Archive for November, 2010

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News & Submissions 11/19/2010

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Astronomers Discover Alien Planet In Our Milky Way
We’ve talked about colliding galaxies on this blog before. But this piece of science news today is a little weirder: The journal Science reports that astronomers have found the first extragalactic exoplanet in our Milkyway. Read full story from npr.org

Ghost caught on camera
People who are open to the supernatural see ghosts everywhere. For instance a speck of dust as it moves on an air current and caught in a camera flash becomes an ‘orb’: a ball of otherworldly energy left by the souls of the departed. Read full story from manchesterconfidential.co.uk

Cherokee Nation News Release
The Cherokee Nation is in the beginning stages of developing a Virtual Library of Cherokee Knowledge, a web-based system designed to provide Cherokee citizens and the general public access to a comprehensive digital space filled with authentic Cherokee knowledge related to the tribe’s history, language, traditions, culture and leaders. Read full story from cherokee.org

Scientists capture antimatter atoms in particle breakthrough
(CNN) — Scientists have captured antimatter atoms for the first time, a breakthrough that could eventually help us to understand the nature and origins of the universe.

Researchers at CERN, the Geneva-based particle physics laboratory, have managed to confine single antihydrogen atoms in a magnetic trap.

This will allow them to conduct a more detailed study of antihydrogen, which will in turn allow scientists to compare matter and antimatter. Read full story from cnn.com

Fox News gets Sitting Bull history wrong
WASHINGTON – In the same week Fox News President Roger Ailes assailed President Barack Obama for being un-American, the Fox News website attempted to paint the president as out of touch for admiring Indian Chief Sitting Bull. But the network got its history wrong. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Stoneham library revisits Spiritualism movement
Stoneham — Séances and medium meetings may sound like the practices of Salem witches, but these rituals were actually common in Stoneham, according to a local historian.

Spiritualism, which supports the idea that the dead can communicate with the living, was a popular belief among middle-class residents in Stoneham in the l870s, according to Medford historian Dee Morris. This Thursday, Nov. 18, Morris, who has been studying spiritualism for the past 15 years, discussed some of Stoneham’s most influential spiritualists in a free discussion at the Stoneham Public Library. Read full story from wickedlocal.com

MORRIS MEN ROUSE SPIRITS
BLOODSTONE Border Morris, pagans and druids gathered at the Longstone last Sunday (October 31) to celebrate the pagan festival of Samhain that falls on Halloween.

First the Morris dancers roused the spirits of the noontime gatherers at the Neolithic monument with a selection of their jaunty dances, incorporating stick brandishing and sparring along with menacing snarls and grimaces. Read full story from wgazette.co.uk

Bridgewater State offers magical course for those who grew up with Harry Potter
BRIDGEWATER —When her 11th birthday had come and gone, Kelsey Bergeron was disappointed that she hadn’t gotten an invitation to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Now 18, Bergeron still loves the Harry Potter book and film series she grew up with, and she has a unique opportunity to study them in college.

The Bridgewater State University freshman is enrolled in “The Ethics of Harry Potter,” a sociology seminar that relates the themes of J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series to the ideas of Aristotle. Read full story from wickedlocal.com

HARMONY – A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT OUR WORLD (Source harmonymovie.com)

Harmony Movie Trailer from Balcony Films on Vimeo.

Bad boy rapper Shyne goes kosher (Source cnn.com)

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News & Submissions 11/18/2010

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

Pastor to N.J. church leaders: Thou shalt not Facebook
NEPTUNE, N.J. — Thou shalt not commit adultery. And thou also shalt not use Facebook.

That’s the edict from a New Jersey pastor who feels the two often go together.

The Rev. Cedric Miller said 20 couples among the 1,100 members of his Living Word Christian Fellowship Church have run into marital trouble over the last six months after a spouse connected with an ex-flame over Facebook. Read full story from lansingstatejournal.com

Fairy DogParents? A Magic Wand for Hard-Luck Families
Jenney Hemboldt was distraught. She had lost her job, had a young child at home and her 11-year-old dog Sable (below, right) wasn’t eating and was very ill. Unemployed, broke and teary, she feared her only choice was to surrender the family’s German Shepherd mix to a dog shelter through the Massachusetts Society for the Prevent of Cruelty to Animals, so that Sable could get the surgery he needed.

