Witchcraft, Sorcery, Occult & the Magic

© EyeWitness to History

The seeds of the hysteria that afflicted Salem Village, Massachusetts were sown in January 1692 when a group of young girls began to display bizarre behavior. The tight-knit community was at a loss to explain the convulsive seizures, blasphemous screaming, and trance-like states that afflicted the youngsters. The physicians called in to examine the girls could find no natural cause of the disturbing behavior. If the source of the affliction was not attributable to a physical malady, the community reasoned that it must be the work of Satan. Witches had invaded Salem. In February the village began praying and fasting in order to rid itself of the devil's influence. The girls were pressured to reveal who in the community controlled their behavior. Three women were identified and examined. One, Tituba (a slave), confessed to seeing the devil who appeared to her "sometimes like a hog and sometimes like a great dog." Even more troubling, Tituba confessed that a conspiracy of witches permeated Salem Village.

In March the afflicted girls accused Martha Corey. The three women previously denounced as colluding with the devil were marginal to the community. Martha Corey was different; she was an upstanding member of the Puritan congregation - her revelation as a witch demonstrated that Satan's influence reached to the very core of the community. Events snowballed as the accusatory atmosphere intensified and reached a fever pitch. During the period from March into the fall many were charged, examined, tried and condemned to death. The hangings started in June with the death of Bridget Bishop and continued through September. As winter approached, the hysteria played itself out as criticism of the procedures grew. In October, the colonial governor dissolved the local Court of inquiry. The convictions and condemnations for witchery stopped. Nineteen victims of the witch-hunt had been hanged, one crushed to death under the weight of stones and at least four died in prison awaiting trial...

Motorists in Australia have been hitting 180km/h in an attempt to conjure the ghost of a dead motorcyclist.Drivers were caught driving at dangerously high speeds along a stretch of Lemon Tree Passage Road in the hopes of summoning the ghost of a motorcyclist who was killed in a crash with a speeding driver three years ago. It could be one ofthe most bizarre reasons ever offered by a speeding driver - "A ghost made me do it"".

But that is exactly the story being put forward by superstitious motorists hitting speeds of up to 180km/h on a road north of Newcastle, supposedly to conjure a ghost.

View:Full article | Source: DailyTelegraph

Seven young members of a satanic cult have gone on trial in Russia for the ritual sacrifice of four people.The gruesome murders occured in a remote forest near Yaroslavl. Victims were stabbed 666 times in homage to the "Number of the Beast" before being dismembered and having their body parts cooked up and eaten by thecult members.

Seven young members of a satanic sect have gone on trial in Russia accused of four gruesome murders in which they "ritually sacrificed" their victims before cooking and eating parts of them.

View: Full article | Source: Telegraph

The Turin Shroud was secretly hidden during World War 2 because Hitler allegedly wanted to steal it.It is thought that the Nazi leader was obsessed with the shroud and that in order to keep it safe it was moved to the Benedictine sanctuary of Montevergine in Avellino in 1949 anddidn"t leave for Turin for another 7 years.

The Turin Shroud, said to be the burial cloth of Christ, was secretly hidden in a Benedictine abbey during the Second World War because the Vatican feared that Adolf Hitler wanted to steal it.

View: Full article | Source: Telegraph