mysterious, shapeshifting goddess known to many as The Morrigan began sending me signs of her presence long before I had a name for her energy. I’ve been walking a pagan path for almost twenty-five years. Only in the past decade have I taken the time to look back over my life and recognize the little taps and nudges from the Phantom Queen.
As far back as I can remember, I’ve had an intense affinity for crows and ravens. I’ve taken great delight in art depicting powerful, black-winged women before I knew any of the divine names they may have been portraying.
Throughout my thirties, I was on a mission to dye my hair the most perfect blue-black color. I told my mother that I wanted it to look like the wing of a raven. This was long before easy box dye in every color of the rainbow. We had to mix and match dyes from a local beauty supply store each time we tried for that perfect shade. I was obsessed!
One of my more memorable fantasy characters I created for an online roleplaying game was a wereraven named Melantha d’Syr. I lived my raven dreams through this gothic Victorian-styled, tea-drinking corax who spoke her mind without fear of repercussions.
In one particular storyline, she attended a wedding dressed in full mourning attire with a black lace parasol to silently broadcast the message that marriage was the death of one’s freedom. She was chaotic neutral, often described as the selfish alignment in the game.
Melantha was my small piece of the goddess, The Morrigan, in playable format.
Through building her character and creating storylines with her as the centerpiece, my eyes opened to practical ways I could channel Melantha’s worldview in my own life. Simultaneously, I was also building a deeper relationship with The Morrigan as a possible patron goddess on my pagan path.
The Morrigan, in her embodiment within Melantha, taught me that selfishness is not always a negative quality. Choosing to honor yourself by setting boundaries may look selfish to the outside world, but it’s one of the most empowering and consequential life changes you can make. Every time I said no or used my voice to better communicate my needs, I imagined Melantha clapping her lace covered hands and grinning at me.
I credit The Morrigan with planting the seed of sovereignty that flourished into one of the core tenets of my life. I describe living in sovereignty as recognizing that we are in control of only two things in our lives - how we act and how we react. When we release the desire to control things we cannot control, such as how other people act and react, we can claim such a refreshing freedom to live a calmer and happier life.
At some point, these two important parts of my life began to influence more than just my gaming and spirituality. It enhanced my communication with my friends and family, and shifted my overall worldview.
In my late 40s, on a new moon in October, I removed my robe beneath a dark, star-studded sky and stepped naked into my swimming pool. Despite living in the deep south, the pool was frigid! Dipping completely beneath the cold water, I ritually marked the entrance into a contract with The Morrigan for the next year and a day.
During this period of time, I completed numerous volunteer projects as acts of service for offerings to the goddess of shadowy secrets. It was a time of closeness with the goddess that marked me permanently for the better.
In my opinion, the majority of people that talk about The Morrigan don’t actually understand her energy. If you look up statues or art of The Morrigan right now, you’ll probably see most of it depicting her in armor more fitting for cosplay than actual battle. Her sword may have blood dripping from it, but her body is oddly pristine. Hollow eyes gaze forward as she pouts seductively at you from your computer screen.
Patriarchy, be gone!
I imagine her much wilder than those portrayals. I see her with a bloody sword in hand, raised in defiance. Her skin and clothing are spattered with blood and dirt. Her lips are opened wide with teeth fiercely visible as she bellows a rousing war cry. Her eyes more piercing and energetic; never hollow and vapid. The power of knowing she is no one’s plaything or puppet would show in her expression and stance.
That is The Morrigan I know and admire.
The culmination of the merging of the energies of Melantha and The Morrigan occurred at my Croning ceremony when I turned 50. I know that many people wait until they retire to mark the entrance into their crone years, but I’m an old soul and I’ve lived through a lot of shit. I started going gray at 16, and by this time had a head full of moonthreads. My intuition whispered: It’s time.
I remember standing behind the browning broom sedge as I watched the community prepare for my arrival into the circle. I had crafted besoms of that same broom sedge for my mother, sister and niece for the ceremony. They each took their turns sweeping the ritual circle open.
My niece wore white in honor of the Maiden archetype. My sister wore red representing the Mother, and my mom dressed in all black for the Crone. I wore black as well. My ritual shawl of black feathers honoring the Raven Goddess was wrapped around my waist. I reveled in the sight of my community and my family preparing for such an incredibly potent rite of passage for me.
During the ritual, I officially shortened my given name from Pamela to Mela. I stepped into the archetype that surrounded the name “Mela” and made it my own. Merging Melantha’s characteristics and The Morrigan’s influence and instruction into a new public name was a perfect example of spiritual alchemy.
My transformation had taken a lifetime. Through the gift of ritual, this particular alchemical transmutation was completed. This crone was ready to weave new stories and learn new lessons!
This December marks four years living as Mela. These four years have brought changes and challenges in ways that I never could have imagined, including a pull to The Cailleach instead of The Morrigan. Interesting, but not altogether surprising.
There’s been a gentle unraveling to my life during these years as a new crone. The process of mending the tapestry of my life has made it resilient and far more colorful than it ever was before. I assure you, no matter how the tapestry changes, there will always be prominent blue-black colored threads woven throughout that shimmer with the iridescence of a raven’s wing when the light hits it just right.
IN PART TWO OF THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER, MELA WILL PROVIDE A 5-CARD DIVINATION SPREAD TO GET A MESSAGE FROM THE MORRIGAN! STAY TUNED.
Invitations to the Spirit Nations: Pen Pals and Inkblots
Each of us will have our own sensory skillset and style for receiving information from the realms beyond the three-dimensional.
