The Witch, Warlock & Magic Thread

[RAXL]

Ok, since there is yet another movie coming out on the Bell Witch, I was wondering:
Where do you guys stand on what is ,maybe, America's greatest ghost story?
:xbones: :xbones: :devil: :jol:

[RAXL]

For those who don't know, here's one version of the Bell Witch story. There isn't TOO much difference between versions. :xbones:



The haunting started as unexplained noises around the Bell house beginning as scratching and knocking sounds and soon progressed to the sounds of dogs fighting, chains being dragged around and "beating" sounds on the outside walls of their house. It wasn’t long until the children began complaining of more terrifying things--having their bed covers pulled off, being touched and pinched by a seemingly invisible force. Soon, they heard what sounded like faint, whispering voices--too weak to understand--but sounded like a feeble old woman crying or singing hymns. The encounters escalated, and the Bells’ thirteen-year-old daughter, Betsy, began experiencing brutal physical encounters with the entity. It relentlessly pulled her hair, beat and slapped her, often leaving visible prints on her face and body for days at a time.

Quickly, the entity’s voice strengthened; it carried on intelligent conversations, and answered questions from visitors. Although the Spirit tormented many people, including the Bells’ slaves, she seemed to adore Lucy Bell, John’s wife. Over a four year period, hundreds of people spoke with the Spirit and witnessed its wonderful and horrifying demonstrations; and ever so many detectives, wise men, witch doctors and conjurors came to exercise their skills on the Spirit and tried to rid the Bells of their tormentor; all were brought to grief by the Spirit and left confessing the phenomena was beyond comprehension. Yet, those who witnessed the demonstrations knew that it had a wonderful power of intelligence, possessing great knowledge of men and things; a spirit that could apparently read minds, tell men’s secrets, repeat sermons word for word and sing every song in the hymn book. It often assumed a pious character, enjoying religious discussions and quoting scripture with absolute accuracy.

The Spirit often expressed its dislike for "Ol’ Jack Bell" and vowed to kill him. As John Bell’s health grew worse, the Spirit would torture him more severely by relentlessly beating him while he was experiencing seizures. On the morning of December 20, 1820, John Bell took his last breath; and when the family found a small vial of unidentified liquid, the Spirit suddenly spoke up exclaiming, "I gave Ol’ Jack a big dose of that last night, and that fixed him!" John Bell’s funeral was one of the largest ever seen in Robertson County, hundreds of people attended, including the gloating Spirit, who cheerfully offered mourners a concert of brawny drinking songs.

:xbones: :jol: :zombie:

[Sinister]

I'm a little rusty on this and if I remember my Witch lore, wasn't the reason why the Witch totured the Bells is because John Bell happened to be coming home from either town or a hunting trip, saw a strange black dog, or animal that watched him with too intelligent eyes, unmoving, until Old Farmer John, creeped out, took a shot at it and sent it scurrying away. It was very shortly after this that the tortures began. Do you know anything about this, Raxl, or am I remembering something else? I'm almost positive that this was the beginning of the legend of the Bell Witch. :xbones: :devil:

[dougspaulding]

Your recall is total. What you say is true. From the official web-presence:

One day in 1817, John Bell was inspecting his corn field when he encountered a strange-looking animal sitting in the middle of a corn row. Shocked by the appearance of this animal, which had the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit, Bell shot several times to no avail. The animal vanished. Bell thought nothing more about the incident - at least not until after supper. That evening, the Bells began hearing "beating" sounds on the outside walls of their house.

The hauntings had begun.

Scary!

By the way, I believe!

[claymud]

I rember reading somewere that its belived the Bell Witch was the Jhon Bells former Fience and she died, two days later bell was married. Aperently they say that the dead Fience wasn't too pleased about the lack of greaving, it could have been that Jhon murdered her who knows?
Also as I recall Andrew Jackson came down and when he left he said he 'would rather face the entire British army then go back and face the Bell Witch.' Its said too that the haunting still continuse, to a degree. If you go see the Bell cave and after you walke away you hear someone wisper your name in your ear.

Its my job to belive these things, so of course.

[RAXL]

Yeah, along the same lines as that story, is the one that says that John was having an affair with the witch, and she wasn't to happy when he broke it off.

[Sinister]

I also heard that it had something to do with a land deal that John Bell screwed the witch out of and she placed a curse on him for it that she would return and torment them. I guess the moral of this story is not to piss off an old hag who may or may not keep toe of frog, eye of newt and mandrake root on her shopping list.

[claymud]

. I guess the moral of this story is not to piss off an old hag who may or may not keep toe of frog, eye of newt and mandrake root on her shopping list.

I thought that was just common scence...
Its a rule of thumb, never piss someone off who can turn you into a toad.

[Michigal]

Witchcraft ban ends in Zimbabwe
By Steve Vickers
BBC, Harare

Traditional healers will only be prosecuted if they cause harm
Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on the practice of witchcraft, repealing legislation dating back to colonial rule.

From July the government acknowledges that supernatural powers exist - but prohibits the use of magic to cause someone harm.

In 1899, colonial settlers made it a crime to accuse someone of being a witch or wizard - wary of the witch hunts in Europe a few centuries earlier which saw many people burned at the stake after such accusations.

But to most Zimbabweans, especially those who grew up in the rural areas, it has been absurd to say that the supernatural does not exist.

In fact, it is not hard to find vivid stories about the use of magic.

Rest of story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5134244.stm?ls)

[RAXL]

Did anybody end up seeing that Bell Witch flick?

[Da Weiner]

I didn't get to go to the theater back in May to see it and it's not showing my area theaters any more so I expect that it should be released on DVD soon.

