Archive for May, 2011

News & Submissions 5/17/2011

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Arts & Entertainment:

Vodun: African Voodoo exhibition – picture preview
Vodun: African Voodoo is an exhibition of the amazing private collection of Voodoo art collated by African and tribal art expert Jacques Kerchache.

Kerchache, a key cultural adviser to Jacques Chirac, was instrumental in introducing African and tribal art to the Louvre in 2000.

The success of the Louvre’s new galleries led to Kerchache’s biggest achievement – the creation of the Musée du Quai Branly in 2006, France’s first major institution devoted to indigenous art, cultures and civilizations from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. Read full story from independent.co.uk

News:

Police watch as mob kills suspected witches
A couple accused of witchcraft was killed after the body of an eight-year-boy was discovered in a maize plantation Monday morning in Nyahera Village, Kisumu.

Residents were shocked when they found the partly mutilated body dumped in a maize plantation.

Although circumstances under which the child died were not immediately established, enraged villagers descended on the man and his wife, who they suspected of causing the boy’s death.

Residents stormed the home of the suspects where they argued with the man before killing him. They then turned on his wife. Read full story from standardmedia.co.ke

Scots site may hold the key to Arthurian mystery
IT is a mystery that has baffled generations of historians, but the secrets of King Arthur’s round table could finally be laid bare thanks to modern technology.

A circular earthen mound near Stirling Castle has been linked variously to the legendary king, to British aristocrats and to Roman invaders, but its origins remain shrouded in history.

Now, for the first time, a team of archaelogists from Glasgow University is preparing to use hi-tech scanners to survey the ground beneath it, providing a clear insight into the mound’s beginnings.

The structure, often referred to as the King’s Knot, has long fascinated national historians. Despite the mysteries it may contain, however, it has remained undisturbed for fear of damaging it. The new project, scheduled to run next week, will provide a full geophysical survey of the entire area.

Stirling Local History Society (SLHS) and Stirling Field and Archaeological Society have secured funding from Historic Scotland and Stirling City Heritage Trust for the operation. Read full story from heraldscotland.com

Syrian mass grave found near Deraa, residents say
Thirteen bodies have been retrieved from a mass grave in Deraa, the hub of Syria‘s protest movement, according to residents cited by rights organisations.

People from the southern city say hundreds are unaccounted for since a crackdown on protests began on 18 March and intensified when the army moved in on 25 April to try to quash unrest against Bashar al-Assad’s 11-year rule.

Radwan Ziadeh, the US-based head of the Damascus Centre for Human Rights, said so far seven bodies had been identified by residents. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Photography:

Best Night-Sky Pictures of 2011 Named
Organized by astronomy-education projects The World at Night (TWAN) and Global Astronomy Month, the contest honors pictures that meet one of two criteria: “either to impress people on how important and amazing the starry sky is, or to impress people on how bad the problem of light pollution has become.” In total, ten winners were announced May 9 in either the “Beauty of the Night Sky” or “Against the Lights” category. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com

Religion:

Tens of thousands celebrate Buddha’s birthday at temple in southern Nepal
LUMBINI, Nepal — Tens of thousands of devotees chanted sutras and lit incense Tuesday at a temple in southwestern Nepal to celebrate the anniversary of Buddha’s birth.

Police said they expect up to 50,000 people to visit the forested Mayadevi temple, built where Buddha is believed to have been born 2,555 years ago.

Devotees chanted and offered fruits and flowers at the temple.

Buddha was born as Prince Sidhartha in Lumbini, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Katmandu. Followers believe he left his family and kingdom and meditated in the jungles of Nepal and India before achieving enlightenment. Read full story from washingtonpost.com

Huckabee announcement puts evangelical votes up for grabs
(CNN) – With former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s announcement this weekend that he won’t seek the presidency, one of the largest voting blocs in the Republican Party is now officially up for grabs: evangelical Christians.

As a presidential candidate in 2008, Huckabee – a Baptist minister who focused on faith-related issues like opposition to abortion – rode evangelical support to victory in Iowa and seven other states during the primaries and caucuses. John McCain eventually won the GOP nomination.

With Huckabee on the sidelines, other Republican White House hopefuls will have a better chance of picking up evangelical votes, which accounted for more than half the GOP electorate in Iowa and South Carolina in 2008, according to polling. Read full story from cnn.com

Media:

New Vatican Sex Abuse Guidelines Don’t Require Reporting Abuse To Authorities (Source: YouTube – MOXNEWSd0tCOM)

Blogspot:

Feel free to leave comments regarding the articles posted.

