Devils Walking Stick a rare and most unusual plant with Medicinal and Magical Powers that grows in our area

Recently I had a crew out to clean out the tower base of one of the AM Radio Stations I take care of in W. Va. that had become overgrown with weeds and which can damage the grounding grid if not properly taken care of.

One of the more unusual plants we found growing in a small patch was Devils Walking Stick

As you can see it is appropriately named.
with so many spines on it ready to tear into your flesh. its official name is
 Arilia Spinosa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aralia_spinosa

 Now I have heard many story's about it but rarely ever come across it other than at Witchcraft Supply Shops.

One story goes that god put spines on the plant after the devil trying to find a path back into heaven found it a good strong staff to use for his journey back and in putting the spines on the devil could never use it again.

More than likely it got its name from the way it looks like a long walking stick.

However thorny the plant it does have medicinal uses which goes all the way back to Native Americans who made a tea of it to reduce inflammation.

http://onlineathens.com/stories/091910/liv_709441028.shtml

Amazing a plant that can cause much pain can also be used to reduce it..

However the plant is also said to have magical powers to ward off evil and this is why people put a branch of it above their door way to keep evil witches from entering .

https://mysecrethoodoo.blogspot.com/2012/01/sweetgum-balls-aka-witch-balls.html

This is why witches use it to protect themselves from a spell another witch may have cast upon them. 

Those who practice Hoodoo in particular use it for this reason . I know you pay big bucks to acquire it from a witches supply store . Yes there actual store fronts which carry witchcraft supply's .

and the craft is more popular now than ever.  

If you run across it use extreme caution the thorns go thru most gloves with ease.

and you might even consider selling to a local witches supply.

Update : Kinsua Dam Recreation Area being closed comes with a strange story

Back in August the Recreation area around the Kinsua Dam was suddenly closed and campers evacuated for a little over 2 weeks with no explanation from authorities 

http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/kinzua-dam-reopens-following-threat-1/466496804

http://buffalonews.com/2017/08/19/recreation-areas-closed-kinzua-dam/

Now comes a story from a man who claims he was there and knows what was happening sounds like something out of a science fiction novel , but he showed up recently at a paranormal group and gave the following story.

He and a friend where hiking in the area  about a mile out when all of a sudden the meadow they where approaching turned into a forrest and when they turned arround the path was gone , like they had ventuired into some time of Time Portal.
They started hiking back using there compass knowing where they had started from and came upon a
2 lane road after 2 hours of hiking and luckily a Park Ranger pulled up to them asked if they had left a vehicle in the one lot as they needed to evacuate . When they described there vehicle he said that was not vehicle that needed moved  and person they where looking for and when the men asked where they where now presently located 
Ends up they where 9 miles from where they started?

Is this story true? No way to verify they could be making the whole thing up. But people often talk about time slips and maybe just such a portal did open up but you think more people would be missing from area or talking about it.

This sounds like one of those missing 411 story's David Pauladdies investigates where missing people are found often miles from where they disappeared.

What ever went on at Kinsua that 2 weeks definitely had authorities spooked will we ever learn the truth probably not.

Why would the Pennsylvania Railroad fill in a valley and then never finish its plans to develop it . ?

Back when I was very young in early 60's the Pennsylvania Railroad  took over its right of way along its single  track in the Lincoln Lemington Neighborhood of Pittsburgh along the Washington Boulevard Corridor. One day you could walk out my grandfathers back door go down several sets of steps past his and other neihbors gardens they built into the slopes  and go deep down into the woods where the railroad tracks where . The next time we visited the whole valley had been filled in with landfill dirt and rock nearly a half million cubic feet of fill  from Lincoln Ave to clear past Dean street. But why, supposedly the railroad was going to build a new yard for train operations but they already had plenty of such places along its path and the train tracks that ran thru the area saw 1 or 2 trains a week.It actually sees more train traffic now that Box Car Express runs the line.

Of course if you look at the area today you would have no idea the valley even existed now that trees have grown all over it. Since the neighborhood has gentrified and most people who knew about this happening are now long gone  from area or are  dead ,
 The Big question is what was the railroad doing in the first place?
Where they trying to hide something? Did they have all these many truck loads of dirt from some other project and decided to make up a story of development to get rid of it?. also likely becsuse the old east Liberty station was torn down around that time had to be put some where.

I have looked thru many records from the time and can not even find where they ever even applied with the city to even have permission to dump it in the first place. and at this point any one who knew anything about why it was done are long gone, as is the Pennsylvania Railroad which became Conrail  after its bankruptcy in late 60s and eventually transitioned and was purchased and now operates as Norfolk Southern.
There where articles which ran in local papers at time that talked about it  but I have not been able to locate them as yet in the post gazette archives.
I will keep you posted if I find any additional information on this mystery.

