IheartTarot
03-11-2011, 22:35
The following quotes were taken directly from an article published on a US news website this week here (http://www.salem-news.com/articles/november022011/children-wealth-ar.php).
The practice of sacrificing children stems from witchcraft.
It is important to note that in most instances, witchcraft goes hand in hand with human sacrifice. Thus the children - generally believed to be pure and undefiled - are the preferred objects of sacrifice to the spirits and perceived gods.
This is a prime example of the reason I wrote my latest blog post The witch word in South Africa (http://mywingsofdesireblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/witch-word-in-south-africa.html) about the use and misuse of the words "witch" and "witchcraft" in an African context.
The indiscriminate use of the words "witch" and "witchcraft" is irresponsible in a society where violent "witch hunts" still occur on a regular basis. Accusing another person of practising witchcraft may even constitute a criminal offence in South Africa in terms of The Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1957, which is still in place (a project to review witchcraft legislation was approved in 2010). The use of these words to describe anyone who does not identify themselves as a Witch is also offensive to two distinct groups of people in South Africa who have very different views of these words, i.e. traditional healers who view these words in a negative light and self-identifying Pagan Witches reclaiming these words.
The practice of sacrificing children stems from witchcraft.
It is important to note that in most instances, witchcraft goes hand in hand with human sacrifice. Thus the children - generally believed to be pure and undefiled - are the preferred objects of sacrifice to the spirits and perceived gods.
This is a prime example of the reason I wrote my latest blog post The witch word in South Africa (http://mywingsofdesireblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/witch-word-in-south-africa.html) about the use and misuse of the words "witch" and "witchcraft" in an African context.
The indiscriminate use of the words "witch" and "witchcraft" is irresponsible in a society where violent "witch hunts" still occur on a regular basis. Accusing another person of practising witchcraft may even constitute a criminal offence in South Africa in terms of The Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1957, which is still in place (a project to review witchcraft legislation was approved in 2010). The use of these words to describe anyone who does not identify themselves as a Witch is also offensive to two distinct groups of people in South Africa who have very different views of these words, i.e. traditional healers who view these words in a negative light and self-identifying Pagan Witches reclaiming these words.