• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Witches (General; Compendium)

PeniG said:
Okay, isn't anybody boggled by the fact that this town is proud to have committed this form of judicial murder longer than anywhere else in the country?
Well, when the logo was first used, many generations had passed since the last 'judicial murder' ( ;) ), so nobody in this century is going to feel any personal responsibility or guilt for it.

The logo merely represents an historical fact, and if you want to put a positive spin on it, it could represent "Thank goodness we're not so superstitious now, and are no longer so cruel."

"Those who forget their past are doomed to repeat it" (or whatever the saying is).
 
Of course, the good ol' US of A would never stoop to anything so vulgar, would it?

Oops!

Experience Reenactment of the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts

................

• Fear spread throughout the village
• They truly believed the Devil had come to Salem, Massachusetts
• The witch trials lasted for thirteen months
• One hundred and fifty-six people were accused.
• Nineteen of these were hanged.
• One man was pressed to death.
• Two dogs were hanged because the children said the dogs gave them the "evil eye."

http://ezinearticles.com/?Experienc...tch-Trials-in-Salem,-Massachusetts&id=1021195
But, boy, does it bring the tourists in! ;)
 
And of course there's Salem!
Edit: Bugger, Ryn got there first!

Many people associate the city with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, which the city embraces both as a source of tourism and culture: Police cars are adorned with witch logos, a local public school is known as the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School
 
Salem isn't actually where the witch trials took place. Salem Village changed its name to Danvers to avoid the notoriety.

If witch trials are remembered as a grave injustice that could (and does) happen again, that's a good thing. Remembering it with pride - ugh.

(I should perhaps add that, as I am a citizen neither of Salem Village/Danvers, Salem, or Warbury, I don't suppose my approval or disapproval matters much to people who are.)
 
PeniG said:
(I should perhaps add that, as I am a citizen neither of Salem Village/Danvers, Salem, or Warbury, I don't suppose my approval or disapproval matters much to people who are.)

:_pished: Notice how she doesn't mention if she weighs less than a duck.
 
Cat turns into woman in Nigeria

full story here: http://www.tribune.com.ng/22052008/news/news2.html

WHAT could be described as a fairy tale turned real on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, as a cat allegedly turned into a middle-aged woman after being hit by a commercial motorcycle (Okada) on Aba/Port Harcourt Expressway.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that three cats were crossing the busy road when the okada ran over one of them which immediately turned into a woman. This strange occurrence quickly attracted people around who descended on the animals. One of them, it was learnt, was able to escape while the third one was beaten to death, still as a cat though.

According to a source who witnessed what happened, the cat-woman said she and the two other cat-fellows had travelled from Abuja to Port Harcourt to kill three people. “The woman said they came to Port Harcourt from Abuja and that they came to kill three people. She said they had succeeded in killing two people, but the third person, whom I guess might be a pastor, was difficult for them and that they were preparing to go back to Abuja,” said the source.

Another witness, who gave his name as James, said the woman started faking when she saw that many people were gathering around her. “I have never seen anything like this in my life. I saw a woman lying on the road instead of a cat. Blood did not come out of her body at that time. When people gathered and started asking her questions, she pretended that she did not know what had happened," he said.

When the Nigerian Tribune got to the scene of the incident near Garrison Junction, the cat-woman was seen sitting on the ground with blood all over her body. The right side of her face had a deep cut from what was gathered to be from a cutlass.
She was later taken to a hospital for medical attention. It took the intervention of policemen to prevent the mob from killing her....

Interesting how it is reported in the newspaper, reinforcing the mindset.
I am sorry if there is a thread that this could have been attached to. I did a search and didn't find one but might not have used the best search terms.Hopefully the mods can transport this report for me.
 
'Witch' attacked for causing PNG floods: report

An elderly Papua New Guinean woman was attacked by local villagers after they accused her of using witchcraft to cause deadly floods, a report said.

A local official in a remote area of Morobe Province north of the capital Port Moresby said that a woman had been beaten on Tuesday after flash floods killed one person, demolished 21 homes and destroyed crops in the region.

