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Engineers have said they were "stunned" to unearth a 17th Century cottage, complete with a cat skeleton, during a construction project in Lancashire. The cottage was discovered near Lower Black Moss reservoir in the village of Barley, in the shadow of Pendle Hill. Archaeologists brought in by United Utilities to survey the area found the building under a grass mound. Historians are now speculating that the well-preserved cottage could have belonged to one of the Pendle witches. The building contained a sealed room, with the bones of a cat bricked into the wall. It is believed the cat was buried...

It's Halloween! Post your spooky ghost stories here. Boo!

(Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Herman Cain's quirky "smoking ad" may have mystified many Americans, but according to a new Reuters/Ipsos online poll, it has drawn a sharp line between Republicans who identify with the Tea Party and those who don't. The ad, which shows Cain's chief of staff Mark Block puffing on a cigarette for no apparent reason, created enormous Internet buzz this week.Six in 10 of those who strongly identify with the conservative Tea Party movement said they loved or liked the ad.An almost equal percentage of people who self-identified as mainstream Republicans either disliked or hated it.

From the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz to Meg, the good witch from the Meg and Mog children's books, witches have always dressed in black. But their traditional attire has now come in for criticism from equality experts who claim it could send a negative message to toddlers in nursery and lead to racism. Instead, teachers should censor the toy box and replace the pointy black hat with a pink one, while dressing fairies, generally resplendent in pale pastels, in darker shades. Another staple of the classroom - white paper - has also been questioned...

Officials of a town in Central Philippines was forced to take down road warning signboards featuring witches amid observations that the traffic signs offend the sensibilities of some local folk Manila: Officials of a town in Central Philippines was forced to take down road warning signboards featuring witches amid observations that the traffic signs offend the sensibilities of some local folk. Various reports reaching Manila said officials in the town of Dumangas in Iloilo province were forced to take down six traffic warning signboards bearing silhouettes of three witches straddling broomsticks amid an uproad from local residents who said that...

  Witches deploy 500 members to Abuja for Jonathan's inauguration   By TAIWO OLUWADARE May 28, 2011 05:06AM   The Witches and Wizards Association of Nigeria (WITZAN), has deployed 500 witches to Abuja and other parts of Ahead of Nigeria to prevent any tragic occurrence and ensure peaceful inauguration on May 29. According to its national co-ordinator, Dr Okhue Iboi, the decision was taken after an emergency meeting at Zuma rock, Niger State. WITZAN also warned President Goodluck Jonathan to take adequate security as bad people and disgruntled politicians are planning to cause problems. Iboi, however, disclosed that the...

A member of the local school board told me, “In the 21st century they’ll have to be able to work in groups, so we may as well teach them how to do it.” He was so confident in his pronouncement, and seemed to think there was nothing else to say. His confidence had the opposite effect on me. I heard nothing but sophistry in that little comment; and I realized, with some regret, I had to write an article explaining why Cooperative Learning is just another tawdry gimmick. First, let’s stand back and ask: did something happen in the universe,...

Charlie Sheen managed to upset a group he probably never thought of -- witches -- after one of his notorious tirades last week. In a week in which the embattled actor described himself as having "tiger blood" and other apparently super-human aspects usually found in the pages of comic books, the star described himself as a "Vatican assassin warlock" during a radio show.

<p>BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — There's more bad news in the cards for Romania's beleaguered witches.</p> <p>A month after Romanian authorities began taxing them for their trade, the country's soothsayers and fortune tellers are cursing a new bill that threatens fines or even prison if their predictions don't come true. Superstition is a serious matter in the land of Dracula, and officials have turned to witches to help the recession-hit country collect more money and crack down on tax evasion.</p>

Two years ago, Barack Obama and congressional Democrats rode a wave of voter disenchantment into power. Many Republicans, even in some traditional strongholds, were swept aside. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was an exception. She didn’t defeat Democrat Tom Allen. She trounced him, 61-39 percent of the vote, a landslide victory political analysts attributed to Collins’ popularity with moderates, a standing shared by her Maine colleague, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, also a Republican. Two years later, the same moderate image that protected Collins from the blue wave could make Snowe vulnerable to the red one advanced by the tea party....

