Providentia

Russian Police Investigate Exorcism Death of Nine-Year-Old Child

Acting on a tip from a family member, police in Yekaterinburg, Russia unearthed the body of a nine-year-old boy who had been killed during an exorcism by a religious sect to which his parents belonged.   Identified only as "David K.", the boy and his parents belonged to a religious sect, the Disciples of Jesus Christ and had apparently been subjected to a violent ritual aimed at "driving out the devil" though the reason for this abuse has not been given.   The ritual had been conducted in the apartment where the boy and his family had been living.  

During the course of this ritual, David was held down by his mother while other cult members, including his father, whipped him repeatedly..  He had also been gagged to prevent him from screaming out.   After the child died, sect members then prayed by the body for two days hoping that he would be returned to life.   He was then buried in a wooded area near the city while the parents and other sect members fled the city to avoid arrest.  An autopsy of the body determined that the boy had died of asphyxiation with whip marks being clearly visible.   

Police have since located the boy's father, 40-year-old Ivan Kazantsev, and a sect elder, Zemfira Gainullina in the nearby Republic of Bashkiria and arrested them.   David's mother has since fled to Belarus where she is being held as a material witness and awaiting extradition.   Both of David's parents had recently immigrated to Yekaterinburg from Belarus

Defending the sect's actions in an online post before her arrest, Gainullina wrote that, "Many times we were persecuted for the name of Jesus Christ, but no-one could blame us for anything, because there was no crime in us....No-one could forbid us to live the way the Lord Jesus Christ leads us.”  According to available sources,  arrested sect members are refusing to cooperate with authorities and insisted that they only obeyed "heaven's law".    In describing the behaviour of Kazantsev and  Gainullina while in custody, a police spokesperson said that "both detainees behaved, to put it mildly, strangely. They  produced the impression of being zombified."   

While the sect has an active social media presence, including footage of Gainullina playing guitar while her followers danced and prayed together, little information appears available, including "private practices" such as the use of extreme corporal punishment, including whipping, on children to "drive out demons."  

An investigation is continuing.

 

 

Newton's Revelation

Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night.  God said "Let Newton be!" and all was light!  Alexander Pope

Sir Isaac Newton was a very complex individual.

Not only did he revolutionize physics and mathematics, but he also made groundbreaking contributions in various other areas of science including astronomy and natural philosophy.  His 1687 work Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is still considered one of the most influential books in the history of science.  It's hardly surprising that his scientific contributions have made his name so well-recognized by scientists and the general public alike centuries after his death.  

Perhaps not so well known were Newton's other accomplishments.  His lifelong fascination with alchemy seemed to be a natural extension of his wish to uncover how all things in nature were interrelated.  He was hardly unique in his alchemical research since many prominent intellectuals had been doing the same for centuries.  Still, there was a certain irony in the fact that the scientific revolution that Newton ushered in helped make alchemy obsolete.  Inspired by Elizabethan alchemist, John Dee as well as the Rosicrucians, Newton had one of the most extensive collection of alchemy texts in England.   The full extent of his research into alchemy will likely never be known given that Newton went to great lengths to keep it hidden.  His writings on the subject only surfaced long after his death and many of Newton's biographers tended to dismiss them as being a source of embarrassment for admirers of the great scientist.

In writing about alchemy, Newton stated that "They who search after the Philosophers' Stone [are] by their own rules obliged to a strict & religious life. That study [is] fruitful of experiments" which certainly fit in with his empirical search for understanding.  There was also a touch of egoism at work since many of his contemporaries were also searching for the Philosopher's Stone (including Robert Boyle) and Newton didn't want one of them to discover it before him.  Considering that much of the laboratory equipment developed by alchemists would later become part of the standard tools for chemists, Newton's research was more practical than it seems today.  Suffice it to say, Newton never succeeded in finding the Philosopher's Stone but his lifelong fascination gave alchemists an added respectability that they might not have had otherwise.  Newton's work in alchemy may also have played a role in his death in 1727.  An autopsy on his body found elevated concentrations of mercury which may explain much of the eccentric behaviour he showed in life.

In his old age, Isaac Newton's interests turned in a new direction: theology.  As with his work on alchemy, many of his theological writings were only published after his death.  While he remained a devout Christian all his life, many of his ideas on religion were frequently at odds with the Church of England (and he might well have been considered a heretic in earlier times).  He railed against purely mechanistic views of the universe and argued that God created the basic rules that governed nature.  He also stressed that the Bible represented the source of all true wisdom and, towards the end of his life, Newton devoted himself to an in-depth examination of the books of Daniel and Revelation.  Although never published in his lifetime (Newton was reluctant to antagonize the powerful Church of England),Newton's Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John was one of his most ambitious works, at least in terms of providing a reasonable chronology for the events described throughout the Bible.  Drawing on other historical sources (such as Flavius Josephus) and using his own peerless mathematical skills, Newton carefully calculated, among other things, the Crucifixion as occurring on Friday, April 23, 34 CE. 

