SEVASTOPOL, UKRAINE - The Associated Press via Individual Inc. : A man who believed his neighbor was a witch burned her to death on a stake in a vineyard on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, investigators said Thursday. Police said the 29-year-old man, identified only as ``Ivan S.'' from the village of Verkhnesadovoye, confessed after his Jan. 31 arrest. He called the woman a ``full-blooded witch'' who cast evil spells on his family, causing the deaths of his mother and dog, said Nikolai Sergeyev, a spokesman for the regional interior department. He also blamed her ``curses'' for a car accident he had, Sergeyev said. He allegedly went to his neighbor's house last week, hit her head with a hammer and dragged her to a nearby vineyard, where he tied her to a stake and burned her to death. The victim's name has not been released Copyright 1997, The Associated Press

CCRA, Ghana (Reuter) - Meningitis has killed more than 540 people in Ghana, triggering witch hunts by frightened villagers who killed three women in one incident in the north. The Health Ministry said Thursday that cerebro-spinal meningitis had killed 542 of the 5,025 people infected in the West African nation's three northern provinces since November.

Health officials say the real death toll in the outbreak, one of the worst on record in Ghana, could well be around 1,000. Deaths in remote villages are often not reported.

State television showed pictures of overflowing clinics Wednesday with dying children on mats in corridors. Meningitis is an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord which torments arid regions of Africa during the dry season. Babies and young children are the main victims.

Ghana is on the edge of a belt of Sub-Saharan nations traditionally ravaged by the disease at this time of year. Police said a mob killed three middle-aged women in the village of Yoggu, 18 miles west of Tamale, Monday, accusing them of spreading the disease by witchcraft.

The authorities have rushed vaccines to the area but say more are needed. They have broadcast radio messages telling people there is no link between the outbreak and sorcery.

Belief in sorcery is deep-rooted in north Ghana. In some areas, women accused of witchcraft are banished to outcast villages. The World Health Organization described 1996 as the worst year on record for meningitis in Africa, with around 150,000 reported cases and 16,000 deaths.

WAR ON DRUGS by Vin Suprynowicz

To call our modern-day "War on Drugs" another witchhunt is, of course, more than just a metaphor. Even the rules of evidence -- and allowances for the division of the property of the accused among the "law enforcement" agencies BEFORE CONVICTION -- are increasingly changing to match those of the Inquisition ... and probably for the same reason: If limited to RATIONAL rules of evidence and limits on official procedures consistent with a free state (no self-incrimination under pressure, no search without warrant and probable cause, no government spies, snitches, infiltrates and agents provocateurs, no threats and physical mistreatment to get the accused to betray others ... no presumption of guilt), the whole show would soon collapse with a whimper.

CHRISTIAN PROPEGANDA TEACHES HATE AND FEAR

IS IT LEGAL FOR A CHURCH TO PUT HATE-MAIL IN PUBLIC MAILBOXES?

"I am extremely new (less than a year) the Wiccan Way. I went to my mailbox this evening and received a disturbing brochure from a local church in Murfreesboro, TN. I need some help as to what I can do to combat this. I have included a text-only version of the brochure (below) Please let me know what I can do about this. Is there a lawsuit in the works? Does anyone have any literature that I could send them? Any previous experiences with this sort of thing?"

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Parental Responsibilities

We owe it to our children to teach them a way of life that will protect them from being led into destructive practices. They need to learn from us that faith, morals, and ethics are vitally related to every aspect of living. The rewards of teaching these things to our children will be worth whatever effort it takes on our part.

HALLOWEEN

In 1692, 19 men and women were executed as witches in Salem, Massachusetts. Three hundred years later, witchcraft is a thriving industry, enjoying all the recognition and benefits of mainstream American religions. No longer secretive, witches are sought after as media guests and prolific writers. Courses such as ESP, numerology, hypnotism and yoga are offered at educational facilities. Occult book-stores thrive as respectable businesses. Full-page ads in tabloids offer supposed wealth, influence, and sexual prowess through the power of "white witchcraft". Witchcraft, once considered a black art indulged in by those in league with the devil, has gained cultural respectability. The Internal Revenue Service officially recognizes witchcraft, as a religion and has given tax exemption to the Church and School of Wicca ("seekers of wisdom') .

WHAT IS A WITCH?