NEW YORK – Picnics on top of altars? Wiccans say they don't have them -- and they don't like O'Donnell spreading bunk. Ben Crair reports on the comments that may cost her the pagan vote. "Witchcraft" video showing Delaware Tea Party sensation Christine O’Donnell describing a date she once had with a witch dominated the airwaves Monday. “I mean, there’s a little blood and stuff like that,” she told Bill Maher in a late ’90s clip from Politically Incorrect. “We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.” The footage delighted Democrats looking to...

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Abracadabra, we'll turn all of you into toads! That's what Romanian senators may have been fearing when they rejected a proposal to tax witches and fortune tellers. Lawmakers Alin Popoviciu and Cristi Dugulescu of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party drafted a law where witches and fortune tellers would have to produce receipts, and would also be held liable for wrong predictions, a measure which was part of the government's drive to increase revenue. Romania's Senate voted down the proposal Tuesday. Popoviciu claimed lawmakers were frightened of being cursed. It's unclear if Popoviciu and Dugulescu will try to...

The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer is president of Virginia-based Human Life International, which has affiliates and partners in 87 countries around the world. A trained exorcist, Fr. Euteneuer has been authorized to perform the ancient rite in several dioceses in the U.S. Vampires, witches, Ouija boards, Satanic rock music and video games — innocent fun? I don't think so. The proliferation of these dark forces is creating a subculture of youth who are suffering the effects of occult involvement. The sheer magnitude of these demonic influences has already left us with a wounded generation of youth, many of whom will...

Episcopal Organization? Meet your future: After making it through the harsh winter, people in Western North Carolina are looking forward to the warm sun of spring. Some are preparing to celebrate the season’s change with an ecumenical ritual. You mean some kind of joint Catholic-Protestant-Orthodox thing? Nope. Members of Mother Grove Goddess Temple will celebrate at 7 p.m. Saturday with A Breath of Appalachian Spring: A Ritual in Celebration of the Spring Equinox, in the parish hall of the Episcopal Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village. And nothing says “Welcome, spring!” quite like a fake religion performing its strange...

Are witch-doctors still part of the anecdotal, primitive folk-lore of Africa? Yes, they are. The witch-doctor, however, does not feature in the safari package; he is still a nasty reality, who holds many people helpless in his “supernatural” grip. His “shrine” isn’t to be seen in the picture post-cards; it is hidden in the forest. His rags, shaggy hair and paraphernalia have not started a fashion craze; they are dirty and ugly. Yet, he is feared. The Ugandan government, according to a recent BBC report, is worried about the increase of witch-craft, witch-doctors, and, consequently, the human sacrifices, especially children....

. TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Web site has just issued a bulletin warning Americans of the real threat we face this season: Demons may be lurking in our Halloween candy. In a column on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s Web site, writer Kimberly Daniels asserts that “demons” sneak into bags of Halloween candy at grocery stores. “[M]ost of the candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches,” Daniels wrote. “I do not buy candy during the Halloween season. Curses are sent through the tricks and treats of the innocent whether they get it by going door...

Kooky, Sexy, Cool – The Rise Of The New Witches [Pics in URL] Forget Kabbalah – paganism is the hot new religion, and thousands of young British women are embracing it By Eimear O'Hagan, 06/09/2009 Witches, covens, dancing around bonfires by the light of the moon and making offerings to goddesses - all the stuff of folklore and fairy tale, right? Wrong. Welcome to the world of paganism. Walk into any high-street bookshop and, alongside the usual chick-lit best-sellers, there's another set of books flying off the shelves, all about how to find your inner witch. Yes, really. Hot on...

A witches' coven leader has accused the Roman Catholic Church of prejudice after her group was banned from a parish social club. Sandra Davis, 61, high priestess of the Crystal Cauldron group, booked Our Lady's club in Stockport, Greater Manchester for a Halloween Ball.