Instead, in a stroke of serendipity, she learned of Fairy DogParents, a nonprofit that could intervene, providing the near-fairytale help that would keep Sable with the family that adored her. And just when she needed a little magic, Marlo Manning, the organization’s founder, stepped in with a vet that would do the surgery at a reduced cost and and an offer of dog food so that Sable could remain with the Hemboldts. Read full story from tonic.com

Britain’s Spiritual Inversion
Last month, the Charity Commission recognized druidism as an official religion. Druids in Britain, of which there are about 10,000, can now claim tax exemptions and have access to other valuable “rights.” For instance, druids in prison may now take twigs, or magic wands, into their cells, and can request time off work to worship the sun.

Many are concerned that this decision will crack the door open for Britain’s growing number of witches, warlocks and wizards to seek legitimacy from the Charity Commission.

According to the Pagan Federation, which defends and promotes the interests of witches, druids and other “followers of polytheistic or pantheistic nature-worshiping” groups, there are now 300,000 pagans in Britain. Pagans are in every strata of society too, as one pagan recently admitted: We are “civil servants, teachers, housewives, accountants, university lecturers, farmers, bakers, child-minders, historians … sailors, gardeners, call-center workers, office cleaners and dancers and shop workers.” Read full story from thetrumpet.com

First American in Europe ‘was native woman kidnapped by Vikings and hauled back to Iceland 1,000 years ago’
A native woman kidnapped by the Vikings may have been the first American to arrive in Europe around 1,000 years ago, according to a startling new study.

The discovery of a gene found in just 80 Icelanders links them with early Americans who may have been brought back to Iceland by Viking raiders.

The discovery means that the female slave was in Europe five centuries before Christopher Columbus first paraded American Indians through the streets in Spain after his epic voyage of discovery in 1492.

The genes that the woman left behind have now been discovered in the DNA of just our distinct family lines. Read full story from dailymail.co.uk

Most Americans say Obama’s religious beliefs different than their own
A majority of Americans say that President Barack Obama’s religious beliefs are either somewhat different or very different than their own, a poll on religion and the recent elections found.

The poll report, by the Public Religion Research Institute, identified Obama’s religion “dilemma,” as the institute called it, as one of three significant emerging religious issues to watch toward the 2012 election cycle. Read full story from cnn.com

Consulate works to restore Dia de los Muertos
n many small towns in Mexico, the main export isn’t the local chocolate, coffee or peppers, but labor.

An event Wednesday evening in Yuba City marked a concept to change that trade deficit, while celebrating both small business and a traditional Mexican observance.

Marta Sol, of the Chiapas state in Mexico, beamed as she used a modern coffeemaker to incorporate Chiapas coffee beans and chocolate to make hot beverages — leavened with spirits — to toast deceased loved ones. Read full story from orland-press-register.com

U.S. religious freedom report faults China, among others
Religious freedom remains under threat in China, especially for followers of the Dalai Lama and Muslims in the west of the country, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday in a major report.

China harassed members of religions Beijing does not recognize, and disbarred, harassed and imprisoned lawyers who tried to defend them, the State Department said. Read full story from cnn.com

At 92, Dallas woman is the Johnny Appleseed of herbs
Lane Furneaux doesn’t waste time. “I’m 92 ½ years old, you know.”

It was decades ago that she earned the unofficial title of Dallas’ pioneering herb advocate, and she has not let her cause lapse. She’s adamant that the knowledge she has accumulated must live on after her. Furneaux (pronounced fur-NO) feels the need urgently now to educate the public about herbs: their fragrance, their flavor, their symbolism; how they grow, where and why; to pass the language of herbs on to the next generation. Read full story from dallasnews.com

Science of Winter (Source National Geographic)

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News & Submissions 11/17/2010

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

Obama signs order clarifying church-state relationship
President Barack Obama signed an executive order Wednesday clarifying the ground rules for religious groups partnering with the federal government through the White House’s controversial faith office.