If you’re interested in guest blogging or would like to submit an article or event, contact me at pagansworld.org@gmail.com.

Thanks for stopping by! Well wishes to you all and have a great day!

Lisa

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Friday’s Food For Thought

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Citrus Shrimp


Prep time: 36 minutes
Cooking time: 7 to 10 minutes
Servings: 4
Partner: Herbed Vegetable Medley

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces fettuccine
  • 6 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
  • 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined (about 25 to 28 shrimp)
  • 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime zest
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

  • Place pasta in enough boiling water to cover by 1 inch in a large stockpot. Cook according to package directions; drain well. Keep warm.
  • Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add green onions, cumin and hot pepper sauce. Cook, stirring continually, until green onions are tender, 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Add shrimp to green onion mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp turn pink, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from skillet.
  • Increase the heat to high. Add the orange juice and lime juice. Cook, stirring frequently, until liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup, about 4 to 5 minutes.
  • Remove skillet from the heat. Stir in the remaining butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir in cilantro, orange zest, lime zest and salt. Stir in shrimp.
  • Divide pasta evenly among 4 individual serving plates. Spoon equal portions of shrimp mixture over pasta.

Enjoy! Have a Great Weekend!

Lisa

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News & Submissions 5/12/2011

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Headlines:

100,000 to get Jason Pitzl-Waters on the Daily Show
In an effort to support religious equality and equal voice, we are trying to get Jason Pitzl-Waters a spot on the Daily Show to address recent attacks on minority religions. Media responds to numbers, if we show that enough people are actively interested in seeing Jason on the Daily Show then it is likely he will get on! Spread the word and let’s make it happen!

Archeology:

The Last Neanderthals?
As if deciphering human evolutionary chronology isn’t complicated enough, recent discoveries at a site in the foothills of the Ural Mountains of Russia have thrown yet another wrinkle in the developing fabric of the human ascent through the Ice Age.

While excavating at Byzovaya, Russia, an archaeological site in the cold western foothills of the Ural Mountains at the edge of the Arctic Circle, Dr. Ludovic Slimak of the Université de Toulouse le Mirail, France, along with a team of colleagues, had unearthed a total of 313 human artifacts, along with a massive accumulation of remains of mammoths and other animals, (such as reindeer, wooly rhinoceros, musk ox, horse, wolf, polar fox, and bear). Examination of the mammoth remains indicated that they had been butchered using human-made tools. But these artifacts, a stone tool technology known as Mousterian and associated most commonly with Neanderthals, were dated to about 28,500 BP, too late for the Neanderthals.  The dating didn’t seem to match the nature of the technology, as the newly discovered artifacts defined a toolkit that belonged primarily to the Middle Paleolithic period (300,000 to 40,000 years ago), and Neanderthals are generally thought to have become extinct before that time — replaced, as many scientists have suggested, by Homo sapiens (anatomically modern humans) around 75,000 to 50,000 years ago with a more advanced stone tool industry.  Read full story from popular-archeology.com

Astronomy:

Planets Jupiter, Venus, Mercury and Mars to line up in Australian sky
FORGET the hippie-era song that has Jupiter aligning with Mars and love steering the stars. The fact is, those two orbs get together all the time.

The truly remarkable event – when Jupiter lines up with Venus, Mercury and Mars in the pre-dawn sky – will be visible in Australia’s eastern sky on Friday.

The alignment of the four planets, which happens only once every 50 to 100 years, will occur just before sunrise, Sydney Observatory says. Read full story from heraldsun.com.au

History:

Boscastle’s Museum of Witchcraft celebrates a long and colourful history
An interesting day can be expected on May 14 when a famous museum in Boscastle opens its doors for a day of talks and a new book launch.

To celebrate the anniversary of its 60th year, the Museum of Witchcraft has gathered together the memories of 50 people who have a connection with the museum and published them in a book called The Museum of Witchcraft – A Magical History.

