witches

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A New Call to Pardon Women Executed Centuries Ago

British council leader seeks justice for women hanged under historic witchcraft laws

(Newser) - A council leader in Maidstone, Kent, is urging the UK government to pardon women executed for witchcraft centuries ago, arguing their deaths were rooted in bigotry rather than sorcery. Stuart Jeffery, head of Maidstone Borough Council, has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, calling for legislation to clear the...

'Witches Marks,' Curses Cover This Historic Manor

20 eerie carvings, 100 burn marks discovered at England's Gainsborough Old Hall

(Newser) - A "staggering array" of markings said to ward off evil spirits and witches have been discovered lining the walls of a historic English manor, along with a curse against a former owner. William Hickman was an "astute and ruthless businessman" who, beginning in 1596, manipulated his authority as...

Connecticut Exonerates Witches Hanged in 1600s

Lawmakers pass legislation acknowledging miscarriage of justice

(Newser) - Connecticut lawmakers have voted to formally exonerate accused witches who were punished by death nearly 400 years ago. The bill introduced in January by state Sen. Saud Anwar passed the Senate with a 33-1 vote on Thursday after clearing the state House in a 121-30 vote on May 10, per...

Long Before Salem Witch Trials, Alse Young Was Hanged

Connecticut considers exonerating all its accused witches centuries later

(Newser) - Decades before the infamous Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, Alse Young was killed at the gallows in Connecticut, becoming the first person on record to be executed in the American colonies for witchcraft. The Windsor town clerk registered the death on May 26, 1647, in a diary entry that read:...

Survey: Belief in Witchcraft Remains Widespread

Researchers say 40% of people around the world think it's real

(Newser) - About 40% of humans around the world may believe in witches or witchcraft, but it varies depending on where you live, according to a new survey recounted at Live Science . The study—published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One —was based on dataset gathered in six phases by Pew...

'Scary' and Long-Lost Clip of Sesame Street Unearthed
A Famous Sesame Street
Clip Is Unearthed
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Jun 20, 2022 1:10 PM CDT

A Famous Sesame Street Clip Is Unearthed

Margaret Hamilton reprised her Oz witch in a 1976 show that never aired again

(Newser) - A rare and relatively controversial clip from Sesame Street in 1976 is available for widespread viewing for the first time since it aired. As Mashable reports, it features none other than Margaret Hamilton reprising her role from the Wizard of Oz as the Wicked Witch of the West. In the...

Three Centuries Later, Accused Witch Is Cleared

Salem pardons Elizabeth Johnson Jr.

(Newser) - It took more than three centuries, but the last Salem “witch” who wasn’t has been officially pardoned. Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday formally exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr., clearing her name 329 years after she was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the...

Scottish Leader Formally Apologizes to Executed 'Witches'

Nicola Sturgeon calls centuries of persecution 'injustice on a colossal scale'

(Newser) - On International Women's Day, Scotland's leader offered a formal apology to the thousands of people, almost all of them women, who were convicted of witchcraft in previous centuries. Sturgeon described the persecution and execution of the alleged witches as "injustice on a colossal scale, driven at least...

Suit: 'Psychic' Was Paid $1K, Still Didn't Lift Witch's Curse

Mauro Restrepo now wants $25K from 'psychic love specialist' Sophia Adams

(Newser) - A California man is suing a self-proclaimed psychic who he says promised to remove a curse on his marriage, ordered by an ex-girlfriend. Mauro Restrepo says he was in the midst of some bad luck when he performed a Google search for psychics on Sept. 17 and came across Sophia...

Name of Accused Witch to Be Cleared, Finally

8th-graders take up the case of Elizabeth Johnson Jr., accused in the Salem witch trials

(Newser) - More than three centuries after a Massachusetts woman was wrongly convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to death, she's finally on the verge of being exonerated—thanks to a curious eighth-grade civics class, per the AP . State Sen. Diana DiZoglio, a Democrat from Methuen, has introduced legislation to clear the...

