Germany's spiritual crisis: Many turn to witchcraft
Amid double-digit unemployment and post- unification trauma, increasing numbers of Germans are turning to witchcraft and the occult to provide the solace they once found in churches, jobs and family.
The land of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, where the 30 Years War was fought over religious beliefs, has become a nation in the throes of "de-Christianisation" as churches across the land are forced to close for lack of congregations.
"This de-Christianisation is the result of a serious crisis of faith that has been spreading for many years, fed by two world wars and the protracted division of Germany," says Hansjoerg Hemminger, a leading Lutheran theologian in Wuerttemberg.
"Witchcraft and the occult are filling that age-old human need for spiritual reassurance, particularly among young people, millions of whom have seldom or never set foot inside a church," Hemminger says....