Together with the book launch there will be talks throughout the day under the moniker The Guardians of Cornish Magic. Read full story from culture24.org.uk

Native American:

Sacred Languages
A relation to the sacred is inherent within many indigenous languages. The justification for the renewal of tribal languages is often the belief that language contains meaning that is not well understood or translated into English, or other languages. For many tribal cultural programs, language is a major strategy for renewing culture and identity. There is great wisdom in this viewpoint, but what can it mean? Read full story from indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com

News:

Spain: Earthquake rocks Lorca, Murcia, killing 10
Hundreds of people have spent the night outdoors in the southern Spanish town of Lorca after an earthquake which killed at least 10 people.

The magnitude-5.2 tremor toppled several buildings after striking at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), 120km south-west of Alicante.

Lines of cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble and a hospital was evacuated as a precaution.

Wednesday evening’s quake came about two hours after a 4.4-magnitude tremor. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

Religion:

County Board Considers Wiccan-Proof Prayer Policy
Prayer may soon be part of the Frederick County, Md., commissioners’ public meetings.

Republican Frederick County Board of Commissioners President Blaine Young suggested implementing the prayer at the start of the meetings. Read full story from nbcwashington.com

Religious belief is human nature, huge new study claims
London (CNN) – Religion comes naturally, even instinctively, to human beings, a massive new study of cultures all around the world suggests.

“We tend to see purpose in the world,” Oxford University professor Roger Trigg said Thursday. “We see agency. We think that something is there even if you can’t see it. … All this tends to build up to a religious way of thinking.”

Trigg is co-director of the three-year Oxford-based project, which incorporated more than 40 different studies by dozens of researchers looking at countries from China to Poland and the United States to Micronesia. Read full story from cnn.com

Science:

Mind Reading: Technology Turns Thought Into Action
An old technology is providing new insights into the human brain.

The technology is called electrocorticography, or ECoG, and it uses electrodes placed on the surface of the brain to detect electrical signals coming from the brain itself.

Doctors have been using ECoG since the 1950s to figure out which area of the brain is causing seizures in people with severe epilepsy. But in the past decade, scientists have shown that when connected to a computer running special software, ECoG also can be used to control robotic arms, study how the brain produces speech and even decode thoughts. Read full story from npr.org

Media:

Dr. Andy Thomson – Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith

Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith — Dr. Andy Thomson from Kurt Volkan on Vimeo.

Blogspot:

Feel free to leave comments regarding the articles posted.

If you’re interested in guest blogging or would like to submit an article or event, contact me at pagansworld.org@gmail.com.

Thanks for stopping by! Well wishes to you all and have a great day!

Lisa

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Tarot Journal – The Intuition & Basic Ethics of the Tarot

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

The Intuition & Basic Ethics of the Tarot

Lesson 2: Intuitive Tarot Certification Course

All I can say is, WOW! So much useful and interesting information in this course. I learned about 2 very influential men, Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell.

Just a brief overview:

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychologist and founder of Analytical psychology, also called Jungian psychology. Originally he had no plans of studying psychology as it was frowned upon at the time. He later read that psychoses are personality diseases, which was of great interest to him. Jung had many childhood memories that left life long impressions, and realized this is what he was searching for. He was convinced as a boy he had 2 personalities; 1. A typical schoolboy living in the era of the time, 2. A dignified, authoritative and influential man from the past.

He was the first psychologist to say the human psyche is “by nature religion”. Jung was a practicing clinician, but most of his work involved the studies of Eastern and Western philosophies, such as alchemy, astrology, sociology, as well as art and literature. All of which are related to the human psyche found in dreams and the unconscious.

Jungian psychology (aka analytical psychology) is wholeness through the integration of unconscious forces and motivations underlying human behavior. It is the model of the unconscious mind as the source of healing and development in an individual. Jung saw the psyche as mind, but also admits the mystery of soul, and used as empirical evidence, the practice of an accumulative phenomenology around the significance of dreams, archetypes and mythology

Joseph Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. Best known for his philosophy: “Follow your bliss.” After visiting The American Museum of Natural History in New York as a boy, he became versed in numerous aspects of Native American society, primarily in Native American mythology. He then became very passionate about myth and the study of and mapping of the cohesive threads in mythology that appeared to exist among even disparate human cultures.

Campbell was highly influenced by Sigmund Freud, but in particular on the work of Carl Jung. In his book The Mythic Image, Campbell quotes Jung’s statement about the Bardo Thodol, that it “belongs to that class of writings which not only are of interest to specialists in Mahayana Buddhism, but also, because of their deep humanity and still deeper insight into the secrets of the human psyche, make an especial appeal to the layman seeking to broaden his knowledge of life.