[Johnny Thunder]

Prank gone awry stuns Worthington
Resident of ‘haunted’ house critically wounds teen
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Theodore Decker , Kevin Kidder and Encarnacion Pyle
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Crime scene investigator Gary Wilgus, left, and Worthington Police Sgt. Jim Mosic take measurements of the car Rachel Barezinsky and her friends were in Tuesday night.

The house Allen S. Davis shares with his mother at 141 Sharon Springs Dr. in Worthington.

Rachel Barezinsky is in critical condition after being shot by Allen S. Davis, right.

JAMES D. DeCAMP | DISPATCH
Three of the four friends who were in the car with her when she was shot comfort each other at a vigil last night at Thomas Worthington High School.


Teens throughout Worthington had heard the stories about the home by the cemetery, hidden in a tangle of trees, bushes and weeds, with trails snaking out from the door and around the house. "It’s haunted," some said. "Crazy people live there." And one of the favorites: "They’re witches."
Police learned only yesterday of those stories and the youthful dares of teens driving to the house at 141 Sharon Springs Dr.

But none of those tales involved a man with a gun.

Late Tuesday night, the homegrown scary tale turned to real horror. Five thrill-seeking girls set to begin their senior year at Thomas Worthington High School on Friday ran afoul of an armed resident of the home, leaving 17-year-old Rachel Barezinsky critically injured by gunfire, police said.

Allen S. Davis, a 40-year-old man who lives at the house with his mother, said during a jailhouse interview that he was defending his home.

He admitted opening fire from his first-floor bedroom window after hearing the girls outside around 10 p.m. He said he repeatedly fired shots from a .22-caliber rifle.

"Did they threaten me?" he said. "No.

"I didn’t know what their weaponry was, what their intentions were," he said. "In a situation like that, you assume the worst-case scenario if you’re going to protect your family from a possible home invasion and murder."

Police said the girls were mischievous, but they weren’t even close to the house and hadn’t harassed Davis or his mother, Sondra, when he opened fire.

"It’s just a kid thing," said Worthington Police Lt. J. Douglas Francis. "Unfortunately, this time it had some bad ramifications."

Barezinsky was struck twice, in the upper body and head, police said. She remained in critical condition at Ohio State University Medical Center, where she had surgery yesterday to reduce brain swelling.

The other girls with her, Margaret Hester, Tessa Acker, Rachel Breen and Una Hrnjak, weren’t hurt.

Davis, who police said had no criminal record, is charged with five counts of felonious assault. He was being held in the Franklin County jail pending an appearance in Municipal Court this morning.

Last night, several hundred of Barezinsky’s friends and family filled the football field of the high school, where they signed posters wishing her well and lighted candles.

Barezinsky’s mother, Amy Barezinsky, came directly from the hospital to talk to the crowd.

"She’s doing really well for someone who had that kind of trauma," said her mom, who is a nurse. "I’m going to have to get on my knees and pray. Maybe you guys could do that, too."

Doctors have told the family that they are "cautiously optimistic" about Rachel’s recovery. She has squeezed her aunt’s hand and responded to doctors’ requests to wiggle her toes.

"It’s just so senseless," said her aunt, Tina Wedebrook, who attended the vigil. "We need to focus our energy on healing Rachel. She is such a fighter, so full of energy."

Some of the girls who were in the car with Barezinsky also attended. Una Hrnjak broke down in tears after talking to the assembled crowd. "This is so hard to do," Hrnjak said. "She’s fighting so hard for all of us and for herself."

Lt. Francis gave this account of what happened Tuesday night:

The girls had gone to the Walnut Grove Cemetery for "ghosting," which amounts to teens trying to scare one another. The girls told police that the Davis house, right across the street, is known among local kids as the "spooky house."

"They dare each other to walk into the property," Francis said, saying this week was the first police had heard of the practice because the Davises had never filed a complaint.

Two of the girls stayed in the car while the other three started up the concrete walk to the Davis home. They didn’t get far before turning around.

"One of the girls honked the horn to scare them," Francis said.

After they all were back in the car, the girls heard what they thought were firecrackers, but was gunfire instead. They made the mistake of circling the block, Francis said.

Davis said he fired again as they returned.

"To the best of my knowledge, that did the trick," he said. His mother, he said, was asleep upstairs, and he didn’t learn he’d hit someone until police arrived later.

Police said no one got out of the car the second time the girls drove past. They discovered that Barezinsky, in the front passenger seat, was shot as they drove off. The panicked girls headed for N. High Street, where they found police.

When Rachel Breen called saying, "Mom, I’m all right but ..." Kathy Breen assumed she had wrecked the car.

"Instead, she said Rachel got shot," said Mrs. Breen, of Worthington. "I thought, ‘This can’t be. This is Worthington. Those things don’t happen here.’

"All the kids talked about an old lady — a witch — living there," she said. "They’re good kids. They didn’t ring the doorbell or knock on the window. They had just taken a few steps on the property when they ran back to the car."

Sam Steiner, a friend, called Barezinsky the "typical, upbeat, lots of fun, always-smiling cheerleader-type." Indeed, she’s a member of the Cardinals cheerleading squad.

Davis, who said he is a selfemployed writer, said he and his mother had put up with mischief for months. Teens would bang on their windows and doors, shout and cause a ruckus, he said.

"The main goal was to drive these people off and to teach them to stop coming and harassing and trespassing," he said of shooting out of his window.

"I regret that (Barezinsky was shot)," he said. "However, I would ask, why was that teenage girl engaging in delinquent behavior?"

He said he and his mother didn’t notify police of the ongoing harassment because of their poor relationship with the city.

Worthington officials have responded repeatedly to complaints about the property over the years, most recently when a picket fence collapsed and neighbors complained of overgrown shrubs. "They did the absolute minimum," said Don Phillips, the city’s chief building inspector.

