Posts Tagged ‘Christian’

News & Submissions 5/8/2012

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

News:

US should return stolen land to Indian tribes, says United Nations
A United Nations investigator probing discrimination against Native Americans has called on the US government to return some of the land stolen from Indian tribes as a step toward combatting continuing and systemic racial discrimination.

James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, said no member of the US Congress would meet him as he investigated the part played by the government in the considerable difficulties faced by Indian tribes.

Anaya said that in nearly two weeks of visiting Indian reservations, indigenous communities in Alaska and Hawaii, and Native Americans now living in cities, he encountered people who suffered a history of dispossession of their lands and resources, the breakdown of their societies and “numerous instances of outright brutality, all grounded on racial discrimination”. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Why shouldn’t paganism have a place in RE lessons?
Last month it was suggested that Cornish schools should study paganism in religious education. This modest proposal provoked a splenetic and histrionic reaction from Cristina Odone, in the Daily Telegraph. She seems to be under the impression that the schools’ new remit is to “teach witchcraft and druidry”. For an exciting moment, I had a vision of Hogwarts’ latest Ofsted inspection proving inspirational to Cornish educational authorities, with parents in Truro and Penzance being sent appropriate memos for their children’s latest classes (“Please supply: cauldron x 1, athame x 1, candles x 4. Child must bring own goat.”)

“How long,” Odone asks, working herself up to a tirade which one can only hope is tongue-in-cheek, “before the end of term is marked by a black mass, with only health and safety preventing a human sacrifice?” Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Paranormal:

Ghost Box Paranormal Tool Reveals Compelling Ghost Evidence
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS — There’s a paranormal tool that’s been used by ghost hunters for the past couple years, known as the ghost box. A paranormal investigator from Massachusetts has used the ghost box in his own home, and shared a video that reveals some compelling paranormal evidence, with possible proof that ghosts may actually exist.

Phillip Brunelle has been interested in the paranormal since his youth, and recently he founded ATF Paranormal Investigations and shares ghost videos and paranormal evidence on his YouTube channel, Mass Most Haunted. Read full story from technorati.com

‘Alien Abduction’ Research Suggests Episodes Are Actually Lucid Dreams
Hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans believe they have been abducted by aliens. In a typical case, an abductee recounts lying in bed one night when an eerie feeling overcomes him, and alien beings appear out of nowhere. The extraterrestrials transport him to a spacecraft and subject him to a battery of physical and psychological tests. After what seems like hours, he is returned to his bedroom unharmed, and finds that the whole ordeal transpired in minutes.

Abductees think their traumatic experiences were real. However, most psychologists think abductions are lucid dreams or hallucinations, triggered by an awareness of other people’s similar experiences. One recent experiment, in which participants trained in lucid dreaming techniques were able to dream up vivid alien encounters, supports this hypothesis. But if each perceived abduction is just the latest in a series of hallucinations, what was it that triggered that first dream or delusion? How was the alien abduction story born? Read full story from huffingtonpost.com

Media:

North Carolina votes on marriage amendement Tuesday (Source: CNN)

Pastor who sparked outrage over hitting gay children speaks out (Source: CNN)

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, have a great day!

Lisa

News & Submissions 1/24/2012

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

News:

Call for PNG to repeal sorcery act after West Sepik deaths
Papua New Guinea’s Constitutional and Law Reform Commission says it wants the Sorcery Act repealed by the end of this year.

Last year, the Commission released a review of the Act, after an increase in the number of false accusations of sorcery were slammed by human rights groups.

But it’s making headlines again as six people accused of sorcery or witchcraft were killed in West Sepik Province by people who had taken the law into their own hands. Read full story from radioaustralia.net.au

Magic Mushrooms Could Treat Depression
After a psychedelic trip on magic mushrooms, people often describe the experience as mind-expanding, consciousness altering, emotionally insightful and even spiritually transcendent. Now, scientists have peered into the brains of people tripping on psilocybin — the active ingredient in mushrooms — and their results revealed a few surprises.

Instead of opening lines of communication between sensory-oriented regions of the brain, psilocybin appears to shut down activity in two key areas of the brain that regulate our sense of self and integrate our sense of awareness with our sense of the present. Read full story from discovery.com

Hunt for pagan cross ‘banished’ by priest
IT’S a mystery that involves an over-zealous priest, fairies and a missing pagan cross.

Now an archaeological dig hopes to find out just what happened to a granite cross which vanished 60 years ago.

Legend has it that a Catholic priest ordered it to be removed from the front of St Patrick’s Church in Wicklow town because of its explicit carvings.

Other rumours say local residents had complained it attracted fairies.

Some residents, though, believe the cross may have been buried in the church grounds by Fr Matthew Blake, now deceased, because he disliked the carvings of nude women on it. Read full story from independent.ie

Paranormal:

UFO spotted in Devon
Gary McDermott snapped the glowing red object, with bright flashing lights, after stopping his car to photograph a low-flying helicopter in Plymouth.

The disc-shaped UFO flashed across the sky – just as he was taking the picture – before it disappeared into the night at 9pm on Sunday.

Mr McDermott, who was working night shifts on the city’s famous Royal Albert Bridge, said: “I just couldn’t believe what I had just seen.

“It must have been a UFO – and I cannot believe I am saying that because I don’t believe in them usually. I am always sceptical.

“But this was definitely not a normal aircraft. It was red, the shape they say UFO aircraft is, and had two bright lights coming out of it. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

Whittington Hospital: Is this the ghostly image of a boy who died centuries ago?
This is the mysterious image which ghost hunter Leonard Low says proves that something paranormal lies beneath the Whittington Hospital in Highgate.

