THE WIZARD CLIP: Did an 18th Century Demonology Case Predict the Warnings of Fatima?
The Wizard Clip: Haunting, Demonic Infestation, or something else?
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If you ever find yourself in Middleway, West Virginia, you might notice something strange about the oldest buildings in town, some dating back to the 1700s. Many of them bear wooden plaques featuring the same curious symbols—a crescent moon and a pair of scissors. It’s an odd, persistent feature, but one that holds a decidely deeper meaning. These motifs are reminders of a ghost story so infamous that, for nearly fifty years, Middleway wasn’t called Middleway at all. It was known as Cliptown. But what do ghosts have to do with the moon . . . and with scissors? And what to they have to do with with Catholicism?
Well, that’s a long story, so buckle up, my friends.
I have studied this case with interest for some years now, because it involves all of my most traversed subjects: poltergeists, demons, American religious history, the occult and Catholic folklore. But only recently did I take the time to look carefully at some verbatim testimonies from people who grew up in the area where this happened and who shared their experiences with a man who wrote a book about it all. That book is called The Mystery of the Wizard Clip and was published in 1879. The book brought to light many aspects of the case I hadn’t gotten from second hand reviews of it: Catholic aspects too important to not go deeply into.
A Stranger at the Door
The story begins in the late 1700s, when a man named John Smith (no relation to the more famous colonist) laid out a town in what was then Berkeley County, Virginia. The town was formally established in 1798 and named, of course, Smithfield. But it didn’t take long for that name to fade away, replaced by a truly enigmatic one. Residents—and those who heard about the happenings there—began to call it Wizard’s Clip. In short time, it was known simply as Cliptown. And the legend of Cliptown is one of the most bizarre, puzzling and chilling tales in American history—and in Catholic memory.At the heart of the legend is Adam Livingston, a hard-working farmer who had moved from Pennsylvania to Smithfield around 1790. He was a practical, no-nonsense man, a staunch Lutheran, and not one to entertain ghost stories. But in 1794, something happened in his home that would shake his skepticism to the core.
One evening, a traveler knocked on Livingston’s door, seeking shelter. He was of respectable appearance but in poor health. Livingston agreed to take him in, but before long, the man grew deathly ill. Fearing he was at the end, the stranger made a desperate request: He wanted a Catholic priest to hear his confession.
Livingston was not just disinterested in Catholicism; he was openly hostile to it. He refused the man’s request outright, declaring that no priest would ever cross his threshold. The stranger pleaded, but Livingston remained unmoved. Not long after, the man died, alone and without the rites of his faith.
That’s when it all started.
The “Haunting” Begins
On the night of the stranger’s death, Livingston had hired a man named Jacob Foster to keep watch over the body. But as soon as the candles were lit, they flickered and went out. Again and again, they were re-lit, only to be extinguished moments later. Even new candles, ones that had been burning steadily in another room, failed to stay lit in the presence of the corpse. Disturbed by the eerie phenomenon, Foster abandoned his post and fled.
After the stranger’s burial, the disturbances escalated. Livingston’s peaceful farmhouse became a place of terror. At night, he heard the pounding of unseen hooves circling his home, but when he looked outside, there was nothing there. Dishes shattered on their own, and hot embers leapt from the hearth as if thrown by invisible hands. Soon, Livingston’s barn burned to the ground, and his money vanished without explanation. His livestock began to die, and some of those deaths were not only tragic but bloodcurdling: the heads of his chickens were said to have simply fallen off.
And then came the clipping.
The Phantom Shears
One night, the sound of scissors snipping echoed through the house. The next morning, Livingston discovered his blankets, sheets, and clothing had been mysteriously cut—strange but perfect crescent-moon shapes had been sliced into the fabric. His boots and shoes weren’t spared either. When he tried to dress, he found pieces of the leather had been carved out—all in the crescent moon shape.
Over the next three months, the eerie clipping continued, sometimes happening in plain sight. Mrs. Livingston saw the newly washed bed linens and tablecloths being cut to shreds. A visiting woman from nearby Martinsburg, skeptical of the tale but erring on the side of caution, tucked her new silk cap into her pocket to keep it safe. But when she took it out, it had been marked by the moons. In addition to the clothing and other objects that had been relentlessly clipped by the spirit, there were other physical wonders. A pair of boots, appearing intact when placed on the floor, would suddenly unravel into a long, spiraling strip when lifted.