In analyzing the prophetic texts, Newton carefully broke down each book by applying the same principles to Biblical study that he devoted to studying the heavens.  Although some biographers dismissed his attempts as being a "rambling muddle", Newton used information from the book of Ezekiel and the writings of Maimonides to work out the dimensions of Solomon's Temple which he considered to be a key element in understanding Revelation.  He also developed a future timeline based on his knowledge of astronomy and predicted the Second Coming of Christ in 1948 (although the Last Judgment wouldn't occur until around 3370 CE).   Much of Newton's biblical work seemed to focus on hatred for the Catholic Church (which he considered to be the Antichrist) and the eventual coming of the "True Church" after the "Evil One" (Rome) was destroyed.   Part of this hatred of Catholic doctrine stemmed from his opposition to the idea of the Trinity which he considered false.  He also believed in a literal interpretation of Genesis by the way (although he did suggest that the seven days of creation may have been longer than twenty-four hours).  

If his biographers were apologetic about Newton's fascination with alchemy, they were even less accepting of the theological writings that largely consumed the last years of his life.  He always stayed true to the idea that the universe was inherently understandable and that theology, like science, was a reflection of God's meaning and plan for the human race.  As the chief patriarch of the Royal Society (he was known as "Le Grand Newton" across Europe), Newton's scientific reputation was secure enough but he was still reluctant to publish his conclusions about the Bible.  Weeks before his death, Newton burned a collection of papers at his house in Leicester Fields.  While historians dispute whether the papers he burned were historically significant, one witness later suggested that Newton had burned several manuscripts as well.  Considering the eccentric nature of the alchemical and theological works that did survive, it's hard not to wonder what else Newton was afraid would reflect poorly on him after his death.

Isaac Newton died on March 20, 1727 after a brief illness.  After a public funeral, he was buried in Westminster Abbey in what is now known as "Scientist's corner" (which he shares with Charles Darwin and James Clerk Maxwell among others).  A monument standing by one side of the Abbey shows Newton leaning on a pile of four books labeled "Divinity', 'Chronology', 'Optica' and 'Phil Princ. Math'".  His more, unconventional, works aren't mentioned.

Making a Prophet (Part 3)

Continued from Part Two

Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, Jamaica was a stunning contrast of natural beauty and stark poverty.  The twin legacies of slavery and colonialism left the island with a population consisting primarily of former slaves, people of mixed race ("coloured"), and white colonists who, despite beinga small minority, owned most of the land and resources.  While formal independence from the U.K. would come in the 20th century, life in 19th century Jamaica was often harsh for the freed slaves and their descendants. 

It hardly seems surprising that religion would be a major influence among the island's inhabitants.  Not only with the various branches of Christianity, but also more exotic religions based on traditions imported from Africa.  Obeah and Myalism were widely practiced despite attempts at suppression by the  authorities.  These traditions were often incorporated into more mainstream religions and helped fuel the Christian revivalist movement.  The 19th century was marked by religious clashes and spiritual missions that quickly attracted believers.

Which brings us to Alexander Bedward.

He was born in southeastern Jamaica in 1848 into extreme poverty.  His mother had a local reputation as a healer though his father was unknown.  Never having learned to write and with only minimal reading, he had little choice but to work on one of the big sugar plantations in Colon, Panama.  Whatever future he may have planned changed after a massive fire swept through Kingston, Jamaica in 1882.  Following the fire, Bedward began to have disturbing dreams and erratic behaviour that so frightened his family that they tried to have him put away for lunacy.  He insisted that the dreams meant that God had chosen him for a divine mission.  By 1889, Bedward was formally installed as one of the 24 elders of August Town's Native Baptist church and his religious crusade began.

And what a crusade it was!  By October 1891, Bedward had resigned from his plantation job to launch his healing mission.  Using water from a spring on his property near Jamaica's Hope River, he conducted healing ceremonies based on a divine vision that told him that "the water of the Hope River would be miraculously converted into medicine for soul and body".  Along with his healing, Bedward delivered sermons on a large rock overlooking the river and thousands of people gathered every Wednesday to hear him. 

The descriptions of Bedward's crusade were closely followed by reporters from Jamaica's Daily Gleaner.  Although the newspaper dismissed Bedward as "an ignorant black man living somewhere in the Long Mountain", his movement certainly made news.  In one less-than-complimentary account, Bedward's crusade was described as "one of the most painful and saddening [phenomena] that could possibly be witnessed by anyone of ordinary intelligence, who has his country's good at heart …. [T]he seething mass of ignorance … congregates in the vicinity without a blush of shame at the credulity and infatuation which is [sic] on every side exhibited". 

Not only did Bedward's followers gather to hear him speak, they also brought bottles, jugs, and anything else capable of holding the precious spring water to bring back to their homes.  There were also the invalids who came hoping for divine healing including "lepers, people with running sores, the crippled and deformed, blind, consumptive, asthmatic and in fact every complaint known in the medical world".

The local authorities and clergy were especially outraged by the healing sessions featuring nude men and women bathing together by the thousands. Medical doctors denounced Bedward for his outlandish claims and the false hope he gave patients.  Stung by his numerous critics, Bedward remained defiant during his Wednesday sessions and people still gathered at the river for healing.  The Daily Gleaner gave regular editorials denouncing the "Bedward craze" and unsavory hints at his family's previous attempts at having him committed began to surface.  Meanwhile, the "Bedwardites" (as they were being called) were making arrangements to build a temple to honour their prophet.  Colonial authorities were increasingly worried by Bedward's sermons directed against the upper-class Jamaicans who "grabbed the substance of the poor". 