The father of two was visiting a friend who was having surgery in the Archway Road hospital when he was told by nurses of “a strange presence” in the 19th Century arches deep underground.

Armed with his camera and accompanied by a curious Whittington administrator, he descended down to the basement to investigate the paranormal tales. Read full story from london24.com

Pictures: Oldest Dinosaur Nests Found in South Africa
The oldest known dinosaur nests have been found at the same South African park where scientists previously unearthed the oldest known dinosaur embryo (pictured), a new study says.

Paleontologists recently found ten nests—each containing up to 34 tightly clustered eggs—in a nearly vertical cliff in Golden Gate Highlands National Park. Both the nests and the previously discovered embryo date back 190 million years. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com

Media:

The Rise and Fall of the ‘C’ word (Celts)
Currently, the term ‘Celtic’, and its variations, is alternatively loved of loathed by archaeologists, historians, the general public and the media. Why is this? What has happened to the way the word is defined that causes disparity? How did this word mean previously rational archaeologists such as John Collis, Simon James and the Megaws spentd years arguing about the use of ‘Celtic’ as an archaeoligical term? Read full story from heritagedaily.com

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, have a great day!

Lisa

News & Submissions 8/30/2011

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Arts & Entertainment:

New Creepier ‘Apollo 18′ Trailer (Source: Screen Junkies)

Events:

Discover Cherokee Nation at 59th Holiday
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The 59th Cherokee National Holiday, Sept. 2–4 in Tahlequah, Okla., offers visitors a chance to enjoy activities that are sure to please the entire family. Events such as the powwow and the downtown parade are perennial favorites. But there are other enticing events Holiday guests may not be as familiar with waiting to be discovered. Come learn a few phrases in the Cherokee language or take a tour of some of Oklahoma’s most historic structures. Or just kick back, relax and listen to some favorite sounds.

Eclectic Burning Man festival celebrates 25th anniversary
SANTA FE, New Mexico — Starting on Monday tens of thousands of people will descend on a great expanse of Nevada desert to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Burning Man, a gathering of free spirits, artists, entrepreneurs — and anyone else who managed to get a ticket.

News:

Psychic uses court as medium to fight Alexandria’s ban on fortunetelling
Rachel Adams wants to use the talent she believes she was born to share.

Adams, a mother of two who recently moved to Alexandria with her husband, has opened a fortunetelling business on Jackson Street Extension, Readings by Faith, where she hopes to use her psychic, fortunetelling and Tarot card-reading abilities.

There’s just one problem. Fortunetelling is forbidden in the city’s code of ordinances. Read full story from thetowntalk.com

Witch Hunting in Assam – Capital of Black magic to national shame
The history of witch hunting dates back to several hundred years. During the period of 14th to 17th century, persecution of witches had led to the torture and murder of thousands of innocent women and men, even children. Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) was burned alive at the stake for heresy at the age of 19 on May 30, 1431. It was believed that she was called to save France from England by supernatural voices when she was just 16. Her victories were legendary, but eventually she was captured and executed. That was history, but the sad part is that such practices still prevail in the world, – in different names, customs and beliefs. Whether it is Joan of Arc from history chapters or Hermione from a Hollywood blockbuster series Harry Potter, people still secretly believe in such practices,- some call it Voodoo, some call it witchcraft and some calls it Black magic. Read full story from timesofassam.com

Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs Has Pneumonia, Is Not In Coma
Jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is suffering from pneumonia and is not in a medically-induced coma, as has been widely reported, a source familiar with Jeffs’ condition tells NPR.

According to the source, the 55-year-old leader of the nation’s largest polygamist group was sedated, pharmacologically paralyzed and placed on a ventilator as part of his treatment for pneumonia. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity due to federal medical privacy laws that do not permit disclosure of medical treatment without permission of the patient or family. Read full story from npr.org

In Libya: ‘Biggest Fear’ Is Gadhafi Disappearing, Continuing To Fight
The news that ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s wife and three of his children have fled to Algeria underscores “the biggest fear” for many Libyans, NPR’s Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Tripoli — that Gadhafi will elude capture and that his forces will continue to battle for weeks, months or perhaps years. Read full story from npr.org

Religion:

Christian wants atheist registry
Florida pastor, Michael Stahl has suggested that an organization and website be created that would keep track of known atheists. The website would list by city and state all atheists with their photos and some personal information such as place of business. It would not include a physical address which seems to contradict one of the main purposes of the site.

Pastor Mike compares atheists to “convicted sex offenders , ex-convicts , terrorist cells , hate groups like the KKK , skinheads , radical Islamists , etc..”  He claims that the purpose of this organization/website called, “The Christian National Registry of Atheists” is to inform the public of known atheists so that they can be proselytize to and their businesses can be boycotted. Read full story from examiner.com

Muslim festival brings rare joy for some this year, but not all cheer
(CNN) — For Christians, the wild celebrations of Mardi Gras come before the solemnity of Lent, a last chance to celebrate before the abstinence marking the 40 days to Good Friday and Easter.

Muslims do it the other way around. First comes the month of daytime fasting during Ramadan, then the eruption of joy called Eid al-Fitr, marked with gift-giving, new clothes, donations to the poor, feasting and festivities.

But as the sighting of a crescent moon officially marked the beginning of Eid on Tuesday, feelings are decidedly mixed for many Muslims. Read full story  from cnn.com

Media:

TRENDING: Bachmann points to ‘great sense of humor’ after God joke (Source: CNN)
(CNN) – Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann defended her recent comments about natural disasters in Washington, D.C. serving as messages from God, saying she was joking.

Texas pastor opens drive-in church (Source: CNN)

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, have a great day!

