Experts: Casting Spells Not about Killing

January 9, 2008

Author: Molly Montag

Source: Sioux City Journal

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/01/08/news/local/f1b72d9ec4df985c862573ca000e720e.txt

Casting spells and the study and practice of witchcraft is nonviolent and often misunderstood, experts say.

Lawrence Douglas Harris Sr., 25, of Sioux City told investigators he was casting a spell that "had gone bad" when his stepdaughters, ages 8 and 10, died Sunday. He faces two counts of first-degree murder.

Professor Helen A. Berger, author of three books on witches, said she doubted anyone claiming to have killed children while casting a spell is a true practitioner of witchcraft or Wicca, a nature-based religion often associated with witchcraft and spell-casting.