The order says that religious organizations receiving federal funds must conduct explicitly religious activities in a time and place that are different from when and where they do government-financed work. Read full story from cnn.com

Sketch of King Richard II’s skull found among medieval tomb relics in museum basement
Relics from the tomb of medieval English king Richard II and sketches of his skull and bones have been discovered in boxes in the basement of the National Portrait Gallery.

Objects thought to have come from inside the tomb were found inside a cigarette box by archivists cataloguing the papers of the gallery’s first director, Sir George Scharf.

The box contained fragments of wood, possibly from the coffin itself, and a piece of leather, thought to have been part of the king’s glove.Read full story from dailymail.com

Panic Strikes Trinidad and Tobago School After ‘Devil Attack’
Panic broke out at Trinidad and Tobago high school after students fell mysteriously ill, began rolling on the ground and blabbering in a strange tongue, triggering fears of a demon attack, the Guardian Trinidad and Tobago reported. Read full story from foxnews.com

Roman settlement unearthed in Syon Park, west London
A Roman settlement filled with ancient artefacts and human remains has been found on a west London building site.

Archaeologists excavating the listed Syon Park site made the discovery of more than 11,000 Roman items just half a metre below the ground Read full story from bbc.co.uk

Vision Statements Are Not Enough. Backcasting a Pathway to Sustainability.
I’ve never liked vision statements. All too often they smack of wishful thinking and fantasy. Yet the environmental movement is rife with them. As I have argued many times before, the green movement needs a concrete plan, and that plan needs to embrace strategic thinking. Luckily, vision statements are just one tool in our tool box. But there’s another tool that can help turn visions into pathways. It’s called backcasting.

The idea behind backcasting is to first envision the future you want to see—but be specific both in terms of goals and timelines. Whether it is a fossil-fuel free town by 2050, or a household that is 100% debt free by 2015, the idea is to not just say what you want, but when you want it too. Read full story from treehugger.com

BP deep-cleaning Gulf beaches amid new worries
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — What’s typically a beautiful, quiet stretch of beach in the fall now resembles a construction site. Bulldozers and yellow dump trucks shake the ground; a giant sifting machine spits clean sand out one end, tar balls out another.

With its Macondo well dead and few visitors on the coast during the offseason, BP has launched its biggest push yet to deep-clean the tourist beaches that were coated with crude during the worst of the Gulf oil spill. Machines are digging down into the sand to remove buried tar mats left from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Read full story from washingtonpost.com

LA: Plastic Bags BANNED In Parts Of Los Angeles County
LOS ANGELES — Parts of Los Angeles County have joined other California communities in banning stores from using single-use plastic bags.

County supervisors approved the measure 3-1 on Tuesday in hopes of preventing billions of bags from polluting neighborhoods and waterways. It bans stores from giving customers single-use plastic bags and would require them to charge 10 cents for each paper bag. Read full story from huffingtopost.com

Strickler Responds to Phenomenology
Over the past several months, I have commenced to rejuvenate and hone my capabilities for gathering information on spiritual targets by using my subspace mind. In other words, I shift my awareness from one place to another or remote view. Read full story from thecinfluenceblog

New Plan of Attack on Climate: Shame Big Polluters?
Yes, the climate bill is dead. No, we’re probably not going to see any meaningful legislation to address carbon pollution for years to come. But climate change is still occurring. Which means that if we’re going to head off the worst case scenarios, we’re going to have to find another route outside of Congress. So now that we’ve collectively moaned and mourned and licked our wounds, it is, once again, strategy time. How do we achieve big carbon cuts without passing sweeping laws that reign in big polluters? People around the interwebs are starting to chime in with suggestions, and I’ll be looking at a number of them over the coming weeks. First up — Shaming big carbon polluters in the public eye. Read full story from treehugger.com

For Iraqi Christians, fear is knocking (Source cnn.com)

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News & Submissions 11/16/2010

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Schrader: A visit to a local witches’ coven
Two years ago, while driving in the eastern part of DeKalb, I was intrigued to see the car ahead of me with bumper stickers that read: “I’m Pagan and I Vote” and “No war was ever fought over witchcraft.” The driver parked at a residence, so I noted the location and returned sometime later to inquire about the strange slogans.