Scotland Is Seeking the Bones of a 300-Year-Old Witch

Lilias Adie died in 1704

(Newser) - Scotland has a single witch's grave. Only the bones that were placed there in 1704 aren't there anymore, and local officials are hoping to finally get them back. The Washington Post reports that Lilias Adie was arrested 315 years ago after she was accused of calling upon Satan...

For Sale: $975K Home of Accused Salem 'Witch'

After release from jail in 1693, Sarah Clayes settled in this Framingham house

(Newser) - A once-run-down historic home that stands where a woman accused of witchcraft during the 1692 Salem witch trials settled after she was spared the noose is on the market after an extensive renovation. The home in Framingham, Mass., known as the Sarah and Peter Clayes House, hit the market Thursday...

Kavanaugh Now Has to Deal With Witches' Hex

A Brooklyn book store plans the public event this weekend

(Newser) - Brett Kavananaugh might want to peruse Witchipedia's entry on protection from curses . It's knowledge he'll apparently need Saturday when a Brooklyn book store hosts a public hexing of the newest Supreme Court justice. Thousands are interested in the sold-out event at Catland Books, though just 60 people...

Can You Read This Witch Spell? A Chicago Library Needs You

The Newberry is asking for public's help in translating 17th-century charms manuscript

(Newser) - In the market for some 17th-century spells written by (possible) real-life witches? The Book of Magical Charms, a handwritten manuscript penned by two unknown Brits in the 1600s, is shelved at Chicago's Newberry Library, along with two similar books, Quartz reports. The charms manual includes everyday tips and remedies,...

Grandma Gets Life for Dressing as Witch to 'Torture' 7-Year-Old

Her boyfriend, a demon named Coogro, was sentenced to 30 years

(Newser) - A 51-year-old woman who dressed as a witch named Nelda to "repeatedly torture" her 7-year-old granddaughter received three life sentences Thursday, the Oklahoman reports. Geneva Robinson of Oklahoma City pleaded guilty to five counts of felony child abuse. The assistant DA says Robinson's granddaughter spent months living in...

UK Wants Help Finding 'Witches' Marks'

Medieval signs were meant to ward off evil spirits

(Newser) - This Halloween, you can don your sexy witch costume or you can go off in search of actual witches—or at least so-called witches' signs, and a historic group in England, which is apparently littered with them, is hoping its citizenry will choose the latter. As the BBC reports, Historic...

In Ancient Scottish Chapel, Evidence of a Witch Prison

Aberdeen church has an iron ring set in stone

(Newser) - The remains of some 2,000 people lie beneath Scotland's East Kirk of St. Nicholas church, but an iron ring set in the stone pillar of the chapel could link directly back to a spookier past: the documented trial and execution of 23 women and one man accused of...

Radiohead Vanishes Online, Leaves a Few Breadcrumbs

Band sends cryptic postcards to fans, wipes its website and Facebook, Twitter pages

(Newser) - Radiohead has announced a new world tour that kicks off May 20 . A ninth album is said to be forthcoming. On Saturday, some fans received cryptic postcards with only the words: "Sing the song of sixpence that goes / Burn the witch / We know where you live,"...

Spot Where Salem 'Witches' Were Hanged Identified

Proctor's Ledge is the fateful spot

(Newser) - Nearly a century ago, historian Sidney Perley identified the place in Salem, Mass., where 19 accused witches met their end in 1692; now, finally, confirmation. The Salem News reports that the seven scholars who compose the Gallows Hill Project have after a five-year effort definitively determined that Proctor's Ledge...

Salem Witch's Prediction Comes True in Court

Judge grants protective order to 'psychic' Lori Bruno Sforza

(Newser) - A Salem witch has come out on top in a court battle with a warlock without the help of a single curse or spell. On Wednesday, a judge ruled New Orleans warlock Christian Day must give up all contact with 75-year-old Lori Bruno Sforza or face up to two and...

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