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Lori Sforza, 75,
who calls herself a psychic and a "hereditary high priestess"
had appealed to Salem District Court Judge Robert Brennan to
issue an order stopping Christian Day, who calls himself the
"world's best-known warlock" and owns magic-themed stores in
Salem and New Orleans from making what she said were harassing
phone calls.
The two are well-known in Salem, infamous as the site of 17th
century trials that led to the executions of 20 people found
guilty of witchcraft. Modern-day Salem capitalizes on its morbid
reputation with tourist attractions both ghoulish and historic
that help the city draw about 1 million visitors a year, with
crowds peaking in the run-up to Halloween.
Sforza, who serves as founder and Head Mother of Our Lord and
Lady of the Trinacrian Rose Church, in the waterfront city 16
miles (26 km) northeast of Boston, welcomed the ruling.
"I love Salem so much," she told reporters after leaving the
courthouse. "No one should ever be abused, man or woman."
Day told reporters he had never harassed Sforza.
"All of this comes from business competition. All of this comes
from when you're the best at what you do, you're going to have
people who want you to fail," Day said. "We get people who get
jealous. Might I have had a snarky comment on the Internet once
in a while? Sure, but that's free speech. Do I call people with
private numbers? Never."
Day hosts a "Festival of the Dead" in Salem, where participants
can learn to become a paranormal investigator, hear from
departed loved ones, or cast a magic circle on Salem Common.
Salem's tourism office estimated that tourism brought $100
million in economic activity to the city of almost 43,000 people
last year.
(Editing by Scott Malone and Sandra Maler)
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