The news spread quickly. People from as far as thirty miles away came to Smithfield to see the strange occurrences for themselves. Some doubted the tales—until they experienced the phenomena firsthand. Three young men from a neighboring village, eager to disprove the rumors, spent the night in Livingston’s house. Before long, a large stone shot out of the fireplace and spun wildly around the floor. The men bolted, never looking back.
Livingston, desperate for relief, turned to local folk healers and conjurers, but nothing worked. The hauntings only intensified. It wasn’t until he had a dream that his fate began to change.
A Mysterious Voice
One night, in a dream, Livingston found himself struggling up a steep mountain. As he climbed, he caught sight of a figure at the summit, dressed in flowing robes. A voice—calm, yet commanding—spoke:
"This is the man who can help you."
When he woke, Livingston told his wife about the vision. But he was baffled. He knew of no ministers who wore robes. After some questioning around town, he was directed to an Episcopal priest in Winchester, but the visit proved fruitless. Finally, he was told about the McSherry family, devout Catholics who lived nearby. They directed him to a priest who would be holding Mass in Shepherdstown that Sunday.
When Livingston arrived at the church, he was shaken. As soon as the priest—Father Dennis Cahill, a Jesuit swathed in the signature black robe of the order—stepped forward in his vestments, Livingston gasped.
"That’s him," he whispered. "That’s the man I saw in my dream."
After Mass, he approached Father Cahill and poured out his story. The priest was skeptical, dismissing the hauntings as neighborhood trickery. But Livingston began to cry, and to beg for help. Moved by his desperation, Father Cahill agreed to visit the home.
When he arrived, he found the house in chaos, the strange occurrences confirmed by both the family and the townspeople. He sprinkled holy water throughout the home, and almost immediately, some of the vanished money reappeared on the doorstep. But the hauntings didn’t stop entirely. Eventually, Father Cahill celebrated Mass in the house—and that, at last, ended the disturbances.
Later, Livingston and his family converted, and he became known for his deep devotion. He even donated a part of his land for the construction of a church. That land, where the stranger was said to have been buried, is today known as “Priest’s field” and there is a Catholic retreat center on the site as well.
Now, I bet you think that’s the end of the story. But this is far, far from the end of the story. In fact, it’s only beginning. The destructive so called poltergeist activity may have ceased, but something else soon took their place. For years after, Livingston and his family and friends claimed to hear a voice—a spirit presence that, amazingly, began to instruct them in the Catholic faith.
The Voice
On multiple occasions, members of the Livingston household and their visitors reported encounters with mysterious figures. One day, while the entire family was gathered in a room, they suddenly noticed a strange man standing among them. He was barefoot, poorly dressed, and appeared to be a beggar. Despite the cold weather, he showed no discomfort. Mr. Livingston offered him shoes and clothing, which he accepted but then stated, “They are not needed where I come from.”
This visitor stayed for a time, instructing them in Christian doctrine. He spoke plainly, revealing things no ordinary man could have known, including the claim that “Luther and Calvin are in hell, and each soul lost through their fault adds to their torment.”
When he left, the family was curious to see where he had gone, as no one had seen him enter. They watched as he stepped out through the front door—and then disappeared.
The Voice’s Teachings on Purgatory
One of the most persistent messages from the Voice was the importance of praying for the dead. Again and again, it urged the family to offer prayers, Masses, and sacrifices for the suffering souls in purgatory.
On one occasion, Mr. Livingston was working in the fields when he suddenly became incapacitated, bent double and unable to walk. His sons rushed to his aid, and he told them he had heard a terrible shriek from a soul in purgatory. He was so overcome that he had to be carried back to the house, and he would later say that he would never forget the horror of that cry.
On another occasion, a visitor was staying overnight in the Livingston house. During the night he and the family “heard a Voice speaking, which made them get up and pray for poor Sinners, telling them that the Blessed Virgin had great power in behalf of poor Sinners, that they must say “Holy, Mary, Mother of God, pray for us poor Sinners.” Again, the Voice explained the Mass to them, saying that “ one Mass was more acceptable to God than if the whole world was in sack-cloth and ashes.”
