Showing posts with label haunted locations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label haunted locations. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Inside the Haunted Hospital of Murfreesboro






The Haunted Hospital of Murfreesboro


With the old Middle Tennessee Medical Center of Murfreesboro Tennessee now completely destroyed it’s a good time to share about my investigation of a place that I consider one of Murfreesboro’s most haunted. After all they can't sue me for trespassing in a place that isn't there right? At least I hope not.

Originally built in the 1920’s, it saw its share of patients come and go. However, some of these patients, it seems, have never actually left. Several medical professionals who worked at the hospital have witnessed things that can only be described as paranormal. They will share accounts of everything from objects floating across the hallways to ghosts that come to visit dying patients in the cancer ward.


My own experiences with the hospital are also quite eerie. In fact, while in college I used to deliver medicine to the hospital every night around 3 a.m. One night I delivered the wrong diagnostic medicine to a lab on the first floor. When I discovered my mistake, I went back to the lab and found the case containing the medicine had been opened, and the dose was lying on the floor. Nobody was ever working in that lab at 3 in the morning, and I had not even been out of the room for 5 minutes before returning.


During the early phases of demolition, I began to hear rumors that paranormal activity in the facility had increased dramatically. In an off-the-record conversation with a hospital official, I was even told that more than one security firm had been frightened away by all the ghostly events. Did the hospital’s demise aggravate the spirits that remained in the old building?


Recognizing that I had only a short time to investigate before the entire building would be gone forever, I began planning a self-guided tour. After all, two of my daughters were born there, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to sneak into the hospital. I had also done so the night my wife was in labor. The entire hospital was put on lockdown because a man had just shot himself in the head outside the emergency room. One more troubled spirit joined the club of restless souls that evening.


Inside the old MTMC
The night we chose to explore the old building, it was cool but dry and perfect for a creepy foray into the unknown. We entered the hospital through an open ground-floor entrance. The three of us, with our cameras and flashlights, moved about carefully as we walked and listened. Very few places are more scary than an abandoned hospital. Imagine floor after floor of rooms that served as host to the neverending symphony of human experience and emotion ranging from childbirth and joy to lives ending in the throes of agony and depression. I briefly split from the group with these thoughts in my head and rounded the corner of a wide hallway when suddenly the image of a horribly deformed baby crawling toward me in the dark entered my mind so vividly that I almost question whether or not I imagined it at all. It’s my innermost fear. I’ll fight wild animals, bigfoot or angry voodoo zombies but deformed ghost-children are where I draw the line. Finally, I was able to clear my mind and rejoin the others as if nothing had happened. No ghost-baby. No problems. So we finished looking around, and we left as quietly as we came. Unfortunately, our investigation yielded no verifiable evidence of paranormal activity. No EVP, no voices and no visual contact with anything paranormal.


It will be interesting to watch what happens in the future when the site is reopened, hopefully, as a park or green space. Will the spirits continue to roam the place where the hospital once stood? We will see.






Spanish Version




El hospital embrujado de Murfreesboro

Con el viejo Middle Tennessee Medical Center ahora completamente en ruinas es un buen momento para compartir sobre mi investigación de un lugar que considero uno de Murfreesboro más embrujado. Originalmente construido en la década de 1920 vio su cuota de pacientes fluctuar Sin embargo, parece que algunos de estos pacientes realmente nunca han marchado. Varios profesionales médicos que trabajaron en el hospital han sido testigos de cosas que sólo pueden describirse como paranormales. Tienen en común haber visto de todo, desde objetos flotantes a través de los pasillos a fantasmas que vienen a visitar a pacientes moribundos en el pabellón de cáncer.

Mis propias experiencias con el hospital también son bastante inquietantes. De hecho, mientras en el la Universidad yo trabajaba entregando medicamentos al hospital cada noche alrededor de las 3 a.m. Una noche entregó el medicamento equivocado de diagnóstico a un laboratorio en el primer piso.Cuando descubrí mi error volví al laboratorio y encontré que el caso que contiene la medicina había sido abierto y la dosis estaba en el suelo. Nadie trabajaba alguna vez en aquel laboratorio a las 3 de la mañana y yo ni había estado fuera de la habitación 5 minutos antes de regresar.

