“SMOKE” has been photographed rising from the ruins of a house once owned by the self-confessed “most wicked man in the world”.
Black magic occultist Aleister Crowley lived in Boleskine House, on the banks of Loch Ness, which was destroyed by fire a year ago.
Paranormal investigators have revealed a picture of the wrecked property which appears to show a column of smoke coming from the chimney.
They say other pictures taken inside show the fireplace destroyed, ruling out the possibility that someone had simply started a fire.
Boleskin House, near Foyers, was built in the 1760s and owned by Crowley between 1899 and 1913. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, who was fascinated by Crowley, lived there between 1970 and 1992.
On December 23 last year, the historic manor home was destroyed by a fire, the cause of which has still not been determined.
Investigators from Highland Paranormal visited the property amid reports of “increased activity”.
Liam Shand, co-founder of the group, had no explanation for the strange sight.
He said: “We were taking photos at night. When we uploaded the photos we noticed that there appeared to smoke coming from the chimney.
“There was no fire in the house, there’s no-one living in the house so it was very odd. We don’t have an explanation for it.
“This is the only photo from the night with this in it, none of the other photos showed smoke coming out of the chimney. There is a massive fence barrier around it and can 100% say that there was absolutely no fire lit.”
Liam said other strange strange incidents had been reported since the fire at the property once owned Crowley, the “Beast of Boleskine”.
He said: “I’ve heard a story that someone local took a mirror from the house and then strange things began happening in their home.
“They got a medium out and immediately told them to return the mirror to Boleskine House.”
Originally called Boleskine Lodge, it was built in the late 18th century by the Honorable Archibald Fraser.
During Crowley’s time at the house, he practised black magic by coaxing out the forces of evil, devil worship and human sacrifice.
When Jimmy Page lived there it reputedly was used once again for black masses and rituals.
Despite the history of the property, reaction online to the paranormalinvestigator’s picture has been sceptical.
Douglas Scott commented: “As ghosts don’t exist, I suggest that someone had lit a fire.”
Esther MacLean replied: “Have to say though, that is ‘dead’ lol easy to do in an photo editing package – just a quick lighten brush tool in the shape of a whisp and Bob’s your aunty.”
Meanwhile, the future of the ruin is unclear. The current owners, who live outside Amsterdam, used it as a holiday home.
Annette MacGillivray, who lived at the house with her husband until his death in 2001, bought the property from Page and estimates it will take a fortune to restore.
“Because it’s a listed building, everything needs to be restored exactly the same as it was before the fire, but I think that will cost around £2 million.”
