You would think such a scene would happen only in medieval fiction, but early this week, a woman convicted of practicing "witchcraft and sorcery" was beheaded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Practicing "witchcraft and sorcery" is a capital offense in Saudi Arabia.

Amina bint Abdulhalim Nassar, the convicted "witch," allegedly claimed to be a healer and mystic, charging ill clients as much as $800 for her services. She was arrested in April 2009 after a search of her home yielded items related to witchcraft, authorities said.

Authorities found a variety of occult items in her possession, including herbs, glass bottles of "an unknown liquid used for sorcery," and a book on witchcraft.

The death sentence of Nassar was appealed - and upheld - by the Saudi Supreme Judicial Council.

Healing using rituals involving herbs and incantations is generally believed to be a form of witchcraft and sorcery, and many cultures label such practices as evil - even to this day.

In 2010, Lebanese Ali Sabat, who for years had dispensed psychic advice and predictions on a television show, was accused of witchcraft. He was arrested in Saudi Arabia and was given a death sentence in April of that year.

The beheading of Nassar brings the number of Saudi executions to 73 this year.