Durante las primeras fases de demolición empecé a oír los rumores de que actividad paranormal en el establecimiento había aumentado de manera espectacular. En una conversación privada que tuve con un funcionario del hospital el funcionario indicó que dos empresas de seguridad había sido amedrentados por todos los acontecimientos fantasmales.Es posible que la demolición del hospital se agravaba los espíritus que siguieron en el viejo edificio?

Reconociendo que yo sólo tenía un poco de tiempo para investigar antes de que todo el edificio se ha ido para siempre, me empezó a planificar un recorrido autoguiado. Después de todo, dos de mis hijas nacieron allí y no sería la primera vez que tuve que de entrar a escondidas en el hospital. También lo había hecho la noche en que mi esposa estaba de parto. Todo el hospital fue cerrado con llave porque un hombre disparó un tiro en su cabeza fuera de la sala de emergencias. Uno espíritu turbado más se unió al club de almas inquietas esa noche.

La noche que decidimos explorar el viejo edificio hacia frío pero era seco y perfecto para una incursión en lo desconocido. Entramos en el hospital a través de una entrada de planta que estaba abierta. Los tres, con nuestras cámaras y linternas se trasladaron cuidadosamente caminado y escuchado. Muy pocos lugares son más terrorificos que un hospital abandonado.

Imagínese piso tras piso de habitaciones que servían como anfitrión de la interminable sinfonía de la experiencia humana y todas las emociones que van desde el parto y la alegría hasta la agonía de algunos que terminan su vida, la cantidad de angustia y de muerte. Brevemente me separó del grupo con estos pensamientos en mi cabeza y redondear la esquina de un ancho pasillo cuando de repente la imagen de un bebé horriblemente deformado arrastrándose hacia mí en la oscuridad entra en mi mente tan vívidamente que casi pregunto si era mi imaginación o era cierto. Es mi temor más íntimo.

Lucharé con animales salvajes, bigfoot o zombies de vudú pero niños muertos y deformes son donde se encuentra mi límite. Finalmente borre la imagen de mi mente y volvi a los otros como si nada hubiera pasado. No bebé. No hay problemas. Así que terminamos mirando alrededor y dejamos como tranquilamente como llegamos. Lamentablemente, nuestra investigación había arrojado ninguna evidencia verificable de actividad paranormal.

Será interesante ver lo que pasa en el futuro cuando el sitio es reabierto ojalá como un parque o espacio verde. ¿Seguirán los espíritus a ocupar el lugar donde alguna vez estuvo el hospital? Vamos a ver.












Friday, December 28, 2012

Midnight in the Voodoo Village



As published in the February 2012 edition of the Murfreesboro Pulse (updated for 4-2013)








Actual photo from my adventure. Note lumbering zombie in background
The lure of mysterious and sacred locations can be irresistible. One such place where many thrill seekers have ventured to get a glimpse of the mysterious is St. Paul’s Spiritual Temple in Memphis, Tenn. The infamous “Voodoo Village,” as it’s known by locals, is an enclosed community composed of colorful buildings and wooden structures, all encircled by a fence with a large, iron gate securing the main entrance. Some things visible from the inside are an African-style hut, coffins, moons and sunbursts, as well as crosses and other symbols. They don’t allow strangers inside or answer questions so information was scarce. I decided that if I wanted the truth, I’d have to get inside somehow. Granted, invading pagan temples to rescue beautiful maidens from ritual sacrifice and emerging like the hero of a 1950’s era a pulp fiction is typical of me. But in retrospect, knowing what I know today, I should have approached the matter differently. In a sense, the voodoo made me do it.

