Victoria’s Witch & Exorcist Robin Skelton

Article originally written December 2016: Edited August 1st 2016 By Melissa Dawn

Robin Skelton October 1925 - August 1997

Let's have a conversation about magic.

Let's have a conversation about a specific witch who therapeutically practiced magic.

Robin Skelton

Robin Skelton was born in 1925 in Easington, Yorkshire, England. He attended the University of Leeds and Cambridge University and then served with the Royal Air Force. Skelton would go on to teach at Manchester University. Luckily for Canadians, he journeyed to the new world in 1963, living in Victoria and teaching as a professor at UVic. Skelton began to study witchcraft, eventually becoming a Wiccan. Skelton was deeply admired locally as a renowned poet, scholar, lecturer, witch, and ghost exorcist.

But what is a witch to do when contacted about a residence that is declared haunted? What if a witch came across a family or an individual in deep stress over unexplained and terrifying events in their home that seemed otherworldly? That is just the topic of Robin Skelton's book A Witches Book Of Ghosts And Exorcisms. In this book, Skelton gives the reader a peek into some of the cases he investigated and helped remedy along with his co-author, Jean Kozocari. Here, Robin uses his skill as an intuitive witch, a great poet, and a knowledgeable Wiccan to help rid families of negative energies and lost souls alike.

How does a witch investigate a location causing "issues" with the current owners? Well, according to Skelton's investigative partner at the time, Kozocari, this is what occurs:

"I watched Robin find out his way of working and realized that he "breathes" a house. Using his left hand and gently balancing his energy into areas of the room, following subtle changes in energy, he wanders to disturbed spots and breathes in shallowly, tasting and feeling the atmosphere." (Kozocari, Skelton A Witches Book of Ghosts and Exorcism Pg. 67)

This was how Robin was investigating this particular house in Victoria on St. David Street. This house played host to a single mother who was recently divorced and attending university. She had experienced repeated extreme illness while in the place and recovered as soon as she was out of its vicinity and in hospital care. I won't go into extreme detail as the book does that magnificently; However, what Skelton and his crew discovered through intuition, research, and wisdom at the house on St. David Street was disturbing.

The house belonged to a widower in the early 1900s, and on a trip to the town of Barkerville, he met and fell in love with a dance-hall girl named Mae. He married and brought her back to the house in St. David Street. The marriage faded fast, and the widower passed on, leaving Mae to occupy the place alone. Victorian society rejected her, so she spent the rest of her days alone, a recluse inside the house.

Back to our current residence, at least present at the time of this book. We discover that the single mother begins to behave in strange ways compared to her normal personality. She was drained of energy and life and recovering when away from the house. With more reflection and psychic meditation, they discover Mae is living through the current owner (and possibly previous owners). Which is causing all of the troubles of illness and strange personality changes from second to second. The David Street case is more than a haunting; it is almost a possession.

Skelton and his colleagues performed a ritual similar to an exorcism, using Wiccan tools and procedures. The process involves the house being 'sealed' inside using incense, three candlesticks (the middle mauve and the outer two white), oil, bread, salt, wine, water, and flowers. They performed rituals in combinations described in the book; I won't go into fine detail here. However, the ceremony lasted from 9 pm until well past 4 am until the candles burnt to almost nothing, and one stubborn flame finally exited. That is when they knew the presence of Mae was banished from the house.

Eventually, the owner recovered and felt better in the house, met and married again, and sold the home (after making the energy less of her perfection). Now I know you might be saying this ritual is absolute poppycock. However, the individuals involved were affected in quite a positive manner. Skelton was involved in several cases that mimicked this, where individual lives seemed to be sapped out of them by energies that possessed their house. So, it begs the question to consider, even if this type of ritual isn't factual science, is the mere fact that it has a positive outcome proof enough of its value to society?

When we look at a figure such as Robin Skelton, a man passionate about his art, language, and religion, we must know he is deadly serious about his conclusions. Whether he sees an item as having a curse on it, as in the story of The Chinese Curse, or in this case where a spirit is sapping the life force from the living, he intends to help that individual achieve the utmost balance and peace. And for that, we need more Robin Skeltons in this world.

Since Christmas time is upon us, I am going to leave you with a lovely Yule poem written by Skelton:

Carol for Yule

The bonfires of midwinter burn;

we conjure up the sun's return.

This is the black depth of the year

in which the seasons, circling near,

are pulled into the vortex; here

the bonfires of midwinter burn.

The quickening spirits of the Spring

whirl round their bright bewildering,

and with the energies they bring

we conjure up the sun's return.

The Summer's heavy heat and bloom

is swept into December's gloom

and heady ripeness fills the room.

The bonfires of midwinter burn.

The fallen leaves and fruits of Fall

attend us, and, as we recall

that grey rain's ever drifting shawl,

we conjure up the sun's return.

We gather round the towering tree

in whose perpetual green we see

this old earth's ancient potency.

The bonfires of midwinter burn.

The radiant necklace threaded bright

within the leaves reclaims delight

for darkness and within its light

we conjure up the sun's return.

Traditions ancient as the earth

tell how within this cold and dearth

there blooms miraculous rebirth.

The bonfires of midwinter burn,

and we lift up our voices to

the heart of life that will renew

itself in us and all we do.

The bonfires of midwinter burn;

we conjure up the sun's return.