Paul Seaburn November 6, 2021

Next to Loch Ness is the Boleskine House, and next to the Loch Ness Monster, the Boleskine House is the most well-known paranormal attraction in northern Scotland. When it belonged to occultist Aleister Crowley, Boleskine House was reputed to be the host of black magic events and other nefarious rituals. When it belonged to Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, guests reportedly heard horrifying animal sounds, felt devilish attacks and experienced the various knocks, doors slamming and other kinetic events befitting of its reputation. Multiple fires have not been able to destroy Boleskine House, but a new announcement may be a sign it’s trying to make up for its dark past.

Aleister Crowley

“Our ambitious project aims to establish a five acre wildflower meadow, in an elevated position on Loch Ness. New trails will be built for visitors to walk through the meadow and to enjoy the vistas of the world-famous Loch Ness, with a native Scottish wildflower meadow brimming with wildlife in the foreground. Our new visitor center will have educational information on local wildlife and the benefits of such meadows, inspiring visitors and tourists to take home seeds and to create their own wildflower patch at home to support their local ecosystem.”

Keith and Kyra Readdy, who bought Boleskine House in 2019 just days before another destructive fire, set up the Boleskine Foundation, joined forces with the Aviva Community Fund and started a fundraiser to plant and maintain a five-acre wildflower meadow on the hill near the Boleskine House where it has a 180-degree view of Loch Ness. They hope the meadow will kickstart a trend to restore wildflower meadows in the UK, attract a variety of wildlife and trap greater amounts of carbon from the atmosphere – all things intended to bring different tourists to the area than the Boleskine House, Aleister Crowley and the Loch Ness Monster draw.

“If you donate £50 or more we will give a group of up to 8 people an exclusive “behind the scenes” private tour of Boleskine House which is next door to our project.”

“If you donate £100 or more we will give a group of up to 8 people an exclusive wildlife tour on our private estate on Loch Ness. We will give you a 90 minute tour and will then leave your group to spend the day wildlife spotting.”

All donations to the fundraiser will be matched pound for pound up to £50 by the Aviva Climate Fund. While the focus is on the ecological benefits of the wildflower meadow, it’s obvious the group is capitalizing on the infamy of the Boleskine House.

What would Crowley think of the Boleskine meadow? During his time there, Crowley’s focus was exclusively on the secluded house, where he could sequester himself to perform the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, and the loch where he claimed to sacrifice a lamb each Sunday for his “pet” Loch Ness Monster. If he ventured outside otherwise, it was to perform disgusting deeds in the graveyard. In other words, he didn’t seem to care about the meadows then and would undoubtedly feel the same now.

View of Loch Ness from Boleskine cemetery. Credit: Des Colhoun

And Jimmy Page? His interest in Boleskine House was also occult – any ‘flowers’ growing in the meadow during his stay there were most likely of the smokable kind, so he probably won’t care either.

If you’re interested in helping Boleskine House redeem itself and the local ecology, more info can be found here.

Creating the largest wildflower meadow in LochNess

#StrongerCommunities � We seek to create the largest and most diverse wildflower meadow in the Loch Ness area, …

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