The Art Doula with Teri Freesmeyer
Part One: The Art of Divine Connections
Building a repertoire of spirit-realm communication skills can feel as familiar as a favorite game or as new as stepping onto an unexplored field. Like prayer, meditation, or creative work, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to connecting with your Light or Spirit Team. Playing in the alternate realm sandbox in innovative ways can connect us to our guides, inner wisdom, ancestors, or other sentient beings to build a castle of support. Each of us will have our own sensory skillset and style for receiving information from the realms beyond the three-dimensional.
Accessing information through the veils may flow automatically and effortlessly for some. In contrast, for others, it unfolds with uncertainty and surprise—sometimes even at inconvenient moments, such as during sleep, a shower, or in the middle of a work session.
Whether you are a seasoned channel or an accidental psychic, developing these skills is like tending a friendship or any other significant relationship. It requires time, patience, and a willingness to learn each other’s language, dialects, energy, and nuances.
Your guides may be ancestors, angels, plant allies, animal totems, deities, star beings, or elementals. They may show up as glittering orbs, whispered words, songs, or symbols in your resting and waking dreams. You might sense them through smell, taste, or a tingling on your skin. They may slip into your artwork or writing unbidden or travel with you in dreamtime.
You may want to developed a habit of more intentional conversation and directed resources.
Working with the guidance in any realm is also about intention and boundaries. You can enter these realms curiously, simply asking, “Who is here for me with a message, today?”
I like to add “today” to narrow the focal point to the present tense. Alternatively, you can be deliberate, assembling what I call your “spiritual board of directors” for a specific purpose—such as business, health, love, finances, or creative work.
With any ritual or practice accessing the metaphysical realms, clarity about who you’re inviting in and how you’ll interact makes for smoother, more empowering experiences.
There are countless doorways to this sacred dialoguing:
scrying into water or mirrors
drawing cards, dreamwork
non-dominant handwriting
star gazing
guided visualization
breathwork
drumming
chanting
sitting quietly in nature
following synchronicities that appear like breadcrumbs on your path
Even taking a road trip can be the optimal scenario.
Each practice can deepen your connection to the subtle senses—the intuitive language through which your guides speak. For more information on fine-tuning these skills, please contact me for ART Academy coaching or to inquire about our classes and services.
There are everyday processes to strengthen your devotion and develop your communication, as well as those you may use for more specific areas of life and inquiry.
Dream journaling, non-dominant handwriting, communing in nature, and meditating are all ways of inviting in presence and partnership with your spiritual allies. By treating the process as both sacred and creative, you provide your Spirit Team with a vibrant and welcoming space to meet you.
I invite you to explore with me, The Art Doula, Penning the Inkblots, a form of art scrying. May it inspire your own creative castle of connection.
IN PART TWO OF THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER, TERI WILL PROVIDE A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO DOING JUST THIS - ART SCRYING! STAY TUNED.
Through the Veil: Liminal Magic at Samhain
Witches have long known that liminal spaces are powerful because they mirror the veil itself.
Finding Magic in the Mundane with Amanda Wanless
There’s a hush in the air just before Dawn, that in-between moment when the world feels neither night nor day. Stand at a shoreline, and you’re caught between land and sea. Step into a doorway, and you hover between one place and the next. These are liminal spaces, the thresholds, boundaries, and “betweens” where magic naturally lingers.
Witches have long known that liminal spaces are powerful because they mirror the veil itself. The veil is liminal by nature, neither here nor there, both present and beyond. When we step into thresholds in our physical world, we also step closer to thresholds in the unseen.
And perhaps no time of year embodies this more fully than Samhain.
At Samhain, the wheel of the year turns toward darkness. The final harvest is gathered, the fields lie bare, and the world hovers between life and death, past and future. It is the twilight of the year, the threshold between endings and beginnings.
At Samhain, the entire season becomes a liminal space as a collective threshold, which is why Samhain is considered the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest. It is not only the season of honoring the dead, but also the season of possibility, of transformation, of listening for what lies beyond.
Liminal spaces are about transition. It’s the pause, the edge, the middle ground. These spaces carry energy because they are unsettled, unclaimed, and ripe with opportunity. In them, rules blur. Time feels strange. Possibility hums in the air.
Some natural liminal spaces include:
Twilight & Dawn – the shift between night and day.
Crossroads – where paths meet and choices open.
Shorelines & Riverbanks – where land yields to water.
Doorways & Thresholds – everyday passages that carry quiet magic.
Cemeteries – resting places where the living and the dead share ground.
When you step into a liminal space, take a moment to pause, close your eyes, and whisper an intention. You may feel the air grow heavier, notice a shift in sound, or sense the subtle presence of the unseen.
These practices are magnified during Samhain. Standing in a doorway at dusk, lighting a candle at a crossroads, or even pausing at the edge of your own bed before sleep becomes a way to honor the ancestors and invite connection through the veil.
Rituals conducted at liminal spaces can be powerful, but they don’t need to be complicated. This simple chant can be spoken whenever you find yourself at a threshold:
Between the worlds I walk tonight,
With spirit clear and pathway bright.
I honor the past, I welcome the new,
Through the veil, I journey true.
Repeat it softly as you step through a doorway, walk along a path at twilight, or place a candle in your window on Samhain night. Each repetition strengthens your connection and reminds you that the veil is always nearby.
Liminal spaces connect us with possibility. They remind us that transformation rarely comes in a single leap, but through many quiet crossings, one threshold at a time. At Samhain, when the veil is at its thinnest, every step through the “in-between” becomes an invitation to weave magic, honor your ancestors, and walk forward with intention. May you cross each threshold with courage, knowing that what awaits is shaped by your willingness to step through.
IN PART TWO OF THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER, YOU’LL STEP INTO THE LIMINAL SPACE THIS SAMHAIN WITH AMANDA’S 15-MINUTED GUIDED MEDITATION DESIGNED TO HELP YOU CONNECT ACROSS THE VEIL. STAY TUNED.