Lisa

News & Submissions 8/9/2011

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Arts & Entertainment:

O’Death: “Bugs” Challenges Nick Cave For Most Disturbing Video
And loses, but keep in mind that Nick Cave, whose latest incarnation Grinderman is responsible for “Heathen Child”, has never really said for certain whether or not he is in fact a demon toying with our souls until he consumes them. So no, O’Death doesn’t beat the creepiest man in rock and roll with their music video for “Bugs,” but that doesn’t mean theirs doesn’t haunt your nightmares afterwards.

Our discovery of O’Death is part of an ongoing exchange program that Rocks Off utilizes with Mick Cullen of Subterranean Radio (live via Intertubes every Thursday from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. courtesy of WRLR FM in Round Rock, Ill.). We gave him Alyssa Rubich and the Folk Family Revival; he gave us Erland and the Carnival and O’Death. Read full story from houstenpress.com

Ten worst film remakes
Lionsgate Studios have announced they are working on a remake of 1980s classic Dirty Dancing. Here are some Hollywood remakes that failed to impress the critics: Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

Native American:

Droughts, water scarcity, fires, flooding, snowstorms are especially harsh for American Indians and Alaska Natives
North American Indian Tribes are especially harmed by climate change, as more ecological shifts and more frequent, more extreme weather events occur, a new study concludes. Because Tribes are heavily dependent on natural resources, severe weather events like droughts, floods, wildfires, and snowstorms make tribal communities particularly vulnerable and impact American Indians and Alaska Natives more than they impact the general population.

“Extreme weather events can be very destructive for Tribes, many of whom are already suffering from lack of resources to begin with,” said Dr. Amanda Staudt, scientist, National Wildlife Federation. “Heat waves and droughts can exacerbate plant and wildlife mortality, heighten the risk of wildfires and habitat loss, and compromise tribal lands.” Read full story from nwf.org

News:

London riots attract international coverage
The London riots made front pages across the world – in Europe, the United States, Asia and Australasia.

The images of blazing buildings in Tottenham and elsewhere around the capital appeared in scores of newspapers.

For once, the phrase wall-to-wall coverage was justified. It was the surprise international story for almost every major paper in capitals around the globe.

The New York Times carried a front page picture under the headline, “Riots continue to rattle Britain in worst unrest in two decades”. And its website updated the story, “Rioting widens in London and spreads elsewhere”.

The Washington Post ran a single column top on page 1, “London unrest escalates, spreads” turning to a full page inside. Its website ran an online gallery of pictures. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Religion:

Army agrees to host concert for atheists on N.C. base
(RNS) A group of military atheists have won the backing of U.S. Army officials to hold a “Rock Beyond Belief” concert for nonbelievers at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg next year.

The victory came after several church-state separation watchdog groups complained last month to the Secretary of the Army that a Christian-themed concert held at the fort last September gave “selective benefits” to religious groups.

That concert, staged by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, received more than $50,000 in financial support from the base, according to records obtained by local atheists through the Freedom of Information Act. The nonreligious concert will receive the same funds and will be held at a similar venue at the base. Read full story from christiancentury.org

Buddhist wonks? No, Buddhist Geeks
Vincent Horn opened his eyes after a moment of meditation, scanned the room and smiled. About 150 other people were emerging from their own states of dead-silent, self-induced tranquillity. They shuffled a bit in their seats.

“Hello, Buddhist geeks!” Horn said from his perch onstage. “This is the most geeks I’ve seen in one place, I think, ever.”

His statement brought to mind a moment in the documentary “Woodstock,” when folk singer Arlo Guthrie takes in the crowd of several hundred thousand young people and cackles, “Lotta freaks!” But this was a very different time and place. Read full story from latimes.com

Media:

Vandalism Discovered at Pontiac’s Oak Hill Cemetery
PONTIAC, Mich. (WJBK) – Sam Wiscombe brought his daughters to Pontiac’s Oak Hill Cemetery. He wanted to use the historic burial grounds built back in the 1820s as an artistic backdrop for some pictures he was taking, but after looking through his lens he wasn’t happy.

“I just thought it was a shameful testament to our culture that we allow our ancestors to be in this state,” he said.

As this English teacher wandered through the grounds, he noticed mausoleums were literally crumbling with trash thrown inside.  There were toppled grave stones. Someone even drew the word “wiccan” and other profanities on marble monuments. Read full story from myfoxdetroit.com

Punk Rock Permaculture in Mexico City
It’s not just hippies going that like to go green. From green-living anarchist collectives to Punk Rock Permaculture’s reporting on disaster relief in Haiti, the notion of green living back-to-the-land lifestyles goes hand-in-hand with punk rock subcultures. Here’s a neat PBS report on the punk rock permaculture activists of Mexico City. Read full story from treehugger.com

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, have a great day!

Lisa

News & Submissions 7/26/2011

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Headlines:

Jacobs, Benefiel To Spend 40 Days Laying Spiritual “Seige” To Washington DC
Last week we posted a video John Benefiel, head of the Heartland Apostolic Reformation Network, explaining how he had gone to Washington, DC in order to exercise his “spiritual authority” to “divorce Baal” and rename the city “the District of Christ.” Read full story from rightwingwatch.com

Why Pagans Need Community Centers
In response to the Sacred Paths Center’s financial situation, opinions have been circulating that Pagans don’t need community centers.  I realized that we assume the reasons for community center projects are obvious.

