haunted object
Many people and different countries used to use the waver machine to wave carpets and make threads to make beautiful art pieces and sold as part of many people business in the old days. Smaller waver machines bought by owners of houses in that time to make clothes and carpets. Some people buy used waver machine or new. The history of their wave machine may be known or unknown, but in either case, it’s not uncommon for some to refer to their waver machines as haunted.
Others have experienced waver machines rooms that were abandoned, that feel and sound as if they harbor ghosts.
It can send a chill up your spine when your machine begins operating on its own.
Those old waver machines were manually operated in the old days but here is my story might be more difficult to explain. Unless they are simply the products of our own “spirited” imaginations. I heard this story from my father who heard it from his father.
When Iraq was occupied by the Turkish Empire they have what we call these days a rehabilitation prison where they used to teach the prisoners set of skills so they can find a job when they will be released from prison. Many of the prisoner’s choice tailoring or waver machine worker or any other carpentry or craft that was taught.
My grandfather in his youth worked for the Turkish authority and became a prison warden and the prison was also part of an old army hospital.
He witnessed many fights and arguments between the prisoners and some prisoners were killed beside one of that old waver machine, the blood of the victim was spilled over waver machine.
The killer was later executed and his wife was attending the execution
the killer’s wife cursed those Turkish judges and the prison as many people mentioned her story in Mousel city of north Iraq back in 1915.
My grandfather told my dad that so many minor and major incidents happened specifically to this waver machine it’s like this machine like blood.
But my grandfather and other officers attributed to a faulty mechanical part and always send a handyman to fix the problem and they couldn’t find any problem, some of those handymen have minor injuries when they were working on the machine. Many prisoners refused to work with the waver machine as by now all the prisoners heard many stories about the injuries and most were superstitious so they avoided working with it.
An old prisoner was working with the waver and after while the guards found him dead by the waver machine the examiner doctor declared his death as a heart attack.
My grandfather and the officer decided to move the waver machine to a storage area along with some old parts and mechanical tools in one of the storage area at the army hospital basement.
The prison cleaner came to my grandfather and told him that he hears the sound every night coming from the storage room and that sound like someone is working on the waver machine but the door is closed. My grandfather as a warden he went and checks the room but he didn’t see or hear anything and he noticed that the waver machine was put together and assembled. Grandfather told the cleaner if he or any other prisoners put this machine back.
NO the cleaner answered
I want you to do something for me, next time you hear the machine is running or you hear any sound I want you to come to my office and tell me immediately, my father told the cleaner.
And do it secretly, don’t let anyone see you, because I think that is one of the prisoners somehow getting into this closed storage and working on this waver machine; My grandfather told the cleaner again.
Ok, Sir, I will let you know but you have to know that I hear the sound this waver machine in the store only on Friday night! The cleaner told the warden ( my grandfather) before he left.
Sure enough on Friday night where most of the prison and the old hospital covered with the full moon silver light, and the orange lights that come from many lanterns that were scattered around the entrances and exits of the army hospital and the prison.
The cleaner was running toward the warden office and stopped by the guards and he told them that he must talk to the warden and that he told him to talk to him no matter how late.
The guards asked the cleaner if he can wait until the morning, but the cleaner insisted that the warden must know this now.
The guards went to inside the office and to the other small attachment sleeping quarter and woke up the warden. They told him that the cleaner (Murad) was his name was under great stress and wanted to speak to the warden.
Then the warden (my grandfather) asked the guards to get their weapons and lanterns and follow him so now all the 4 of them holding the lanterns and walking toward the storage area in the old army hospital was the waver machine was put.
By the time they came close to the room, they can hear a sound of working waver machine with its familiar wooden click back and forth as someone woven back and forth like the typewriter clicks when you go to new line.
My grandfathers look from the small window at the other side of the storage where it has other windows from the top and one window at the door. He saw an apparition of a man woven, sitting and woven.
The warden was signaling to the cleaner to come and have a look from that window.
When the cleaner (Murad) looked from the window he whispered to my grandfather that this is Nori (The victim who was killed on this machine), my grandfather confirmed it was him he can see his face as the moonlight goes throw the upper window directly to his face.
Did you see his face before, the warden asked Murad?
No, I was afraid to look when I hear a sound I just leave the place I don’t want to get involved, Murad answered back.
The warden asked the guards to stay alert and he went to open the storage door
When they walked toward the waver machine they saw the apparition disappearing in a thin air with a loud noise of the waver machine, the machine still working for few seconds until stopped, the old broken piano sound like someone playing on it and most of the old appliances were making noise. It gave them a chill and they were scared s they left the storage after doing some prayers and locked the storage behind them.
My grandfather finished his 3 years and left the job and later he heard that was a fire in the old army hospital and the fire started from the storage area where they kept the old waver machine and the wool material.
My grandfather told my dad the story many years later 1945 when they moved to Baghdad 1932. My dad told me this story back in 1968