On January 16, 1895, Alexander Bedward gave a sermon denouncing the white minority and predicted the end of the world in which the wicked would be punished and the faithful rewarded.  He railed against the government and the Clergy as "vagabonds, thieves, robbers and liars" and called on his followers to drive out the white population.  That was enough for the government to lay a charge of seditious language against him and Bedward was quickly arrested. His subsequent trial in April of that same year (with an all-white jury) returned a verdict of Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity.  Although Bedward was sent to a local asylum, he was released a few weeks later after a successful appeal.  Bedward returned to his mission and the healing sessions went on as before (though he eventually insisted that his followers be fully clothed when they bathed in the river).

Although skeptics claimed that Bedwardism would eventually "run its course", the movement continued into the early years of the 20th century.  By 1910, Bedward and his followers had built an impressive compound in August Town complete with a chapel.  While Alexander Bedward was still seen as a threat by the colonial authorities, he had enough support to prevent any attempt at arresting him again.  It's hard to say how  far the movement might have gone if Bedward hadn't had one final vision...

In 1920, believing that the millennium was at hand, Alexander Bedward announced to this followers that he would ascend into heaven on December 31, 1920. As you might expect, the Gleaner scoffed at this revelation but thousands of his followers gathered at the compound in hope of being "saved".  Many of these followers sold all their possessions and the tailor shop on site provided simple white gowns for them to wear for the big event.  Due to fear of rioting (and a possible black uprising), a military regiment was sent in to maintain order.  Throughout the day, Bedward's followers were repeatedly told that his ascension was postponed (he had originally promised that it would happen at ten in the morning).  By late afternoon, the followers were told that the ascension would be "spiritual" rather than physical and, by evening, most of the followers went home disappointed.

Although this event broke up much of Bedward's support, he was still able to rally six hundred followers for a "manifestation" in Kingston that following year.  Police took no chances and promptly arrested him and many of his followers.  Once again, he was declared Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity but there was no release this time.  Up until his death in 1930, Alexander Bedward was held in Jamaica's Bellevue Asylum. 

Much like Richard Brothers and Joanna Southcott before him, Bedward's supporters slowly drifted away following his imprisonment and death.  Many of these followers later became part of Marcus Garvey's Pan-African movement as well as the growing Rastafarian religion.  In some circles, Bedward is still considered a martyr and an early leader in Jamaican nationalism.  Leaving aside questions about his mental state, his religious crusade inspired tens of thousands of people at the peak of his popularity.  

Although I have focused on three very different prophets in this series, the similarities among their movements and the people who believed in them seem apparent enough.  So why do some religious leaders launch major movements that continue after their death while others sink into obscurity?  Heaven only knows.

Witchcraft Accusations Lead to Increase in UK Child Abuse Cases

Child protection workers across the United Kingdom are reporting a startling rise in recent cases of child abuse linked to accusations of witchcraft, possession, and black magic.  Cases linked to harmful cultural practices such as female genital mutilation are also reportedly on the rise.   

While the highest number of cases were reported in Lancashire, Bradford, and Leeds, nearly two thousand child protection cases resulting from matters of religion and belief in supernatural causes were reported nationwide.  This amounts to thirty-eight new cases coming to light each week.   While incidents of abuse linked to faith or belief were less visible in the past, high-profile cases have made social workers agencies better able to identify religious and cultural factors that can underlie child abuse.  

Abuse in these cases often result from a belief in evil spirits that can “possess” children.  Since possessed children are believed to be able to infect others through sharing food, or simply being in their presence, they are often subjected to torture in an attempt to "drive out" the evil.    Other signs of "possession" can include normal rebelliousness, nightmares, or simply falling ill.   Children are also sometimes made into scapegoats due to various family misfortunes including job loss,  financial problems, marital difficulties,  illness, or death.

Among the cases that have come to light in recent years was that of fifteen-year-old Kristy Bamu who died in 2010 during the course of an attempted exorcism by his sister Magalie Bamu and her partner, Eric Bikubi.   Kristy and his sisters had been accused of witchcraft and subjected to horrific torture that only ended when Kristy confessed to being a sorcerer.  He was then drowned and an autopsy found over one hundred injuries on his body.   Bikubi and Bamu both received life sentences.

In a similar case, seven-year-old Khyra Ishaq was deliberately starved to death in 2008 by her mother Angela Gordon, and her partner, Junaid Abuhamza, in a Birmingham apartment.   While the motive for this crime was never made clear, police linked it to the "strong belief in evil spirits" shared by Gordon and Abumhanza.   Both received extended prison sentences.  

But cases of female children as either having had or at risk for female genital mutilation are also at a record high.   In 2018/2019, there were 1000 such cases reported, up six percent from the previous year.    “Rising cases of FGM and child abuse linked to faith or belief are extremely worrying and are destroying the lives of children and young people in communities across the country,” said Cllr Anita Lower, the Local Government Association’s lead on FGM. “Social workers have become better at identifying the signs of FGM and belief-related abuse, but the true incidence rate is likely to be higher as these crimes are under-reported.”

Though FGM remains illegal under UK law, girls ranging in age from infancy to the onset of puberty are often 

Despite the rising number of cases reported, most of which involve people from cultures with a strong tradition of witchcraft and spirit possession, Metropolitan police warn against stigmatizing immigrant communities as belief in the supernatural can be found in all cultures.

For more information

 

 

Making a Prophet (Part One)

We may never know for sure what first inspired Richard Brothers to declare himself "Prince of the Hebrews" but his strange career as a prophet, and the followers who believed in him, makes for quite a story.

