LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Osama bin Laden may feel snug and safe from harm deep in his hidden Afghan lair, however the elusive terrorist leader may not sleep so well this Halloween knowing that the paranormal patriots of the United States have him in their magical crosshairs.
While the United States and its allies use conventional military measures to strike at bin Laden and his Taliban allies, devotees of the occult across the United States are also doing what they do best to neuter, if not destroy, him and his terrorist network.
"People of all faiths love this country, including people whose faiths that others might see as a bit strange," said Robert Anderson, proprietor of a Seattle metaphysical bookstore called The Edge of the Circle. "But they are still Americans."
Along with being a purveyor of books and other materials used by witches, astrologers, tarot card readers and others tuned into the paranormal side of life, Anderson has been serving since Sept. 11 as a "curse conduit," for a Web site called cursethem.com, which, for a limited time only, has been urging people to submit a unpleasant curse to be placed on bin Laden.
A visit to the site gives the user the options of placing a curse on bin Laden, the Taliban or "any terrorist," with a wide choice of afflictions ranging from plain old bad luck and impoverishment to dysentery, nervous twitches, impotence, acne and even to "die with (a) pig."
A press release from the site said momentum for curses upon bin Laden began building through word of mouth as revenge was sought by some 200 practitioners of witchcraft, voodoo and other "ancient mysterious arts" on behalf of the victims of the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Nearly 90,000 curses have been logged in just three weeks.
"With All Hallows Eve this week, they have joined together, using their powers to place a curse on the fugitive terrorist," the press release said. "Their goal is making him and his followers pay for their acts.
"Unlike bombs and missiles that need to reach him when he crawls into his cave, they believe a curse can find him no matter where he hides."
The curses will be turned over to those who will put them into effect. Anderson declined to identify these practitioners, however he told United Press International that they were "intelligent primitive forces of nature."
"I'm the person who is bringing them to the forces who will carry them out," he said.
Curses are no joke to those who believe in witchcraft; anyone can declare a curse on someone they can't stand, although it takes on a special significance if a genuine witch or high priest implements it.
Curses may also not take effect immediately, but can last a lifetime unless the targeted individual has it removed by another witch.
Dabbling in the occult and paranormal is not new to warfare or even to anti-terrorism. The 1993 book "Magical Battle of Britain" detailed British mystic Dion Fortune's efforts to use magic spells to help hold off a German invasion of England.
Both the Soviet Union and the United States experimented with ESP during the Cold War, and "remote viewers" were reportedly enlisted by the Pentagon in the 1980s as psychic snoops looking for Soviet military secrets and even victims of terrorist kidnappers in the Middle East.
Cursethem.com is not the only occult rocket being lobbed at bin Laden. Message boards on sites devoted to witchcraft and magic included a call for a mass casting of a "binding" spell on Oct. 15.
"A binding is a magical act designed to not cause harm to the subject, but to render him powerless to act and to immobilize him," one such notice said. "Tempting though it may be, directing harm toward this individual ... is a misuse of our powers."
No word on whether the spell worked, although as of Thursday there had been no repeat of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington.
Astrologers have been busy trying to get a handle on bin Laden's horoscope, however uncertainty over his date of birth has stalled astrological efforts to draw up a list of his potential bad days.
Anderson said the U.S. military response was launched against Afghanistan during a period known as Mercury retrograde, which is said to cause confusion in communications and could explain shortcomings in intelligence gathering and targeting.
The Edge of Circle may not attract the kind of clientele that the neighborhood drug store, diner or barbershop might draw, however the conversation among clerks and customers in recent weeks has been dominated by the tragic events of Sept. 11, Anderson said.
While no one has bragged about turning bin Laden into a reptile or some other low creature, Anderson said he was "sure it is going on."
Does Halloween give magic and witchcraft an extra boost that might facilitate a cosmic cruise missile? Probably no more than any other day, although this Halloween is special due to the full moon lighting up the night sky.
"They call the second full moon of the month the 'blue moon,' and it's Halloween night, which is the night when the veil between the two worlds (the physical world and the afterlife) is its thinnest," said Anderson.
Along with some possibly vivid dreams, Anderson predicted a new surge of patriotism as spirits walk among the trick-or-treaters.
"Our ancestors are fellow Americans who have always defended the United States," Anderson said.