During the 17th century in England, someone urinated in a jar, added nail clippings, hair and pins, and buried it upside-down in Greenwich, where it was recently unearthed and identified by scientists as being the world's most complete known "witch bottle." This spell device, often meant to attract and trap negative energy, was particularly common from the 16th to the 17th centuries, so the discovery provides a unique insight into witchcraft beliefs of that period, according to a report published in the latest British Archaeology.

Five elderly people suspected of practising witchcraft were burnt to death in western Kenya, police have said. "They include four women and a man in their 80's who were accused of having abducted a child," Kisii deputy police Commander Manasseh Musyoka said yesterday. The killings occurred at Bomatara Village in Mosocho Division. A resident who declined to be named said the abducted child was found dumped on the roadside. "He was unconscious and when he regained it, he was able to tell the names of his abductors. That is when a decision was reached in the village to hunt them...

The Dark Backward: Demons in the Real World by Tom Hoopes    2/14/09     "The lunatic is on the grass."   It was an hour before midnight. Ten-year-old James was in his bedroom, alone, when he was suddenly gripped by terror. A Pink Floyd song rang out through the empty room. The radio turned on by itself.   "The lunatic is on the grass. The lunatic is in the hall."   James lay paralyzed, locked in that helpless state that is itself as terrifying as whatever causes it. He wanted to move or cry out but couldn't. So...

Villagers in Central India beat fifty women with sticks and cut off their hair, accusing them of being "witches", according to Sujit Kumar's news article on Reuters. The villagers had beat the women on the saying of a local spiritual man who said the assault would protect them from evil spirits, in a forest in a poor district of Chhattisgarh state, 400km (250 miles) from the capital Raipur.

Raipur (India), 22 Dec. - In a remote village in the Indian jungle around 50 women have been attacked by inhabitants, who beat them and shaved their heads because they believe the women to be witches: police sources in the poor Indian State of Chhattisgarh reported this. It seems that the attackers acted on advise of a local guru, who claimed that punishing the 'witches' that way they would earn protection from evil spirits. The persecution, the climax of a purification ceremony to ward off evil spirits from the village, continued for nine days. Indian Prime Minister Raman Singh condemned...

Are witches real? Of course they are. Are they skinny old women with green skin, pointy chins and warts on their noses, who cackle over cauldrons? Of course not. Do they attend an academy called “Hogwarts,” play a form of hockey on their broomsticks and battle mythical beasts? Is “Samantha,” a pretty middle-class suburban wife with magical powers and a gaggle of kooky and spooky family members, a witch? Of course not. All of that is an attempt to make us believe that there are not really such things as witches.

Eleven elderly people accused of being witches have been burned to death by a mob in the west of Kenya, police say. A security operation has been launched to hunt down villagers suspected of killing them in Kisii District. The BBC's Muliro Telewa in the region says the gang had a list of the victims and picked them out individually. The area has witnessed similar attacks in the past when people suspected of engaging in witchcraft have been killed or ostracised. But our reporter says that this is a surprisingly large number of people to be attacked at the same...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MAY 8, 2008 CONTACT: Ryan Gill at: Ryan@MoveAmericaForward.org WITCH-HUNT Marine Supporters to Fight Back AgainstWitches at Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center FRIDAY, MAY 9th – 8:00 AM – 12:00 Noon (SAN FRANCISCO) – Pro-troop supporters will gather to counter the efforts by a coven of witches to cast a spell of binding on the US Marine Corps Officer Selection Office located at 64 Shattuck Sq. in Berkeley. The anti-military demonstration by witches, crones and sirens is being organized by the radical left-wing group, Code Pink which proudly announced the despicable gathering at their website: www.BayAreaCodePink.org The pro-Marine...