He had a big influence on pop culture. George Lucas credited Campbell’s influence. Lucas stated following the release of the first Star Wars film in 1977 that its story was shaped, by ideas described in The Hero with a Thousand Faces and. Campbell was further reinforced when reprints of Campbell’s book used the image of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the cover.Lucas discusses this influence the authorized biography of Joseph Campbell, A Fire in the Mind.

On to Archetypes, I was asked What is an archetype? Describe five examples of archetypes and their meanings which have not already been discussed in the lecture material (for instance a heart = love, red= stop, etc.)

An archetype is a symbol recognized universally that can trigger emotions or memories. It can take on different forms (e.g. a color, a sign, person, or place). It’s an idea or image from the unconscious. Also an original idea in which similar things are patterned.

Examples:

  • Tiger: Very warm, loving. Independent minded. Pays scant regard for others feelings while pursuing fun and freedom.
  • Monkey: Wily and cunning. Ignores regimented rules. Free spirit.
  • Rooster: Brave and enthusiastic. Notoriously picky. Highly intelligent. Rarely has wool pulled over its eyes.
  • Dog: Honest, loyal, sincere. Believes in justice for all. Fights for principles. Sometimes bad tempered, self-righteous.
  • Dragon: Charismatic and colorful. Wants to be center of attention. Very arrogant.

I had to pick 2 cards from my deck and explain my perception of them:

Death was my first card. To me I find it an end and and beginning. It doesn’t necessarily mean psychical death, perhaps the end of an era. I can relate to this card in many ways, I had to let many things in my life end in order to have new and stronger beginnings. I believe a lot of people see this card and it scares them, to me it’s like saying “One door closes and another one opens.”

Second card is Temperance. Like the death card, I also see it as an end. There maybe disaster ahead, but these things too will pass. We must find self control and use everything in moderation, or it will lead to something unfortunate.

Tarot cards help you find deeper levels of emotion, through your connection with spirituality. There is something that lies deeper, the unconscious. Tarot reflects hidden aspects of your own life, It a helps you to communicate what you are actually seeing and mentally analyzing.

As far as The Tarot and destiny go, I believe destiny is what you make it. If you do a reading and it may not be positive, that can always be changed. I don’t believe anything is set in stone. I had the choice last year to lay down and die or get up and fight, I chose to fight. Our life is what we make of it. Sometimes we need help along the way and I see the Tarot as a great tool for that.

First and four most we need to realize while doing a reading, nothing is set in stone, as said before our destiny is what we make of it. The cards help show many possibilities in ones life, it just depends on how you chose to use the information you’ve received. People are coming to you for help, so be careful of the information you pass on. You never know one’s personal state of being. Never give anyone a scare, be sure to try and talk to the person and ask them questions. Make sure you have good communication.

Staying positive is important, you want a good connection not only with the person you are reading for, but also with your cards. I believe people, whether you know them or not can always feel negative vibes. That’s not going to make for a good reading and the cards may also reflect what you are feeling. I sound like a hippie.

I’ve been using the Witches tarot and The Rider Deck, I’ve found that I really like The Rider Deck. I just purchased the Dali and The Legacy of the Divine Tarot, I think the cards are beautiful. Does anyone else have these decks, and what do you think?

Feel free to post your thoughts, opinions and comments.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Lisa

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Friday’s Food For Thought

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Indian Grilled Chicken


Prep time: 21 minutes
marinating time 12 hours
grilling time 16 minutes Servings: 6
Partner: Rice & Pasta Pilaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon each cardamom, ginger, cumin and black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 (3-pound) chicken
  • Lime wedges, optional for garnish

Preparation:

  • Combine water and dry mustard in a medium bowl and mix well. Stir in yogurt, lime juice, garlic, salt, cardamom, ginger, cumin, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Pour yogurt mixture in a large resealable plastic bag.
  • Cut the chicken into 6 pieces and remove the skin. Place chicken in the plastic bag. Turn bag to coat chicken.
  • Marinate in the refrigerator, turning occasionally, for 12 hours; drain well.
  • Preheat a charcoal grill. Place the grill rack 5 inches above the coals. Arrange chicken on grill rack. Grill over medium-hot coals until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of meat registers 180°F, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

Tip: Used the extra cardamom for spiced tea. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil with a cinnamon stick, a whole clove, 5 coriander seeds and 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom. When the water boils, add 2 teaspoons of loose tea and steep for 3 minutes. Strain the tea through a coffee filter into  a teapot and add 1/2 cup milk and 1 tablespoon sugar. Serve hot or cold.

