BOSTON — A judge granted a protective order against a warlock Wednesday, spelling relief for the Salem witch who accused him of harassment.
The two squared off in court before a Salem District Court judge, who granted the protective order to witch priestess Lori Sforza. She had accused self-proclaimed warlock Christian Day of harassing her over the phone and on social media over the past three years.
During testimony that at times became heated, Sforza accused Day of making incessant phone calls at night and humiliating her on Facebook, The Boston Globe reported. Day’s lawyer countered that the dispute stems from a onetime business partnership that fell apart years ago.
Before 2012, Day let Sforza perform psychic readings rent-free at one of his occult shops in Salem, he told The Associated Press in an interview after the hearing. Their relationship fell apart when Sforza revealed plans to start her own witchcraft shop nearby, Day said. The two are still business rivals.
“This is a business dispute gone wrong. That’s all it was,” Day said. “They don’t want me to make snide remarks on Facebook; I won’t make snide remarks on Facebook.”
During the hearing, Sforza reportedly told the judge that she can see into her own future, saying, “That’s why I’m here today.” Sforza, 75, uses the business name Lori Bruno and says she is a psychic witch who descends from a line of Italian witches. She also leads a pagan church in Salem.
Day, 45, who now lives in Louisiana, owns occult shops in Salem and New Orleans. Described on his website as the “world’s best-known warlock,” he organizes the Festival of the Dead in Salem, a series of Halloween events every October that culminates in a Witches’ Halloween Ball.
The pair made headlines in 2011 when they cast spells together to try to heal actor Charlie Sheen, who had called himself a “Vatican assassin warlock” during an interview on national television.
The judge hearing the case said he was dismayed by the volume of late-night calls Day made to Sforza. After hearing the decision, Day, who didn’t testify, denied making the calls and then stormed out of the courthouse, according to The Globe. He told reporters he would appeal the order.
“I’m going to fight this every step of the way because it’s unjust,” he said.
Salem, home of the 17th-century witch trials, has a tourism industry built around the occult that reaches fever pitch in October, drawing thousands of visitors.
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