Diana Gilmore and her husband lived next door to the Davises for 18 years, until moving in April.

She said the few times Allen Davis came out to tend to the mass of vegetation growing around the house, "He’d swing that sickle like he was killing it."

Her 33-year-old daughter, Melissa, said that even when she was a teen, she joked with her siblings that the grayhaired Sondra Davis was a witch. The large black caldron Davis used as a planter in the front yard, made the story perfect, she said.

The caldron is still on the property, obscured by brush but visible to anyone who heads up the winding dirt trail that leads to Davis’ front door.

One sign on the trail warns, "Enter at your own risk. Falling walnuts." Posted on the front door is another that reads, "Armed response." But the door, along with most of the house, can’t be seen from the street.

Sondra Davis remained in her home yesterday but would not comment.

From jail, her son laughed at the legend that had brought five girls to his home.

"Wow, a haunted house, huh?

"Wow."

Dispatch staff reporterDean Narciso contributed to this story.

[grapegrl]

A shotgun and some rock salt would have done the trick nicely since there was a history of pranksters in this case, but this guy seems pretty disturbed and obviously over-reacted.

I read this article at Fark.com last week. Some readers there were actually familiar with the community and the situation--many details have been left out of the news stories. Seems there is a lot of upscale development going on in the area and harassment of the old lady who owns the house (the shooter's mother) was actually overlooked and almost encouraged in hopes that she would sell out to someone else. The property is also considered an eyesore by the city and the homeowner had been cited numerous times for issues like overgrown vegetation, broken fences, etc. Between having a bad relationship with the city over the appearance of the property and having past calls about pranksters and property damage ignored by the authorities, the old lady gave up on reporting any more incidents to the police.
I feel sorry for the guy's elderly mother. She's now lost her only companion (such as he was) and now has to deal with even more scorn heaped upon her by her neighbours.

[grapegrl]

:xbones: Official sick days, from witch doctor :xbones:
POSTED: 10:27 a.m. EDT, September 6, 2006

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Tribal healers, often known as witch doctors, are to be permitted to give patients official sick days recognized by employers, the state media reported Wednesday.

Deputy Health Minister Edwin Maguti told a gathering of traditional healers and herbalists that only members of the 1,500-strong state-approved Traditional Medical Practitioners Council would be allowed to grant sick leave of up to a week, The Herald newspaper, a government mouthpiece, said.

As government health services crumble in the ailing economy, the move was part of efforts to improve the collaboration of traditional healers in providing health care.

Maguti said medical doctors would also be encouraged to refer patients to traditional healers for additional treatments.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Johnny Thunder]

How long would it take me to ride my bike to Zimbabwe for a consultation?:D

[slightlymad]

You dont need go that far there are atleast 2 close by. I work with some people from that region.

[Johnny Thunder]

'They say I ate my father...'
By Edmund Sanders
Los Angeles Times
Posted on Sun, Sep. 24, 2006

KINSHASA, Congo - Naomi Ewowo had just lost her parents when her family branded her a witch. She was 5.

After her mother and father died unexpectedly less than a month apart, Naomi's care fell to relatives who struggled to cope with the tragedy. They sought counsel from a neighborhood "prophet," who warned that a sorcerer was hiding in their midst. Soon all eyes turned on the family's youngest, most vulnerable member.

"They blamed me for killing my parents," said Naomi, now 10, swinging her short legs under her chair.

The girl was cast out and lived on the streets until she moved to a rescue center three months ago.

"They say I ate my father. But I didn't. I'm not a witch."

On a continent where belief in black magic and evil spirits is common, witch-hunts are nothing new, usually targeting older, unmarried women.

But in the Congo, most allegations of witchcraft and sorcery now accuse the young, making them the primary cause of homelessness among children.

Of the estimated 25,000 children living on the streets of the capital, Kinshasa, more than 60 percent have been thrown out of their homes by relatives accusing them of witchcraft, child-welfare advocates said.

The practice is so rampant that Congo's constitution, adopted in December, outlaws sorcery allegations against children.

A rise in religious fundamentalism, revival churches and self-proclaimed prophets is one cause. More than 2,000 churches in Kinshasa offer "deliverance" services to ward off evil spirits in children, according to Human Rights Watch.

"Some prophets who run these churches have gained celebritylike status, drawing in hundreds of worshipers in lucrative Sunday services because of their famed 'success' in child exorcism ceremonies," the group reported in April.

But poverty is the real culprit, some experts said. Decades of dictatorship, instability and war have unraveled the social fabric, tearing apart family and tribal support systems. It's no coincidence that most accused children come from poor, broken homes. Most are orphans or have lost one or both parents to divorce or abandonment.

When relatives are unable or unwilling to cope with an additional mouth to feed, they may look for ways to get rid of the child, said Charlotte Wamu, a counselor at Solidarity Action for Distressed Children, which assists street children.

In Africa, kicking out a relative, even a distant one, is considered shameful, but allegations of witchcraft provide a hard-to-disprove justification.

[Johnny Thunder]

My exorcisms get results, says voodoo priest of north London

By Tariq Tahir
(Filed: 19/06/2005)

The nondescript red-brick block in north London barely warrants a second glance, but inside one of the flats is concealed a bizarre world barely comprehensible to most people. This is the home of Malcolm Poussaint, a self-styled "voodoo priest" who performs harrowing exorcism rituals on children as young as six whom their parents believe are possessed by demons.

Mr Poussaint sees nothing wrong with what he does. It is, he insists, work that has to be carried out. "If the child is not exorcised then it will grow up to be horrible. I get results," said the 75-year-old, who is originally from Benin in West Africa.
He is one of scores of exorcists, mystics and psychics offering their services to London's large African community.

