Photo Montage by Mr. Matthew Love, editor of The Seoul Times

Voodoo is a vile and despicable form of mind control, with all its dirty tricks and poisons. Anyone caught using voodoo should be arrested for the criminal that they are. It is in violation of all the tenets of human and personal rights.

Spiritually, it reduces practitioners to mindless drones and subjects them to the whims of the voodoo priests. The priests throw Christianity into the mix to confuse their followers, using it as a smoke screen and because they know all people fear for their mortal souls and dastardly deeds need to be redeemed. I suppose they are not taking any chances with the afterlife.

The basic canon of voodoo is self-gratification and self-aggrandizement. Priests encourage their practitioners to desire things such as other people's property and go so far as to excite their desires of other's lives and relationships.

Greed, envy and other human vices are encouraged to the point that the practitioners are ruthless in their means of the achievement of these desires. In instance after instance, poisons have been utilized by the voodoo priests for the practitioners. Concoctions and dusts, utilizing oils, powders, and infusions from plants, animals, snakes, and fish of noxious natures are created to do the bidding of the priests. Even DMSO has been employed by these crafty charlatans to create mysterious effects, sicknesses, and at times even death. Poison, but mainly exotic poison is one of the key elements in voodoo mind control. The famous zombie powder is a classic example of a concoction of exotic poisons being used to control and in some cases kill the intended victim.

The basic idea that some one would guise common murder in the cloak of spiritualism is detestable for the lie that it is. Whatever the redeeming qualities are for voodoo and its practice they are removed by the fact that most who use it are satisfying criminal desires and activities. If their actions are not illegal in the greater sense of the law, they are surely with out any moral compass to guide them and in sure violation of the laws of nature and common decency. They leave in their wake those who may or may not deserve their fate, but still they are punished outside the legal process of our society. If voodoo is used to right a wrong, it is then vigilantism and still a criminal offense.

Whatever the reasons are for the use of voodoo it still is a criminal activity because of its physical contact with the victim. If you include the use of slander and gossip as lesser tactics employed by these unscrupulous people, you will discover that there is nothing mysterious about it. There are no spiritual forces at play in the creating of the results. Moreover, consider this fact; if there were a way one person could dominate another psychically, it would still be criminal. If the use of prayers, chants and ritual techniques are employed, and used to create psychic effects (dream invasion, mind storms, and the like), this is still criminal in its intention.

In New Orleans and parts of Louisiana, voodoo is romanticized to the point that it is stylized and included in the local popular culture. The people of this fair city have gone so far as to have once named a wonderful football team Voodoo, and once a year they have a cultural celebration called the New Orleans Voodoo Festival, which has nothing to do with the 'black art' of voodoo in the slightest. It is mainly a chance to make some money using fun, spookiness, music, and food. There are stores and shops with the voodoo theme all over the city; it is an innocent advertising ploy and nothing more.

Voodoo in New Orleans with its dabblers and dilatants is akin to an underground pastime and it is a good marketing scheme and at best an easy way to intimidate the weak and addle brained. All serious practitioners of this detestable art keep themselves well hidden from public view, mainly because of their fear of reprisal for past deeds.

Consequently, the people of New Orleans in their zeal to have a good time are not responsible for their relationship with voodoo. They can plead their case for non-complicity; after all, this thing has been here, and elsewhere, for a long time and everyone has just accepted it. The actual culprits and criminals are never present when the real crimes are committed and unless a person has actually practiced voodoo then they are innocent of all wrongdoing.

To take unfair advantage of another by any means is cowardly and full of turpitude. Any form of psychic mind control should be illegal along with its attempts. Any technique that purports the secret control of someone's dreams or subconscious should be illegal. If there is the slightest possibility that it could work; then the practice of that technique should be against the law.

People, who are endowed with special gifts such as sooth-sayers, telepaths, and hypnotists, should understand their gifts and their moral responsibilities. Schools that are in the practice of offering courses in the Occult Sciences and their related studies should put it upon themselves to bring wisdom and philosophy studies into their curriculum. If these institutions do not offer such related courses they are neglect in their function as institutes of higher education.

As far as the practice of voodoo is concerned, all of its forms should be outlawed in the United States. The practice of this quasi-religion can lead no one to a good end.

WICCA AND THE TRADITIONS OF WITCHCRAFT

A simple definition

Throughout the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance period, the practice of witchcraft was associated with healing and herbal medicine and wise understanding. The local witch was a person you could turn to for advice and in many cases, a remedy for what ailed you. Most witches being people, who liked their solitude, lived back-up in the woods and had a house surrounded by natural wonders including cunning animals, exotic herbs, and medicinal plants. These people, mostly women, were amazing magicians on a natural level.

Spiritual advice was often forth coming from the old crone who lived secluded in the near by woods. It was as though most villagers had a local woman who prescribed herbs and imparted secret wisdom to anyone willing to drop off a hen or some sausages in return for her services. She was often handy for advice on child birthing and rearing, and what was a goodly remedy for the various types of cough. She knew how to fix things with the body, mind, and at times matters of the soul. A community was often gifted to have such a person in residence.