Rosaleen Norton: the Original Goth Queen

A Sexy Lesson in one Satanic Woman's Gifts to the World

Born in 1917 as Rosaleen Norton, "Thorn" was an Australian artist and occultist.

An eccentric, self-proclaimed witch, Thorn partook in this lifestyle during a time when witchcraft was still illegal in Australia. Her paintings were focused around Neo-paganistic gods and demons, and she put heavy importance on the god Pan.

this type of subject matter was extremely controversial to the country's conservatism and Christian morals during this era.

Though Thorn and her work were met with morbid curiosity and enthusiasm from a large portion of Sydney society, authorities constantly worked to remove her pieces from exhibitions, and even confiscated books in which her artwork was featured.

Thorn was also opening into the practice of sex magic, as well as bdsm, which didn't do many favors for her reputation in the eyes of the police.

However, her "nasty woman" infamy only heightened the interest that the rest of society held for her. Thorn became known as the Witch of King's Cross.

Rosalie: The Ghost Who Didn't Exist

Harry Price Conjures the Spirit of a Six-Year-Old Girl

Rosalie was said to be the ghost of a six-year-old girl, conjured by psychic researcher Harry Price during a seance in 1937.

In preparation for the conjuring, Price had taped all doors and windows in the house closed, and placed starch powder all over the floors. During the seance, a small girl appeared and spoke. Price took her pulse, and was skeptical of the fact that the spirit of the child was no different than that of a living human being, but afterwards when the lights were turned on, none of the powder had been disturbed.

Price was well-known for disproving other alleged hauntings, so when he confirmed that he was unable to debunk the manifestation of Rosalie, the people of England were almost persuaded that the spiritualistic phenomena could indeed exist.

Nearly 50 years later, a letter written by a woman who confessed to have played the part of Rosalie's ghost in the seance was published.