Spell

From Muslim to Pagan
“Mum, Dad, I’m not a Muslim any more.” My mother looks up sharply, bristling with annoyance. “Don’t be ridiculous, of course you are.” My father doesn’t look up, assuming this is just the latest in a long line of pronouncements about religion that began with me age 10 spending a whole summer with a black scarf on my head to demonstrate my desire to become a Catholic nun. It was a phase that he was convinced would pass, like the Baha’i boyfriend or Bhangra-based Punjabi militancy. “You’re still culturally Muslim,” he said. I know the subtext of that: believe what you like in your heart but socially don’t run around telling family and friends that you’ve renounced the faith. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

SAUDI ARABIA: Kingdom steps up hunt for ‘witches’ and ‘black magicians’
When the popular 46-year-old Lebanese psychic Ali Sibat went on-air and made his predictions about the future, the phone lines of the satellite television station Sheherazade used to be flooded with calls.

But what the star psychic probably did not predict was that his claims to supernatural prowess would land him a death sentence. Read full story from latimes.com

[Killer son stabbed ‘witch’ mother 21 times](A divorced father of three stabbed his mother 21 times after becoming convinced that she was a witch and had put a curse on him, a court heard today. Kayode Kuye tortured and killed Christina Kuye, 69, because he believed she had ruined his life with a black magic spell, the Old Bailey was told. )
A divorced father of three stabbed his mother 21 times after becoming convinced that she was a witch and had put a curse on him, a court heard today.