In some of the conversations online, the feeling that we get is that some folks are looking at just what they need instead of the needs of other people and the whole of the Pagan community.  If your first response is that you don’t need X (be it a building or whatever) to practice your religion, so that X isn’t a valid reason for Pagans to have a center, ask yourself this…  Are there are a lot of other folks who would benefit from that function of the community center?  What would having X mean for the Pagan community.  Just think of all of the Pagans in just the DC region.  What about the regions with large numbers of Pagans? Think of all of the Pagan groups and all of the Pagan event organizers.  Just because you don’t feel that you’re in need of a community center doesn’t mean that the Pagan community wouldn’t greatly benefit from a community center. Read full story from openhearthfoundation.blogspot.com

Arts & Entertainment:

10 Creepy, Sexy Fairy Tales That Should Be Films
— If there’s one thing we learned this past week at Comic-Con, it’s that Hollywood is obsessed with fairy tales. They’re magical, they’ve got instant recognition… and they’re public domain. But Hollywood keeps hitting on the same five stories.

With all due respect to both Emma Watson and Guillermo del Toro, the absolute last thing we need is yet another take on Beauty and the Beast. We also don’t need a Sleeping Beauty or Snow White, and god forbid someone try again with Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood. Rather than returning to the same well-worn stories, here are ten slightly lesser-known fairy stories worthy of Hermoine and the Hellboy director, as well as anyone else in Hollywood. Read full story from io9.com

News:

S.African ‘corpse’ wakes up, scares off morgue staff: report
A 50-year-old South African man thought to be dead woke up in a chilly morgue on Sunday and shouted to be let out, scaring off two attendants who thought he was a ghost, local media reported.

“His family thought he had died,” health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo told the Sapa news agency.

“The family called a private undertaker who took what they thought was a dead body to the morgue, but the man woke up inside the morgue on Sunday at 5:00 pm and screamed, demanding to be taken out of the cold place.”

This caused two mortuary attendants on duty to flee the building in the small town of Libode in the rural Eastern Cape as they thought it was a ghost. Read full story from yahoo.com

Saudi Arabia’s ‘Anti-Witchcraft Unit’ breaks another spell
The unit, established in 2009, is charged with apprehending sorcerers and reversing the detrimental effects of their spells in the Gulf country.

When the severed head of a wolf wrapped in women’s lingerie turned up near the city of Tabouk in northern Saudi Arabia this week, authorities knew they had another case of witchcraft on their hands, a capital offence in the ultra-conservative desert kingdom.

Agents of the country’s Anti-Witchcraft Unit were quickly dispatched and set about trying to break the spell that used the beast’s head. Read full story from jpost.com

Photography:

Photographers Capture Mysterious, Beautiful Patterns in Sand
One day these shells and rocks will be sand. See photos at wired.com

Religion:

Atheist group wants to stop World Trade Center cross
(CNN) — A group of atheists has filed a lawsuit to stop the display of the World Trade Center cross at a memorial of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The “government enshrinement of the cross was an impermissible mingling of church and state,” the American Atheists say in a press statement.

The group says it filed the lawsuit this week in state court in New York and posted a copy of the lawsuit on its website. Read full story from cnn.com

Anders Behring Breivik: Christian terrorist? Right-wing extremist? Madman?
When news broke about the bombing in Olso, many commentators assumed links with Islamic extremism. When reports came of the massacre on Utøya island, perpetrated by a “tall, blonde, Nordic, man,” speculation quieted down until Anders Behring Breivik was identified. News reports first described Breivik as a “Christian terrorist,” largely on the basis of his Facebook profile and his postings to Christian fundamentalist Web sites. After his manifesto became public, Breivik was characterized as a “right-wing extremist.” To most, the Christian terrorist/right-wing extremist distinction makes little real difference: Only a madman could engage in such wanton killing. REad full story from washingtonpost.com

Science:

The Science Behind Dreaming
For centuries people have pondered the meaning of dreams. Early civilizations thought of dreams as a medium between our earthly world and that of the gods. In fact, the Greeks and Romans were convinced that dreams had certain prophetic powers. While there has always been a great interest in the interpretation of human dreams, it wasn’t until the end of the nineteenth century that Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung put forth some of the most widely-known modern theories of dreaming. Freud’s theory centred around the notion of repressed longing — the idea that dreaming allows us to sort through unresolved, repressed wishes. Carl Jung (who studied under Freud) also believed that dreams had psychological importance, but proposed different theories about their meaning. Read full story from scientificamerican.com

“Spectacular” Double Meteor Shower This Week
A celestial traffic jam may be on tap this week as two meteor showers combine forces to put on a brilliant sky show.

One of the best shooting star events of the year is the annual August Perseid meteor shower. (See Perseids pictures.) However this year’s peak, on August 12, happens to coincide with a bright full moon—drastically cutting down the number of meteors visible to the naked eye.

Yet while the main event might be blocked out by the blinding moonlight, the opening act promises to be much better. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com

Where House Cats Roam: Researchers Compare the Mysterious Wanderings of Pet and Stray Felines
Anyone who has ever owned an outdoor cat knows that it tends to disappear for hours, sometimes days, at a time. Where do cats go when they are lurking out of sight? The question is of interest not just to pet owners but also to conservation scientists who study the impact of free-roaming cats on wildlife populations.  Scientists at the University of Illinois and the Illinois Natural History Survey recently attached radio transmitters to the adjustable collars of 18 pet and 24 feral cats in southeastern Champaign-Urbana and tracked the animals by truck and on foot for more than one year. Read full story from scientificamerican.com

Media:

Norway attacks show why you can’t blame the muslims
In the immediate aftermath of 1995’s Oklahoma City bombing, much of the news media rushed to suggest that a Muslim, or at least a Middle Eastern connection, was behind the attacks.

News reports on television and in print featured Middle East terrorism experts claiming the Oklahoma City attack echoed a World Trade Center bombing two years earlier and that it contained parallels to recent Mideast attacks.

The FBI picked up Ibrahim Ahmad, a Jordanian American, for questioning in an initial dragnet.

