Netta was an heiress, having lost close family members at a young age. She had inherited a substantial sum, the equivalent of over a million pounds in today’s money. As such she was able to buy a house in Mortlake Road, Kew, London, and presumably didn’t have to bother overly much about having a paid job. But in the late summer of 1929, at the age of 31, she suddenly decided to decamp to Iona, apparently taking enough luggage with her to furnish a small house, which suggested she planned to be gone for quite some time. Iona has long been associated with spirituality. St Columba set up a religious retreat there many centuries ago. Folklore and legends abound on Iona, and it is easy to see why Netta would have been drawn to the place. But the part of the whole story which I’d like to know more about appeared in the Oban Times article (which I haven’t actually seen, but would like to). There, it was reported (according to here, and many other places) that “a number of letters of ‘strange character’ were also taken by the police, who passed them on to the Procurator-Fiscal for ‘consideration’.” As time goes on the story gets regurgitated online (blogs, etc.) with that (Mathers?) photo alone being presented in relation to Fornario (sometimes without much or any mention of Mathers). I've even seen that photo explicitly cited as being Fornario. No police investigation was carried out as the presiding physician noted the cause of death as heart failure from exposure. This explanation has never satisfied Ron Halliday, a psychic investigator and author of Evil Scotland who thinks the death should have been properly investigated.

The Mysterious Death of Netta Fornario | Shetland Arts The Mysterious Death of Netta Fornario | Shetland Arts

In her final years, Moina was destitute and discouraged. She attempted to revive her art career by painting portaits but was only modestly successful. Her health declined. Near the end she refused to eat. She died on July 25, 1928. FURTHER READING: There must have been some resentment towards her from some of the islanders. She was an independent woman for a start, a southerner travelling alone on a Scottish island. And she was into occult practices... Among weird stories now in circulation in island regarding Miss Fonario are mysterious remarks about blue lights having been seen near the body, and of a cloaked man. The scratches on her body, if they existed (they seem to have been a later addition, and some argue that only her feet were scratched up), are a bit more difficult to explain. It could be that she fell into some brambles, but the posthumous examination didn't contain any reports of thorns being found in her skin. Iona did not harbor large predators, such as foxes, that might have tried to scavenge the body, and no bite marks were found either.I must admit it is probably 20 years or more since I last read Psychic Self-Defenceand I didn’t recall the story from there when I heard it on a podcast recently. A Gothic tale of magic, madness, murder and mystery set on Iona. Mixing fiction with real events - the unexplained and controversial death of Netta Fornario, a remarkable young lady closely linked to the inner circle of the Occult Society of the Golden Dawn.

Netta Fornario: Iona’s Occult Mystery - Mysterious Britain

Do the scratched up feet, bruises and possibly deeper gashes found on her body point in the direction of foul play? The fact that the same day Netta was acting erratic, scared and wanted to leave in a hurry could certainly lend some creedence to that theory.In unraveling the disturbing mystery of Netta Fornario’s death, it is important to understand that her visit to Iona was no whimsical holiday. To the contrary, it was the result of considerable planning and had specific, if not unsettling , intentions. Exactly what those intentions were are still unclear, though she did leave us some intriguing clues. Why Iona? Around the end of the 8th Century AD the famous Book of Kells was produced on the island. Around this time the first Viking raids started which killed many of the monks and saw many of their treasures stolen.

A Mystical Island and the Mysterious Death of the Occultist

One of the most famous fairly local landmarks is that of 12th century Bolton Abbey, which confusingly is really a priory, a priory being smaller than an actual abbey. It is claimed that Columba needed to bury a living person in the foundations of the chapel and a friend of his called Oran volunteered. Oran was therefore duly buried alive. Columba asked later that his face be uncovered so that he could bid his friend farewell. Oran was still alive, understandably upset, had probably changed his mind and started to blaspheme, so Columba had him covered up again. Mina displayed an early talent for art and might have enjoyed a successful career as an artist had not the occult world intervened. In high school she met the wealthy tea heiress Annie Horniman and became one of her best friends.Four sea idylls” written by M. Fornario, in “Memories of the Deep” by Gertrude Bracey, London: Boosey & Co One of Netta’s only surviving writings confirms her fascination with Sharp and offers some insight into her views of the Shee and possibly what she hoped to find on Iona. Fornario, using the alias Mac Tyler, authored a review of Macleod’s best-known work, The Immortal Hour , which had recently been adapted into an opera by composer Rutland Boughton. Netta saw The Immortal Hour twenty-three times, likely during its 1922-23 run in London. Oddly, she laments that the play did not receive a longer run, due to the politics of Boughton, the composer. By all accounts the production was a smash hit and ran for an unprecedented 211 straight performances in 1922 and additional 160 the following year. Regardless, her remarks show a deep understanding of the allegorical references intended by the author.