"That is the way it is here," councillor Raphael Yasi said, the Post-Courier newspaper reported.

The waters which swept through Morobe's remote Garaina region, where the woman lived, after the Wisi River flooded more than a week ago have left 90 people homeless.

Malaria and dysentery have reportedly broken out in the province on Papua New Guinea's north-eastern coast, where thousands have been left homeless following widespread flooding.

- AFP

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/10/2361200.htm?section=world
 
Wing wizard Ronaldo may have match
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/spo ... 89275.html

“IT’S the kind of craziness we deal with on a daily basis”, said a Real Madrid spokesman when asked last week about a letter sent to Spanish newspaper El Mundo by a “wizard” who claimed to have been paid to cast a nasty spell on Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I have nothing against this great club,” wrote the man who described himself as “a mixture of priest and doctor”. “I am a professional and someone has paid me very well to use my powers. I have been hired to make Ronaldo suffer a serious injury. I can’t promise that it will be a serious injury, but he’ll certainly be out of action more than playing.”

Using photos of Ronaldo spread around his “laboratory” the wizard set to work. “It’s a step-by-step process and depends on various factors, so the result you are looking for is achieved sooner or later,” he said, claiming to have ended the player’s goal-a-game run in the league match against Tenerife.

Ronaldo must have had a right chuckle at this mumbo-jumbo bunkum. Until he limped out of Wednesday’s Champions League game against Marseille after being flattened by Souleymane Diawara (who was sent off). He was ruled out of yesterday’s game against Seville with the resulting ankle injury. Uh oh.
 
Vid at link.

Village 'witches' beaten in India
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8315980.stm
By Salman Ravi
BBC News, Ranchi


Footage of 'witches' being abused by a mob in India


Five women were paraded naked, beaten and forced to eat human excrement by villagers after being branded as witches in India's Jharkhand state.

Local police said the victims were Muslim widows who had been labelled as witches by a local cleric.

The incident occurred on Sunday in a remote village in Deoghar district.

Correspondents say the abuse of women who are branded as witches is common, but rare footage of the incident has caused outrage across India.

Police went to Pattharghatia village after being informed about the incident by a group of villagers.

'Possessed'

They have lodged a case against 11 villagers, including six women. Four people have been arrested in connection with the incident.

The victims were taken to a playground where hundreds had assembled to watch

Murari Lal Meena
Deputy police inspector general
Armed police have since been deployed to the area.

"On Sunday morning the victims were taken to a playground where hundreds had assembled to watch the ghastly incident," deputy inspector general of police Murari Lal Meena told the BBC.

"No one in the mob came forward to rescue the victims as they were being stripped and beaten up," he said.

The victims are now under police protection.

Police say that people in Pattharghatia believe that certain women in their village are possessed by a "holy spirit" that can identify those who practise witchcraft.

"These women recently identified five women from the same village as being witches who practised witchcraft and brought miseries to the area," a police official said.

Soon, an unruly mob broke into their huts, dragged them out and started beating them up.

Footage of the incident has been aired on television channels in India prompting outrage.

Hundreds of people, mostly women, have been killed in India because their neighbours thought they were witches.

Experts say superstitious beliefs are behind some of these attacks, but there are occasions when people - especially widows - are targeted for their land and property.
 
Saudi Arabia urged to quash witchcraft death sentence
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8378483.stm

Riyadh street scene
Many Saudi executions are beheadings by the sword in public places

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch has called on Saudi Arabia to overturn a death sentence given to a man convicted of practising witchcraft.

The organisation said Ali Sibat appeared to have been condemned because of psychic predictions he had made on Lebanese TV from his home in Beirut.

He was arrested during his pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Medina last year.

There is no legal definition of witchcraft in Saudi Arabia - a deeply conservative Muslim nation.

The country's religious authorities condemn any practices deemed un-Islamic, including horoscopes and fortune telling.

map

But BBC Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says there is still a thirst for such services in a country where widespread superstition survives under the surface of religious orthodoxy.