Does ‘Christian fundamentalist’ label fit Norway terror suspect? Read full story from cnn.com

Breivik Attorny Speaks Out (Source – CNN)

Blogspot:

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

Lisa

News & Submissions 4/26/2011

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Headlines:

Pagan Freedom Day 2011
An ancient pagan Greek historian and author Thucydides (460-404BCE) once wrote “The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.” It takes courage to publicly announce ‘I am Pagan’ in South Africa, but that’s exactly what Pagans do every year on Freedom Day.

In January 2004, this initiative was formally chartered as the Pagan Freedom Day Movement (PFDM). Since 2004 Pagans of every religious persuasion, including Witches, Wiccans, Druids, Asatruars and many others, have mingled and shared with other South Africans in celebration of their constitutionally guaranteed freedom to practice their own personal religions, and to gather openly with others of like mind, without fear of persecution or prejudice. Read full story from newstime.co.za

Archeology:

Archaeologists recover massive statue of one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs
CAIRO — Archaeologists unearthed one of the largest statues found to date of a powerful ancient Egyptian pharaoh at his mortuary temple in the southern city of Luxor, the country’s antiquities authority announced Tuesday.

The 13 meter (42 foot) tall statue of Amenhotep III was one of a pair that flanked the northern entrance to the grand funerary temple on the west bank of the Nile that is currently the focus of a major excavation. Read full story from washingtonpost.com

Lost City Revealed Under Centuries of Jungle Growth
Hidden for centuries, the ancient Maya city of Holtun, or Head of Stone, is finally coming into focus.

Three-dimensional mapping has “erased” centuries of jungle growth, revealing the rough contours of nearly a hundred buildings, according to research presented earlier this month.

Though it’s long been known to locals that something—something big—is buried in this patch of Guatemalan rain forest, it’s only now that archaeologists are able to begin teasing out what exactly Head of Stone was.

Using GPS and electronic distance-measurement technology last year, the researchers plotted the locations and elevations of a seven-story-tall pyramid, an astronomical observatory, a ritual ball court, several stone residences, and other structures. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com

Arts & Entertainment:

Spout About: Will “Thor” Inspire Neopaganism? Death to Body Swap Movies! Death of a “2001” Influence
Above is a cropped section of a “Thor” bus stop ad posted to BuzzFeed. You can see that someone has taped a religious flyer to it. Intentional? Is there a minor protest going on against the polytheistic themes of the upcoming comic book movie? Does “Thor” have a soundtrack consisting of Varg Vikernes and other infamous neopagan black metal bands? Is there any other reason for people to worry it preaches anti-Christian messages? I sincerely hope this is just a chance occurrence.

Still, apparently some people are seeing too much in a flashy, potentially campy summer blockbuster. Star Foster at the pagan blog Pantheon looks into why “Thor” matters. Remember how people were turned onto Wicca after seeing “The Craft”? Wait, did that really happen? I knew some Wiccans back in high school, but I can’t recall the movie being a huge influence. Anyway, Foster sees a similar thing occurring with “Thor” and neopaganism: Read full story from indiewire.com

News:

Rebuilding Japan’s disaster-hit towns may take a decade
TOKYO, April 26 (Reuters) – The reconstruction of Japanese towns and cities devastated by a deadly earthquake and tsunami last month could take a decade, an advisory panel to the government tasked with coming up with a blueprint for rebuilding said on Tuesday.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which left a large swathe of Japan’s northeast in ruins, killed at least 13,000 people, forced about 130,000 into shelters and is estimated to have caused $300 billion worth of damage.

“The first three years would be needed for tasks like rebuilding roads and constructing temporary housing,” said Jun Iio of Japan’s Reconstruction Design Council, formed after the quake to advise the government’s rebuilding efforts. Read full story from scientificamerican.com

Paranormal:

THE STEYTLERVILLE MONSTER
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – A monster plaguing the town of Steytlerville struck again over the Easter!

There were  two sightings of a terrifying shape-shifting monster reported over Easter in the province of Karoo in South Africa.

“Two men were walking near a tavern when they saw another man wearing a black jacket. One of the men, identified only as Nozipho, went up to the stranger and asked him, “What is your problem?” said Nelani.

When the stranger did not respond, Nozipho went closer and saw that the man had no head. The man then turned into a dog that was “very angry” and “as big as a cow”, Nelani said. Read full story from weeklyworldnews.com

‘Haunted Watauga County’ delves in N.C. withcraft folklore
“Haunted Watauga County” by Tim Bullard will be published by The History Press of Charleston in September.

Bullard, 55, is a Laurinburg, N.C., native with magazine and newspaper clips at his website www.timbullard.com. He is formerly a reporter, photographer and columnist at the North Myrtle Beach Times, as well as a former Morning News reporter.

“Haunted Watauga County” delves into the witchcraft that has been reported through folklore in the N.C. mountains. Read full story from tricities.com

Religion:

Coffee Shop Religion: Interfaith of the Everyday
I never learned much about religion until I started hanging out at Muddy Waters Coffee Shop on the corner of Lyndale and 24th in Uptown, Minneapolis.

I was raised to be a priestess (of Hinduism), grew up surrounded by world scripture and philosophy, and was taught by learned scholars and mystics. But my religious education didn’t really begin until I started talking — and listening — to other people from other ways of life. I had a great foundation but it had to evolve beyond what I could experience as an individual. Understanding is a journey, and it’s nice to have company if you can get it. Read full story from huffingtonpost.com

KCET lot sold to Scientology
The Church of Scientology is has just bought a bigger pulpit.