He was born in Placentia, Newfoundland in 1757 (on Christmas Day of course) and his father, an English soldier stationed there during the Seven Years' War, arranged for his son to be educated in England.  After graduating from the naval school at Woolwich, Brothers embarked on a naval career and was promoted to Lieutenant before retiring in 1783.  Serving in the merchant marines, he traveled across Europe before settling down and marrying in 1786.  The marriage didn't last long (it ended quickly when he learned about his wife's infidelity).  Whether due to his marital breakdown or growing religious fervour, Richard Brothers began to question whether his oath of loyalty to the British government was consistent with his religious beliefs.  This refusal to swear the oath cost him his military pension.

During this same period, he began an intense reading of the Bible as well as various other religious works (including the mystical writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg).  Losing his pension meant that he had no money to pay his rent and he was forced into a workhouse to support himself (this was mandatory due to the UK's Poor Law system at the time).  For whatever reason, Brothers began to experience religious visions during the six months he spent in the workhouse, most of them focusing on the role that the British people would play in the reclaiming of Palestine and his own unique role as a prophet.  In one of these visions, Brothers heard the voice of an angel proclaiming the fall of London (which the angel called Babylon the Great).  After Brothers pleaded with the angel for mercy towards the city, God reportedly agreed to spare London for a time.  He also reported that a "heavenly lady" would eventually descend from Heaven to shower him with the love and happiness that his religious views convinced him he deserved.

By 1782, Richard Brothers had a new mission.  In addition to being a prophet of the Lord, he also had the gift of healing.  Although large crowds dutifully gathered, his spiritual gifts were never all that spectacular and his "miracles" tended not to impress too many skeptics. For that reason, the doubters were hardly convinced when Brothers announced that he had been chosen as an apostle of a new religion.  As the new "Prince of the Hebrews", it was his responsibility to lead the Jews back to Palestine and reclaim God's kingdom.  As a descendant of the House of David and "Nephew of the Almighty",  it was Brothers who would identify the "hidden Jews" among the people of England ignorant of their true heritage.  Armed with a rod of rosewood that he had carved himself, the new Prince announced that he would use it to work miracles much as Moses had done before.

A pamphlet that Brothers published in 1794 was titled, A REVEALED KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROPHECIES AND TIMES, Book the First, wrote [sic] under the direction of the LORD GOD and published by His Sacred Command, it being the first sign of Warning for the benefit of All Nations; Containing with other great and remarkable things not revealed to any other Person on Earth, the Restoration of the Hebrews to Jerusalem by the year of 1798 under their revealed Prince and Prophet (i.e., Richard Brothers). In his work, Brothers declared that the people of Western Europe (and especially the British people) were the descendants of the ten Lost Tribes of Israel and that the "hidden Jews" of England would be part of the new Kingdom of God on Earth.  While he wasn't the only prophet preaching the notion of Anglo-Israelism, Brothers was definitely the most flamboyant.  He actually attracted a quite a following for a while, including  prominent clergymen, politicians, and writers. 

Richard Brothers' crusade was sabotaged by his own lack of good judgment, unfortunately.  Not only did he prophesy the death of King George III, he also denounced the war against France as "many men fighting against the Spirit of God".  After declaring that "God will break the Empire in pieces" due to British colonialism, he was soon charged with "fond and fantastical prophecies" and quickly declared to be criminally insane in 1795.  Still,  the intervention of one of his disciples (who also happened to be a member of Parliament) led to Brothers being sent to a private asylum in Islington instead of Bedlam.  Despite his incarceration, he kept on writing pamphlets and made numerous predictions relating to world events.  Brothers also spent the last thirty years of his life designing palaces, government buildings, and uniforms for the New Jerusalem that would arise after he was revealed as Prince of the Hebrews and Ruler of the World on November 19, 1795.  Suffice it to say, this particular prophecy didn't pan out. 

In writing about his imprisonment in the asylum, Brothers wrote, ""No man must be deemed insane who is inoffensive in his actions, and is civil in his actions, and is civil in his language, who is able to work at any kind of employment for a livelihood, to receive or give instructions, or to take proper care of himself. All men are not born with the same faculties for learning, teaching, inventing or executing; and wisely has God ordered it so, to make the diversity of properties in the mind appear, by the greater variety of ways and improvements for the general good of all."  The fact that he and his followers were considered to be lunatics weighed heavily on him but he never recanted his crusade.

Richard Brothers was finally released from the asylum in 1806 but his followers had largely abandoned him by then.  He died in the home of his last follower, John Finlayson in 1824.  Even after Brothers' death, Finlayson continued writing pamphlets and manifestos describing the new Christian kingdom and generally trying to keep Brothers' crusade going.  Despite his best efforts, Richard Brothers was quickly forgotten although other prophets with a similar message developed followings of their own. 

Next installment on Sunday.

Continue to Part Two

Sacrificing Edith

On May 1, 1879, Charles F. Freeman plunged a knife into his five-year-old daughter, Edith,  apparently believing that it was God's will.  As his wife would later testify, he then walked the room with her dead body as he prayed and wept   Afterward, he  took the body to bed with him and kept it with him all night.   On the following morning, Freeman then gathered his fellow worshippers together and proclaimed that God would raise her up on the third day.  

He didn't.