Human Rights Watch accused Saudi courts of "sanctioning a literal witch hunt by the religious police".

"The crime of 'witchcraft' is being used against all sorts of behaviour, with the cruel threat of state-sanctioned executions," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the group's Middle East director.

Human Rights Watch also said reports in Saudi media suggested that two other people had been arrested for witchcraft in the past month.

In addition, a Saudi woman remains on death row after being sentenced for the same crime last year.
 
Call for release of 'witchcraft' prisoners
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/wor ... 50334.html
BILL CORCORAN in Cape Town

Sat, Oct 16, 2010

A MALAWIAN rights group has called on the country’s president Bingu wa Mutharika to order the release of 80 predominately elderly women from prison who have been jailed for up to six years for practising witchcraft.

The Association of Secular Humanism (Ash) says the recent conviction of 61 elderly women, seven elderly men and 12 younger relatives by the local courts are illegal, as witchcraft is not recognised as a criminal offence under Malawian law.

Ash representative George Thindwa said that although witchcraft was not recognised by the statute books, various magistrates’ courts were refusing to abide by the law and throw the cases out. He said this was because some members of the judiciary are prone to believing in sorcery.

Most of the women that have appeared before the courts on charges relating to witchcraft were sentenced to between three and six years’ imprisonment with hard labour. According to Ash all the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“We want to secure the release of some 80 prisoners labelled as witches,” he told local reporters earlier this week. “We want to take up their causes with authorities and if legal action fails, we want to petition for their pardon and release. They are 100 per cent innocent.”

Mr Thindwa went on to say that some of the charges related to the accused teaching witchcraft to children. He added the defendants were given little or no support by the courts during their trials as they were seen as outcasts of society. He appealed to the chief justice and inspector general of police to inform their staff that witchcraft cases “should not be entertained”.

“The problem is that our police and our courts; most of them are witchcraft believers. This belief is very strong in Malawi,” he said.

Malawi is a deeply religious and conservative country in many respects, so a genuine fear of witchcraft is not uncommon.

Earlier this year, the courts jailed two gay men for 14 years after they were convicted of buggery and indecent practices. After widespread international condemnation the men were eventually pardoned by the president.

This fear of witchcraft has led the government to recently establish a committee to look into making it a criminal offence.

Mr Thindwa said he was trying to raise €30,000 to pay for the women’s appeals process in the event the president refused to order the release of the accused.
 
Healing rituals and bad spirits on a Philippine island
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16871785
By Kate McGeown
BBC News, Philippines

Islanders gather earth and dust to use in rituals to protect their homes

Siquijor is one of more than 7,000 islands in the Philippines - it has tropical sun, white sand and an azure sea, but it is also famous for witchcraft.

How do you go about looking for a witch?

It is not a question I had ever thought to ask before, so I rang the Siquijor tourism department to see if they were able to help.

"We don't have any witches," was the first reply, which did not seem all that promising.

But after a bit more discussion, it seems that Siquijor's witches - well, the good ones anyway - have recently undergone a rebranding exercise. They are now called traditional healers.

But what about the bad witches, I asked? "Oh we don't promote them," came the rather sensible answer.


Traditional healer Consing Achay treats Kate McGeown
So, armed with a list of approved witches, I set off. My first call was to a woman who is by far the most famous healer on the island.

At 86 years old, Consing Achay is the only person still practising bulo-bulo - a technique to remove evil spirits.

Her heavily-lined face reflects the ancient history of her art.

Murmuring a special language, she adds a small stone to a glass of water then moves it around her patient's body, blowing air into it through a bamboo straw.

The water gradually becomes cloudy - apparently that is the sickness coming out.

She then repeats the ritual, continuing until the water stays clear - which took three attempts in my case, making me wonder just how many bad spirits had been attacking me recently.

Consing is not quite what I imagined a witch to be. She is devoutly Catholic and sees no contradiction between her religious faith and her traditional spells.