The woman who answered the door explained she was a modern-day witch and belonged to a coven of witches in northern Illinois. I swallowed hard and said I would get back to her and maybe do a column on witchcraft someday. Read full story from daily-chronicle.com

Author wants to rebrand Muslims from terrorists to environmentalists
Ibrahim Abdul-Matin is a second generation American Muslim, radio personality and a policy advisor in New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability.

In his new book, Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet, he challenges Muslims and non-Muslims to be stewards of the earth. He hopes the book will help rebrand  Muslims from terrorists to environmentalists. Read full story from cnn.com

Making the promise real: ACLU looks at justice in Indian country
PORTLAND, Ore. – The American Civil Liberties Union put a face on justice in Indian country Oct. 29 at its first Northwest Civil Liberties Conference in the Pacific Northwest. Judges, attorneys, professors and nonprofit leaders came together to discuss important current civil liberties and civil rights issues affecting their communities. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Court OKs Law Allowing ‘God’ Pledge In Schools
BOSTON — The constitutionality of a New Hampshire law that requires schools to authorize a time each day for students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance has been upheld by a federal appeals court that found the oath’s reference to God doesn’t violate students’ rights. Read full story from thebostonchannel.com

Chinese mine project threatens to destroy major 7th Century Afghan Buddhist site
Kabul, Nov 16 (ANI): Archaeologists in Afghanistan have warned that they are racing against time to rescue a major 7th Century religious site unearthed along the famous Silk Road from a Chinese company that is eager to develop the world’s second-biggest unexploited copper mine, which lies beneath the ruins at the site. Read full story from oneindia.in

The Hajj (Source National Geographic)

Lost Mummies of New Guinea (Source National Geographic)

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News & Submissions 11/15/2010

Monday, November 15th, 2010

On trial: Faith, delusion or excuse for crime?
He’s a self-proclaimed prophet who called his bed an altar.

He wore robes, grew his beard long and penned a rambling manifesto.

He said he received revelations and was destined to take 49 wives.

And he is on federal trial for kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, now 23, and moving her across state lines for sex. Read full story from cnn.com

Saudi Arabian court rejects ‘sorcery’ death sentence
Amnesty International has welcomed a decision by the Saudi Arabian Supreme Court this week not to ratify the death sentence on a Lebanese man convicted of “sorcery”.

The court in the capital Riyadh said that the death sentence for ‘Ali Hussain Sibat was inappropriate because there was no proof that others were harmed as a result of his actions.

The court ordered that the case be retried in the original lower court in Madina with a view to considering commutation of his death sentence and deportation to Lebanon at the end of his sentence. Read full story from amnestyusa.org

How modern day witch trials are destroying rural Africa
Sixteen-year-old Sapavi was sitting in her English class at the Assemblies of God primary school in Ghana, following a lesson she can no longer remember, when she felt something or someone knock her on the head.

The concrete room’s tiny windows meant the airless space stayed relatively dark. It was crowded with low desks and bench seats filled with lanky Ghanaian students wearing uniforms of blue skirts or pants and short-sleeved white blouses. When Sapavi turned to see who was annoying her, what she saw was the ghostly apparition of an old woman holding a long knife and a bowl made from a dried gourd. Read full story from nypost.com

Expert insists end of world is not nigh
DESPITE WHAT you might have heard, the world is not set to end on December 21st, 2012. There are no asteroids to worry about, nor astronomical alignments nor changes in the Sun that will destroy Earth, according to one of Ireland’s top astrophysicists. Read full story from irishtimes.com

Roman Ruins Show Modern Sea Level Rise Didn’t Start Until Industrial Revolution
Over the weekend the New York Times ran an article on sea level rise, which for the seasoned TreeHugger reader may not add tons new to the discussion (Climate Progress has some analysis of it and gives it mostly a thumbs up, rare for mainstream media reporting on climate), but check it out if you need a refresher course. But what caught my eye was a really interesting companion article, highlighting research on Roman seaside ruins which indicate that for the past two millennia or so that sea levels have been comparatively steady, and that the level of increase we witness today really started with industrialization. Read full story from treehugger.com

Rainforests, wildlife preserved by indigenous spiritual beliefs
New research within the native Wapishana and Makushi communities of Guyana suggests that indigenous cultural beliefs such as shamanism help preserve tropical forests and wildlife.