The world they inhabit has been thrown open by the recent conviction of Sita Kisanga and her brother, Sebastian Pinto, immigrants from Angola, for the horrific abuse of an eight-year-old orphaned girl they believed to be a witch. The girl's aunt was also convicted for her role in the abuse. The child was cut with a knife, beaten with a belt and shoe, and had chilli rubbed in her eyes in an ordeal that lasted several weeks. A disturbing Scotland Yard report also revealed fears that young boys were being brought into Britain from Africa for ritual sacrifice.

Speaking at his flat in the Harlesden area of north-west London, Mr Poussaint insists that exorcism is necessary for children possessed by evil spirits. The girl's tormentors went about their work in the wrong way, but "she was possessed by demons", he said. Dressed in the white robes he wears during the exorcism, he described to The Sunday Telegraph the ritual the children are subjected to in order to cleanse them of "evil spirits".

He does not advertise but is a well-known figure in the local African community, so recommendations come through word of mouth. After payment of £70, an initial "consultation" is held with the parents to determine how the child is possessed. Then the child is brought to his flat for the ritual. Mr Poussaint says that if the child is agitated he tells the parents to give it a bath in an effort to make it relaxed.

He is adamant that the children he sees "are possessed" and "look like lost souls". Midday is the best time for exorcisms, he explains, as it is when the spirits are liveliest. When the child is ready, it is brought into the living room by its parents where Mr Poussaint is waiting, beating a small drum. The room will have been blacked out and on the table a dozen different candles are lit. Dried beans, beads and a bottle with water in it are laid out symbolically for the coming exorcism.

Oil is dabbed on the child's head and Mr Poussaint says he and the parents hold the youngster as they go into a trance, all the time chanting "prayers" for the demons to leave. "Sometimes the child is shaking because there's a bad spirit in the child. The child sometimes cries and I hold onto the child so the child is not able to move. I will get the mother to hold onto the child so I can send the vibrations across to the child. "The spirit that is calling to remove that spirit is a good spirit. After the child is relaxed and soothed."

Mr Poussaint says his last exorcism was on a six-year-old boy. "He was having problems and the mother was in a mess herself. She tried to get help but nobody was able to help her. The child was running around, screaming, making noise, acting abnormally, hitting things, hitting people, jumping on the sofa. The spirits were provoking that child. After we did the exorcism he was calm."

Mr Poussaint denies his exorcisms will do any long-term damage to the children. On the contrary, by making the evil spirits leave them, the children will not drift into crime, drugs or violence. When asked if he ever inflicts violence on children, Mr Poussaint gives an emphatic "No" in response. His customers are only ever satisfied, he claims. "I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm helping people. There have never been any problems. Once the children get older they are OK. Parents never come back to see me."

Mr Poussaint says there is considerable demand among adults for the services he performs and knows of another 10 so-called "voodoo priests" who are called on to exorcise evil spirits. Among others, people in trouble with the law, seeking promotion at work or wanting to fix broken relationships all seek his help."

He describes how adults attend mass exorcism sessions in rented halls. Those attending stay overnight and many are given what he claims are cleansing baths to rid them of evil spirits. Many become hysterical while others are overwhelmed and faint.
"When I first started going I was frightened myself. These people are acting abnormally because they are possessed by spirits and I help them."

His beliefs and others, such as "kendoki", the belief in witchcraft, are a misunderstood aspect of African culture, Mr Poussaint insists. "British people don't understand it. There has been a lot of animosity towards black people."

[Johnny Thunder]

Killings strike fear into Indian witch doctors
By Biswajyoti Das
37 minutes ago

With a traditional woven cloth covering her hair, elaborate jewelry and a red mark on her forehead signifying her married status, Dimbeswari Bhattarai looks like any other woman in this corner of isolated northeast India.

But Bhattarai, 62, is far from ordinary.

She claims to possess special powers which enable her to cure diseases, predict the future and drive away evil spirits. Bhattarai is a witch doctor, or ojha, as the tribal people of Assam state call them.

Ojhas are figures of awe, fear, and suspicion among the illiterate village people living in remote areas of the state.

But now the tables have turned and it is Bhattarai who is living in fear in her village of Uttarkuchi after more than a dozen killings of ojhas in Assam over the past few months.

Police say that around 300 people have been killed in the state in the past five years for allegedly practicing witchcraft. The killers are believed to be dissatisfied customers who believed the ojhas' potions or spells did not work.

"These days, after the recent killings, I am scared. But I have decided to continue practicing even if it means death," she told Reuters in her village mud house built on the edge of a forest, 80 km (50 miles) north of the state capital, Dispur.

Her neighbors say they don't believe in her powers. They recall an incident in which residents of two nearby villages came to blows after she made a wrong prediction.

"We have lots of such ojhas here. But their claims are very hard to believe. A handful of us know they are fooling people and sooner or later they have to face the music," said Nakul Chandra Boro, a local schoolteacher.

HEALTH WORKERS

Many villagers turn to ojhas to cure diseases such as malaria, jaundice and pneumonia which are widespread in the far-flung hilly areas along the India-Bhutan border.

Home to half a dozen insurgent groups, some fighting for an independent homeland and others for more political autonomy and tribal rights, Assam has largely failed to attract much investment or boost the standard of living of its people.

Uttarkuchi is a short drive from the frontier with Bhutan. There is no electricity, safe drinking water or health care facilities for its 2,500 residents.

Anyone seriously ill has to be taken by handcart or bicycle along a rough road which passes through thick bamboo groves and forest to the nearest hospital about 10 km (six miles) away.

As urban India hurtles headlong toward a 21st century way of life, the daily rhythms of many of the Bodo and Santhal tribes who live in the remote province are guided by ancient superstitions and a belief in evil spirits.