Code Pink is now resorting to witchcraft to beef up the number of its supporters protesting Berkeley's controversial Marine Corps Recruiting Center. The women's anti-war group has told ralliers to come equipped with spells and pointy hats Friday for "Witches, clowns and sirens day," the last of the group's weeklong homage to Mother's Day. "Women are coming to cast spells and do rituals and to impart wisdom to figure out how we're going to end war," Zanne Sam Joi of Bay Area Code Pink told FOXNews.com. The group's week of themed protests, which included days to galvanize grannies and bring-your-daughter-to-protest,...

As we pump out greenhouse gases, most of the discussion focuses on direct consequences like rising seas or aggravated hurricanes. But the indirect social and political impact in poor countries may be even more far-reaching, including upheavals and civil wars — and even more witches hacked to death with machetes. In rural Tanzania, murders of elderly women accused of witchcraft are a very common form of homicide. And when Tanzania suffers unusual rainfall — either drought or flooding — witch-killings double, according to research by Edward Miguel, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley. “In bad years, the killings...

Mysterious pits shed light on forgotten witches of the West Simon de Bruxelles Evidence of pagan rituals involving swans and other birds in the Cornish countryside in the 17th century has been uncovered by archaeologists. Since 2003, 35 pits at the site in a valley near Truro have been excavated containing swan pelts, dead magpies, unhatched eggs, quartz pebbles, human hair, fingernails and part of an iron cauldron. The finds have been dated to the 1640s, a period of turmoil in England when Cromwellian Puritans destroyed any links to pre-Christian pagan England. It was also a period when witchcraft attracted...

Saudi Arabia to execute woman for 'witchcraft'  Thursday, February 14, 2008 A leading international human rights organisation is calling on Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to halt the planned execution of a woman accused of "witchcraft". The woman is due to be put to death on foot of a coerced confession and the statements of witnesses who said she had "bewitched" them. One man claimed she had made him impotent. In another case, a divorced woman reportedly returned to her ex-husband during the month predicted by the witch said to have cast the spell. The court failed to probe alternative explanations...

This looks like a good resource: When the day's news is about "witches," many Americans reflexively conjure up images of ugly, wicked hags from stories like "Snow White" and "The Wizard of Oz" – or more recently, the smiling "good witches" of Harry Potter books and films. But none of these fictional fantasies has anything to do with the real thing. The real thing – that is, the stunning phenomenon of more and more American housewives, students, professors, and even soldiers self-identifying as "witches" – is the topic of the January edition of WND's elite monthly Whistleblower magazine. Titled "WITCHCRAFT...

Bonnie Thompson's Hicksville house is bedecked with all kinds of witch decorations. There are witch-on-broomstick weather vanes staked in her flower beds and witch chimes dangling below her mailbox. Sitting atop the sill of her bay window are small iron cauldrons and witch figurines. But none of these objects is there because Halloween is coming. Thompson is a real witch, or wiccan to be more exact, who follows the concepts and rituals taught by Richard and Gypsy Ravish. The Salem, Mass., couple are head priest and priestess of the Temple of Nine Wells and initiated Thompson into wicca. As the...

The Managing Director of Brother Trust Nigeria Limited, Apapa, Mr. Adedojo Aroloye, has narrated to an Ikeja High Court how he lost N9 million to some people who claimed to be witches and wizards. The N9 million fraud charge was brought against four accused persons, Kayode Awolumate, Sunday Omotayo, Joke Adamolekun and Ibrahim Adebisi. Aroloye told the court that he was defrauded by the accused, who claimed to be witches and wizards and promised to make him richer. Narrating the incident, Aroloye said his driver, Sunday Omotayo (one of the accused), introduced his father, Oluwole Adamolekun a.k.a. Gadaffi, No Mercy,...

'Witch hitman' jailed for life 11/09/2007 19:47  - (SA)    Pietermaritzburg - A man promised R10 000 to kill a woman suspected of killing people through witchcraft has been jailed for life by the Pietermaritzburg High Court. The man, Blessing Malinga, 30, of Empangeni, pleaded guilty to the murder of Maria Buthelezi by gunning her down in her house after allegedly being hired by Mkhombiseni Sithole of Gluckstadt in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Several of Sithole's family had died recently, and they believed that the deaths stemmed from by witchcraft practised by Buthelezi. The Sitholes decided to kill her and hired Malinga, the court was...