Continue reading the main story
From Our Own Correspondent

Broadcast on Saturdays at 11:30 GMT on BBC Radio 4, and weekdays on BBC World Service
Listen to the BBC Radio 4 version
Download the podcast
Listen to the BBC World Service version
Explore the archive
In fact, she says she received her powers from the Christ child in a dream and she does a quick sign of the cross before starting each treatment.

She does have a black cat, but it did not seem to have an essential role in the proceedings - it fell asleep behind my chair during the treatment - and her consultations are held in a small room behind her son's karaoke bar.

Francisco Aladad is even more of a contradiction than Consing, because he is essentially living the life of a modern Filipino.

When I visited, he was just having a new window fitted. A motorbike was parked by the porch and a scarf with the word "Holland" emblazoned on it was pride of place on the wall, a gift from his daughter's Dutch husband.

But Francisco's most important possession is a large stick, which he claims can identify bad spirits.

He believes these spirits are everywhere - on the side of the road, floating around in the air and even under the ground - just waiting to get into people to cause illness of body or mind.

Francisco says they are the ghosts of the dead or fallen angels.

When his services are called upon, he identifies what is wrong with the patient by seeing how the stick reacts to suggestions of different diseases. I did not see much reaction myself - it looked, well, like a stick - but then of course I was not ill.


If it is a psychological problem - a change of behaviour, or a bout of anger or depression - Francisco has a different approach. He prods the stick in the ground around his patient's house to try to identify the spirits causing the malaise, and tells them to go away. Through the power of the stick they do.

On the opposite side of the island, another family is also busy tackling evil in a different way.

Dios Dada proudly showed me her father's herbal potions which, since his death, she alone can administer.

These ointments are only made once a year - more than 150 different types of herbs and tree roots are needed, and all of them must be gathered between Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

They are then rubbed into the affected areas of the patient's body through a cloud of smoke to ward off yet more of these ever-present bad spirits.

By this point, I was wondering what it is that makes Siquijor so full of malevolence.

After all, the palm trees swaying softly in the wind, the sun-drenched paddy fields and the white sand beaches seem anything but threatening.


Francisco Aladad uses a stick to tackle evil spirits
Perhaps it is because, despite the government's rebranding efforts, almost all the healers I spoke to said that bad witches did still exist, putting curses on people out of jealousy or rage.

Or perhaps it is the more practical reason suggested by Francisco - that because the island did not have its own hospital until recently, traditional beliefs about illness and disease have stood the test of time.

Or perhaps it is just a fiction that has been repeated down the centuries to become the stuff of myth and legend.

But if so, the queue of people waiting for treatment from Consing shows it is a myth that is very much alive today.

As for whether I believe it, well, it is better to be safe than sorry.

If I had any bad spirits living inside me, the good witches of Siquijor have hopefully sent them on their way.

How to listen to From Our Own Correspondent:

BBC Radio 4: A 30-minute programme on Saturdays, 11:30 GMT.

Second 30-minute programme on Thursdays, 11:00 GMT (some weeks only).

Listen online or download the podcast

BBC World Service:

Hear daily 10-minute editions Monday to Friday, repeated through the day, also available to listen online.

Read more or explore the archive at the programme website.
 
Sri Lankan woman held for witchcraft
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/wor ... 24791.html
Thu, Apr 19, 2012

A Sri Lankan woman has been arrested on suspicion of casting a spell on a 13-year-old girl during a Saudi family’s shopping trip, a police spokesman said yesterday, and may face death in a country where convicted sorcerers are beheaded.

The spokesman confirmed that details of the woman’s arrest published in local media were correct. The daily Okaz reported that a Saudi man had complained his daughter had “suddenly started acting in an abnormal way, and that happened after she came close to the Sri Lankan woman” in a large shopping mall in the port city of Jeddah.

“He reported her to the security forces, asking for her arrest, and the specialised units dealt with the situation swiftly and succeeded in arresting her,” Okaz reported.