Sociologists say that many of the ojhas are con artists, making money out of gullible and vulnerable people.

"Illiteracy and lack of proper health care facilities are behind the powers of the ojhas in tribal-dominated areas," said Bhupen Sarma of the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Changes and Development in Guwahati, Assam's main city.

Nripen Patgiri, a 45-year-old shop owner who claims to have ojha powers, says he learned magic spells from a book a few years ago. Yet the workers at his shop insist he is illiterate.

Bhattarai said she obtained her powers 32 years ago when a middle-aged man dressed in white appeared to her in a dream and passed on the names of disease-curing herbs.

"He still visits me in my dreams," she said, as villagers listened.

KANGAROO COURTS

Problems arise when ojhas' predictions fail to come true, when villagers blame them for casting evil spells, when crops fail, or epidemics sweep through remote hamlets.

"Our medicines and predictions do not work at times when the planetary positions are not favorable," said 57-year-old Mahim Madahi, his breath reeking of local rice beer.

Sometimes when passions run especially high, villagers set up kangaroo courts and sentence ojhas to death, police say. Police rarely file charges because there are seldom any witnesses.

"Not a single person has been convicted of witch killing in a court in the last five years due to lack of evidence," said Kuladhar Saikia, a senior police officer, who is trying to educate the tribes and rid villages of a belief in black magic.

Police said that some alleged ojha killings were nothing more than murders carried out by people with their eyes on land owned by the victims.

In an effort to stop the murders of witch doctors, officials are now considering fining villages where killings take place.

"We need to take a long-term approach to stop this menace," said Anwaruddin Choudhury, deputy commissioner of Baska, a district which has seen a large number of deaths. "But the key lies in education to put an end to such practices."

[Johnny Thunder]

Virginia witch given informal pardon

The Witch of Pungo is no longer a witch. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Monday gave an informal pardon to Grace Sherwood, who 300 years ago became Virginia's only person convicted as a witch tried by water."I am pleased to officially restore the good name of Grace Sherwood," Kaine wrote in a letter Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf read aloud before a re-enactment of Sherwood's being dropped into the river."With 300 years of hindsight, we all certainly can agree that trial by water is an injustice," Kaine wrote. "We also can celebrate the fact that a woman's equality is constitutionally protected today, and women have the freedom to pursue their hopes and dreams." Sherwood, a midwife who at times wore men's clothes, lived in what today is the rural Pungo neighborhood, and she later became known as "The Witch of Pungo."Her neighbors thought she was a witch who ruined crops, killed livestock and conjured storms, and she went to court a dozen times, either to fight witchcraft charges or to sue her accusers for slander.She was 46 when she was accused in her final case of using her powers to cause a neighbor to miscarry.

On July 10, 1706, Sherwood was dropped into the Lynnhaven River and floated _ which was considered proof she was guilty because the pure water cast out her evil spirit, according to the belief system of the time. The theory behind the ducking test was that if she sank, she was innocent, although she would also drown.Sherwood may have been jailed until 1714, when records show she paid back taxes and with the help of then-Gov. Alexander Spotswood she was able to reclaim her property. She then lived quietly until her death at 80.Belinda Nash, 59, has been researching Sherwood for years and asked for the governor to exonerate the woman. A group annually remembers Sherwood with a re-enactment in the river.

[Johnny Thunder]

"Love witch" loses court battle
1 hour, 5 minutes ago


A German woman won a lawsuit against a "love witch" who failed to induce her ex-boyfriend to come back with rituals under the full moon designed to cast a spell over him, a Munich court said Monday.

"The witch lost," said Munich district court spokeswoman Ingrid Kaps. The 'love witch' was ordered to return her 1,000 euro ($1,300) fee and pay "several hundred euros" in costs.

"The plaintiff was in despair after her boyfriend left and tried to get him to return with help from a woman who calls herself a 'love witch'," she added. "The court has ruled it was a service that was 'objectively impossible' to render."

The witch disputed the plaintiff's claim of a money-back guarantee, Kaps said. The witch, described as an elderly woman, also lost an appeal. The spokeswoman declined to give the names or ages of those involved.

"A love ritual is not suited to influence a person from long distance," the court said. "As the promised service could not be rendered, the plaintiff is not obligated to pay."

[Johnny Thunder]

Salem's witches fight for civil rights
By Jason Szep
6 minutes ago

She brews potions, wears flowing black caftans and says she can speak with the dead and cast spells with a gentle wave of a wand.

Laurie Cabot is a proud witch, and she's fighting for her civil rights.

At age 73, the official witch of Salem says her craft is stronger than ever, as she sits in an overstuffed chair behind a pink table where she does psychic readings -- and where, she says, spirits of the dead often "pop through."

"I can't see them with my eyes, I just know they are there," said Cabot, whose cheek is tattooed with a spiral and whose long grey hair, streaked with black, covers her shoulders and much of her back.

"They talk to me and tell me things that no one would know. And of course the person I'm reading for is either totally shocked or they end up crying a lot," she said.

Cabot says she became the first to openly practice witchcraft in Salem, a historic New England city made infamous in 1692 when young girls accused servants, neighbours and relatives of being witches. As fear, bigotry and denunciation spread, 19 people were executed before reason prevailed.

As Cabot prepares for her busiest season, the Wiccan New Year of Samhain that falls on Halloween, she is doing something she hasn't done in nearly two decades -- fight publicly for the civil rights of witches.

In between psychic readings and running a shop that sells everything a witch needs to get started, Cabot is mailing letters to civic leaders across Massachusetts warning them of the legal perils of portraying witches as grisly old hags.

Posters hung on government property of witches as haggard women on broomsticks or as green-faced outcasts with an evil glint in their eye could lead to defamation lawsuits by witches protesting what they see as violations of their civil rights.