The Voice continued to send messages of warning through Adam Livingston, often delivering news of deaths before any human messenger could arrive .The messages were always meant to give warning so that the person could repent of their sins and receive the Sacraments of the Church.
One morning, Mr. Livingston appeared at the McSherry home and told Mrs. McSherry that her sister, Mary Spalding, had died the night before in Baltimore. The Voice had instructed her to have Masses offered for her soul, revealing that she was in purgatory due to “overindulgence of her children.”
Mrs. McSherry arranged for eighty Masses to be said. When the next mail delivery arrived, a letter confirmed that Mary Spalding had indeed passed away at the exact time the Voice had reported.
Another time, Mrs. McSherry, curious about the fate of her former confessor who had died seventeen years prior, asked Mr. Livingston to inquire about his soul. She had expected to hear that he was in heaven, but the Voice shocked her by revealing that he was still in purgatory. The reason? “He was careless in handling the property of orphans, trusting others to manage it without ensuring it was done properly.”
On another occasion, as Mr. and Mrs. McSherry once walked toward the property, every gate they approached mysteriously swung open for them. The Voice later explained that a soul named Mary Spalding had opened them in thanks for their prayers that had released her from Purgatory.
One overnight guest to the Livingston home reported that he saw a blinding light that filled the entire house, making it impossible to look at. The Voice instructed him to tell Mrs. McSherry that her deceased parents were close to entering their eternal rest.
Children were said to be able to see the Voice’s speaker, though adults could not.
The Burnt Garments
The Voice did more than speak—it left physical evidence.
Much of the evidence left by the Voice was evocative of the artifacts in Rome’s Museum of the Holy Souls: artifacts burned by apparitions during visits when they appeared to ask the living for prayers. These are typically books, clothing or bedclothes, and such visitations and evidence were also part of the Wizard clip case.
One night, the family was awakened by a piercing shriek, followed by a desperate cry of “Help! Help!” When they asked what help was needed, the Voice responded, “Prayers!”
To prove its presence, the entity asked for an object to be held up. A short gown was raised in the air, and before their eyes, a human handprint was burned into the fabric, leaving the spaces between the fingers untouched. The family saw the fire, saw the handprint, and kept the burned garment as evidence.
On another occasion, a visiting woman’s shawl bore the imprint of a spectral hand, placed on her shoulder as proof of the haunting.
On another occasion, a similar cry for help was heard, and this time, a shirt belonging to Mr. Livingston was held up. A cross with the letters IHS was burned onto it. A suffering soul then revealed her identity: “My name is Catharine Goodman,” she said, explaining that she was a relative of Mr. Livingston—a woman who had passed away.
Such visits and similar evidence continued as the months and years progressed. Several of these burnt garments were preserved and later taken to the church at Conewago. Witnesses who saw them reported that they bore the clear imprints of hands and religious symbols.
The Devil’s Attempts and Miraculous Protections
The Voice also warned of demonic attacks on those connected to the Livingston family, particularly the McSherry family, whose patriarch had been present at the Livingston exorcism by Father Gallitzin.
One night, Mrs. McSherry saw the cradle of her infant son, William, rocking violently on its own. Fearing that the child would be hurled against the wall, she tried to rush toward it, but her husband stopped her, saying, “God is more powerful than the devil.”
The infant, miraculously, was unharmed. Later, the Voice explained that the Devil had been trying to destroy the child, knowing that he would one day become his enemy. That baby would grow up to be Father William McSherry, the future Provincial of the Jesuits.
On another night, Mr. Livingston’s daughter Charlotte was sitting quietly when the Voice spoke to her from a bright light in the corner of the room. It warned her that the Devil had tried to attack her all day but had been unable to do so because she had been holding a visiting woman’s baby. “The innocence of the babe protected you,” the Voice told her.