One reason for the current interest in witchcraft is the fantasized way our society treats the supernatural side of evil. Witches are epitomized by the wrinkled hags of Shakespeare's "Macbeth", the make-believe characters in Grimm's 'fairy tales, or long-nosed sorceresses of Walt Disney cartoons. But real witches don't turn handsome young princes into frogs. They don't wear black capes and conical hats while sprinting through the air on brooms. They're ordinary people who may live or work next to you! Although the origin of witchcraft remains clouded by years of oral tradition, modern witchcraft is closely linked to the heretical sect of Gnosticism. Witchcraft rituals have been traced back to the Greek's worship of the god, Artemis: the Roman goddess, Diana; an Egyptian moon deity; and a Canaanite fertility goddess. The image of witches riding broomsticks dates back to the pre-Columbian period. Modern witches believe in two primary gods: Hecate, the Greek goddess of ghosts, and Lucifer, analogous to the Greek god Pan, the god of the woods and shepherds. Although the witchcraft god is horned and cloven-hoofed, witches emphasize he isn't the Lucifer condemned in scripture. Their reverence for the serpent (another biblical form of the devil) belies that assertion, since they esteem the snake as symbolic of reincarnation. After all, the devil in the Garden of Eden said to Eve, "You will surely not die" (Genesis 3:4-NIV).

WHAT DO WITCHES DO?

Witches don't overtly proselytize. A prospective witch is taken into the coven (usually six couples and a high priest or priestess) for a thirteen week probationary period. If the coven council accepts an initiate, two or three year's training may be required to become a full-fledged witch. Witchcraft meetings are held weekly at a covenstead (generally a home). Larger eetings, called esbats occur on special days of celebration called sabbats. Some ceremonies begin with members shedding their clothes to become skyclad, supposedly allowing the body's energy to be released more easily. The high priest draws a circle around the coven with a sword or athame (ritualistic dagger). Candles light the room, incense burns on the altar. Members of the coven face each of the four directions, asking the gods to protect the circle. Ceremonial activities include spells, raising a cone of power, spiritualistic healing, and the conjuration of familiar spirits. The demonic aspect of witchcraft is illustrated when evil spirits are summoned to answer questions. Such spirits speak through witches as channels or mediums. Demon possession occurs when a satanic spirit takes control of and expresses his will through a "medium."

IS HALLOWEEN FOR REAL?

Monthly witchcraft meetings are convened at the full moon. Other Sabbats occur on the solar solstices (when the sun is farthest from the equator, about June 21 and December 21)and equinoxes ( when the sun crosses the equator, around March 21 and September 21). Four major festivals are celebrated: in February (welcoming spring): April 30 (welcoming summer), August 1 (heralding harvest), and October 31 (announcing the onset of winter)- HALLOWEEN.

Halloween is the most important festival of witchcraft cults. Its history reverts to the pagan Druids, ancient conjurers of pre-Celtic Gaul. Few civilizations were so depraved. Mass human sacrifices were conducted by filling huge wicker-work structures with living humans, then setting them on fire. Stonehenge may have been erected to calculate the sun's movements and to determine the most auspicious day to honor the Earth Mother goddess through sacrifice. The date was October 31 -HALLOWEEN. October 31 was the eve of Samhain, the Celtic new year. Samhain, Lord of the Dead, supposedly called up all the spirits of all the wicked souls who had died the previous To ensure fertility of cattle and crops, first born children were sacrificed to placate evil powers. Modem society adopted the customs associated with Halloween from the folklore and demonic practices of this seasonal celebration. Spirits insisted upon "treats" to avoid their "tricks". Ducking for apples originated in the belief that apples could "divine" the future. Jack-o'-lanterns evolved from a notorious tale about a man named Jack, who tricked the devil. When Jack died, he was denied both heaven and hell and he lighted his way through the dark by carrying a glowing coal in a carved-out turnip. Gal 5:19-21 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the

which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (KJV) Deut 6:4-7 "Hear, 0 Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (NKJ) Rom 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you I are that one!s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? (NKJ)

I challenge you to examine what you're doing on Halloween, to see if it is right in the Lord's eyes.2 Cor 13:5

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-- unless indeed you are disqualified. (NKJ) BELIEVE Acts 16:31 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." (NKJ) REPENT (turn from your sins) God commands all men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30-31 CALL ON THE LORD Rom 10: 1 3 13

For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (N" CONFESS JESUS PUBLICLY Rom 10:9-10 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (NKJ) Get involved with the local Bible-believing church on Halloween to help insure the safety of your child, both physically and spiritually. Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I belie that Jesus Christ, Your Son, died on the cross for my sin and rose from the dead to be my Lord. God, I now repent of my sin and personally invite Jesus into my life. Thank You, Jesus, for giving me the free gift of eternal life' I promise to live, for you as you reveal Yourself to me through your Word, the Bible. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. If you have prayed the above prayer and believed on Jesus as your savior through this brochure, please contact one of the churches below for a Bible and further information. Northside Christian Center 3045 Memorial Blvd. Murfreesboro, TN 37130 (615) 890-1420 Christian Victory Center 1184 Park Ave. Murfreesboro, TN 37130 (615) 893-5683 Please attend the church of your choice! If you would like to help with this or the next gospel mailing to this county please call 893LOVE(5683) or send tax deductible gift to Victory, P.O. Box 2220, Murfreesboro, TN 37133-2220 Attn: County Outreach.

Article submitted by "MoonTurtle"