The analysis, published in the September 2010 Journal of Latin American Geography, draws from a massive data set that tracks wildlife populations, hunting kill sites, and spiritually significant features of the landscape within a 48,000-square-kilometer area in southern Guyana. The authors recruited the hunters themselves to record much of the data. Read full story from mongabay.com

The ‘Wee Good Folk’ – what are they?
A remarkable amount of confusion surrounds the subject of fairies, so let’s take a closer look.

What are we to make of these winged, ephemeral creatures that inhabit the hidden regions of the human psyche and the overgrown forests where our ancestors once worshipped their mysterious Old Gods? It is easy to see why a strange mystical state, enveloping fairies has arisen when we examine the various (at first seemingly contradictory) factors attached to these splendid beings.

For the sake of simplicity I shall hereby explore the preeminent working strands of thought-process connected to Fairy Lore.

FAIRIES FROM THE OLD GODS AND AS A SUPPRESSION OF NATIVE CULTURAL PAGAN BELIEF Read full story from ufodigest.com

Lead in reusable grocery bags prompts call for federal inquiry
Lead found in some reusable grocery bags is raising concerns that the toxin could pose environmental or health concerns to consumers.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is asking for a federal investigation into the reusable bags following a series by The Tampa Tribune. The newspaper found lead in bags purchased at Winn-Dixie, Publix, Sweetbay, Walmart and Target. Read full story from usatoday.com

Maya pyramids pose acoustic riddle
Crumbled ruins of pyramids litter Central America’s jungles, trees growing from their tumbled staircase blocks.

Why the ancient Maya abandoned these towering temples remains one of the big riddles of archaeology. But there is one other question: Why build them in the first place? Read full story from usatoday.com

Adventurer’s photos capture a bygone Mecca (Source cnn.com)

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News & Submissions 11/12/2010

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Astrological Gardening: Voodoo or Cool?
Personally, I think it’s very cool! Astrology has played an important role in gardening since our ancestors first began planting seeds in the soil to grow food, medicinal herbs and flowers. In ancient times the sun, moon and stars were critical because they were constants in our ancestors’ lives. Today we have the internet, iPhones and cable TV to remind us that the astounding celestial world outside is still spinning on schedule! Some gardeners and farmers may scoff at the idea of planting by the moon signs and phases while many others claim the natural rhythms of the universe helps to make their crops more prolific. These gardeners found that crops fared better when planted at certain times of the moon’s phase. My feeling is why not play around with it and see what happens? Take a small section of your garden and do a test run of planting crops according to the cyclical movement of the planets. (I wish I could tell you that I have tried planting by the moon but, sigh… I am just a fickle, impatient and impulsive gardener from New York City so I have not.) Read full story from huffingtonpost.com

Rubin Museum: Sacred Symbols Across Two Cultures
A museum is not the best place to view religious art. To get the full import of images with profound religious meaning you need music, chanting, incense, no buzz from the outside world. Museums by their very nature can’t reproduce the ambiance of a monastery or a cathedral, but they can gather materials you might never have the chance to see elsewhere. The Rubin Museum’s new show Embodying the Holy presents two distinct religious traditions, Eastern Orthodox and Tibetan Buddhist, in the most reverential manner possible in a museum in the heart of New York City. Read full story from luxist.com

Pagans are on the march – but are they harmless eccentrics or a dangerous cult?
Dressed in long, hooded cloaks, the women stand in a circle around an iron cauldron.

The chief witch sweeps her broom around the coven, making their circle a sacred space.

A candle is lit, incense is burnt, and spells are mixed in the cauldron.

These are the witches of Weymouth, the latest foot soldiers in the march of paganism in Britain. And this ceremony marks the festival of Samhain — the turning of the year from light to dark. Read full story from dailymail.co.uk

Hindus welcome inclusion of Paganism in UK’s Lincolnshire County schools
Nevada (US), Nov 11 : Hindus have welcomed the reports of Lincolnshire County Council in United Kingdom (UK) allowing its schools to teach Paganism to students along with six other world religions.

