Features Podcasts Family Video Comics Music Tech Science Books Film & TV Games ✚

@media screen and (max-width:400px){ body{ overflow-x:hidden; background:#ffffff !important; } #posts-loop *{ max-width:100% !important; } *{ max-width:320px; } #mobile_includes{ width:320px; margin-left:-16px; } #container{ padding-top:50px; } #cse-search-box { margin-right: 5px !important; } #dickbar { width:310px; } #metadataBox { overflow-x:hidden; } }

Family of late prosecuted psychic calls for pardon

David Pescovitz at 10:24 am Thu, Dec 7, 2006

Kindle

Fifty years after the death of psychic Helen Duncan, the last person in the UK imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act, her family is calling for her to be pardoned. She was imprisoned after she channeled the spirit of a sailor from a specific sunken warship, several months before the loss of the ship was made public. From the BBC News:

She was arrested in 1944 and sentenced to nine months in prison at the Old Bailey for crimes under the Witchcraft Act of 1735.

While in prison she was visited by Winston Churchill.

When he was re-elected in 1951 the Witchcraft Act was repealed and three years later spiritualism was officially recognised as a religion.

Link to BBC News article, Link to the Official Helen Duncan Pardon Site

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

More at Boing Boing

Ants and Stars: Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic visit the Sardinia Radio Telescope in Italy

The Snowden Principle

function convosuiteLabeling(){ console.log('convosuiteLabeling'); google_ad_500_code = "<center><iframe src='http://boingboing.net/wp-content/themes/2012/ads/ad_google_rect.html' width='410' height='290' scrolling='no' frameborder='no' style='margin:0;'></iframe><center>"; $('#ad_500').css('border-top', '1px solid #CCC'); $('#ad_500').css('border-bottom', '1px solid #CCC'); $('#ad_500').css('margin-bottom', '20px'); $('#ad_500').css('margin-top', '40px'); $('#ad_500_label').show(); if($('#ad_500').height() < 50){ $('#convosuite_ad').hide(); $('#google_ad_500').append(google_ad_500_code); console.log('Appending google ad code: '+google_ad_500_code); } } $(document).ready(function(){ // convosuiteLabeling(); setTimeout('convosuiteLabeling();', 3000); }); .fm-cs-ad { margin:18px 0px 18px 0px !important; max-width:514px; } ADVERTISEMENT

Comments are closed.