Voodoo is indeed widely misunderstood. It conjures images of zombies, animal sacrifice and exotic dance rituals performed to the sound of drums. More accurately defined it is the group of spiritual belief systems and practices brought by African slaves to plantations in the Caribbean and the Southern US. These traditions often blended with Roman Catholicism and share similar origins with the vodou religion of Haiti. It was a vodou ceremony in Haiti that signaled the beginning of a massive slave revolt in 1791 resulting in the burning of 1,800 plantations and the massacre of 1,000 slaveholders during a single week. That fateful ceremony at Bois Caïman sealed a covenant with an African deity to kill the whites in exchange for freedom and was consummated by the drinking of blood which is naturally why voodoo makes most white folks a little nervous.


Now Mama always said not to go sneaking into voodoo temples all by my lonesome. Luckily my brother-in-law Reagan Ammons, having been deployed to Haiti as a US Marine, was familiar with vodou and was equally stoked about the mission. Arriving in Memphis, we headed to Beal Street for some hot gumbo and cool Delta Blues, tasting the nightlife to set the mood before our adventure. Around midnight we left the laughter of Beal Street behind and made our way to the temple site.

Uprising at Bois Caïman

Once inside, my heart began to beat like the drum of a savage, sending adrenaline throughout my body as we surveyed the grounds for anyone who might challenge our presence. The place appeared to be in disuse. There were no zombies and no women to be rescued from the alleged den of pagan debauchery. In fact, the site possessed an air of sacredness resembling a shrine dedicated to something I couldn’t identify. Certainly, the masks and symbols displayed a bit of African influence. Also present were a lot of masonic and Christian symbolism. Under the moonlight, the temple possessed an air of sacredness and a beautiful, folky asceticism that I’ve never seen elsewhere. After taking a few photos, we made our exit.


While this adventure yielded more questions than answers, a book published in 2005 called No Space Hidden, offers more. According to the book, Wash Harris, the deceased spiritual leader of the community, “established the temple as a church and center for traditional medicine.” In the same book, which was written by Grey Gundaker, a professor of anthropology at the College of William and Mary, the temple artwork is described as a form of African-American devotional art. Adding to the confusion, published quotes by Harris state that the temple is a Christian church whose symbolism can only be understood if one is a freemason. He is also credited with saying that “God told the Black man and the Indian things that he didn’t tell others.”


There you have it. I know the PC conclusion here is that St. Paul’s Spiritual Temple is simply a group of afro-masonic Christians who build funky art and practice “traditional medicine” in secret. But I think the name Voodoo Village still sounds better and here is why. There is a strong connection between Haitian Voodoo and Masonic orders. In fact it can be said that Haitian history has been undeniably influenced by secret societies which are described in a book called The Serpent and the Rainbow (not the movie) written by ethnobotinist Wade Davis. Here is an excerpt that demonstrating this point.

"There were, according to these informants, secret societies in all parts of the country, and each maintained control of a specified territory.... Membership was by invitation and initiation, open to men and women, and was strictly hierarchical. Laguerre verified the existence of passports, ritual handshakes and secret passwords, banners, flags, and brilliant red-and-black uniforms, as well as specialized body of spirits, songs, dances, and drumbeats...

"... he described them [the secret societies -Recluse] the very conscience of the peasantry, a quasi-political arm of the vodoun society charged above all with the protection of the community. Like the secret societies in West Africa, those of Haiti seemed to Laguerre to be the single most important arbiter of culture. Each one was loosely attached to a hounfour whose houngan was a sort of 'public relations man' acting as a liaison between the clandestine society and the world at large. In fact, so ubiquitous were the societies that Laguerre described them as nodes in a vast network that, if and when linked together, would represent a powerful underground government capable of competing head-on with the central regime in Port-au-Prince."
(pgs. 211-212)


Is the Voodoo Village somehow representative of the Vodou-Masonic Connection? Many including anthropologists who have studied and written about Saint Paul's Spiritual Temple would say there is no connection. However, it;s my opinion that when dealing with what is by definition a secret society then all bets are off.