What does this mean? (read)

[Samhain]

I was walking in a canal near my grandparents house just a few minutes ago and it brought upon a memory of something that I had seen in that exact woods a few years  back, when I was a kid. 

Growing up I was always intrigued by those Weird NJ books, and since I grew up and still live in NJ, I was always trying to scare myself.

Anyway, one time I went walking with my dad and my brother in this canal near my grandparents house. I had my iPod Touch on me so I could take pictures of anything cool I would come across. I remembered my aunt telling me she saw people with hoods going into that very canal a couple of different times.

So when we got deeper into the canal, I started noticing something off about the trees. Some of the trees were very thin and something was very obviously off about them. As I got closer I realized they looked like the bottoms of them had been burned and there were strange symbols carved into them. Like devil symbols I guess you could say, that’s how they looked. I took pictures of them.

Walking further on we also spotted an old noose hanging from one of the branches that was about 11 feet from the ground. It looked pretty old and the part that was supposed to be tied was hanging loose as if it popped out. I took a picture of that too and uploaded it all onto the Weird NJ app they used to have. (Sadly I realized the pictures didn’t actually go to the public, they only were on my private gallery).

I don’t seem to have those pictures right now, they’re somewhere on my old iPod touch. If I do find them though I definetly  will show y’all. 

I’m just confused what those tree burnings, symbols and noose were from. What kind of people? 

 

(From what I’m aware of the canal I’m talking about isn’t mentioned in the Weird NJ book if you were going to look for it)

[Piney]

5 minutes ago, Samhain said:

Growing up I was always intrigued by those Weird NJ books, and since I grew up and still live in NJ, I was always trying to scare myself.

My grandfather was Wayandaga, who is mentioned in the article 'Indian Curse Road' and I'm a "Jackson White". 

[XenoFish]

Please do present the picture if/when you find them.

[Samhain]

1 minute ago, XenoFish said:

Please do present the picture if/when you find them.

I don’t think I can find them anytime soon but I tried to describe what I saw as best as I could. Stripped burnt trees with strange markings and an old noose on one of the trees.

I’m sorry about the pictures, I too wish I could find them.

[+Not A Rockstar]

Depending on what you mean by "a few years back" there was a long running fad among young people to play at being what they thought was Satanist or Wiccan or even Druid and one could find any number of odd stuff left behind "ceremonies" in woods. Little of such "stuff" has anything to do with much but some few folks' fantasies. I'd assume this unless you find your pictures for someone to recognize something more distinctive.

[XenoFish]

If at any point in the near future that you could return to the location, by all means take new pics if the marks are still there.

Without seeing them, I can only guess that they might've been marked for logging. 

[Piney]

9 minutes ago, Samhain said:

I don’t think I can find them anytime soon but I tried to describe what I saw as best as I could. Stripped burnt trees with strange markings and an old noose on one of the trees.

Was this in the early-mid 90s? 

[Piney]

1 minute ago, XenoFish said:

Without seeing them, I can only guess that they might've been marked for logging. 

Orange spray paint around Jersey. Since the mid eighties. 

[XenoFish]

Just now, Piney said:

Orange spray paint around Jersey. Since the mid eighties. 

The lot behind my land was logged earlier this year. It's why I asked. 

[+Not A Rockstar]

3 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

If at any point in the near future that you could return to the location, by all means take new pics if the marks are still there.

Without seeing them, I can only guess that they might've been marked for logging. 

Good catch, I didn't pick up on the fact the marks and burning may still be there depending how long ago it was. Do they use burning to mark for logging? I have no idea about that :/ 

[XenoFish]

4 minutes ago, Not A Rockstar said:

Good catch, I didn't pick up on the fact the marks and burning may still be there depending how long ago it was. Do they use burning to mark for logging? I have no idea about that :/ 

I don't think they burn the tree. Maybe if it was a stump they might. Could prevent regrowth. Honestly don't know.

Could be logging or hobo symbols. 

[Samhain]

14 minutes ago, Piney said:

Was this in the early-mid 90s? 

No this was in the late 2000s. Like maybe 2011? 2012?

[Piney]

1 minute ago, Samhain said:

No this was in the late 2000s. Like maybe 2011? 2012?

I asked because the local small scale Klan groups were still hanging and burning dummies and crosses in the woods in various parts of our state. 

That's what it came off like. 

[Samhain]

2 minutes ago, Piney said:

I asked because the local small scale Klan groups were still hanging and burning dummies and crosses in the woods in various parts of our state. 

That's what it came off like. 

That’s what I thought. Either devil worshippers or KKK. But I wasn’t sure. Damn I wish I could share those pictures with y’all, that would be a great help for us both. 

 

[XenoFish]

Just now, Samhain said:

That’s what I thought. Either devil worshippers or KKK. But I wasn’t sure. Damn I wish I could share those pictures with y’all, that would be a great help for us both. 

 

Without the pic it's hard to say exactly what it is. 

[Piney]

1 minute ago, Samhain said:

That’s what I thought. Either devil worshippers or KKK. But I wasn’t sure. Damn I wish I could share those pictures with y’all, that would be a great help for us both. 

KKK is more like it. Satanists don't do that kind of stuff. 

[Samhain]

Just now, Piney said:

KKK is more like it. Satanists don't do that kind of stuff. 

Thanks for clarifying that.

My older brother used to always say the KKK was known to be around there so I was naturally curious. Maybe the noose was for sacrificing an animal? 

[XenoFish]

1 minute ago, Samhain said:

Maybe the noose was for sacrificing an animal? 

Are a warning to keep out. 

[Samhain]

Just now, XenoFish said:

Are a warning to keep out. 

A warning from the actual people hanging around there?

[Piney]

3 minutes ago, Samhain said:

Maybe the noose was for sacrificing an animal? 

Nope. 

Probably had a dummy in it. 

[XenoFish]

Just now, Samhain said:

A warning from the actual people hanging around there?

Could be. The symbols might have been tags. Marking the "territory" of whoever's been out there. Then again, I wouldn't put it past a few teens scratching stuff on trees for the lulz of it.

[Samhain]

Just now, XenoFish said:

Could be. The symbols might have been tags. Marking the "territory" of whoever's been out there. Then again, I wouldn't put it past a few teens scratching stuff on trees for the lulz of it.

Yeah, but the burning was definitely not teenagers.

[XenoFish]

1 minute ago, Samhain said:

Yeah, but the burning was definitely not teenagers.

Could've been. People do crazy things. Since we don't have the pics it's really hard to say what is vs what isn't. 

[Samhain]

2 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Could've been. People do crazy things. Since we don't have the pics it's really hard to say what is vs what isn't. 

Yes true. 

I’ll try to find the pictures don’t think I’ll find them though.

[GlitterRose]

1 hour ago, Not A Rockstar said:

Depending on what you mean by "a few years back" there was a long running fad among young people to play at being what they thought was Satanist or Wiccan or even Druid and one could find any number of odd stuff left behind "ceremonies" in woods. Little of such "stuff" has anything to do with much but some few folks' fantasies. I'd assume this unless you find your pictures for someone to recognize something more distinctive.

Satanists in the woods up to nefarious stuffs...

that's so '80s.