"If they don't protect us and take care of us like everyone else, then they could be sued," said Cabot, who in 1986 founded the Witches League for Self-Awareness after the filming of "The Witches of Eastwick," a movie witches said made them look "stupid."

'NOT SATANISTS'

In the 1980s, Cabot waged a letter-writing campaign to major newspapers and television networks explaining witches are not Satanists, do not practice evil and follow a peaceful pagan witch religion, Wicca, which is legally recognised.

After that burst of activism, she returned to her main passion -- her witchcraft and her shop. "I handed over the work, the letter writing, to another group, but all these years they have done nothing, so we are starting over this month."

"I'd like to canvass the whole of the United States, city by city, and give every official this law memorandum," she said, producing a white four-page pamphlet on the constitutional rights of witches.

In one section, the pamphlet quotes from a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that reads: "While there are certainly aspects of Wiccan philosophy that may strike most people as strange or incomprehensible, there mere fact that a belief may be unusual does not strip it of constitutional protection."

She also wants the military to let Wiccan soldiers have faith symbols inscribed on their government-issued tombstones.

In 1975, Massachusetts' then-governor Michael Dukakis proclaimed Cabot the official witch of Salem, a city synonymous with witchcraft.

Today the city teems with an estimated 500 to 1,000 practising witches and pagans. Shops that sell Tarot cards and magic supplies line its streets, which swell with tourists leading up to Halloween on October 31.

A "Dairy Witch" parlour sells ice cream. Shops such as "The Broom Closet" and "Angelica of the Angels" conduct "psychic channelling". There's a "Salem Witch Museum", "Witch House" and a "Witch Dungeon."

"This is looked at as fantasy land in the pagan community," said Jerrie Hildebrand, a witch and an ordained minister with the Circle Sanctuary, a Wiccan organisation that provides counselling and spiritual services. "We refer to it jokingly as the rent-a-witch season."

[Johnny Thunder]

MUSEUM OF SORCERY & WITCHCRAT11/19/2006 | 11:06

Museum of Sorcery & Witchcraft in west Iceland, where visitors can observe obscure magical objects and learn how to scotch ghosts, is steadily growing in popularity.

The Witchcraft Museum in Hólmavík, Strandir, opened in 2000. “The Strandir area has always been notorious for witchcraft and that sparked the idea of the museum,” Sigurdur Atlason told icelandreview.com. He is the manager of Strandagaldur, the company behind the museum’s exhibitions.

The Witchcraft Museum has gained popularity in recent years, last year it had 8,000 visitors. So far mostly Icelanders have visited the museum, but tourists are becoming increasingly interested.

“All the information is in Icelandic, English, German, French, and by next summer in Italian too,” Atlason says. He adds: “It is important to us that tourists from all nations can enjoy the exhibitions.”

In Hólmavík visitors can learn about the witch hunt in Iceland in the 17th century, take a look at magical objects on display and take part in scotching ghosts on special ghost days. The most popular object in the museum are the so-called necropants.

“Necropants are part of a complicated sorcery for gaining money,” Atlason explains. “The owner of necropants had to make a deal with a male friend while still alive about digging up his body after a natural cause of death, skinning it below the waste and wearing the skin as necropants.”

Atlason continues: “Then the necropants-owner would have to steal money from a poor widow and draw a magical symbol on a piece of parchment. After placing both in the necropants’ ‘pouch,’ the owner would magically come into possession of money.”

The original idea of the Witchcraft Museum was to spread the exhibitions out over the Strandir area. Apart from Hólmavík there is a magical exhibition in Bjarnafjördur fjord called the Sorcerer’s Cottage.

Two other exhibitions are planned: One in Trékyllisvík inlet, where sorcerers used to be burned alive, and another one in Hólmavík to be finished in 2011, comparing the witch hunt in Iceland and in the rest of Europe in the 17th century.

“In Iceland mostly men were accused of witchcraft, while in Europe mostly women were burned alive after being condemned as witches,” Altason says.

To read more about the Witchcraft Museum, visit www.galdrasyning.is.

[Johnny Thunder]

In Congo, superstitions breed homeless children
By Scott Baldauf, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Thu Nov 30, 3:00 AM ET

Three months ago, Kisungu Gloire considered himself fortunate. A 13-year-old refugee, he had a house to sleep in, food to eat, and a stepmother who took care of him as one of her own.

Then one day, Kisungu's fragile world fell apart.

His stepmother delivered a baby that was stillborn. She blamed Kisungu, calling him a witch. She had a dream that Kisungu was trying to kill her, and then tried to burn him with a flaming plastic bag. She took him to a priest to perform an exorcism, but when that appeared to have failed, she finally stopped feeding him and told him to get out.

"When I would ask for food, she refused," he says. "Another time I asked for food, she took a kitchen knife and cut me in the eye. When I talked with my brother, he said, 'Just drop it.' So then I moved out onto the streets."

Stories like Kisungu's are by no means rare, and are one of the most difficult challenges faced by aid workers and the new Congolese government as they collectively begin the process of reconstructing a nation destroyed by 30 years of dictatorship and a decade of civil war.

"Witchcraft has been there for a while, but it was never used against children in the past. Families that have old people used to accuse that old person of being a witch, when they were no longer productive," says Javier Aguilar, a child protection officer for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Kinshasa. He says that 70 percent of the 20,000 street children in Kinshasa have been accused of being witches.

[Johnny Thunder]

BRITAIN'S LAST WITCH TRIAL
By David Edwards
6 December 2006

In 1944, medium Helen Duncan became the last woman in Britain to be convicted of witchcraft when one of her seances exposed a government attempt to cover up the deaths of 861 sailors. Now, campaigners aim to clear her name

IT started much the same as her other seances. With a chilling moan and strange white substance leaking from her mouth, Helen Duncan began communicating with the dead...

