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White witch dies after spell
Aug 18 2002
A self-styled White Witch was killed in a bizarre accident after performing a ritual spell to celebrate a friends birthday at her Midland flat, the Sunday Mercury can reveal.
Aspiring model Elspeth Henderson, 22, died from smoke inhalation after a burning candle set fire to her second-floor Wolverhampton flat on April 13, an inquest heard.
Five days earlier, the University of Wolverhampton psychology student had invited friends Katherine Barrow and Kathryn Gnossil around to her new flat.
It was Mrs Barrows birthday and, on their arrival, Miss Henderson lit several candles which had been strategically aligned as part of a mystical good luck spell.
Mrs Barrow, landlady at the Halfway House pub where Miss Henderson worked for two years, said: We had to bring some flowers as part of the spell which was supposed to be in celebration of my birthday.
Elspeth mumbled some kind of chant and we all had to blow the candles out at the end of it. It wasnt anything spooky and we just considered it a bit of fun.
Elspeth was interested in all this mystical stuff and had recently performed a ritual for the Spring equinox. She had also done some kind of blessing ritual involving candles for the flat because she had only just moved in. But whatever it was seems to have turned out to be a curse instead.
Elspeth moved to Wolverhampton from Great Yarmouth four years ago and was planning to open her own psychology practice after she graduated next year.
She made regular visits to see her mother in South Africa, and had only just returned from Pretoria two months before she died.
She was a very outgoing girl and very popular, said former flatmate Miss Gnossil.
She considered herself a white witch and had a very keen interest in mysticism. She would read Tarot cards and concoct natural potions but it wasnt something she was obsessed with.
Last weeks inquest in Wolver-hampton heard how a lit candle had been placed on top of a video recorder under a table.
In recording a verdict of accidental death, Coroner Richard Allen said the fire had spread through the floorboards and ceiling of the flat below.
Mrs Barrow, who also visited Miss Henderson just hours before her death, said: I went round to the flat and noticed that the candles used for my birthday spell were still in the same position.
She told me that they had to remain ritually aligned like that for a few days to make the spell work. I didnt notice any candles on the video recorder and she seemed in good spirits.
Mysticism expert Dmetrius Palos, from Birmingham, said Miss Henderson was probably a Pagan and not involved in the occult.
The belief in the power of nature and earth is very strong in Paganism and rituals involving candles are common practice, he said.
Such belief systems are very prevalent in South Africa where white witches, are highly revered for their powers.