Charles Freeman was a farmer who lived with his wife and two children in the tiny village of Pocasset, Massachusetts (now part of the township of Bourne).   Having converted to  Second Adventistism a year before, Freeman had become a leader among the local believers and was well-known for his fiery sermons.  The Second Adventism movement was a radical offshoot of the Adventist church founded by Willliam Miller in 1844.   After the Great Disappointment, when Miller's apocalyptic predictions failed to materialize, the sect which Charles Freeman joined continued to preach the imminent coming of Christ.   Along with their message of salvation, the Second Adventists also fanatically proclaimed that God would send signs to announce Christ's Second Coming.

As for Charles Freeman, he became convinced that God had a special purpose for him, both as a missionary to the unbelieving and to rally those believers whose faith was lagging.   Believing that he needed to make a great sacrifice to prove God's power, Freeman became inspired by the story of Abraham being called on to sacrifice his son Isaac.   He would later report that, two weeks before Edith's murder, he had heard God commanding him to sacrifice a member of his family.   After discussing this command with his wife (whom he ordered not to "stand in the Lord's way"), the only question remaining was who was to be sacrificed.   As Freeman would later report, though he prayed that he would be the one chosen, he was told in a dream that his daughter, Edith, was the one who had to be killed.   Edith was the youngest in the family and the favourite child which presumably made her the ultimate test of her father's faith.

While his wife Harriet objected to Edith's death,  she gave in eventually when Freeman insisted that God would either reconsider at the last moment (as in the story of Abraham and Isaac), or else Edith would be resurrected on the third day.   After the older daughter, Bessie, was taken out of the room by her mother,  Freeman then carried out his murder plan.

On the following day, Charles Freeman called together all of his fellow sect members and told them what he had done.   While he had described his plan for a great sacrifice, nobody had any idea that he would kill his daughter.   Amazingly enough, the fellow-worshippers declared that Freeman had been right to carry out such an act of faith and praised him for it.   They also agreed that God would raise Edith up on the third day as a sign for the unbelievers. 

What followed was a bizarre "wake" (in every sense of the word) as Freeman and his followers waited for Edith to be resurrected.    In an interview with a local newspaper, Edith's grandmother asked the reporter not to say anything to the surviving child about her sister's death.   The rationale appeared to be that Edith would be resurrected soon enough with no harm done.    When nothing happened on the third day (or afterward), the sect members were genuinely astonished.  Some even went so far as to accuse God of breaking His promise with Freeman by not raising Edith.  Not surprisingly, Charles Freeman had already been arrested for his daughter's murder.

The funeral for Edith Freeman was widely attended.   According to the newspaper description,  the Methodist church where the funeral was held was packed to capacity with hundreds more standing outside the building.   The Adventists were all in attendance, most keeping an eye on Edith's coffin hoping for a last-minute miracle, and the tension between the Adventists and the rest of the community was understandably high.   After the pastor lectured the Adventists on their false beliefs, the new Adventist leader (replacing Freeman who was in jail), Alden P. Davis, was prevented from making a speech under threat of arrest. 

Not deterred, Davis managed to make his speech in the churchyard after the service.   The speech, which contained a stirring endorsement of Charles Freeman and his sacrifice, stirred up the crowd even further, including threats of forming a lynch mob.   While no violence broke out, it was likely a near thing.    Even other evangelists expressed their horror at the murder.  An editorial in the New York Evangelist published shortly afterward stated that,

"We hope that this murderer would be treated as all murderers should be, and that it will not be admitted that religious fanaticism is to justify human sacrifices. The law expressly holds that crime committed while a man is intoxicated as if the man was sober; and so Mormons, Adventists, and Spiritualists should be held responsible for offences against law, notwithstanding their pretended revelations of a higher law. There is no safety in society if any other principle prevails.

Though Harriet Freeman was regarded as a willing participant in Edith's  death, she was later released and Charles Freeman was indicted for murder.  

At a special session of the Supreme Court on January 1880, a sanity hearing was held and several medical experts argued that Freeman was fit to stand trial.  John Davis Long, who was governor of Massachusetts at the time, then ordered Freeman sent to the nearby Danvers Lunatic Hospital where he would be held for the next three years.   In a new sanity hearing held in 1883, Freeman insisted that he fully recognized killing his daughter in a  fit of madness.  Stating that his stay in Danvers taught him enough about mental illness to recognize it in himself, he pointed out in his testimony:

"When I got to Danvers, I found a condition of things with which I was wholly unfamiliar.  I found people there who saw God and had communication with Christ, who believe that they were with Christ, who believed they had special revelations, who interpreted signs.  The question arose in my mind, knowing as I did, that these men were insane, unreliable men, many of them filthy and others treacherous, knowing them to be insane, the question arose in my mind whether I was also not insane."  

During his testimony, Freeman wept openly on the witness stand as he described what had led him to kill his daughter.  "I was sent to the insane hospital. and, as I have just stated, I saw my error," he said. "I regret it as the most dreadful act that was ever perpetrated.  I feel that I have been victimized.  I do not blame any person or persons, but I consider it an unfortunate affair from the beginning and for which perhaps no one person has been responsible." 

The prosecutor questioning him was very careful to point out the legal implication of Freeman giving in to his religious visions.  To that,  Freeman replied that "I thought we ought to obey God rather than man."   As for the question of remorse, Charles Freeman's answer was likely less than what the courts deemed acceptable: "I can not conceive of an honest man feeling remorse if he acts up to the very highest concept of his duty at the time."   He did feel that he had enough of religion and vowed never to return to Pocasset or the Second Adventists   All that his release plan involved was to find a job and to support his wife and remaining daughter. 