Welcoming the inclusion of Paganism, prominent Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that all religions were different ways to relate to the Divine, different responses to the Reality and were a positive sign of God’s generosity. Read full story from newkerala.com

OFFBEAT: Williamsburg, not just Salem, has its share of witch trials and folklore
DATELINE – - Colonial Williamsburg – - Philip Potempa is writing while traveling in Virginia this week.

While a student at Valparaiso University from 1988 to 1992, one of the history courses I truly enjoyed was HIST 316, The Great Witchcraft Delusion, taught with great zeal by Professor Marian Rubchak. Read full story from nwi.com

Earthen Mounds All that Remain of Ancient American Civilization (Source voanews.com)

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Happy Veterans Day!

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Thank you to all who have and continue to serve!

Five ways to help a veteran today
(CNN) — Veterans Day is a day to honor and celebrate the military veterans who have served our country, but if you don’t have a veteran in your family or even know one, the meaning of the day may be lost.

The Veterans Administration says there are 23 million living U.S. Veterans. A veteran could be your neighbor, your co-worker or the person sitting next to you on the train. They are silent heroes we may run into every day and while we may appreciate their service, many people are not quite sure exactly how to help a veteran. Read full story from cnn.com

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News & Submissions 11/08/2010

Monday, November 8th, 2010

EU drug law will shut me down, says herbalist
A PRACTITIONER in traditional Chinese medicine says she will be forced out of business by a change in the law which will take effect next year.

New European Union regulations are set to stop anyone other than fully-licensed medical practitioners importing and prescribing hundreds of herbs, roots and tinctures. Read full story from oxfordmail.co.uk

Faith Groups Split on Resolution to N.Y. Islamic Center Debate
WASHINGTON, D.C. — American faith communities are split on the best way to resolve the disagreement regarding the Islamic center proposed to be built in New York City near the location of the Sept. 11 attacks. Muslims, Jews, other non-Christians and non-religious Americans are more likely to favor retaining the current location as originally conceived, or transforming the center into an interfaith institution. The majority of Catholics, Mormons, and, to a lesser degree, Protestants, believe the center should find another location. Read full story from gallup.com

A witch trial victim’s family reunion
SALEM — Kathleen Kent took the stories shared by her mother and grandfather and wove them into “The Heretic’s Daughter,” a novel based on her relative Martha Carrier, who was hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692.

Little did Kent know that her writing would bring together more than 250 of Carrier’s descendents, who gathered in Salem this weekend. Read full story from gloucestertimes.com

The Witching Hour at BMAG
Featuring photography, painting, sculpture, printmaking, film, animation and installation, The Witching Hour is an exhibition that explores darkness and dark things in the work of over 20 artists from, or based in, Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Supposedly the time of night when strange things happen, the witching hour is associated with the supernatural, witchcraft and folklore, represented in the exhibition in the form of baroque skeletons, macabre fighting insects, shadowy figures, ghoulish faces and ritualistic paraphernalia. Read full story from birminghamnewsroom.com

Abolish all witches camps
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Action Aid International, Madam Joana Kerr, has called for the immediate abolition of witches camps and witchcraft accusations against women and young girls, which is considered an acceptable cultural practice by the people of the Northern Region of Ghana.

According to her, the practice was not only outmoded and dehumanising, but also offered opportunities to vindictive persons in the affected societies to torture, harass, humiliate, and violate the fundamental human rights of the suspected witches. Read full story from modernghana.com

Business ‘brooming’ at new witchcraft shop
Self-proclaimed “wiccan” Julie Bliss has opened a witchcraft store in Darwin’s northern suburbs.

Ms Bliss said business was brooming because Darwin had a thriving wiccan community. Read full story from ntnews.com.au

Navajo health may improve with ozone curbs
FARMINGTON, N.M. – Tribal and conservation groups applauded an Environmental Protection Agency proposal that could improve the health of Navajo people and reduce by 80 percent a power plant-induced haze that has clouded the Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde National Parks and other scenic southwestern venues. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

The magic of the mummies
“I am the Sata-snake, long of years, who sleeps and is reborn each day. I am the Sata-snake, dwelling in the limits of the earth. I sleep and am reborn, renewed and rejuvenated each day.”