Testimony from dozens of persons and police officers depict seeing what appear to be witches flying through the skies of remote Mexican towns. Several people videotaped the strange phenomenon. The creatures appear to infest the skies over an old cemetery.

House Democrats from Long Island and New York City on Friday joined the chorus of critics slamming Ann Coulter. The lawmakers signed a letter drafted by Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) demanding that the conservative commentator apologize for saying in her new book that widows of some 9/11 victims are "enjoying" their husbands' deaths. The book refers to the four New Jersey women as "the witches of East Brunswick." "Their personal loss should never be minimized, especially in such a cold and callous way as you attack these victims in your book," Israel wrote.

What a moron. Ann Coulter, that is. After calling a group of 9/11 widows "harpies" who seem to be "enjoying their husbands' deaths" in her new book, the conservative pundit has gone too far. She even added: "And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they'd better hurry up and appear in Playboy..." Huh? Ugly is the only way I can describe what Coulter has written. Now I understand why Time magazine put her on the cover a few years ago and made her look...

Witches have returned to the German forests, dancing naked in groups under the full moon and calling to their gods. The covens vary in size and in how seriously they take their calling, but the numbers are rising, particularly amongst the young. Their religious ideas are described as "pagan" rather than Satanist, and many of the older practitioners have a history in the environmental movement, where they learnt a passionate love of nature. In some cases this has led on to a belief in the natural powers of the forests. The women are convinced they can work magic. "The witches'...

The New Underground Railroad Thousands of women come to New York each year for late-term abortions. A hundred New Yorkers take them in. Haven Coalition volunteer Suzanne in the space where she hosts women who travel to New York for abortions. (Photo credit: Donna Ferrato) It’s 8 p.m. on a Friday, and Adeena is lying on a bed in my apartment, squirming in pain, her pants unzipped to reveal a disturbingly large belly. We’re watching a DVD she chose from the corner Blockbuster: Coach Carter, starring Samuel Jackson and Ashanti. Jackson has just taken a job at a ghetto...

On October 31, the Associated Press reported that a Dutch court ruled that the costs of witchcraft lessons could be tax-deductible. Meanwhile, Zenit News Agency is reporting that in England, Portsmouth’s Kingston Prison has hired a pagan chaplain to advise three inmates who are currently serving life-sentences. A London newspaper has also reported that pagan priests in prisons will be allowed to use wine and wands in ceremonies. Pagan inmates will be allowed hoodless robes, incense, and religious jewelry. These incidents clearly indicate that paganism is on the rise. But why? Catherine Sanders has tried to answer this question in...

Scared of Halloween The Objectivist Center & Atlas Society ^ | October 31, 2005 | Edward Hudgins Posted on 10/31/2005 10:00:31 AM PST by Ed Hudgins Scared of Halloween By Edward Hudgins Exective Director The Objectivist Center & Atlas Society ehudgins@objectivistcenter.org October 31, 2005 Halloween has its origins in superstition and sadly, it invokes old and new superstitions still. Halloween, from "All Hallows Eve," was the evening before the Catholic All Saints Day and was supposed to be haunted by demons jealous of the holy day to follow. It also had roots in prehistoric Celtic mythology. But in modern times...

As if their support of child pornography and same sex marriage weren’t enough to prove that the Dutch were out there, this one should cement it. Apparently they are not offering tax breaks for the study of Witchcraft. Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

Scared of Halloween By Edward Hudgins Exective Director The Objectivist Center & Atlas Society ehudgins@objectivistcenter.org October 31, 2005 Halloween has its origins in superstition and sadly, it invokes old and new superstitions still. Halloween, from "All Hallows Eve," was the evening before the Catholic All Saints Day and was supposed to be haunted by demons jealous of the holy day to follow. It also had roots in prehistoric Celtic mythology. But in modern times it's developed into a fun day where children dress in ghoulish or cute costumes and canvass the neighborhood for candy while adults at masquerade parties imbibe...