Harriet Freeman described her husband as being kind to his children and being a good provider for this family.  After his religious conversion in 1879, everything changed.  Not only did he neglect his business and devote himself to Second Adventistism, he also began experiencing visions telling him to send a message  to the world.. His newfound religious enthusiasm certainly caused problems with the rest of his family (his brother-in-law threatened to shoot him at one point due to his proselytizing).  

The presiding judge declared that he had no doubt over Charles Freeman's fitness to stand trial.   That trial was then held in December of  the same year and the outcome was never in doubt.  Not only did the court hear evidence from several medical experts that Freeman had been insane at the time of the murder but even his defense attorney wholeheartedly agreed that he was insane.   

In her own testimony,  Harriet Freeman provided more details about the vision in which he had been told to sacrifice Edith came after several days of going without food and sleep.  Though she admitted to agreeing with her husband that he needed to sacrifice their young daughter, she defended herself by saying that she could not believe that he would ever hurt Edith.   She regarded it as a test of faith, much like Abraham and Isaac, and that God would stop him from going too far.  Describing how her husband had acted on previous occasions, she said that his faith had been tested in the past and that he would not be allowed to do anything to endanger their children. 

On the night that Edith died however, she was told by her husband that God had asked him to make a great sacrifice.  She then saw him "leave the room, and when he came back he had the child in his arms; it was dead; he walked the room with it and prayed and wept; he took it to bed with him and kept it with him all night; the whole scene is like a terrible dream, which one remembers, but can't distinctly connect, and which, when I try to think of it, seems like an awful recollection." 

Weighing all the evidence, Judge Morton declared that he had never seen such a case in which there was no conflict in the testimony.   Since Charles Freeman faced the death penalty for Edith's murder, the judge fully recommended that the jury find him not guilty by reason of insanity.    The jury agreed and returned that verdict after only ten minutes of deliberation.   Charles Freeman was  sentenced to the Danvers Lunatic Hospital for the rest of his life. 

What little information there is on the Freeman case seems to end with his sentencing.  During his trial, he indicated that he functioned well in the Danvers hospital and seemed resigned to work there in one of the jobs assigned to inmates.  I have been unable to find out what became of him and how long he lived after his sentencing.   As well, the fate of Harriet Freeman and her surviving daughter isn't given either.  

While religious fundamentalism is still widespread, the case of Charles Freeman continues to resonates today.   The religious hysteria that apparently drove him to kill his young daughter has its parallels in similar cases, often involving exorcism to "drive out" evil influences.  Still, the death of Edith Freeman provides important lessons in avoiding other tragedies    Not only in terms of watching for the kind of hallucinations and delusions that can lead to murder, but also the bizarre enabling behaviour shown by Harriet Freeman and her husband's fellow believers.  Would Charles Freeman have committed murder without the support provided by Harriet and the others?  And where to draw the line between religious mania and mental illness?

Questions that need to be asked, time and again.

Indian Activists Seek Nationwide Law to Stamp Out Witch-Hunts

In a recent incident which has become all-too common in parts of India, four  women were lynched by a mob in the village of Siskari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.  The women, all of whom were between 45 and 60 years of age, had been the target of a harassment campaign stemming from locals accusing them of using "black magic" to kill a village resident some time ago.  According to police reports, all four women were dragged from their homes and beaten to death by a mob of masked men armed with sticks.  Over twenty-four people have since been arrested by police.

This killing is only the most recent example of the anti-witch hysteria that remains prevalent in Jharkhand and other economically depressed parts of the country.   This July alone, a mob in India's Assam state beheaded a woman accused of making villagers fall ill.   Around the same time, a couple and their four children were burnt to death in Odisha for allegedly bringing disease to the village and evidence of another man , burned to death in a similar incident, was also found.  According to recent statistics from the Times of India newspaper, 123 people were killed by mobs in Jharkhand between May 2016 and 2019 alone.   And this may well be an underestimate given that many anti-witch attacks go unreported.       In 2016, there were 134 killings nationwide according to National Crime Records statistics (and, again, this may be an underestimate) with thousands of other deaths taking place over the past decade.  The overwhelming majority of these victims were women or members of low-status ethnic minority groups.

While Jharkhand remains the province with the highest number of reported attacks on suspected witches,  belief in witchcraft is extremely strong across much of India.   Not only is it believed that witches are born with the power to heal or curse, but they are often sought out to help cure illnesses or lift curses.    Given the lack of proper medical care in many of the poorer communities, any death or misfortune (including illness, famine, or drought) can be blamed on suspected "black magic" practitioners.   There are numerous self-styled practitioners who boast supernatural powers and who are widely respected and feared in their local communities.  Also, given that most  accused witches are single women living on valuable land claimed by their families, cases of family members accusing them of witchcraft to force them off the land are hardly uncommon.    With the stigma surrounding mental illness in much of India, anyone displaying "odd" behaviour or signs of mental illness may also be accused of witchcraft.

