Paul Seaburn September 29, 2021

The University of Keele in northern Staffordshire has a beautiful campus with forests, lakes, a science park and a conference center, making it the largest campus university in the UK. The conference center is better known as Keele Hall and two visitors to that storied building are the subject of today’s paranormal story – occultist Aleister Crowley and paranormal investigator Dean Buckley. It is at Keele Hall where Crowley allegedly created an entity called the Egregore, and where Buckley recently photographed what he says are fairies. Are these events related to each other? To the Ley lines Crowley believed ran under the grounds?

Dean Buckley’s photo of a fairy (Credit: Dean Buckley)

“After Veronica got to the area where paranormal investigator Dean Buckley was and where he had taken the photos of the fairies, she started to pick up on the fairies and elementals in the wooden area where the fields were. Veronica told Dean to take the photos as she was getting the message from the spirit.”

Dean Buckley zooms in on what he says is a fairy (Credit: Dean Buckley)

In his account accompanying the photographs, Dean Buckley explains his connection to Keele Hall – his “5 x great grandad” William Buckley once worked at Keele Hall and on the grounds surrounding it. As he walked the grounds, his partner Veronica Buckley told him she was picking up energy and eventually communicated with the spirit of William Buckley. Dean says he wasn’t expecting to find fairies on the Keele Hall grounds, and these were visible enough that he could zoom in on one. You can decide for yourself what it might be … but keep in mind that Aleister Crowley believed this was a paranormally-charged place.

“It is claimed that Crowley was attracted to the strong Ley lines that are said to cross the grounds of the hall and also the tunnel which can also be found in the grounds. It is said that he created by magical means a creature known as an Egregore to guard this area which he deemed special.”

The Ludchurch blog gives an account of Aleister Crowley’s attraction to Keele Hall – the Ley Line – and why he conjured up an Egregore, which is a distinct non-physical entity that arises from a collective group of people. An Egregore may resemble a lower god or angle and the concept dates back to both ancient Greece and the Hebrew Book of Enoch, which contains references to demons and the Nephilim. If it exists, an Egregore would be a suitable guardian for what Crowley seemed to believe was a powerful place. The Ludchurch blog also notes there are stories of satanic symbols carved on some trees on the grounds of the hall, and there are references to secret tunnels connecting the hall and other campus building.

Aleister Crowley

According to the Ludchurch blog, Keele Hall’s Philosophy and English Departments are said to be haunted by the ghost of Lady Sneyd, whose husband disapproved of her vanity and cut off her hands to stop her from attending to herself – an act that caused her to bleed to death.

Fairies, an Egregore, a ghost, secret tunnels, Aleister Crowley, Ley Lines … Keele Hall sure sounds like it’s a potential magnet for paranormal activities. Dean Buckley photographed something, Veronica Buckley felt something, Aleister Crowley attempted to contact something, people in the Hall have seen something. It all adds up to … something.

Special thanks to Dean Buckley for the photos. He plans to return to Keele Hall for further investigations.

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