But suddenly, the eerie calm was pierced by a police whistle and officers piled into the house, in Portsmouth, Hants, to arrest Britain's top medium.
The following morning Helen, known as Hellish Nell, was charged under section four of the 1735 Witchcraft Act. It was 1944, and, astonishingly, officials had ordered her arrest because they were afraid she would reveal top-secret plans for the D-Day landings. They had been monitoring her since she had revealed the sinking of a British battleship earlier in the war - even though the government had suppressed the news to maintain morale at home.

It took a jury just 30 minutes to find her guilty and she became the last person to be convicted of witchcraft in Britain. As she was led away to start her nine-month sentence in London's Holloway Prison, the housewife cried out in her broad Scottish accent: "I never heard so many lies in all my life!"
Helen's "gift" had long put her on a collision course with the authorities and led to one of the most bizarre chapters in British judicial history.

Today, exactly 50 years after her death, campaigners hope to persuade Home Secretary John Reid to overturn the verdict. "Helen Duncan was one of the world's top mediums, a woman who gave hope and comfort to many," says Ray Taylor, editor of Psychic World. "It was her gift that caused the government to hound her under an archaic law which eventually led to her death. "It's a scandal and it is time that her name was cleared."

Helen Macfarlane was born into a poor family in Perthshire, central Scotland, in 1897. Growing up in Callander, Stirlingshire, she earned her nickname due to her tomboyish behaviour. Even as a teenager, she appeared to have a sixth sense, predicting the length of the First World War and invention of the tank. When the unmarried Helen became pregnant in 1918, she fled the village and settled in Dundee. There, she married an invalid soldier, Henry Duncan, and had five more children.

During that period, Britain was still reeling from the devastating losses sustained in the First World War and many grieving families sought spiritual comfort. Seances quickly sprang up, conducted by people claiming to be in touch with the dead. Helen was among them and, by the 1930s, she was travelling the country, summoning up spirits before incredulous audiences.

But while the seances were making her a celebrity, scientists were already questioning her abilities and, in 1931, she was invited with Henry to London to have her skills tested by psychic researcher Harry Price. He recalls: "She was placed in the curtained recess. In a few seconds, the medium was in a trance. The curtains parted and we beheld her covered from head to foot with cheese-cloth!

"Some of it was trailing on the floor, one end was poked up her nostril, a piece was issuing from her mouth. I must say that I was deeply impressed - with the brazen effrontery that prompted the Duncans to come to my lab, with the amazing credulity of the spiritualists who had sat with the Duncans and with the fact that they had advertised her 'phenomena' as genuine."

In a bid to reveal the contents of Helen's stomach, Price asked if she would undergo an X-ray. "She refused. Her husband advised her to submit. But that seemed to infuriate her and she became hysterical. She jumped up and dealt him a blow on the face. "Suddenly, she jumped up, unfastened the door and dashed into the street - where she had another attack of alleged hysterics and commenced tearing her seance garment to pieces.

"Her husband dashed after her and she was found clutching the railings, screaming." Yet the researchers did not bring about Helen's downfall. Instead, the seeds were sown in the Mediterranean, on November 25, 1941.

HMS Barham, a 29,000-tonne battleship, was attacking Italian convoys when it was hit by three German torpedoes. The ship went down within minutes, with the loss of 861 lives. Already reeling from the Blitz, the British government decided to keep the news quiet, even forging Christmas cards from the dead to their families. But they never reckoned on Helen's psychic powers...

Days after the attack, she held another seance and claimed that a sailor with the words HMS Barham on his hatband appeared and said: "My ship is sunk."
News of the apparition swiftly reached the Admiralty, which finally chose to act two years later, in January 1944, amid fears that Helen would somehow reveal plans for the D-Day landings five months later. When Helen was arrested, everyone expected a swift release. But such was the paranoia of the authorities, she was refused bail and told that she would stand trial at the Old Bailey.

It was alleged she had pretended "to exercise or use human conjuration that through the agency of Helen Duncan spirits of deceased dead persons should appear to be present". News of the case infuriated PM Winston Churchill. In a note to his Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, he wrote: "Give me a report. What was the cost of a trial in which the Recorder was kept busy with all this obsolete tomfoolery, to the detriment of the necessary work in the courts?"

The trial lasted seven days. Mediums had rallied to her cause and their defence fund allowed her barrister to call 44 witnesses to testify she wasn't a fraud. Yet it was to no avail. Helen served her sentence and emerged from prison that September a changed woman. AT first, she vowed never to hold another meeting but eventually relented â€" a fateful decision.

The end came in 1956, when she agreed to give a seance in Nottingham. Though the Witchcraft Act had been repealed five years earlier and spiritualism was recognised as a bonafide religion, Helen was arrested and subjected to a strip search. She never got over the shock and, after being rushed to hospital, remained there for the next five weeks and died on December 6.

Whether a gifted psychic or a charlatan who exploited people's griefs, the strange tale of Helen Duncan - the unfortunate victim of Britain's last witchhunt - continues to attract controversy.

CASTING A SPELL THROUGH THE AGES

PENDLE WITCHES

IN 1612, at Lancaster prison, 10 men and women were hanged for witchcraft. They were believed to have been responsible for the murder by witchcraft of 17 people in and around the Forest of Pendle.

NORTH BERWICK WITCHES

A GROUP of men and women were tortured, condemned and burnt in Scotland in the late 16th century, for "crimes" including creating a storm to drown King James I.

MOTHER SHIPTON

A 15TH century Yorkshire witch, said to have powers of healing and spellcasting. "England's Nostradamus" predicted the invention of planes and cars, and had accurate visions of wars.

