What's Down There?

A cave in Nottinghamshire UK has been found to have more protective symbols designed to ward off evil than any previous archaeological site. Deeper inside the cave, beyond the marks, is a deep hole that leads to... well, I don't think anybody has gone in yet to find out. It makes you wonder what sort of spiritual force might be down there that the people who drew the various symbols were so afraid of.

If there is a gateway to hell, a portal from the underworld used by demons and witches to wreak their evil havoc on humanity, then it could be in a small east Midlands cave handy for both the M1 and A60. Heritage experts have revealed what is thought to be the biggest concentration of apotropaic marks, or symbols to ward off evil or misfortune, ever found in the UK.

The markings, at Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border, include hundreds of letters, symbols and patterns carved, at a time when belief in witchcraft was widespread. The scale and variety of the marks made on the limestone walls and ceiling of a cave which has at its centre a deep, dark, hole, is unprecedented.

Believed to protect against witches and curses, the marks were discovered by chance at the site, which is also home to the only ice age art ever discovered in the UK. Paul Baker, the director of Creswell Heritage Trust, said the marks had been in plain sight. They had known they were there. “But we told people it was Victorian graffiti,” he said. “We had no idea. Can you imagine how stupid we felt?”

The trust was alerted to the marks last year by Hayley Clark and Ed Waters. The two keen-eyed cavers thought there were perhaps two or three markings; it soon became clear there were dozens and then on further investigation up to a thousand. And counting. “They are everywhere,” said Baker. “How scared were they?”

You can't get to the spiritual underworld or hell or whatever just by going into someplace underground, since the chthonic realm is a spiritually different place than the earthly realm. But it also is true that paranormal investigators have come across some pretty nasty spirits over in the British isles. This might be the home of one of them, or perhaps it was at one time. At this point it's not clear. My suggestion would be to send a paranormal investigation team down there to find out.