The church has cut a deal to acquire the historic Los Feliz studio lot that has been home to pubcaster KCET-TV Los Angeles for the past 40 years. In a lengthy statement, the church said the deal allows it to “establish one of the most advanced centers used by religious broadcasters with the ability to harness 21st century broadcast technology and production power to deliver its message to the the largest international audience possible.” Read full story from variety.com

Sathya Sai Controversies and the Art of Guru Bashing
It is not uncommon now that for many Gurus, Rishis or Seers who have emerged from India, there has always been an unprecedented number of vicious attacks launched on them. These have come in the guise of slander, misquotes, false allegations and myriad smear campaigns.

Moreover it is interesting to note that most of these attackers often turn out to be either individuals who have been suffering from dysfunctional complexes or personality disorders, or pseudo spiritualists, fundamentalists and Christian missionaries working at religions conversion of Hindus, or self-appointed- rationalist experts with highly opinionated, insular theories or dishonest television reporters and interviewers sensationalizing and tarnishing the image of Hinduism and Hindu Gurus, keeping with the trend of unprofessional, ignorant reporting and the highly biased- ‘paid news syndrome’. Read full story from chakranews.com

Media:

Bill O’Reilly: Is There a Hell? (Source: YouTube – AtheistMediaBlog)

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

News & Submissions 3/9/2011

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

“Black Death” a treat for medieval history buffs
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – You can’t quarrel with that title, “Black Death.” The film is black all right, pitch black, and death is everywhere.

The story is set in 1348, after all, when the plague began to sweep through Europe, decimating its populace by as much as half and spreading panic to every corner. Yet what a strange land for a horror filmmaker to pitch camp in since he has little to add when horror is a fact of everyday life.

Sure enough, Christopher Smith (“Creep,” “Severance”) plays with the notion of necromancers and demons lurking within the pestilence, but winds up retreating into a kind of historical morality tale told with documentary flourishes and a grim attraction to violence and cruelty.

All of which leaves “Black Death” without a reliable audience. Horror film buffs like to giggle as much as scream but there’re no giggles here. To its credit, the film doesn’t indulge in visual-effects devilry as a very similar plague film, “Season of the Witch,” did just two months ago. So it’s up to medieval history buffs to fill the theaters when it opens on Friday. Lots of luck.

The coincidence of storylines between “Season of the Witch” and “Black Death” is rather striking and in every instance Black Death is the superior film. In both films, the church, seeing its grip on the population severely loosened by this inexplicable plague, sends Christian knights into a remote region to determine if witches, demons or non-believers are the source of this frightening scourge. Read full story from reuters.com

Bulgarian Mayor: ‘Dog Spinning’ Ritual Harmless Folklore, Not Barbarian!
The “dog spinning” ritual practiced in a southeastern Bulgarian village is misinterpreted by the society and the international community, according to Tsarevo Municipality Mayor Petko Arnaudov.

In dog spinning, which is practiced in Brodilovo, a southeastern Bulgarian village, at the beginning of March, a dog is suspended above water on a rope.

The dog is turned repeatedly in a given direction to wind the rope, then released so that it spins rapidly in the opposite direction as the rope unwinds, until the dog falls into the water. The locals claim that the dog is not supposed to be physically hurt.

This ancient ritual of pagan origin is performed in order to prevent rabies and is a part of the traditional Kukeri rituals. Read full story from novinite.com

Blair launches new faith films contest for youth
Last year, Tony Blair ran a film contest for young people, inviting them to make films about faith.

His Faith Foundation was overwhelmed by the response: hundreds of entries, from Jews and Christians, Muslims and Hindus, Sikhs and humanists, on five continents around the world.

Buoyed by the success of the first “Faith Shorts” film contest, Blair is now doing it again.

He was impressed not only by the quality of the films, he said, but what they said about the people who made them.

“I think the fascinating thing about young people and the films that they sent us about faith… is that for them their faith isn’t just about a personal relationship with God, it’s also motivating them to do things, to get active, to have a purpose in life,” he told CNN. Read full story from cnn.com

Muslim-Christian clashes in Cairo leave 11 dead
Clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, have left 11 people dead and more than 90 wounded.

The clashes broke out on Tuesday night as thousands of Christians protested against the burning of a Cairo church last week. The church was set on fire after tensions escalated over a love affair between a Muslim and a Christian that set off a violent feud between the couple’s families.

Security and hospital officials said six Christians and five Muslims died from gunshot wounds and 94 people – 73 Muslims and 21 Christians – were wounded. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

“An inoffensive, vanilla Christianity”
Paris, France (CNA) — Addressing a gathering of European church officials on March 4, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver warned that many contemporary Christians have reduced their faith to a convenient “form of paganism,” which cannot compete with the widespread “idolatry” of modern consumer culture.

Archbishop Chaput offered his observations at a conference in Paris honoring the late Cardinal Archbishop Jean-Marie Lustiger, a Jewish convert to Catholicism who was the Archbishop of Paris from 1981 to 2005.

The Denver archbishop described Cardinal Lustiger as “an unsentimental realist” who dared to speak about disturbing trends in the Church and society – including a lack of faith among professed Christians, leaving a vacuum that would be filled by other “gods” such as sex and money. Read full story from calcotholic.com

Fort Bragg says atheist concert was treated the same as Christian group
Fort Bragg’s garrison commander said Tuesday he supports an atheist concert on post, but the concert’s organizer said the colonel’s refusal to allow it on the Main Post Parade Field or to provide funding effectively canceled it.

Sgt. Justin Griffith was planning an event called Rock Beyond Belief for April 2 on Fort Bragg. British atheist Richard Dawkins was to be the keynote speaker in a day that included other speakers and bands, Griffith said.

Rock Beyond Belief was, in part, a response to Rock the Fort, a concert sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association that was held on the parade field in September.