Saudi Arabia, a US ally, is an absolute monarchy that has no written criminal code and where court rulings are based on judges’ interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. “The punishment is always beheading for anyone found guilty of witchcraft,” a Saudi lawyer and human rights activist, Waleed Abu al-Khair, said. – (Reuters)
 
Walkers set witches record on Pendle Hill
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-la ... e-19307228

Four hundred and eighty-three people set the witches record

Related Stories

Working with the Pendle witches
Secret life of modern-day witches
Duffy poem remembers witch trials

A new world record for the most people dressed as witches in one place has been set on the 400th anniversary of the Pendle witch trials in Lancashire.

Four hundred and eighty-two people set the new record, which has never been previously attempted.

More than 1,000 people joined the Pendle Witch Walk to raise money for the Pendleside Hospice, Burnley.

To qualify for the record all witches had to be wearing a black pointed hat, black cloak and have a broom.

Guinness World Records said there was currently no similar record in place. The attempt was made under Guinness stipulations.

Continue reading the main story
Lancaster witch trials

Held at Lancaster Castle in August 1612
Eleven Pendle people charged with murder by witchcraft
Additional alleged Pendle witch tried at York Castle
Ten found guilty and hanged, one died while awaiting trial, one found not guilty
Trials made famous by publication of The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster (by clerk of the court Thomas Potts)
Organiser Julian Jordan said the witch trials were a sombre part of the area's history but the walkers wanted to show off the best of Pendle including "our glorious countryside, our magnificent hill and our tumultuous history".

He said the organisers hoped the walk would raise £30,000 for the hospice.

The walkers made a five-mile circular trek including the summit of the hill.

The two-day trials in 1612 led to 10 people being hanged at Gallows Hill in Lancaster, after being found guilty of causing death or harm by witchcraft.

Commemorative activities include the launch of a sculpture trail in the woods near the village of Barley.

There will also be guided tours at Lancaster Castle, where the accused were imprisoned.
 
Five arrested after find of body parts
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/wor ... 26042.html
Wed, Sep 26, 2012

Authorities in Cameroon have arrested five people suspected of trafficking in body parts after they were discovered at a checkpoint carrying a severed human head, state radio and wildlife conservationists said yesterday.

Body parts of humans and rare animals are prized by some in central Africa for their supposed supernatural powers and used in occult ceremonies. Traffickers often get human remains from grave-robbers, but a recent spate of killings has also been linked to the gruesome trade.

Cameroon’s state-owned broadcaster, CRTV, said the suspects had been transporting the body parts in a bag along with elephant meat from Djoum, a town about 280km south of the capital Yaounde, when they were stopped at a checkpoint. – (Reuters)
 
Pagan ceremony pair deny child sex assault allegations
7:09pm Tuesday 27th November 2012 in Falmouth/Penryn

Pagan ceremonies with a coven of white witches in mid and west Cornwall were cited when the trial of two men accused of sexually abusing children over a number of years began at Truro Crown Court on Monday.

In the dock were 69-year-old Jack Kemp, of Grenville Road, Falmouth, and Peter Petrauske, 72, who at the time of his arrest last December was living at The Beacon, Falmouth.
Petrauske has denied raping one girl and three charges of assault. Kemp has denied aiding and abetting attempted rape and 15 charges of assault.

Prosecutor Jason Beal told the jury of nine men and three women that the children involved ranged in age from three to 15.
The abuse charges relate to a period between the late 1970s and 2009.
Kemp, revealed Mr Beal, had previous convictions for child abuse in 1972.

When police officers began investigations, one witness told of children being told to take their clothes off and dance around “like models”.
A girl who was aged seven or eight at the time told of children being with adults dressed in robes – one of them Petrauske.
She had been tied to a chair and blindfolded, and on another occasion her wrists were bound and a ceremonial dagger was drawn over her body.

Another witness, said Mr Beal, spoke of Petrauske being “really into witchcraft” and that he would refer to himself as a chief or lord.
Petrauske and Kemp would attend witches’ meetings, often up to three times a week, at a place near St Ives.

Petrauske told police officers: “I am a white witch, a pagan and not a Christian. Peter Solheim was a member of my white witch coven for which I am the high priest.”

