Witchcraft

A leading human rights group appealed to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to stop the execution of a woman accused of witchcraft. New York-based Human Rights Watch said religious police who arrested Fawza Falih and the judges who tried her in Quraiyat, Saudi Arabia, never gave her the opportunity to prove her innocence in the face of "absurd charges that have no basis in law." The judges relied on a coerced confession and on the statements of witnesses who said she had "bewitched" them, according to the group.

The maintenance worker began the day with a walk through Santa Ana Cemetery, past the pinwheel spinning above an elderly couple's tombstone, into the brick and granite niches where a nameplate hung askew. Bending his knees to take a closer look, he saw that the screws had been loosened, and the cremated remains of Deborah Sue Makaryk were gone. He called police and filed a report that listed no leads and offered no evidence, except that Deborah Sue Makaryk was missing. Hours later on Nov.

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.

Hayward "Chuck" Carbo, 82, a singer who fronted the 1950s quintet the Spiders, a group that made the world aware of New Orleans rhythm and blues, died July 11 in New Orleans after a long illness. Carbo and his brother Leonard "Chick" Carbo started singing in their father's New Orleans church choir. They sang with the gospel group the Zion City Harmonizers before forming the Spiders under the guidance of studio owner Cosimo Matassa. The Spiders had rhythm and blues hits in 1954 for Imperial Records with "I Didn't Want to Do It" and "You're the One."

A YouTube video has surfaced showing Sarah Palin being blessed in her ex-church three years ago by a Kenyan pastor who prayed for protection from "witchcraft" as she prepared to seek higher office. The video shows Palin standing before Bishop Thomas Muthee at the Wasilla Assembly of God church, holding her hands open as he asks Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft." She keeps her head bowed and does not speak. Palin formally announced her bid for governor a few months later, in October 2005.

The remains were unearthed northwest of here, from a 6-foot pit of dirt and bones. The accused killers called themselves the Beasts of Satan. A 27-year-old named Andrea Volpe led investigators to the wooded site where police say he and his accomplices beat and stabbed two teenagers, then buried their bodies in what officials describe as a ritualistic human sacrifice.

Thanks to certain tribulations in 1692, this historic seaport north of Boston is known around the world as Witch City. Salem treasures its supernatural reputation, marketing its witchiness to draw tourists. Along with witch walking tours and spooky cemetery excursions, dozens of small shops sell custom brooms and the latest styles in capes and cloaks. Two Salem pet boutiques offer pointy black hats for cats and dogs. Witch plaques and statues abound in Salem.

It's 7 p.m. in West Hollywood, and in the back room of the Goddess Shop on Santa Monica Boulevard, the witches have gathered. Ruth is the personable, powerful instructor who co-founded Circle of Aradia, one of the largest and oldest witchcraft communities in Southern California. Ally is in film marketing and describes herself as a "baby witch" who embraced the religion, known as Wicca, two months ago after failing to find a comfortable home in Christianity, Buddhism or Transcendental Meditation.

A witch walks through the lobby of a Laguna Beach hotel and no one even notices. She looks too normal. Wiccan high priestess Phyllis Curott, a sleek blond with a full set of teeth, has none of the storybook traits. Nose, wartless; hair, snarl-free though long; complexion, more pink than green; outfit, above suspicion except for the chalice on a cord that hangs around her neck. Maybe it's just a vase. Her life story, though, is a bit off-center.

Read this article or we'll turn you into something vile, slithery and disgusting . . . such as a congressman. And don't think this is an idle threat, bub. We recently received--just in time for Halloween--two new books on casting spells.