Enjoy! Have a Great Weekend!

Lisa

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News & Submissions 4/5/2011

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Art’s and Entertainment:

“THE WICKER TREE” grows in the U.S.
Fango has learned that writer/director Robin Hardy’s THE WICKER TREE—the British helmer’s semi-sequel to his 1973 classic THE WICKER MAN—has been picked up for distribution in North America and the UK, as early as this fall. The film’s international sales agent, High Point Media Group, will screen THE WICKER TREE at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival on May 14 and 16. Read full story from fangoria.com

Art exhibition offers a psychedelic experience
Visitors are invited to take a trip through hallucinogenic patterns, optical illusions and cosmic landscapes when the latest exhibition at The University of Queensland opens this weekend.

New Psychedelia takes over the entire ground floor of the UQ Art Museum from Saturday, May 7 with pieces by 43 contemporary Australian artists, including one that requires 3D glasses.

“A new psychedelia has undoubtedly emerged in the past decade as an off-spring of the rave party, but also out of the décor of virtual reality and what William Gibson dubbed the ‘consensual hallucination’ of cyberspace,” Dr Edward Colless writes in the exhibition catalogue.

Curator Sebastian Moody said it was debatable whether recent explorations of psychedelia are in fact a countermovement to the “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” mentality of the 1960s. Read full story from ug.edu.au

Environment:

Deadly weather in US could become the norm
It’s been a severe start to the spring season in the United States. Tornadoes have ravaged the southeastern US, flooding threatens much of the Midwest, and wildfires are scorching Texas. But according to researchers, a confluence of seasonal oscillations in weather patterns, rather than climate change, is to blame. And growing populations mean that grim casualty figures from such events may become the norm.

“I don’t think there’s any way of proving climate change is responsible for the weather patterns this week and week before,” says meteorologist Howard Bluestein, of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Read full story from newscientist.com

Native American:

Apache Leader Jeff Houser on Use of Geronimo’s Name
The day after the news spread that the operation to kill Osama bin Laden, or bin Laden himself, was code-named Geronimo, Fort Sill Apache Tribe Chairman Jeff Houser asked President Obama to issue a formal apology for associating one of the most enduring and heroic figures in Indian country with the name of the man who epitomized global terrorism. Read full story from indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com

News:

Barack Obama pays 9/11 respects at Ground Zero
Barack Obama spoke no words as he laid a red, white and blue wreath at the centre of Ground Zero. But then he didn’t need to: the location and the identity of the individuals gathered round him spoke for him.

The location was in the shade cast by the Survivor Tree, an oak that was recently planted at the World Trade Centre for a second time. The first time was in the 1970s, but the tree was later engulfed in rubble on 11 September 2001. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Bin Laden killing left ‘uncomfortable feeling’ – Rowan Williams
The archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said the killing of Osama bin Laden had left a ‘very uncomfortable feeling’. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

The archbishop of Canterbury has said the killing of Osama bin Laden left a “very uncomfortable feeling” because it appeared as if justice had not been done.

Bin Laden was shot dead in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Sunday. It has since emerged that he was unarmed when US Navy Seals fired at him.

Lambeth Palace had previously refused to comment on the death of Bin Laden but, when asked at a press conference what he thought of the killing, Dr Rowan Williams replied: “I think the killing of an unarmed man is always going to leave a very uncomfortable feeling; it doesn’t look as if justice is seen to be done. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Paranormal:

How Many Intelligent Aliens are Out There?
OK, I’ve had enough. I’ve been looking up at the night sky for 20 years and not once have I ever seen anything that has aroused my suspicion that an alien visitor has popped by Earth to take a look.

The thing is, I am contacted far too often by people saying they have seen an unidentified flying object, or UFO. Being terribly literal, they probably have seen something “unidentified,” and it may look like it’s flying; whatever it is, it certainly is an “object,” but it doesn’t mean it’s aliens. Read full story from discovery.com

UFO, zombie, ghost and witch sightings revealed
DYFED Powys Police has revealed how many sightings of UFOs, zombies, ghosts, witches and vampires occurred in the county in the past five years.

