UPDATE: Salem Witch Files for Court Protection Against Warlock

It is days away from Halloween in Salem, so why wouldn’t a woman who runs a pagan church and witchcraft shop be taking a self-proclaimed wizard to court?

Lori Sforza, the 75-year-old woman who says she is a witch-priestess and who runs a Salem witchcraft shop, filed for court-ordered protection against harassment from Christian Day, who claims to be the “world’s best-known warlock” on his website.

The hearing was originally scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday, but was continued so an attorney filling in for Day’s regular attorney could be brought up to speed on the process.

Sforza said the legal proceedings have been going on since September and she is eager to get it over with.

Sforza’s attorney claims Day has harassed her by phone and over social media for the past three years. She has filed for court-ordered protection against Day.

“When someone calls you the C word, you have to stand up for yourself,” Sforza. “Some people say that when he calls you the C word, you’ve made it, but that’s not right.”

Sforza said she grew up in a culture where both men and women showed respect and were treated with respect.

Even with the court case ongoing, Sforza said she will keep a positive attitude.

“I’m 75 years young,” she said. “You stay young in your heart.”

Sforza is the founder of Our Lord and Lady of the Trinacrian Rose Church in Salem, which espouses a positive earth-centered focus combining the modern and traditional aspects of the Wiccan Beliefs and Religion as well as the Old World Sicilian Witchcraft of the Strega, according to its website. Sforza goes by the name Lori Bruno and runs the shop Magika on Pickering Wharf.

Day owns occult shops in Salem and New Orleans and lives in New Orleans, according to his Facebook page. He is the creator of the Salem Festival of the Dead and the Official Salem Witches Halloween Ball, which takes place on Halloween night.

Photo via Festival of the Dead Facebook page.