Witchcraft and Politics: An "Official" State Witch?
By Editorial Staff
Published October 1988During the 1988 presidential campaign, Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis was accused by Christians in the Republican Party of having appointed an “official state witch” while he was governor of Massachusetts. The Dukakis camp categorically denied these charges.
Did Michael Dukakis appoint an “official witch” of Massachusetts? One spokesperson for the Salem Chamber of Commerce confirmed the allegations, agreeing that Cabot was the official, state-designated witch of Salem. The city of Salem capitalizes on the “officiality” of Cabot because it draws tourism to the area. Each October, for example, the Chamber of Commerce sponsors a month of so-called “Haunted Happenings,” that last until Halloween. In the past, that celebration has included a public séance. Another spokesperson at the Salem Chamber of Commerce defended Cabot: “She’s very popular and a very nice person.” Cabot is reported to be a noteworthy citizen because of all the beneficial things she has done for the community such as her work with dyslexic children.
However, an employee of Cabot’s store in Salem commented: “If we do that [help dyslexic children] you can find out about it by writing the Witches’ League for Public Awareness.” Apparently any “community service” that Laurie Cabot is offering has been in obvious connection to her witchcraft. She also stated Cabot’s organization, the Witches’ League for Public Awareness, is attempting to link witches together from all over the nation. Rev. Russel Ely, pastor of the Salem Christian Assembly, has had numerous confrontations with Cabot and other witches in Salem. “Laurie Cabot is serious about her witchcraft. She’s also a serious businesswoman. In fact, she tells people that she is ‘the American dream’ because of her financial success.”
A Salem city official, who wished to remain anonymous, set the record straight by researching the records of City Council meetings. According to those notes, Laurie Cabot came to the mayor of Salem and requested that she be made the official city witch and “greeter.” The Council discussed the issue, and in April of 1977 released a statement maintaining that they did not want “any person or spirit” to be the official witch of Salem. A letter was even sent to the office of Governor Michael Dukakis in Boston to express the decision of the City Council.
Cabot then bypassed the council decision and, with the help of a state representative, Elaine Noble, went directly to the governor. The Salem Evening News, on April 28, 1977, ran an article with the headline, “Governor Dukakis Unwittingly Gives ‘Witch’ Her Wish.” The story stated: “This week Ms. Cabot apparently worked her magic on Governor Dukakis, and he unwittingly did for Ms. Cabot what Salem mayors and councils have refused repeatedly.”
Yankee magazine [October 1986] ran a story entitled “Why Salem Is in Love with Witches.” The article, in describing the meeting between Dukakis and Cabot, seemed to suggest that an appointment had been made. “The petition [to make Cabot official] found its way to Governor Dukakis, who, against the wishes of Salem’s mayor at the time, appointed Cabot Salem’s official witch and gave her a citation to boot.”
SOURCE: “An ‘Official’ Witch? Recognition of Laurie Cabot Poses Problems for Dukakis,” The Forerunner, October 1988, p.22; Witchcraft and Politics: An "Official" State Witch? — The Champion
Sadly, Salem's town council has done much to encourage the evil practice of witchcraft in their city...
Letting Witches Be Witches in Salem
By David Van Biema | Monday, August 20, 2007
Should you find your way up to Salem, Mass., this Halloween season, your chances of encountering a psychic are up — and the odds that that he or she has a felony record are down. That, for those of you who were too drowned in multimedia Harry Potter to notice, is the news from the real town where some estimate every tenth person is a witch.In June, the Salem town council eased its rules on fortune tellers — or, to be more specific, those locals who are engaged in "the telling of fortunes, forecasting of futures, or reading the past, by means of any occult, psychic power, faculty, force, clairvoyance, cartomancy, psychometry, phrenology, spirits, tea leaves, tarot cards, scrying, coins, sticks, dice, coffee grounds, crystal gazing or other such reading, or through mediumship, seership, prophecy, augury, astrology, palmistry, necromancy, mind-reading, telepathy or other craft, art, science, talisman, charm, potion, magnetism, magnetized article or substance, or by any such similar thing or act."
Salem may have been where witches were once tried and executed by puritans, but — thanks to the magic of branding — it has since become a mecca for witches and others involved in the occult arts, as well as for tourists. Around a hundred thousand tourists descend on the town every Halloween season.
The
Bible, God's inspired Word, condemns all of the aforementioned forms
of witchcraft. Witchcraft by
Biblical definition is seeking spiritual guidance, power, or
knowledge from any source other than God and His holy Word. A witch
is one who seeks or derives powers from the Devil. God hates
witchcraft in every form... “There shall not be found among you
any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire
[abortion], or that useth divination [psychics], or an
observer of times [astrologers], or an enchanter
[magicians], or a witch” (Deuteronomy 18:10). It is a
serious matter to God. There's no such thing as “white witchcraft.”
All witchcraft is rooted in rejection of Jesus as the Christ and the
Son of God. Instead, witches worship
hundreds of pagan deities, including the sex-perverted god of
rape,
Pan. Witches all adhere to New Age doctrines. Whether it be
Freemasons, witches, New Agers, spiritists, or ecumenists—they all
share the same common false idea that there are many paths to the
light. In sharp contrast, the Bible proclaims that salvation can
ONLY be obtained through Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:10-12). All
other faiths, religions and paths lead to Hell.
Contemporary Witchcraft
Wicca is a modern chapter of witchcraft actually founded by an occult Freemason, Gerald Gardner (1884-1964). In fact, many false religions have been founded by Freemason occultists, including Mormon founder, Joseph Smith who was a 33rd degree Freemason; and Jehovah's Witness founder, Charles Taze Russell, who was also a 33rd degree Freemason. See: Religions: The Occult Connection.
Modern witchcraft isn’t a survival; but a contemporary invention based on the books of a strange Oxford scholar, Margaret Murray, or more recently on Gerald Gardner’s ‘Witchcraft Today’ published in 1954 after the repeal of the witchcraft law in 1951.
David Burnett in his book Dawning of the Pagan Moon (ISBN-10: 0840796447) has identified four streams in contemporary neo-paganism: Wicca, or practitioners of the craft of witchcraft; Pagans, who follow the pre-Christian European traditions; and Magicians. The fourth stream is Satanism, which stands separate from the others because of its explicitly anti-Christian position. The Bible groups these all together as heathendom. Jeremiah 10:2, "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen..." 1st John 2:22 states, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." Wiccans are liars, because they deny that Jesus is the only Savior!
I plead with you young person (and not to be unkind in any way), run as fast as you can from witchcraft, because it will damn your soul to Hellfire! Witchcraft is a horrible sin. In 1st Samuel 15:23, God equates witchcraft to the sin of rebellion: "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft..." Again in Galatians 5:19,20 we read that "witchcraft" is listed as one of the works of the flesh which bring the judgment of God.
According to John Allan of YOUTHWORK magazine:
“Wiccans believe in two basic deities — a mother goddess and a male horned god — although the goddess tends to be much more emphasized. Witchcraft is a matter of celebrating the powers in nature, joining in with them and perhaps using them to produce supernatural effects. Although you can practice alone, power and balance is gained by working with others. There are 4 main festivals-Candlemas, Beltane, Lammas and Halloween-but generally covens meet once a month at the full moon.”
In sharp contrast, the Word of
God does NOT teach a feminine side of the Godhead. The God of the
Bible is portrayed in the Scriptures as a
masculine God.
The 1692 Witch Trials