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Hans Holzer
Written and compiled by
George Knowles
Dr. Hans Holzer, PhD. was one of the early American writers to play a prominent role in the
spread of contemporary Witchcraft, Wicca and Paganism during the late 1960’s
and early 70’s. A prolific writer
of over 145 books, mainly on associated Occult, Paranormal and Supernatural
subjects, his early books on Witchcraft, namely: The Truth about Witchcraft (1969), The New
Pagans: An Inside Report On the Mystery Cults of Today (1972) and Inside
Witchcraft (1980) were
written when few other books on witchcraft were available.
As such he did much to boost and pave the way for many future
contemporary writers to follow him. Holzer
is perhaps best known as the famed Ghost-hunter and Paranormal-investigator
associated with the “Amityville House” horror
investigations, which later became the subject of several popular horror films.
In January 1977,
Holzer working with the well-known trance medium Ethel Johnson-Meyers, entered
112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. In
1974 this had been the place
of a horrific murder,
when the then occupant “Ronald
DeFeo Jr” murdered his own parents and four siblings.
After entering the premises, Meyers
allegedly made contact the spirit of an old American Indian Chief, who revealed
that the site had once been a sacred Indian burial ground. During
his investigation Holzer discovered bullet holes created during the 1974 murders
and took some photos, these when developed showed some rather unusual anomalies,
for mysterious halos seemed to hover above them.
Holzer believed that Ronald Defeo Jr. may have been possessed by the old
American Indian chief, and that unscrupulous property developers had built the
house on a sacred Indian burial site, a claim that the Amityville Historical
Society strenuously tried
to discredit. Later while filming the documentary, Holzer managed to get a
representative from the property development company to reveal that the property
at 112 Ocean Ave. had indeed been built on a sacred burial ground. Hans Holzer
was born in Vienna, Austria on the 26th January 1920.
He claimed his interest in all things supernatural developed from
childhood stories about ghosts and fairies recited to him by his uncle Henry.
After completing his early education, Holzer went on to study
Archaeology, Ancient History and Numismatics at the University of Vienna, but
with Germany threatening war on his boarders, he left Austria in 1938 and
settled in New York. In New York he entered Columbia
University were for the next three years he studied Japanese and
Journalism.
His main interest at the time was in musical theatre, for which he wrote
a short-lived revue called “Safari”, and the book and music for “Hotel
Excelsior”, a minor musical about a group of young Americans in Paris,
which opened for a brief time in Provincetown, Mass.
He also wrote theatre reviews for The London Sporting Review. To
complete his education Holzer then studied at the London College of Applied
Science from where he received a Masters degree in Comparative Religion and a
Doctorate degree in Philosophy. A
year later he was offered a Professorship at the New York Institute of
Technology were he
specialized in teaching Biblical Archaeology and Parapsychology, he was also a
guest lecturer at many other Colleges and Universities. It was during his tenure at the Institute of Technology
that Holzer began his life long pre-occupation and investigations into Haunted
Houses. Working with Eileen
Garrett, a famous medium and psychic investigator, he received a grant from the
Institute to research and investigate Haunted Houses all across the eastern
United States. The result of their
investigations led to the publication of his first best selling book “Ghost
Hunter” published in 1963. In 1962 Holzer married the Countess Catherine Genevieve
Buxhoeveden, a descendant of Catherine the Great, with who he fathered two
daughters Nadine and Alexandra. His
wife Catherine was an accomplished illustrator/artist and drew many of the
illustrations for his future books, but after the birth of his second daughter,
their marriage ended in divorce.
Hans Holzer
(c.1969).
Holzer spent
the next five decades travelling around the world obtaining first hand accounts
of paranormal experiences. During this time he authored over 145 books on the occult and other associated supernatural
subjects. Throughout the years he
has worked with some of the worlds
best-known mediums, including: Ethel
Johnson-Meyers, Sybil Leek and Marisa Anderson, and interviewed most of
the occult worlds leading experts and researchers. Little wonder then that the popular press dubbed him
“Father Paranormal”. Aside from
his occult books, Holzer also
penned several theatre
plays, musicals, films and documentaries, and at the same time hosted hundreds
of Radio and Television shows. Outside
of his books on paranormal subjects, many modern Pagans may be surprised to know
that through the late 1960’s Holzer was one of the early writers to promote
contemporary Wicca, Witchcraft and Paganism in a new light, and through his
books connected hundreds of new seekers with covens and teachers.
He also led the way for a skeptical publishing industry to allow other
academic Pagan authors, such as Margot Adler and
Aidan Kelly, among others, to
write serious examinations of what we now call the “Pagan community”.
Holzer was himself an initiated High Priest in several pagan traditions,
to who he was considered an Elder statesman.
His last book on witchcraft is a tome called “Witches:
True Encounters with Wicca, Wizards, Covens, Cults and Magick (2002). Holzer passed peacefully to the other side on the 26th April 2009 at his home in Manhattan in
New York. He leaves behind his two
daughters Nadine and Alexandra, and five grandchildren.
His younger daughter Alexandra Holzer, like her father, is also a noted
author, artist, lecturer, spiritual consultant and paranormal investigator. A
select bibliography:
Ghost
Hunter (1963) Witches:
True Encounters with Wicca, Wizards, Covens, Cults and Magick (2002)
Sources:
http://www.alienseekernews.com/ Plus to many others to mention. Written and compiled on the 03rd May 2009 ©
George Knowles
Best
wishes and Blessed Be
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