I refer to Joyce Cassar's article Fortune Telling (July 22). I myself was appalled by the disturbing news from Turin concerning the deceased children but I do believe connecting this twisted crime to fortune telling and the like is a tad excessive.

The occult is most definitely on the increase but I am of the opinion that this intensified interest comes from the Church's poor handling of such matters. Forbidding a person from such activities and concealing them in mystifying riddles wrapped in enigmas makes a person more curious. However, I am lenient enough to go along with Ms Cassar's somewhat "nonsensical, fantastic and superstitious" claims, but what do Charmed and the Harry Potter saga have to do with the brutalities in Turin?

I confess to being an avid watcher of Charmed, perhaps not to the point of forfeiting going out, but still fanatical enough and yet I have never found myself invoking Satan and all his minions or cursing innocent virgins at the stroke of midnight. Nevertheless, perhaps I am biased because I love the programme in question.

I do not, however, like the Harry Potter books or movies in the least, but my young sisters do and they have also gotten into The Worst Witch lately, another programme which I am sure is on Ms Cassar's list.

My sisters are respectively 11 and nine years old, quite impressionable, wouldn't you say, Ms Cassar? And I still have never caught them casting spells or riding around on a broomstick. Do you mean to tell me that you believe watching such programmes or reading such books, or even dabbling in the occult, results in Satanism at best and demonic possession at worst?