Among items found at his home were a suitcase containing a ceremonial dagger, a cup and table covering, books relating to witchcraft and paganism, a blue and silver gown, a purple gown, a black eye mask, a red robe, a black leather whip, a gold chain and dagger, a black handled sword and a bag containing candles, incense and lavender.

The trial is expected to run for at least three weeks.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/fp ... legations/

Peter Solheim was murdered - we have three threads which refer to the case, which made national headlines.

There are currently two comments about this current case. But the attitude of both seems to be "Most of this sounds like pagan ritual. WHY are they being prosecuted for practicing our religion?" and "Any conviction must be based on actual evidence of child abuse and not merely be an excuse for a witch hunt".

The beeb report of this case adds:
"The case started on Monday but Judge Graham Cottle imposed a legal order postponing coverage of the case until an undetermined future date.

BBC Radio Cornwall successfully challenged the order, which means reporting of the proceedings can now take place".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-20517844
 
Sordid stuff: :(

Murder victim 'child rapist' claim in witches coven sexual abuse trial
12:59pm Friday 30th November 2012 in Falmouth/Penryn

A MURDER victim has been accused of being a child rapist in a sensational turn of events at the trial of Peter Petrauske and Jack Kemp, who have been charged with sexually abusing children during pagan ceremonies.

Peter Solheim, who was murdered in 2004, was accused of raping the girl during a harrowing video interview, made by an adult woman.
She detailed the abuse and rape she allegedly suffered at the hands of men involved in a West Cornwall coven of white witches, during their trial at Truro Crown Court jury on Thursday.

Solheim, a former Budock councillor, was bludgeoned to death with an axe and his body thrown into the sea. His partner of nine years, Margaret James from Porthoustock on The Lizard, was later jailed for 20 years in 2006 for conspiracy to murder.

The witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, repeatedly spoke of being scared and of fearing that she would be thrown onto a fire if she was "naughty" and did not do as she was told. She said she suffered pain for weeks after she was tied to a bed and raped by an unknown man when she was nearly ten and how, years later, she recognised him when he was murdered and his picture was shown on television.

"I was taken into a big house and upstairs," she said. "There was a weird, incensey smell and I passed rooms where there were chains coming off the backs of the beds, and whips.
I was in a room where there was a big double bed with ropes coming off it, and a black whip with star things on the ends.

"I was scared. He pushed me on the bed and I knew I was in trouble. I did what he told me, he tied ropes around my feet, they were really tight, hurting. "I was telling him 'Please don't hurt me' and he slapped me across the face. His eyes were looking evil."

The witness went on to say her hands were tied and she was then forcefully raped several times.
"I was screaming 'please stop' and thought someone would hear me but no-one came. Afterwards a woman came and helped me shower."
"I didn't recognise the man until a few years ago when he was on the television because he had been murdered.” That man was Peter Solheim.
When she saw the picture she was "hysterical and lost the plot" but could not tell anyone.
"He made me hate men," she declared.

Her evidence spoke of being about three when she was first abused, and five when she went to a ritual attended by a number of men and women, together with up to 12 children. Among those present were Kemp and Petrauske, the high priest.
"The chanting stuck in my head for weeks," she said. "I didn't understand what it was all about, I just thought they were weird. I was warned that if I was naughty they would hurt me, that they had special powers."

She was taken to a big house, she thought it was near near Hayle, where there was an area with big stones and a fire in the middle. There were people dressed in 'gown things', with hoods. She thought they looked like Klu Klux Clan gowns with necklaces.
"I was with eight or ten other kids and we were allowed to sit and watch," she said. "I didn't understand what was going on and was scared."

Petrauske was at the centre of proceedings, and there was alcohol. She sat next to a little boy who was more scared than her, with tears running down his face.
"That was the first time I learned about witches," the witness declared.

There were references to her being taken to a quarry, made to take off her clothes and pose for Polaroid pictures to be taken. Haltingly the witness described a number of occasions when she had been sexually abused by Kemp and Petrauske. Her involvement ended when she was about 12.
"After all I went through I now feel ashamed I did not tell anyone," she said.