Warnings and Prophecies
The Voice frequently spoke of future disasters, telling Mrs. McSherry, “You will not live to see it, but your children will—War, Pestilence, and Famine.” During the Civil War, one of her descendants later noted that, of the eight family members who fought, only one died—he perished from overexertion while caring for the wounded in a hospital. The rest, the Voice had promised, would be spared from harm.
The Voice also spoke against the vanities of the world, warning that “ruffles, fringes, and fashionable adornments are the inventions of Satan.” It condemned hair curling and extravagant clothing, stating that “thousands are burning in hell for following the fashions of this world.”
A Protestant woman who married into the Livingston family once attempted to deceive them. She made meat soup on Thursday and, intending to trick the Catholics in the house, saved it to serve on Friday. She hid it in the cellar, locking the door and keeping the key in her pocket. But when she retrieved it the next day, she found that the soup had been replaced with clear water. The Voice told her, “It is more proper to take water than to violate the rules of the Church.”
Middleway’s Lasting Legacy
For fifty years, the town of Smithfield was known only as Wizard’s Clip or Cliptown, and its residents as Clippers. The legend never faded, and those eerie half-moon shapes—the mark of the phantom scissors—became a lasting part of Middleway’s history. Even today, the name lingers, and visitors who dig deep enough will find that the story, no matter how strange, refuses to be clipped away.
To this day, the region still bears reminders of these events. A stream near the Livingston home is still called Clip Creek in memory of the strange and terrifying clippings that plagued the house.
The land given to the church by Adam Livingston is known as Priest’s Field, and a monument many be seen their commemorating the conversion of the family after their trials and exorcism. A Catholic retreat center today welcome’s’ visitors, seemingly proof of the Voice’s prediction that the site would become one of prayer and fasting.
For years, pieces of clipped blankets and burnt garments were kept as testimony to the supernatural occurrences. Some garments were even taken to Missouri, where they remained in religious communities for decades before their whereabouts were, sadly, lost.
Analysis
The story of Wizard’s clip has confounded a lot of scholars, including me, because a lot of the events don’t seem to make sense. How could there have been diabolical influence when the Voice you might say ruthlessly schooled the family in Catholic faith for years and year safter the exorcism? How could a demonic spirit go on to teach the family and neighbors the tenets of the faith—with an emphasis on saving souls from Hell? Of course, we must conclude that if these events did happen, there were both diabolical and divine forces at work.
But why did the demonic come in at all? Was it because of Livingston’s hatred for the Catholic Church? Was the devil trying to make it look like a vengeful God was punishing Livingston for his lack of charity?
Was it Livingston’s uncharitable response to the stranger’s earnest plea? Of course God wouldn’t cause these kinds of phenomena as punishment. He may send us challenges of sufferings to help us atone for our sins, yes, but this kind of destructive poltergeist activity has a solid history of association with demonic infestation.
Or was the stranger, perhaps, so in need of a priest that the lack of one actually ended him in Hell? Did the stranger become an evil spirit, enacting vengeance on the family that had prevented his salvation? It seems unlikely that a man so desperately repentant would find himself damned, even without being able to make a final Confession. The Church teaches of perfect contrition—that if a soul is genuinely repentant and firmly promised to sin no more that, even without the Sacrament of Confession salvation may be found. In addition, we aren’t certain that the damned roam the earth, though some exorcists theorize this.
And yet the Voice itself told a chilling story of a local woman who had lain dying, waiting for the priest to arrive and administer last rites. But when he left his home to ride to her house, the priest couldn’t find his horse. It was nowhere to be found in the pasture where it had been left. The priest searched and searched and finally had to find other means to get to the woman’s home. Later, the horse was found right in the pasture where it had been left. The Voice proclaimed that the horse had been there the whole time but had been rendered invisible so that the priest could not get to the woman on time. The Voice said she had waited too long to convert to the faith, and that it was too late for her to be saved. Hence the priest had been prevented from arriving on time.
For me, this was more than a little disturbing. I’ve never heard, in my whole life as a Catholic and student of theology , that one can “wait too long to convert” or repent. Additionally, the Church teaches that if one has “perfect contrition” or a deep sorrow for one’s sins, and a firm resolve to no sin again, this can obtain forgiveness without the Sacrament of Confession. Of course, it may be that the woman was not, because of her actions, entitled to the grace that last rites would have bestowed. Of course, these are mysteries. And the story may have been distorted as well. Who knows? Maybe the devil hid the horse!