MARY BUTTERS

KNOWN as the Carnmoney Witch, Butters narrowly escaped trial in the 19th century for the killing of a cow and three people. At the inquest, she claimed that she had been knocked unconscious, causing her witch's spell to become toxic.

SALEM WITCHES

IN 1692, six men and 14 women were hanged or crushed to death in Salem, Massachusetts. The witch hysteria began when four girls in the town dabbled in fortune-telling games.

[Johnny Thunder]

Indian state gripped by fear of witches: report


NEW DELHI: Authorities in a remote area of eastern India have appealed to the public not to conduct witch hunts following rumours that roving bands of witches had been killing people swept the region, media reports said Wednesday.

Panic has spread through Chhattisgarh state following reports that witches were knocking on people’s doors and asking for onions and chapatti – local staple foods – and that anyone who handed out the food would die.
Chhattisgarh, India’s most impoverished state, remains deeply traditional and superstitions and beliefs in the occult are rampant. Last year at least 10 women were killed there on suspicion of being witches.

“We have asked people not to believe in gossip mongering and try and think rationally,” Subodh Kumar Singh, a local government official told the Indian Express newspaper. “Awareness campaigns have also been launched asking people not to harass women by calling them ‘tonhi’ (witch),” Singh was quoted as saying.

Many people, including local politicians, daubed prayers written in cow dung on their walls in the belief that it would ward off witches, the newspaper reported. The paper did not report any actual deaths attributed to the current rumours. Local officials could not immediately be reached for comment. ap

[Johnny Thunder]

Alleged African witches still outcast to camps
By Orla Ryan
Tue Jan 2, 10:41 AM ET

Mariama Alidu was cast out as a witch from her village by her own family, yet she swears she has never cast a spell. The mere suspicion of witchcraft was enough to see her and 80 other suspected witches expelled to a scruffy camp of mud huts on the fringes of the town of Gambaga in northern Ghana.
"It is the work of the devil. I can't say I have ever practiced it myself," says Mariama, who has lived in the camp for about 10 years. Hundreds more women accused of witchcraft live in similar camps in the cocoa- and gold-producing West African country.

Belief in witchcraft remains widespread in Africa, the world's poorest continent, where Christianity and Islam rub shoulders with animist religions, and where witch doctors wield great power in tribal societies. In the poor, dry savannah of northern Ghana, the heat shimmers under a pale blue sky and allegations of witchcraft bubble up as readily as tar in the tropical heat.

Like the witches' trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 or the Cold War persecution of alleged communists in 1950s America, the fate of a suspect often hangs on the word of another. Death, illness, dreams, superstition or even visible signs of success may be enough to provoke accusations of sorcery. No matter how hard the allegation is to prove -- or how hysterical the accuser -- the fact that witchcraft is virtually impossible to disprove means many women are forced to live outside their communities, some for as long as 30 years.

Some are brought to the witch camps by their families. Others flee there from their homes and villages, fearing a beating or worse. Most of the occupants of the camps are women, although there are some men.

Human rights campaigners say camp populations are declining, thanks to efforts by concerned agencies to reintegrate the women into society and fight the influence of witchcraft.

"People are becoming better aware that these issues are not just metaphysical but also a human rights issue," said Richard Quayson, deputy commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ghana's leading human rights organization. "People don't tend to attack those who leave the camp and go back into society," he added.

MALIGN FORCES

Yet a belief in malign spiritual forces remains strong in Ghana, especially in poor rural areas, and some say the camps will exist for many years to come.
Mariama Alidu's own brother accused her of witchcraft, following an argument over her daughter's choice of fiance. When his own daughter fell ill, he blamed his sister and Mariama was taken to the Gambaga witch camp. At first, she thought she was just going on a trip. Only when she arrived did she realize where she was and what was happening.

Gambaga's local chief, who lives in a larger mud hut than the others, requests money from visitors interested in meeting him and talking to the witches.

"In the olden days, when our forefathers were not yet born, when someone was suspected of being a witch, the fellow was killed. It is to eliminate this act of killing, that is why they are in the camp here," he said through an interpreter.

"If you have a witch in your community, you feel the witch is disturbing you. We can keep them here." The chief said the "witches" worked the fields with his wives, and in return he gave them food and shelter. Many also lived on charitable donations.

PRICE OF SUCCESS

For many of these outcast women, their crime may be a quarrel with a daughter-in-law or simply that they have passed child-bearing age. In places where medical knowledge is scarce, illness is also often seen as having a spiritual or malignant cause. Even an elderly woman's appearance in a dream can be taken as a sign of her malevolent intent. In some cases, witchcraft offers an easy explanation as to why one person is successful and another is not.

"In cases where successful women, brilliant women, have gone beyond the confines of their status as women, witchcraft is used as an explanation," said Dr Abraham Akrong, of the University of Ghana's Institute of African Studies.
His own mother, a successful businesswoman, feared buying land in case people attributed her success to witchcraft.

Ironically, the rise in Ghana of charismatic Christian churches, with their focus on the fight against evil, has intensified fear and belief in witchcraft, even among educated people, Akrong said. For Alidu, the hut she shares with two others is likely to remain her home until her family is willing to take her back.

Over the years, she has visited her children, who do not believe she is a witch. Too old to work on the chief's farm, she relies on food brought to her by other residents.

Asked if she is angry with the brother who cast her out, she said: "We were born of the same woman. I don't understand why he should accuse me of being a witch when our mother wasn't a witch."

[Johnny Thunder]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article6426318.ece

[RoxyBlue]

Hmmm, if we put a bottle like that in front of our house, do you think it would keep solicitors away?:)

[Spooky1]

I don't think anything will keep solicitors away, well maybe a tiger pit.

[InfernoFudd]

Maybe I should try that with my witch kitchen jars.