On Wednesday, Mrs Pamela James, Kemp's wife until their divorce following his arrest last December, told the jury that she and "German Pete" Petrauske had sexual intercourse a number of times between the early 1970's and 80's.
"My husband knew about it, he wanted me to" she said. "It was a wife swapping stage we went through."
Mrs James also told of her husband having slept with another woman in their home for a few weeks while she slept downstairs.

She knew her husband went to witches' meetings with 'German Pete' but she told him she didn't want to go or know about it.
"I did go to German Pete's home and see a lot of weird ornaments and statues, and he did read my fortune on the Tarot cards but it was all rubbish."

The allegations of child abuse came to light, she said, at a birthday party at which a lot of alcohol was drunk and her husband was accused of rape.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/fp ... use_trial/
 
A 'new' story on the witchcraft trial mostly repeats what is already posted above, but it then continues:

...

Another witness, who gave evidence behind a screen, told the jury her experiences as a child “destroyed my life”.
She was questioned by Jo Martin, counsel for Kemp, about her not having mentioned him and Petrauske when interviewed by the police about the sexual abuse.
“Yes, because I was ashamed of what they did and what would happen,” she said.

She had been taken to the ‘Hot Rocks’ quarry numerous times on the excuse of taking the dog for a walk and had seen Kemp and Petrauske there.
“It was disgusting and makes me feel repulsive,” the witness declared. “Even now I try to avoid travelling on that road.”

During cross examination yesterday the witness agreed that she had received nearly £25,000 compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board but declared: “I gave it all away, to anyone, it was dirty money... I never wanted people to know about what had happened but I had to do what is right.”
The alleged abusers, she declared, were: “Disgusting, dirty people and they will never change.”
Referring to Peter Solheim, she said: “He destroyed me.”

When it was suggested that she was lying the woman retorted: “I have nothing to lie about, why would I put everyone through this? I am trying to do what is right about all this...”

In her videoed interview a third woman to allege she had been abused said she had felt really guilty about not having spoken about it before. It began when she was a child and until she was about nine numerous people were involved in abusing her. It ended when she was 14.

The woman spoke of being about six or seven years old when she was in a room with four men, one of them with a camera.
“I was abused by people I did not know, there are probably some videos of me out there for people to watch and enjoy. I was not a bad kid but the men in my life were bastards.”

The witness said that Kemp was present a number of times but nothing had happened to her in his house. He always had a few girls there.

After describing the ways she had been abused and hurt she declared: “I knew it was wrong but I was too scared to tell.”

The trial continues.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/fp ... al_LATEST/
 
Jack Kemp and Peter Petrauske guilty of 'ritualistic' abuse
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-20705898

Two men have been convicted of carrying out "ritualistic" sex abuse of girls as part of a witches' coven.

Jack Kemp, 69, and Peter Petrauske, 72, both of Falmouth, Cornwall, had denied multiple sexual assaults involving children aged five to 14.

Petrauske, was convicted of one count of rape, one count of aiding and abetting an attempt to rape and one count of indecent assault.

Kemp was found guilty of indecent assault and indecency with a child.

Kemp was found not guilty of four other offences.

The jury of nine men and three women at Truro Crown Court is still considering its verdicts on several other charges.

Judge Graham Cottle said he would accept majority verdicts.

Petrauske, of no fixed abode, and Kemp of Grenville Road in Falmouth, were said to have worn ceremonial robes and had pagan paraphernalia when abused girls in Cornwall during the 1970s.

The men's victims gave evidence from behind a screen during the three-week trial.

They said they were abused by their tormentors, before being given money and sweets to keep quiet.
 
Rev Aubel said he hoped his autobiography, called A Rebel's Story, acted as a warning to people not to get entangled in the occult Hopefully it will warn people away from the christian cult instead.

Witchcraft 'thriving in the Welsh countryside'

Witchcraft is thriving in the Welsh countryside, a church minister has said, as he described stumbling upon an increasing number of effigies, users of the evil eye and exorcisms.