This is a translation of a spell (right) from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, on display at the British Museum, which enables the speaker to change into a snake. It may not read like a spell – eye of bat, skin of toad – but it was expected to have a magical effect and to be recited by a mummy – the dead person in the tomb. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Are dreams trying to tell us something
The woman lies asleep next to her husband in a lovely house in the Scottish countryside.

She is a film maker. She has made several award-winning documentaries about science. Her three children are abed. She is dreaming. Suddenly, she wakes up, feeling very scared. In her dreams, her horse, George, has spoken to her. He has told her that he is dying. Trembling, she ventures outside in the dark night. George is lying on the ground. He is dead.

The woman, normally rational and sceptical, tries to put the horse dream out of her mind. Some nights later, an even more shocking dream crashes into her life. In it, her ex-partner tells her that she will die before her 49th birthday. He is sorry to bring this news. She is 48 years old. In a few months she will become seriously ill. Read full story from heraldscotland.com

Green Festival November 2010: Why The Green Festival Still Matters
This weekend, San Francisco held the biannual Green Festival, the nation’s largest green consumer living event. Thousands of people flocked to the Concourse Exhibition Center, spilling out onto the sidewalks, to see over 300 exhibitors and hear over 125 speakers. There have been many green festivals this Autumn, two examples are West Coast Green and Bioneers. Many of these green festivals shared the same exhibitors: Sungevity, Earth Island Institute, Presidio School of Management, to name a few. So what makes Green Festival unique, and why does having yet another green conference matter? Green Festival stood out to me for its sheer number of attendees, its festive atmosphere, and its rallying call to action after the sobering November 2010 election results. Read full story from treehugger.com

‘More ghosts’ after earthquake
The “sheer strength and power” of the September 4 earthquake has more than doubled the number of reported supernatural events in Canterbury, a paranormal investigator says.

Christchurch Paranormal Investigators founder Anton Heyrick said his team had received an “interesting influx” of phone calls and emails after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake, with more than double the usual number of inquiries. Read full story from stuff.co.nz

National UnFriend Day Announcement Featuring William Shatner (source cbsnews.com)

Homeless church fights to hang on (source cnn.com)

Gay Christians: WWJD? (source cnn.com)

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News & Submissions 11/04/2010

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Faith in America; The Transformation of Religion
From the gods of ancient Greece to Catholicism, religious beliefs have been very influential in the progression of civilizations. In the modern day, however, it seems as though religion is now very different in terms of people practicing it, and how people are beginning to leave the religion in which they were raised. The morals of religion are, unfortunately, also being left behind as well as more people abandon religion altogether.

The world has many different religions. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are major faiths that have believers across the globe. In the United States, religion is still a major part of the country’s make-up. Politics surrounding issues such as abortion and gay marriage are directly influenced by teachings of the Church and other religions. However, recent studies show that Americans in the 21st century are now changing the way they recog­nize religion in their lives. Read full story from theskylineview.com

An introduction into the world of Wicca
Massage therapist Star Kenney of Overland Park, Kan., is a witch. She practices the pagan religion of Wicca or witchcraft.

An introduction into the world of Wicca

This conversation took place at the Black Dog Cafe in Lenexa, Kan. Read full story from kansascity.com

Consulate works to restore Dia de los Muertos
In many small towns in Mexico, the main export isn’t the local chocolate, coffee or peppers, but labor.

An event Wednesday evening in Yuba City marked a concept to change that trade deficit, while celebrating both small business and a traditional Mexican observance.

Marta Sol, of the Chiapas state in Mexico, beamed as she used a modern coffeemaker to incorporate Chiapas coffee beans and chocolate to make hot beverages — leavened with spirits — to toast deceased loved ones. Read full story from appeal-democrat.com

Beyond This Mortal Coil
“The traditional celebration of Dia de los Muertos started over 3500 [years] ago by the Aztecs, who practiced a month-long celebration that honored those who had died and welcomed their spirits back to Earth for a visit. During this ritual, they would often display skulls that they had collected as symbols of life, death, and rebirth.” (“Sugar Skulls: History & Significance of Dia de los Muertos [Day of the Dead]” By Karen L. Hudson, About.com.) Read full story from sandiegoreader.com

Atheists: Utah Trooper Crosses “Offensive & Unconstitutional”
I received an email today asking why American Atheists was “attacking” the Utah Highway Patrol Memorial. The email accused American Atheists of having an “issue with honoring fallen Utah peace officers.” It wanted to know why we could not just drive past it and see it as a MONUMENT (their use of caps). The writer then went on to say that it doesn’t matter if the peace officer is Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or atheist: they are just being honored. Read full story from opposingviews.com

My Take: Why I changed from ‘Faith’ to ‘Being’
Since I left print journalism to study theology two decades ago, I’ve thought a great deal about the limits and possibilities of words – especially when we try to navigate the spiritual territory of human life.