The figures, made public because of a Freedom of Information Request Act, reveal 14 recorded UFO sightings in the past five years, along with 26 reports of ghosts, 11 witches and two of zombies and vampires respectively. Read full story from countrytimes.co.uk

Religion:

The US evangelicals who believe environmentalism is a ‘native evil’
Watching from afar how the environmental debate plays out in the US can be perplexing for many onlookers. Arguably, nowhere is the so-called “culture war” between left and right so heavily fought.

What is often not fully absorbed by onlookers, though, is the underlying role that religious doctrine – or “pulpit power” – plays in the environmental debate in the US. On the one hand, you have the “Creation Care” movement which is prevalent in some quarters of the Christian Church. On the other, particularly among evangelicals, you often see a vitriolic reaction aimed towards environmentalism. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

South Korean man found crucified, police say
(CNN) – A South Korean man was found crucified, local police told CNN on Thursday.

Police in Munkyuong said they were overwhelmed with the investigation and declined to provide further details.

But local media depicted an elaborate reconstruction of the crucifixion of Jesus, with the victim wearing a crown of thorns and dressed only in his underwear. He put nails into the cross first, then drilled holes in his hands and hung himself on the cross, reports said. Read full story from cnn.com

Contaminated Zam Zam holy water from Mecca sold in UK
Holy drinking water contaminated with arsenic is being sold illegally to Muslims by UK shops, the BBC has found.

Zam Zam water is taken from a well in Mecca and is considered sacred to Muslims, but samples from the source suggested it held dangerous chemicals.

Tourists can bring back small amounts from Saudi Arabia, but it cannot be exported for commercial use.

An undercover researcher found large quantities of bottles being sold in east and south London, and in Luton.

The president of the Association of Public Analysts said he would “certainly would not recommend” drinking it. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

World:

Nigerian kids ‘slain as witches’
HUNDREDS of Nigerian children have been severely beaten, burnt or killed after being accused of witchcraft, a British charity was to tell an inquiry overnight.

Stepping Stones Nigeria has compiled a dossier of more than 250 cases of severe violence against children accused of being witches in Akwa Ibom state. Children as young as two have been burnt, poisoned, buried alive or chained up because their families believed they were witches, according to the report. Read full story from australian.com

Media:

Is bin Laden pure evil? (Source: CNN)

Bin Laden’s wives — and daughter who would ‘kill enemies of Islam’ (Source: CNN)

Blogspot:

  • Ghost Theory – Assange: US Intelligence Uses Facebook, Google, Yahoo To Spy On Us.
  • Inspired by Life – Out of the Broom Closet
  • The Pagan Household – Pagan Parenting to Combat the Violence of the World Today
  • Phantoms & Monsters – St. Clair Shores, Michigan: USO, UFO and Alien Entity Encounters
  • The Wild Hunt – Quick Notes: Dogwood Protests, Wicker Tree Gets Distribution, and Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly

Feel free to leave comments regarding the articles posted.

If you’re interested in guest blogging or would like to submit an article or event, contact me at pagansworld.org@gmail.com.

Thanks for stopping by! Well wishes to you all and have a great day!

Lisa

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Beltane

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

I had the most excellent Beltane. Wade and I spent the weekend at Lake Anna, what used to be our home away from home. We haven’t been there in over a year, with both of us being hospitalized. It was so nice to see so many old friends, be back on the boat and play cornhole.

We went down armed with a ton of gardening and cleaning gear. With the help of our friends, we got the boat and trailer cleaned and new plants in the yard.

After all that work, it was time to celebrate. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the boat and diapering. What is diapering you ask? Life Jacket on your butt = floatation device. After wakeboarding, we tie our boats together, float around and chat.

After much needed rest, we played cornhole, followed by a big fire. I thought we were going to burn the place down. I’m the only Pagan in the bunch, all my friends know and respect it. Wade and my friend Beth sat around the fire with me, Beth even read my prayers and placed them in the fire.

On to Sunday. What was supposed to be a beautiful day on the boat didn’t happen. The weather got a little chilly with a few sprinkles, but that didn’t ruin a thing. We finished yard-work, then spent the rest of the day around the fire pit talking and grilling. It made it hard to leave.

What a wonderful weekend. A big thanks to my friends who made Beltane and my first time back amazing!

That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Lisa

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