As Shashank Shekhar Sinha, an author and expert on local cultures told reporters, evidence suggests that these killings may be on the rise given changing economic conditions.   "This has to do with the politics of development," he said, in describing why the witch-hunts are so prevalent in Jharkhand,  "Coal mines and industries are being set up in the area, and a lot of people are migrating into the region. In this model, the adivasis [tribal communities] are losing their lands to these development projects. They are losing their lands and at the same time they are not benefiting from development projects."     With anger directed against newcomers who are seen to be taking away jobs needed by villagers, land-grabbing and rumour campaigns are an effective way of forcing out undesirables, many of whom are either killed or driven off their land which is then claimed by other villagers.

While many individual states have introduced legislation to stop witch-hunting, human rights are pushing for a nationwide law that will address all anti-witch harassment, including the sexual violence and public humiliation that accused witches often face.  "The current approach has been very piecemeal, where you only talk about the legal aspect of the problem. The laws are inadequate in covering the entire range of crimes associated with witch hunting," said Sinha.   Along with making these kind of hunts illegal, Sinha stressed the need for public awareness campaigns, especially among the locals who are most likely to target suspected witches.   Victims of anti-witch violence also need to be able to access medical services, including counseling to help with their trauma.   Accused witches also need real legal protections, especially if they are being accused by their own family members   

Perhaps the most critically important change to be made involves better enforcement of existing laws.   Even in cases involving death of accused witches, police investigations often reach a dead end, whether due to lack of effort on the part of police or simply because villagers refuse to speak out to protect the accused.

https://www.dw.com/en/indias-witches-victims-of-superstition-and-poverty/a-49757742

Rumours of Human Sacrifice Lead to Violent Clashes in Bangladesh

A wildly successful rumour alleging that human sacrifices are needed to finish a controversial bridge in Bangladesh has led to widespread violence, including at least two deaths.   Still under construction, the new bridge crossing the Padma river in Bangladesh is expected to open in 2020 and is hoped to boost the economy in the regions directly affected.   But fake rumours that the bridge will need "human heads" for its construction has  been spreading quickly on social media sites in recent months.   In one recent version of the rumour, over 100,000 human heads are claimed to be needed and that the perpetrators plan to snatch children to be used as sacrifices.    

Despite denials by government agencies and concerned social media users, the protests sparked by these rumours have already become fatal.   At least two people were killed by mobs in different parts of Bangladesh after being accused of kidnapping children for sacrifice.   Others have been assaulted or arrested by police for their own protection.   In a statement to the press, a police superintendent in Laxmipur district said that, "Those who were beaten up and we have held for the allegation of child-snatching, are either mental-patient or homeless persons. The “child-snatching” claim is just a rumor."

Rumours of human sacrifices have surfaced in the past, usually in association with any large construction project.   One Facebook user shared his memory of a similar rumour that sprang up in the 1970s with the construction of another large bridge.  "I was a school student then," he said.  "My friends used to discuss the under construction Kanchpur Bridge. Allegedly human bones were required to make the joints of the bridge strong. At least 500 human bones were required for a bridge this big. Human children were being targeted and claims were being sent to the schools. Our school also received such a letter. The teachers are sending 1 or 2 children to the Bridge construction workers. We were pretty worried and scared. If we were also sent. We could not sleep at night. So many worries in our little heads!"

Though Bangladesh is primarily a Muslim country, Hindu myths and legends continued to be passed on across generations.   This includes stories of human heads being mounted on bridges to appease demons before a bridge could be built.  Human sacrifice was also said to have been widely by the ancient Pundra kingdom in what is now Bangladesh.   Even in an era of social media, these ancient beliefs remain strong.  "People are used to these myths carried down from generations to generation," said one source.  "So they fall for such rumors without verifying, even if in this age of technology."

Government sources are already threatening reprisals against anyone knowingly sharing sacrifice rumours.   They also accuse "vested interests" of trying to undermine the bridge project.  Under Bangladesh's new Digital Security Act, anyone spreading rumours in electronic form is liable to up to three years in jail or BDT 300,000 (USD 3,550) in fines or both.   Eight people have been charged so far and more arrests are expected in future.  

School in the Philippines Closed Due to "Evil Spirits"

Classes at an integrated school in the Philippines have been suspended after twenty students collapsed in class and began showing symptoms suggesting that they were possessed.    

According to one teacher at the Father Gratian Murray Integrated School in Bacolod City. the first incident occurred earlier this month when a female Grade Eight student collapsed in class and reportedly began speaking in a male voice.    After the student began rambling about a 2016 accident that occurred nearby, she was taken to a medical clinic and then to a chapel until her parents could take her home.   Three other girls began experiencing similar symptoms though classes continued as usual.

On the following day, a group of students who were praying the rosary at a school field also collapsed.  “Their bodies weakened, and they were hysterically shouting,” said head teacher Ariel Sablaon.   Following reports that the symptoms were due to demonic possession, the school principal called in a priest to see the affected children and determine whether an exorcism was needed.   After the priest dismissed possession claims, ten of the children were sent to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Barcolad for observation.

According to hospital psychologist, Dr. Joeanne Marie Jomalesa, the cause of the outbreak has still not been determined though she is not prepared to rule out mass hysteria.  "We have to verify it first because we don’t know if it’s related to a spiritual aspect or a psychiatric case. We need to get into the details first before we evaluate and proceed with the intervention phase wherein we can be able to talk to the students,” she said.  She also pointed out that cases of mass hysteria could often affect a group of persons  coping with unusual excitement or anxiety and trigger  irrational behavior, beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness.

