A Russian politician wants to see “genuine wizards” join forces and form an official union to help people tell apart “fake warlocks” who provide “phony” services.
The unusual initiative has been proposed by Anton Paleev, a deputy in the Moscow City Duma.
He told local media: “A professional association of wizards should emerge to inform normal people about fraudsters. It should publish its data online as other unions do.
“If there are that many warlocks, mages, wizards and parapsychologists in Moscow, I believe a professional association is needed.”
Unfortunately, Paleev did not specify how to tell apart the “genuine” wizards from the “fake” ones.
However, the deputy did state that such a move should come from within the magic community itself.
According to Russian news site ‘Life’, 50 percent of Russians are superstitious, 48 percent think people possess magical powers, 36 percent believe in black magic rituals and 27 percent claim to have personally encountered a miracle or magical event.
Russian psychologist Andrey Zberovsky said: “People have to understand that there is no such thing as magic.
“The best way to protect yourself is to ask ‘if these people can do absolutely everything, why are they taking money from ordinary folk and not just living a life of luxury’?”
According to reports, providing ‘magical services’ for superstitious citizens is a lucrative business in Russia.
In August, a woman paid 5.8 million RUB (68,800 GBP) to a ‘sorcerer’ to help cure her husband’s cancer, however the spells he cast ultimately had no effect.
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Story By: Sergey Panashchuk, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder,  Agency: Central European News