In a letter dated Sept. 22, Lt. Gen Frank Helmick wrote in response to protests of Rock the Fort that Fort Bragg would be “willing to provide similar support to comparable events sponsored by similar nonfederal entities that address the needs of the soldiers on this installation.”

Col. Stephen Sicinski, the garrison commander, and Griffith disagree over whether Fort Bragg is holding true to that statement.

Sicinski said he has received overwhelmingly negative feedback since the concert’s cancellation, and he believes that in part is because people aren’t aware of the facts.

“It disheartens me a little bit to think that we’re being misrepresented,” Sicinski said.

Sicinski said Fort Bragg’s market analysis determined that Griffith’s event would draw, at best, hundreds of people. Events at the parade field need an expected crowd of 5,000 or more, Sicinski said. On March 1, Sicinski wrote to Griffith that the event could be held at the Main Post Theater or the York Theater. Read full story from fayobserver,cin

Why won’t pagans accept trans women?
At a pagan gathering in February, the Pantheacon in San Jose, California, trans women were excluded from a Dianic ritual in honour of Lilith. Many of the defenders of this position – the veteran witch Z Budapest, for example – argue from an essentialist position (“you have to have sometimes in your life a womb, and ovaries and moon bleed and not die”) but also by an appeal to tradition, which is a bit rich from a religious standpoint invented or at best recreated within the past 50 years.

Most of the really bad things that happen to trans women could happen to all women – rape, murder, unequal pay. Some of them happen to trans women more, proportionately; when there aren’t many of us to begin with, a murder rate worldwide of one every two or three days is something we notice.

So being snubbed or made to feel unwelcome in women’s space really is not all that important. After all, some hostile feminists will say – have always said – there are so few of us, why are we demanding all the time that we have this conversation? As if excluding us were not starting that conversation pretty definitively. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Early humans began in southern Africa, study suggests
Modern humans may have originated from southern Africa, an extensive genetic study has suggested.

Data showed that hunter-gatherer populations in the region had the greatest degree of genetic diversity, which is an indicator of longevity.

It says that the region was probably the best location for the origin of modern humans, challenging the view that we came from eastern Africa.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Africa is inferred to be the continent of origin for all modern human populations,” the international team of researchers wrote. Read drull story from bbc.co.uk

News & Submissions 3/8/2011

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

Witchcraft casts its spell over a growing community in Thanet
ALTHOUGH they were almost hunted to extinction during the Middle Ages there is a growing community of witches in Thanet.

Three covens, with up to 13 witches in each one, regularly meet either behind closed doors or outside at night.

Witch and Doyle’s Psychic Emporium owner Robert Doyle, 35, dabbles in what were once considered the dark arts. He said: “I have taken part in different rituals. In one, we welcome the four elements – earth, air, fire and water. Sometimes we meet in people’s homes and sometimes on the beach.”

Robert explained that witchcraft is deeply rooted in paganism. He added: “One ritual is called the rites of cake and ale where we say goodbye to winter and hello to summer. We pass cake and ale in a clockwise direction saying, ‘May you never hunger or thirst.’”

Witch Wendy Starr, 54, who co-owns a psychic shop called Magik in Ramsgate with Serena Lowman, 58, has started her own gathering of pagans called Magik Cafe. She said: “We had our first night last week and we had 30 people come along. I started it because I wanted to bring together the pagan community and give them somewhere to go when they meet up.” Read full story from thisiskent.co.uk

The Origins of Monothiesm in Hindu Dharma
The dialogue which Raja Ram Mohun Roy had started in the third decade of the nineteenth century stopped abruptly with the passing away of Mahatma Gandhi in January 1948. The Hindu leadership or what passed for it in post-independence India was neither equipped for nor interested in the battle for men’s minds. It believed in ‘organising’ the Hindus without bothering about what they carried inside their heads. It neither knew nor cared to know what Hinduism stood for. Its history of India began with the advent of the Islamic invaders. The spiritual traditions, ways of worship, scriptures and thought systems of pre-Islamic India were beyond its mental horizon.

The Christian missions, as we have seen, had never had it so good. Unchallenged ideologically, they broke out of the tight corner in which Mahatma Gandhi had put them and resumed the monologue which had characterised them in the pre-dialogue period. A number of mission strategies were dressed up as ‘theologies in the Indian context’. The core of the Christian dogma remained intact, namely, that Jesus Christ was the only saviour. The language of presenting the dogma, however, underwent what looked like a radical change to the unwary Hindus, particularly those in search of a ‘synthesis of all faiths’.

In the days of old, the missions had denounced Hinduism as devil-worship and made it their business to save the Hindus from the everlasting fire of hell. Now they abandoned that straight-forward stance. In the new language that was adopted, Hinduism was made a beneficiary of the Cosmic Revelation that had preceded Jehovah’s Covenant with Moses. Hinduism was also credited with an unceasing quest for the ‘True One God’. The business of the missions was to direct that quest towards Christ who was ‘hidden in Hinduism’ and thereby make them co-sharers in the final Covenant which Jesus had scaled with his blood. That was the Theology of Fulfilment. A number of learned treatises were turned out on the subject. The labour invested was perhaps praise-worthy. The purpose, however, was deliberately dishonest. Read full story from chakranews.com

International Women’s Day reminds us why feminism must not lose its bite
This is International Women’s Day and it is a great moment to take the temperature of the women’s movement in the UK. For quite a while it’s been clear that the long-predicted demise of feminism has not happened; on the contrary, over the last few years there have been sparks of new life that have surprised many observers.

You can map those sparks in the growth of grassroots events, such as the Million Women Rise march, launched three years ago, and the Feminism in London conference, whose thousand cheering delegates surprised me with their numbers and energy last year.

