Practitioners of witchcraft are reacting strongly to a story about a grave dug up in Hillsboro and suggestions that believers in witchcraft might have been responsible. 

The grave in the Bible Hill Cemetery was dug up last week, possibly on Halloween night. The grave belonged to Sarah Symonds, who died in 1821, and there was no trace left of her body.

A Hillsboro police lieutenant who spoke to News 9 suggested that the grave might have been dug up by practitioners of witchcraft, but Dawn Whiting, owner of Pachamama, a metaphysical store in Concord, N.H., said that wasn't likely."I thought you'd be getting a few calls from those practicing witchcraft -- the Wiccans and pagans saying you are misguided," Whiting said.Whiting said she isn't a witch or a Wiccan, but she shares many of their beliefs, and grave-robbing isn't one of them."They don't believe in power from taking from something else," she said. "That would be taking from the family, taking from the earth because she's already been given to the earth. They would not do anything like that."Whiting said grave-robbing leans more toward Satanism, a belief system very different from witchcraft."It's like night and day," she said. "Satanism is for, lack of a better term, more cult-like worshiping, sacrificing and doing harm sometimes. Not everyone does, but I'm kind of lumping it all into one category.""The Wiccans' creed is, 'Do you no harm,' so it mimics the Christians' 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,'" she said.Because police believe the grave was dug on Halloween night, and Whiting said that would be another indication witches weren't involved. Halloween is the Wiccan New Year, a time for candles, ceremonies and food offerings.Lt. Darren Remillard apologized Wednesday for linking the grave robbery to witchcraft, saying it was likely a prank or someone "misusing some sort of religion."

Source - WMUR

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