And when I started a public radio program on religion, ethics and meaning seven years ago, I was also quite aware that I was inviting people to put words around something as intimate as anything we try to talk about, and as ultimately ineffable. Read full story from cnn.com

Earth will take 100,000 years to recover from global warming say geologists
A conference organised by the Geological Society in London this week will bring together scientists from around the world to look at how the world coped with climate change in the past.

By studying rock sediments from millions of years ago geologists have been able to model how increases in greenhouse gases led to temperature change and extinction of species. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

Bel Air leaves in place ban on fortune-telling (source abc2news.com)

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News & Submissions 11/03/2010

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

All Christians ‘targets,’ Iraqi militant group says
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) — All Christians in the Middle East are now “legitimate targets,” al Qaeda in Iraq announced Wednesday, as the group’s deadline for Egypt’s Coptic church to release alleged Muslim female prisoners expired.

An audio message released Monday gave the church 48 hours to disclose the status of Muslim women it said are imprisoned in Coptic churches in Egypt. Read full story from cnn.com

Christian holiday celebrations are out of date
John Philips (Write Back, November 1) states that Christianity “cleverly sanitised” pagan festivals in spring and mid-winter into Easter and Christmas.

While these festivals may have been “sanitised”, it was not that “clever”. Many of the pagan rituals remain in these festivals, including the use of evergreen decorations, such as holly, ivy, mistletoe and pine trees. Read full story from belfasttelegraph.co.uk

5,000-year-old practice comes around again
Unlike a maze, which includes dead ends and tall walls that are meant to confuse, a labyrinth traces a single path that leads inexorably to the center. It has ancient roots in pagan pre-Christian beliefs, Celtic traditions, and even Wicca, and many consider it a spiritual journey to walk one. Read full story from philly.com

Chief Oshkosh controversy brings back painful memories
OSHKOSH, Wis. – The decision by the mayor of Oshkosh, Wis., to use the name and image of Chief Oshkosh to promote beer drinking in his tavern highlights long-standing cultural dissonances between Natives and non-Natives. Though less than one percent of the population of Oshkosh is Native American, its proximity to the Menominee Nation of Wisconsin has made the mayor’s promotion a focus of the ongoing controversy over how and by whom names and images of Native American leaders may be used. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Mexicans Seek Charms, Potions To Ward Off Bad Luck
The Sonora Market near the center of Mexico City is a labyrinth of narrow alleyways that wind between overstuffed stalls where the air is thick with sage smoke. One entire section is known as the mercado de brujeria, or the “witchcraft market.”

In a country facing tough times, Mexicans come to the market to buy potions, herbs and charms that supposedly will bring good luck and protection. Read full story from minesotapublicradio.org

Journey Through the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead – review
Statues are speaking at the British Museum. The dead are coming to life. The statue in front of me is a small painted wooden figure of the god Osiris, just over half a metre high, in a glass case in one of the first rooms of this engrossing exhibition. It is instantly striking, because of the bright green of its face and hands, but its verbal eloquence lies hidden inside. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Carving a contemporary tribute to history
NIWOT, Colo. – Annual Nostalgia Days festivities in this community north of metro Denver recall the past for the area’s original descendants as well as for those whose 19th century ancestors settled here.

An eagle capture was depicted in a massive carving dedicated at the high point of a celebration for area residents and Northern Arapaho tribal members from the Wind River Reservation, in Wyoming. Noted Arapaho leader, Niwot (Left Hand), gave the town its name and brokered a temporary peace with white settlers in the gold rush era. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Sacred Spaces: inside a Buddhist fire rite ceremony (source cnn.com)

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