Finally, did the dying stranger curse the family with his last breath? That’s a definite possibility, especially because folk religion marrying Catholicism with witchcraft or other occult practices was not uncommon at the time—as it isn’t even now--and it would not have been unusual for a self-professed Catholic to do such a thing. The extreme kind of activity and destruction in this case does seem to suggest this. As does something else.
If you’ve been with me for a while, you may recall the truly disturbing case of what’s known as the Moffitt family haunting. If you don’t know that story, definitely check it out. I did a lot of work on that one, and I’ll put some links to that work below in the description.
In that case, a California family hired a caregiver to care for an aging mother. That caregiver, fearful of losing her position when the mother died, used Santeria to try to keep her alive and cure her. What followed was an infestation of not one but three separate houses, which became plagued by violent destruction and communication from this spirit who took to writing in the bathroom mirror with soap to communicated with the family. It’s an insane case, and not for the faint of heart. But one of the main things that happened in this case is that this demon left a calling card throughout the house. A triangle with a squiggly tail. The demon scratched it into the walls and floors, drew it everywhere with baby powder, oil and other substances and even carved it into the family car. Eventually the demon tried to get the dead woman’s son to kill his wife.
That triangle with the tail is an example of what’s known as a sigil.
In ritual magic, demons are summoned using specific sigils attributed to them. The Lesser Key of Solomon contains an extensive list of demonic seals, used by magicians for summoning and binding spirits. These sigils serve as a way to connect with and control supernatural entities, reinforcing the idea that demons respond to and leave behind specific symbols.
Often, witches and other occult practitioners will form a relationship with a certain demon, and that demon will do their bidding. The occultist performs rituals to reveal the sigil of a demon willing to work with them. And the demon reveals itself by showing its sigil. Sigils can be revealed in many ways; I have encountered cases where they appeared in just the way they did in the Moffet family case: drawn or scratched into surfaces or even on the body of the person asking for it.
Demons have long been associated with leaving behind sigils, marks, or symbols as evidence of their presence. These signs appear in different ways, such as mysterious carvings, burned symbols, scratches, or even letters and images forming on the bodies of afflicted individuals. Folklore, religious texts, and occult traditions suggest that demons use these markings as their calling cards, staking a claim or leaving behind a sign of their influence.
If demons leave behind sigils as evidence of their presence, then the crescent moon clippings of Wizard’s Clip might not have been random, but rather the mark of a specific entity. The fact that boots, blankets, and clothing were all precisely cut into crescent shapes suggests a deliberate signature rather than chaotic destruction. If an unseen force had been acting without intelligence, the cuts would have been haphazard, yet they followed a pattern—one that could indicate a supernatural claim over the house and its inhabitants. In fact, some of the witnesses were so confused the cuts because they were so precise. Reading these accounts now, it seems like they are describing modern laser cuts in fabric—something of course unknown to those of the 1700s.
The crescent moon has deep roots in both religious and occult symbolism. In some traditions, it represents mystery, transformation, and hidden knowledge, but it is also linked to certain dark entities. The sigil of Lilith, a figure often considered a demoness or dark goddess, prominently features the crescent moon, as do some depictions of Lucifer’s sigil.
The dying stranger who sought a priest and was denied one may have unleashed a curse that allowed a specific entity to manifest. The repeated half-moon pattern across different objects may have been a supernatural signature, indicating that a demon had taken up residence in the home.
The entity behind Wizard Clip did not act randomly—it left behind a distinct pattern, much like sigils recorded in grimoires and occult traditions. If demons leave sigils as a way of marking their influence, then the haunting of the Livingston home may have been more than a mere disturbance—it may have been a message, a claim, or an open display of the supernatural forces at work.
A Fatima Connection?
The Wizard Clip case and Fatima share some eerie similarities, and the more you dig into them, the clearer it becomes that Wizard Clip wasn’t just some random haunting—it was a supernatural wake-up call. Both events revolve around the power of the Mass, the fate of souls in purgatory, the need for repentance, warnings about future chastisements, and even strict admonitions against vanity and immodesty.
