Witchcraft

BEIRUT — The lawyer for a Lebanese TV psychic who was convicted of witchcraft charges in Saudi Arabia said yesterday that her client could be beheaded this week and urged Lebanese and Saudi leaders to help spare his life. Attorney May al-Khansa said she learned from a judicial source that Ali Sibat is to be beheaded today. She added that she does not have any official confirmation of this. A Lebanese official said Beirut has received no word from its embassy in Riyadh about Sibat’s possible execution.

An indictment laying out the charges against one of the suspected witches in the 1692 Salem witch trials has been purchased for $26,000cq by a Massachusetts collectorcq. The winner, who bid by phone, beat out two other bidders vying for the document, according to Swann Galleriescq in New York City, which facilitated the auction. Margaret Scott was accused of "certainecq detestable arts called witchcraft and sorceries" in the indictment. She was later hanged as part of the last group of executions during the...

An indictment laying out the charges against one of the suspected witches in the 1692 Salem witch trials was purchased Friday for $26,000 by a Massachusetts collector. The winner, who bid by phone, beat out two other bidders vying for the document, according to Swann Galleries in New York City, which facilitated the auction. Margaret Scott was accused of ‘‘certaine detestable arts called witchcraft and sorceries" in the indictment. She was later hanged as part of the last group of executions during the fabled witch hunt.

An indictment laying out the charges against one of the suspected witches in the 1692 Salem witch trials was purchased Friday for $26,000 by a Massachusetts collector. The winner, who bid by phone, beat out two other bidders vying for the document, according to Swann Galleries in New York City, which facilitated the auction. Margaret Scott was accused of ‘‘certaine detestable arts called witchcraft and sorceries" in the indictment. She was later hanged as part of the last group of executions during the fabled witch hunt.

LONDON - A British jury found a couple guilty yesterday of torturing and murdering a 15-year-old boy whom they accused of witchcraft. Magalie Bamu and her partner Eric Bikubi, originally from Congo, were convicted of killing Magalie's brother Kristy Bamu, who drowned in a bathtub on Christmas Day 2010. Prosecutors at London's Central Criminal Court said the teenager had 130 injuries inflicted by sticks, a metal bar, a hammer, and a chisel. They said he eventually drowned after being forced into a bathtub and doused with cold water.

LONDON -- She's 72 and a great-grandmother, but she still remembers how her classmates labeled her "witch-spawn" and "evil eye" -- because her grandmother was one of the last people jailed in Britain on witchcraft charges. At the height of World War II, medium Helen Duncan was convicted under an 18th-century anti witchcraft law and jailed by authorities who accused her of compromising Britain's safety. Now, more than 50 years after Duncan's death, granddaughter Mary Martin is campaigning for a pardon.

An indictment laying out the charges against one of the suspected witches in the 1692 Salem witch trials has been purchased for $26,000cq by a Massachusetts collectorcq. The winner, who bid by phone, beat out two other bidders vying for the document, according to Swann Galleriescq in New York City, which facilitated the auction. Margaret Scott was accused of "certainecq detestable arts called witchcraft and sorceries" in the indictment. She was later hanged as part of the last group of...

By Justin A. Rice, Town Correspondent Many visitors to Salem associated witches with the 1692 Witch Trials or a slew of fictional characters from Samantha in "Bewitched" to the "Wizard of Oz's" Glenda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West. But despite its negative and fantastical connotations, witchcraft is a religion practiced by more than a quarter million people. And Salem is its' Mecca. A group based in the "Witch City" called The Young Witches of Salem is trying to put a face on its...

By Justin A. Rice, Town Correspondent The official witch of Salem will close her store on Pickering Wharf for good tomorrow. Laurie Cabot, who opened the city's first witch shop about 40 years ago, will close the Official Witch Shop (63R wharf St.) for the final time.   "Closing my store was a very difficult decision, but one that I am pleased with," The 78-year-old recently wrote on her website, where she announced the store closing. "It has been a dream come true to have had the experience of operating my stores and the...

As the gloaming descends upon the North End, the red-and-green neon sign of Pizzeria Regina glows in the dusky shroud. Except for humming streetlights, all is quiet on the empty sidewalks. A milky veil of steam from the nearby laundromat offers a secretive cloak as I lean in to hear the whispers of gangsters, murders, and wiretaps that waft in the air with the scent of garlic and fresh dough. While it feels as if I’ve wandered into a crime novel, I’m on The Dark Side of Boston Walking Tour, organized by Boston by Foot, sleuthing for...