A place to avoid, as advertised on DU: benburch (1000+ posts) Thu Jul-28-05 10:55 PM Original message August 27, Mendocino County, Witches’ Ball: A Sexy Witch Celebration Witches' Ball: A Sexy Witch Celebration A freaky, friendly, sex positive, size positive, queer positive, play positive, kitschy, kinky, Magickal Extravaganza! August 27, Mendocino County, address and other details available with ticket purchase. Come witness the unveiling of Sexy Witch by LaSara FireFox, help to kick off LaSara's 20-city (!!!) book tour with a silly, sexy, fun, celebration...and benefit two radical Mendocino County based women's groups in the process! Festivities will include: *...

Channel 10 Executive Producer Avi Barzilai on Wednesday repulsed the idea of broadcasting a tape of the Pulsa Denura ceremony against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, calling the rite "a despicable ceremony by despicable people bought and broadcast by individuals who pretend to be journalists and would do anything in order to raise their ratings." "As a senior journalist," he told Army Radio, "I don't regard them as members of the profession," Barzilai continued. Israel Segal - chief editor of Channel 2's current affairs program Mishal Ham that acquired the tape for $5,000 - claimed that the moment the tape became...

SALEM, MA — The unveiling of the "Bewitched" statue yesterday was pure magic and even purer spectacle. The very moment TV Land President Larry Jones pulled the blue cover off the 9-foot bronze statue of actress Elizabeth Montgomery, the late actress who played Samantha Stephens in the 1960s TV sitcom, there was a puff of white smoke. Then, as if on cue, rain fell from the dark skies. A crowd estimated at 1,000 had braved unseasonably cold weather for just this moment, and many of them — including a large contingent of black-clad witches — cheered happily. But minutes earlier,...

LONDON (Reuters) - A schoolgirl told a British court Thursday she was put into a laundry bag and was going to be thrown from a third-floor apartment window into a river by her mother and aunt who thought she was a witch. Prosecutors say the girl, brought to London from Angola by a woman claiming to be her mother, had been regularly abused by members of her family after they had become convinced she was putting curses on members of her family. The court has heard the abuse culminated in a plan by her 38-year-old "mother" and another woman, Sita...

SALEM -- When the cast and crew of ''Bewitched" flew into Salem in 1970 to film episodes of the television sitcom, Witch City rolled out its red carpet. Elizabeth Montgomery, the actress who played twitchy-nosed Samantha Stephens, was honored at official dinners. Fans thronged The House of the Seven Gables and other historic sites used in the filming. And Oct. 7, 1970, was declared ''Bewitched Day" in Salem. But now some in Salem are upset over plans by the TV Land cable network to honor the late Montgomery with a 9-foot bronze statue in a city infamous for its 17th...

An article on witchcraft by a Central Middle School student has a local group concerned. "Most people believe witches don't exist, and I am here to prove them wrong," wrote the eighth-grader, adding that her aunt is a Wiccan witch. The short article was printed in the winter issue of the Cavalier Chronicle. "We think it's inappropriate for a middle school student newspaper to encourage 11-year-olds to experiment with witchcraft," said Gary Glenn of the Midland-based American Family Association of Michigan. The student wrote she has "decided to experiment with this religion and see if this is the way for...

After applying and getting denied twice, the Boston University Nemeton Wicca Student Group was approved by the Religious Life Council as a new religious organization on campus Wednesday afternoon at Marsh Chapel. The RLC denied the group, which applied as a pagan organization the first two times, because paganism is not formally recognized as a religion. But, last semester the organization changed its affiliation to Wicca, which is considered a religion, changing its name to the Wicca Student Group this year. Nemeton President Aubrey Hooser said renaming the group was not an issue. "The majority of the group follows Wicca,...