Tourette's siidromoma is a rare disease that usually begins in childhood A sufferer of it develops tics - involuntary movements of muscles throughout the body, and especially on the face. The patient may also twitch and stamp his feet. Making a frightening face, "big" against his will, he makes strange sounds—screams, grunts, swearing. All these manifestations are beyond the control of the patient, but they appear to an ignorant person as signs of a witch.

Roger Hart writes, "Probably no episode of the witch-hunt has attracted so much attention as the one that took place in Salem, New England, in 1692. This American witch-hunt is notable not only for the large number of people accused (Salem is a small town), but also for its late date."

Although there were only 100 households in Salem, the percentage of those convicted of witchcraft was enormous. Historian R. H. Robbins says: "Somehow, the Salem bell, a place with a hundred households, sounded deafening. During the hysteria, almost 150 people were arrested. Searches in the court archives leave no doubt about this. After each prisoner had been compelled to testify for a long time, thirty-one persons were convicted, not counting Sarah Churchill and Mary Warren, who soon retracted their testimony. The court sentenced thirty-one defendants to death, including six men. Nineteen were hanged. Of the remaining twelve, two (Sarah Osborie and Aina Foster) died in prison: one (Giles Corey) was tortured to death, one (Tituba) was held in prison for life without a sentence. Two (Abigail Faulkner and Elizabeth Protor) had their sentences postponed because they were pregnant, and they lived for quite a long time. One (Mary Bradbury) escaped from prison after the sentence, the other five repented and secured leniency for themselves."

Fourteen years later, one of the accusers, Anna Putnam, retracted her accusations, claiming that she and others were responsible for the deaths of innocent people.

The great witch hunt in the Middle Ages is remarkable for many reasons. First, it lasted 300 years and cost hundreds of thousands of lives. It captured the era when interest in knowledge was revived.

It was not ignorant fools who participated in this madness, but rather the most educated people of the time. Among them are scientists, philosophers, lawyers: this indicates that superstitions and prejudices know no boundaries from the point of view of education.

Unfortunately, the persecution came from those who professed Christianity and acted in the name of God. The passages of Scripture that were supposed to justify the witch hunt were interpreted arbitrarily and out of context. The prosecution of such crimes in the Old Testament was part of the theocracy system in force in Israel at that time.

The King of Israel was the Lord God: He had the right to determine the crimes against His sacred and sovereign state and the punishments for them. The one who practiced sorcery was united with Satan, the enemy of God. Such a union was a betrayal of the government of Israel, a government led by God Himself.

Even now, treason is often punishable by death. However, since the state is not now a theocracy, that is, it is not directly governed by God, the punishments defined in the Old Testament cannot be applied. But this is not high treason. Jesus Christ warned that physical death is by no means the final punishment.

Those who practice witchcraft and witchcraft, thereby showing that they reject Jesus Christ, should remember His warning: "And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).

WITCHCRAFT TODAY

Although witch hunts and trials are no longer there, witchcraft and witchcraft are alive, the modern witch has little in common with the stereotype that developed in the Middle Ages—many who practice this craft are ordinary members of society. The question arises: why? Why did interest in witchcraft revive and embrace both the uneducated and the educated? Daniel Cohen points to two reasons: "The first is the age-old interest in the magical, the hope, however vague, that there are mysterious manipulations by which to gain power, money, love, and quickly and simply. The second reason is that witchcraft is the rebellion and overthrow of established beliefs, institutional religion, science, and rational thought. The historical relationship between witchcraft on the one hand and drugs and sex on the other is also undeniably appealing. Here we see a set of beliefs that is supposedly part of a very ancient religion. And this is a religion in which drugs and free sexuality are not only not condemned, but, on the contrary, encouraged.