Satan's Witch

Love and Fear

Mom was not happy with me. Then again, when was she ever happy with me. I had never seen her smile yet. Her way of raising a child was to discipline us with fear and punishments. After being sent to bed without any dinner, I did not smile the next morning. I do not think Mom even cared. It was most likely that she thought being happy and smiling was not what God wanted. In a way, I felt sorry for her. It must be hard for her to go through life without seeing the beauty of it, and always thinking that the only way to God was by sacrifice, penance and being afraid.

Mom was doing my hair for the day. I did not understand why she spent so much time making my hair pretty as it would be covered with a bonnet. This time was different. She was tugging at my hair and feeling my scalp. She did this for some time. At first, I thought that she was looking for lice or something like that. This was not the case. She told me that she was checking to make sure that I had no horns. She explained in a serious voice that she was afraid that I was in Satan's army when I could not recite the deadly sins. Then she informed me that we would be going to town today, and I would be helping her to shop.

On our way to town, mom was telling me that we had to be careful with what money we had. It had not rained for months and she was worried about how the family would survive. There was a marketplace in the town with stalls where people were selling everything from vegetables to animals. The atmosphere was exciting as it was fun watching people explore what was being sold. They also tried bargaining for a lower price. At times, they would be shouting so high, that I thought there would be a fight. Mom was not in a good mood. She complained that the prices were going up and up, so it would be hard to feed the family. Mom thought it was a sin that people would increase their prices when other people could not afford them. I did not respond or say much, as I knew nothing about the value of money and the hardships people had.

While mom was bargaining with a woman, I noticed a small girl that was sitting in the muddy street. She was dirty and her hair was a mess. She wore dirty and worn-out clothes. She was begging for food or a few coins. I felt so sorry for her. I wondered if she had a family or if she was alone and homeless. The saddest thing was that people just scowled at her as they walked by her. One woman even slapped the little girl's face and told her she should not be begging and bothering God-fearing people. This confused me, as I remember from the Bible that Jesus showed compassion for the homeless and the sick. This made me want to go over to the girl and become friends with her. I wanted to take some food that mom just purchased and give it to her.

Mom had seen me staring at the girl and pulled me away. She said that it was time to visit the Church. The church was an old brick building and looked like any other church. It was a bit dark and it was cool as if it had air conditioning. My mother knelt and prayed. She also found time to tell me to concentrate and pray. I should be asking God for mercy and to repent my sins before it was too late and I would spend all eternity in hell. I found it strange that my mom never thought that God was a loving God. She prayed and was religious because she feared him!

The grumpy priest came into the church and greeted my mom. When he looked at me, he had a face of disgust. It was obvious that he did not like me. I wondered did he like anyone.

"Your daughter is beautiful," he stated. I was about to take this as a compliment until he continued, "I notice that her hair is braided and it clearly says in the bible (1 Timothy 2:9) that women should adorn themselves with respectable attire, and not braided hair or gold. Your daughter's beauty will be used by Satan himself. When she gets older, she will lure honest men to lust and sin. She will be a Jezebel and a whore for Satan. She will be the cause that so many honourable men will be sent to the fires of Hell! You as her mother can stop this. Otherwise, you will also be in hell for all eternity"

I could not believe my ears. Was it a sin because Mom braided my hair. It was nice that he thought that I was pretty. I could not understand how it would be a sin. I had no plan of fancying any boy and having a boyfriend was something I would think about for years. Being pretty could not be a sin, as I never decided if I would be pretty or not. It was how I was born. Besides this, were we not created in the image of God? If God made us pretty, then it was a gift. The grumpy priest did not know God. It did not matter what you looked like on the outside, it mattered what was in your heart.