A Secret Underground Armory located within Dixmont State Hospital? Thats what one investigator clams

Unfortunately Dixmont State Hospital which sat along Pa 65 Ohio River blvd. in Dixmont  no longer exists.
It was torn down and was to be replaced with a Walmart until the entire hillside came crashing down  when they started adding soil to  the site to build it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixmont_State_Hospital

But around the area where the Boiler Houses once produced  Steam Heat , Hot Water and even Electricity
an old friend of mine who is an Private Investigator and has done extensive research claimed that there was a underground  armory in the shape of a beehive  which  weapons and supplies  were kept when the hospital was part of federal governments effort to take care of wounded union soildiers  during  the civil war as many hospitals ended up overun with wounded soldiers at the time .

While almost all traces of the old dixmont are removed minus the Camarata Building rumored to be haunted and now used for private business you can still see an occasional foundation sticking out  here and there and while digging was done there was  no major excavating was done prior to placing all the dirt and fill on site so there may well be just such a hidden beehive armory under the ground. Of course now we will never know because the slide destabilized the whole hill side and its being turned into a park. Ground penetrating radar may pinpoint it but it would be too dangerous to try and dig down and confirm it as the hill side is still sliding  to this day  inch by inch.

It would make sense such a facility would have been on the property but it was probably emptied  filled in and sealed after the war like so many other old war emplacements which there where many around the Pittsburgh region  including over a dozen ramparts built to defend the city.

Yes I actually had a neighbor who wore a Gorilla Suit during Halloween to hand out candy.

Growing up in Carrick 29th ward neighborhood in City of Pittsburgh  I had one of the neatest neighbors My Richard  Lorielein?   who when we where young came around dressed as Santa Claus and visited us kids on Christmas Eve . But one of the most memorable things he did was on Halloween Night he would dress up in a really authentic looking Gorilla Suit and then hide behind one of the 2 giant pine trees in his small front yard
in front of his yellow brick 2 story home ,unfortunately the people who bought the home after he passed away took out the pine trees

You would walk up the small stoop to his steps which went up to his porch and thats when he would pop out  dressed as the gorilla and it was always fun watching the kids go screaming down the street past our place. Now if you where brave enough to stick around he would give you a really nice bag of candy. He did this up till late 60s when he got too old to do it and also stopped being Santa Claus as well because instead of neighborhood kids appreciating him they vandalized his property.

2 pine trees removed

Really wish I had a picture of him as Santa Claus and the Gorilla . Because when you tell people the story they do not believe you of course dressing up like a gorilla and coming out of hiding in today's world you could end up getting shot by some one.  But back then was a more innocent time

Sadly same thing happened in Westwood section o city on warriors lane  where my grandparents neighbor bob and carol would dress up as Mr and Mrs Santa Claus and visit kids all over .
But one night a group of thugs destroyed his beautiful yard display and that was that Bob was never the same 

Yes Pittsburgh's neighborhoods are full of fun loving individuals who only get hurt in the ed and thats a shame but it will always be that way because you can never be or do anything to distinguish your self without some one trying to tear it down or take it from you.

The Ogua and Monongy legendary beasts that ply's the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers waiting to take its next victim

The Ogua  and the  Monongy  is said to be a legendary beasts which lives in the Monongahela River and according to Indian Lore hunts its prey at night swiftly grabbing it under the water and drowning it.

The native Americans in this are always had very bad feelings being around the Monongahela

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monongahela_River

 
which stands for Falling Banks and maybe the unstable cliffs along the river  ,so maybe its a story they made up to scare people away from the river . But others thru the generations claim to have seen some kind of river monster  either described as a large lizard  or turtle some times with 2 heads and a long tail it uses to grab its prey. Or in the case of the Monongy  a half human half fish .

http://www.tribdem.com/news/bill-eggert-mon-monster-mystery-endures/article_2cc334ca-0cc3-11e5-b55a-9b03bd56af61.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xChWmHyGHFQ

http://www.pinebarrensinstitute.com/post/149279236553/quick-cryptid-snippet-ogua-the-monongahela-river

 

https://www.visitpittsburgh.com/blog/post/2017/5/9/Pittsburgh-s-Mythical-Ogua/165/

 
What ever it is it has been supposedly spotted many times over the years the latest being this past summer when people claimed to have seen an alligator looking creature in the mon.
 
Talk to any Riverman and they will tell you beware of snakes on the deck and with good reason there have been many cases of people disapearing around the mon either by accidental drowning suicide or murder and on average 2-3 body's a month are pulled from the 3 rivers around Pittsburgh.

So is there a river monster ? maybe maybe not but when you see a strange mysterious object floating in the river always beware.