Rev Felix Aubel claims occult practices in rural Wales have been increasing during the two decades he has been working in the area.

The minister spoke out after latest figures in the 2011 census has revealed 83 witches and 93 satanists are living in Wales.

He said there was an "unusual connection" between Christianity and witchcraft in some chapel circles in Wales.
Rev Aubel, who is the minister of five Congregational chapels in rural Carmarthenshire, said he has called out an exorcist after a witch placed a curse on one of his parishioners.

He said: "This is not a joke and I would warn people not to get involved in the occult.

"I have been told that a coven of witches still meet locally. There is also a witch living in a nearby village who advertises her services in the local paper."

He revealed in his autobiography that a curse on a parishioner had to be lifted by an exorcist.

He said: "In folk-magic and witchcraft, a poppet is a doll made to represent a person, for casting spells on that person.

"A poppet or effigy would be used with very sharp needles stuck into its 'heart' as a way of doing evil to an enemy.
"It was this 'evil' type of poppet that was used on a chapel member of mine in the Aberaeron area in 1994.

"It took an experienced Anglican exorcist to 'raise' this curse, which had been placed by a witch on the instruction of another former church member.
"The motivation behind this 'evil' was envy that had turned into jealousy."
The Carmarthenshire church minister, who has preached in West Wales for over 20 years, said witches and curses weren't simply the stuff of fairy stories.

He said he had also battled a case of the "evil eye" during his ministerial career.

Rev Aubel said: "This is an ancient belief in the existence of a malevolent power in the glance of some people, which is almost invariably provoked by envy or jealousy.
"In this instance, a lady who had given birth to a baby boy was apparently wished bad luck by the "evil glance" in the eye of a childless spinster neighbour.
"Both mother and child were subsequently taken ill due to acute breathlessness for no apparent medical reason and had to be hospitalised.
"The spinster even visited the mother and child in hospital while I was speaking to them.

"It became obvious to me that the spinster was praising the baby to its mother in a very false and patronising way.
"This is one of the most noticeable characteristics of the utilisation of the "evil eye".

"Realising this, I asked the spinster to say "God bless you" to the baby, having just said what a beautiful child the mother had.
"After that the spinster immediately walked away without uttering another word.

"As a precautionary measure, the mother later placed a horse shoe amulet in the porch of her home in order to protect her baby son and herself from the malevolent effects of the spinster's "evil eye"."
He added: "A witch who lived in the Pennant area of Ceredigion in the early 1990s would occasionally attend the local chapel.
Rev Aubel said he hoped his autobiography, called A Rebel's Story, acted as a warning to people not to get entangled in the occult.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... yside.html
 
...

Having been part of the Pagan community for many years, I can honestly say I don't believe that there are many people at all who have any kind of ability in Witchcraft or any other Pagan religion's magical practice (such as seidr in the Old English and Norse tradition or the Druidic side of things). I have met many many people who call themselves witches, but do not actually practice magic, only seasonal celebrations. I would say that people with actual psychic powers or ability to invoke,' or soul journey/astral project, are very few and far between - even though there are thousands who claim they do it.
 
Witchcraft in Cornwall exhibition at Cornish Studies Library in Redruth
2:20pm Friday 11th October 2013 in News .

Something witchy is coming to the Cornish Studies Library in Redruth this October.

Bewitching History is a new exhibition which focuses on themes such as the witch on trial, Cornish witch Tammy Blee, charms and spells, witch bottles and pits, and ‘Allantide’ traditions.

The exhibition also features original documents and objects from the Archives and Cornish Studies collections related to the history of witchcraft in Cornwall; a rare 18th century written charm, a witch’s ‘toolkit’ and part of Cecil Williamson’s (founder of the Museum of Witchcraft) herb collection, as well as items excavated from mysterious witch pits at Saveock Water, near Truro, and much more.

The exhibition runs at the Library from Friday October 11 until Saturday November 2, during library opening hours.

...

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10 ... th/?ref=mr
 
Back
Top