Belief in demonic possession is widespread across much of the Philippines.   Similar outbreaks occurred in 2018 involving schools in the province of Cebu.  Apparently triggered by the sighting "black figure" on school grounds, students began collapsing with reports of violence and abdominal pain.  In 2017, Father Ambrosio Nonato Legaspi, chief exorcist of the Philippines, gave a public warning about "cursed rosaries" being distributes by  “Illuminati satanists” to entrap unsuspecting Catholics.   Similar alarms have also been raised about wearing Halloween costumes and other "potentially satanic" activities that could attract possession. 

 

 

The Man Who Had Visions

It's hard to think of the right word to describe Emmanuel Swedenborg.  Complex doesn't even come close.

Born in 1688, Swedenborg's father was a bishop who often claimed to see spirits and made claims of miraculous cures (he also did exorcisms). His religious upbringing didn't prevent Emmanuel Swedenborg from traveling extensively and immersing himself in the natural sciences.  Despite a stuttering problem that made him extremely reluctant to speak in public, he devoted the next two decades of his life to projects in astronomy, physics, and mineralogy including various attempts to reconcile philosophy and the physical sciences (he even proposed early versions of a flying machine and a submarine). After turning down an appointment as professor of mathematics at Uppsala University (his stuttering made the idea of public lectures unthinkable), he turned to the life sciences in 1736.

Traveling to medical centres in France and Italy, he went on to do extensive research in anatomy and physiology. It was Swedenborg who first proposed that the cerebral cortex could be divided into specific regions that controlled different parts of the body. These specialized "cortical territories" were highly interconnected and enable the brain to function as a coherent whole. He also identified the role of cortical region at the back of the frontal lobes in voluntary muscle control, and even suggested that the frontal lobes of the brain were linked to intellectual functions (including imagination, memory, and thought).

Although many of Swedenborg's discoveries were revolutionary, the mainstream medical community in other countries didn't really become aware of them until the late 19th century (his treatises on the brain weren't fully translated for decades). By then, most of his astounding discoveries had been made by other researchers working independently. His lack of an academic post worked against him as well but Swedenborg might still have become one of the pioneers of medical science if he had persisted in his research. Unfortunately, all of his scientific activities had ended by 1743.

Which was when the visions started...

While he had been a religious man all his life,  Swedenborg was fifty-five when first began experiencing a strange spiritual crisis. After taking a leave of absence from his research and traveling to the Netherlands, he was haunted by strange dreams that he faithfully recorded in his journal. In one story that was often retold years later, Swedenborg was eating in a London tavern when "a darkness fell upon his eyes and the room shifted character. Suddenly he saw a person sitting at a corner of the room, telling him: "Do not eat too much!".  Frightened by what happened, he hurried home. Later that night, the same man appeared in his dreams. The man told Swedenborg that He was the Lord, that He had appointed Swedenborg to reveal the spiritual meaning of the Bible, and that He would guide Swedenborg in what to write.  He reportedly became so agitated that the physician who was treating him had six men guard him as he slept.

After arranging for a government pension to support him, Swedenborg devoted himself to his strange visions and the religious books that he wrote based on what he experienced (and which he later claimed were dictated to him by an angel). He spent the remaining years of his life traveling between London, Stockholm, and the Netherlands and wrote fourteen books on various spiritual topics. The visions that he described took him from Heaven to Hell and across the solar system (and meeting the inhabitants he found there). Most of his works were published during his lifetime and he quickly developed a reputation as a mystic (or a lunatic depending on who you asked).His books were remarkably consistent and his descriptions of the nature of Heaven, Hell and the universe has had a tremendous influence over the years. Although some of Swedenborg's writings were bizarre (he claimed that the moon was inhabited by a race of creatures who spoke through their stomachs), his sincere manner and reputed psychic ability won over many doubters. Other critics were more skeptical (Immanuel Kant wrote that Swedenborg should be in a madhouse and two of his supporters were tried for heresy in Sweden), but Swedenborg's crusade continued.

The bulk of his spiritual writings focused on God's plan to initiate His kingdom on earth but he denied that anything he wrote was theological (they were based on his personal experiences after all). In later years, Swedenborg became increasingly deranged and lived on a diet of milk and bread. Evil spirits continually harassed him with temptations although he was comforted and protected by good spirits. Although  already a lifelong bachelor, he became so frightened of women that he would never see them alone. By the time of his death in 1772, Swedenborg was one of the most well-known mystical writers of his time and his works have since been translated into numerous languages. His works inspired later writers including William Blake, Goethe, Dostoevsky, Henry James Senior (father of William and Henry James), and Carl Jung.  Swedenborg's supporters founded the New Jerusalem Church in 1778 (a branch in the United States was founded in 1792). Despite the inevitable schisms over interpretations of his writings, he still has a devoted following and the Swedenborg Society (founded in 1810) is actively engaged in disseminating his works.

The question of why an accomplished scientist like Swedenborg made such an abrupt change in his later life from science to mysticism has baffled later writers and researchers. While it's tempting to link Swedenborg's experiences to the mystical visions and religious grandiosity often experienced by schizophrenics and patients with certain neurological conditions, the available evidence doesn't really indicate a clear diagnosis. If there was a neurological basis to these visions, then it would be especially ironic that it would occur in someone who might well have become one of the great pioneers in brain research had his life not take such a strange direction.