LONDON - A British jury found a couple guilty yesterday of torturing and murdering a 15-year-old boy whom they accused of witchcraft. Magalie Bamu and her partner Eric Bikubi, originally from Congo, were convicted of killing Magalie's brother Kristy Bamu, who drowned in a bathtub on Christmas Day 2010. Prosecutors at London's Central Criminal Court said the teenager had 130 injuries inflicted by sticks, a metal bar, a hammer, and a chisel. They said he eventually drowned after being forced into a bathtub and doused with cold water.

SALEM - For roughly 17 years, Salem's Pickering Wharf was the Graceland of witchcraft and Laurie Cabot its Elvis. "It was just constant lines waiting to get in to see her and she signed her books," said Ginny Goldsmith, who owns Crafters Market, across from Cabot's Official Witch Shoppe. "People would be really excited to see her; they'd be like ‘We just saw her! It was my dream to see her!' "It's going to be sad, and quiet. " Cabot, who opened Salem's first witch shop about 40 years ago on Derby Street, locked her doors at 63R Wharf St. on Tuesday...

By Justin A. Rice, Town Correspondent The official witch of Salem will close her store on Pickering Wharf for good tomorrow. Laurie Cabot, who opened the city's first witch shop about 40 years ago, will close the Official Witch Shop (63R wharf St.) for the final time.   "Closing my store was a very difficult decision, but one that I am pleased with," The 78-year-old recently wrote on her website, where she announced the store closing. "It has been a dream come true to have had the experience of operating my stores and the countless wonderful people I...

By Justin A. Rice, Town Correspondent Many visitors to Salem associated witches with the 1692 Witch Trials or a slew of fictional characters from Samantha in "Bewitched" to the "Wizard of Oz's" Glenda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West. But despite its negative and fantastical connotations, witchcraft is a religion practiced by more than a quarter million people. And Salem is its' Mecca. A group based in the "Witch City" called The Young Witches of Salem ...

By Maggi Smith-Dalton, Globe Correspondent The city of Salem.…  is unique among the cities of America in that it has retained for so long its old, Colonial flavor, for it is only within the last thirty years that great changes have taken place in its "personnel. " Where once stood stately Colonial homes, are now seen large and imposing buildings in which the business of the city is transacted, while many manufacturing firms have established their plants here. The Salem of today differs widely from the Salem of thirty years ago. The business...

By Sean Teehan, Town Correspondent A Web-based reality show set to  premier this fall will put witchcraft front and center as it focuses on young wiccans in Salem. Filming for the Click Vision TV show, "The Young Witches of Salem," is scheduled to begin in mid to late August and will feature five young Salem residents who practice Wicca, said Antony van Zyl, a managing partner and producer at the Los Angeles-based Click Vision. "The show focuses very heavily on people who made the very...

HARTFORD - Three years ago, Debra Avery and her family were shocked to learn they were direct descendants of Mary Sanford, a wife and mother of five who was hanged in Connecticut in 1692 after being convicted of witchcraft. Yesterday, they went to the state Capitol, in the same city where Sanford and several other convicted witches were executed, to ask lawmakers to restore their relatives' good name. Legislators are considering a resolution that states that those convicted and their descendants should be freed from the stigma of the witchcraft accusations.

SALEM - For roughly 17 years, Salem's Pickering Wharf was the Graceland of witchcraft and Laurie Cabot its Elvis. "It was just constant lines waiting to get in to see her and she signed her books," said Ginny Goldsmith, who owns Crafters Market, across from Cabot's Official Witch Shoppe. "People would be really excited to see her; they'd be like ‘We just saw her! It was my dream to see her!' "It's going to be sad, and quiet. " Cabot, who opened Salem's first witch shop about 40 years ago on Derby Street, locked her doors...

As the gloaming descends upon the North End, the red-and-green neon sign of Pizzeria Regina glows in the dusky shroud. Except for humming streetlights, all is quiet on the empty sidewalks. A milky veil of steam from the nearby laundromat offers a secretive cloak as I lean in to hear the whispers of gangsters, murders, and wiretaps that waft in the air with the scent of garlic and fresh dough. While it feels as if I’ve wandered into a crime novel, I’m on The Dark Side of Boston Walking Tour, organized by Boston by Foot, sleuthing for evidence of the Hub’s lurid history of crime and...

BEIRUT — The lawyer for a Lebanese TV psychic who was convicted of witchcraft charges in Saudi Arabia said yesterday that her client could be beheaded this week and urged Lebanese and Saudi leaders to help spare his life. Attorney May al-Khansa said she learned from a judicial source that Ali Sibat is to be beheaded today. She added that she does not have any official confirmation of this. A Lebanese official said Beirut has received no word from its embassy in Riyadh about Sibat’s possible execution.