Both cases involved direct supernatural instruction. At Fatima, the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children, teaching them about prayer, penance, and the dangers of sin. At Wizard Clip, a mysterious voice educated the Livingston family in Catholic doctrine, even praying the Rosary with them. The voice had some strong opinions too—it insisted that one Mass was worth more than all the sighs and tears of the world combined. It even made them fast for forty days and drilled them on the faith so thoroughly that when a priest finally arrived to teach them, he was stunned to find they already knew everything. Just like Fatima, where Mary pushed for the First Saturday devotions and frequent reception of the Eucharist, the Wizard Clip voice wouldn’t stop talking about the Mass and obedience to the Church.
Both cases hammered home the reality of purgatory. At Fatima, the children saw a terrifying vision of hell and were told many souls were stuck in purgatory, waiting for prayers. At Wizard Clip, souls literally cried out from purgatory—one let out such a bloodcurdling scream that Adam Livingston collapsed in terror and had to be carried home. The voice constantly begged for Masses and prayers for the suffering souls. And in one of the most chilling moments, when a soul asked for proof of its torment, a burned handprint appeared on a piece of fabric. That kind of thing turns up in other Catholic mystical traditions—souls from purgatory leaving behind physical evidence of their suffering.
Both Fatima and Wizard Clip also came with grave warnings. At Fatima, Mary warned of war, disease, and famine if people didn’t repent. The Wizard Clip voice delivered the exact same message. It told Mrs. McSherry that she wouldn’t live to see it, but her children would. And sure enough, war, disease, and famine followed in the next century. At Fatima, Mary gave the world a way out through the consecration to the Immaculate Heart and the Rosary. At Wizard Clip, the voice’s message was clear: stay faithful to the Church, be humble, and pray constantly.
Now, here’s where it gets really interesting—both cases went after vanity and immodesty. At Fatima, Mary warned that certain fashions would be introduced that would offend God .At Wizard Clip, the supernatural voice took this message to another level. It flat-out condemned frills, ruffles, fringes, flounces, and elaborate hairstyles, saying they were inventions of Satan to lead souls away from God.
It even pulled off a supernatural stunt when Mrs. Livingston tried to trick her Catholic family into eating meat on a Friday—she hid the soup away for the next day, but when she went to retrieve it, she found the crock miraculously emptied and filled with clear water. The voice made sure she knew exactly why it had happened—better to drink water than violate Church law. It also warned that thousands were burning in hell for following the fashions of the world. And just like at Fatima, where Mary called people to modesty and purity, the Wizard Clip voice left zero room for compromise on worldly vanity.
Both events had physical phenomena that couldn’t be explained. At Fatima, the Miracle of the Sun was witnessed by tens of thousands. At Wizard Clip, there were the crescent moon shapes cut into objects, a glowing supernatural light appearing in the house, and young children seeing the supernatural entity while adults couldn’t. These weren’t just whispers in the dark—they left tangible evidence.
And in both cases, the people who received these messages suffered for it. The Fatima children were mocked, interrogated, and even threatened with death by the authorities. Adam Livingston and his family weren’t just ridiculed—they were financially ruined by whatever force tormented them before they turned to the Church. Both the Fatima children and the Livingstons had to endure serious hardship before their stories were vindicated.
A Final Thought
So when you line it all up—the warnings, the prayers for purgatory, the focus on the Mass, the call to repentance, the emphasis on modesty, and the unexplained supernatural signs—Wizard Clip starts looking a lot less like a haunting and a lot more like a divine intervention. If it was a demonic attack, it’s strange that it resulted in conversions,strengthened faith and, ultimately, saved souls. If it was from God, then it was a terrifying precursor to Fatima—delivering the same message, just to a different time and place and by a different spiritual guide.
Either way, the message was the same: Repent, pray, and stay faithful, because the stakes are eternal.
Thanks for reading. And until next time, remember to #prayforghosts.
-Ursula Bielski
For a dramatic reading of this story, visit the video below on my narrative podcast, The Ghostlorist.
The Wizard Clip: Demonic Infestation, Poltergeist, Dark Haunting, or something else?
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