You can also map them in the increasing readiness of influential organisations and individuals, from the UN to Judi Dench, to be associated with what might once have been seen as stridently feminist rhetoric. To see the grassroots and the establishment coming together is to witness a movement with a great legacy taking on new energy.

International Women’s Day has not, historically, been a huge deal in the UK. It kicked off in 1911 in more idealistic and embattled times, when women all over the western world were seeking basic political and employment rights. With its roots in the international socialist movement, it is perhaps unsurprising that we hear it has more of a profile in China and Russia than in Britain. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

International Women’s Day: how rapidly things change
A century ago International Women’s Day was associated with peace, and women’s and girls’ sweated labour – which votes for women were to deal with. Not a celebration, but a mobilisation. And because it was born among factory workers, it had class, real class. Later it came to celebrate women’s autonomy, but changed its class base and lost its edge. This centenary must mark a new beginning.

We live in revolutionary times. We don’t need to be in North Africa or the Middle East to be infected by the hope of change. Enough to witness on TV the woman who, veiled in black from head to foot, led chants in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, routing sexism and Islamophobia in one unexpected blow. She and the millions moving together have shaken us from our provincialism, and shown us how rapidly things can change. Women in Egypt have called for a million women to occupy Tahrir Square today. Who would have predicted that a month ago?

Feminism has tended to narrow its concerns to what is unquestionably about women: abortion, childcare, rape, prostitution, pay equity. But that can separate us from a wider and deeper women’s movement. In Bahrain, for example, women lead the struggle for “jobs, housing, clean water, peace and justice” – as well as every demand we share. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

Museum of Natural History Lecture Explores Ancient Animal Remains Burial Cave In Israel
The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History presents “Feasting with the Dead on the Eve of Agriculture: Ancient Animal Remains from a Burial Cave in Israel,” a lecture by Dr. Natalie Munro from the Department of Anthropology at UConn. The lecture will be held in the Biology/Physics Building, Room 130, UConn Storrs Campus, on Sunday, March 20, 3 p.m.

Zooarchaeological evidence from a small burial cave in Israel reveals evidence that prehistoric funerary feasts and shamanism were practiced as early as 12,000 years ago, at the very beginning of human transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist. The site of Hilazon Tachtit in Israel, where Dr. Munro has conducted her research for several years, contains a variety of unusual deposits of animal associated with funeral practices. Read full story from courant.com

Stone Age walkers cause a stir
WALKERS clad in Stone Age costumes attracted plenty of modern-day interest as they made their way from Avebury to the Ancient Technology Centre in Dorset.

The fur-wearing wanderers were recreating a Walk of the Ancients which took them via Stonehenge, Old Sarum and the city centre.

On the way they visited St Michael’s School in Figheldean and met children and parents at Larkhill to answer questions about Stone Age life. Read full story from salsburyjournal.co.uk

Mexicans seek spiritual solace amid chaos (source YouTube – AlJazeeraEnglish)

Road trip to the end of the world (source cnn)

News & Submissions 3/7/2011

Monday, March 7th, 2011

An interview by Raymond Buckland by Bernadette Montana
It is with great pleasure that I post this interview today! Raymond Buckland has always been a huge influence on me, and is someone who has helped to shape our wiccan community today. Read full story from sacredmistsblog.com

Merlin Stone Memorial Sept. 24th
On April 10th, Z Budapest has called for a global remembrance of Merlin Stone. Here’s what Z posted to her Facebook account:

After i have considered the possibility that we all do a ritual for Merlin Stone at the same time, found it not doable. What we should do is a Parenthalia, find it in my “Grandmother of Time” or “Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries” books.

A dumb super to celebrate her life.

I talked to Lenny (Merlin’s life-partner) again today, asked what her favorite foods were. She was a vegetarian; she liked quesadias, and black coffee – no milk, no sugar.

So if you get together, serve strong black coffee and eat something vegetarian.

Lenny is sending me a box filled with her pictures, memorabilia, unpublished articles. Bobbie will put it up on her page (here on the MerlinStone.net site) and include it in the Merlin Stone Projects we are doing with your help. It seems her daughter is getting her royalties, so that’s all cool.

Counting 49 days and nights from the 25th of Feb, till 1oth of April – she is sleeping. On that day, we should all have a party in her honor to celebrate her rebirth on the other side. This elevates the soul.That’s what we can do – elevate her soul. Read full story from merlinstone.net

Faith and yoga in Roanoke: Is yoga compatible with Christianity?
Christians stand on mats at a church hall on Roanoke’s bustling Williamson Road, stretching their arms to the heavens and bending to their toes. They lay their palms on the floor, the soles of their feet perfectly flat. Chants spill from a stereo.

It looks and it sounds like the downward dog — but it isn’t. This group meets Saturday mornings to bend into poses they call the Tallit, not the Big Toe, and the Dove, not the Pigeon.

A debate over yoga’s compatibility with Western religions has torn through exercise and meditation studios across the United States in recent months, with conservative Christians denouncing yoga as pagan and demonic. Yogis respond that it isn’t. In between, some Christians practice yoga on weekdays and go to church on Sundays. Read full story from roanoke.com

New book Secret Symbols about West Wycombe Caves released
A PUB landlord has completed ‘a kind of Da Vinci Code journey’ through the notorious Hell Fire Caves – and written a book to dispel some of the myths surrounding the West Wycombe tourist attraction.

Eamonn Loughran, 42, has published ‘Secret Symbols of the Hell Fire Club’ after living for 20 years on West Wycombe Road and looking up at the Dashwood Mausoleum every day.

He says the much-published ‘history’ of the Hell Fire Club adds up to little more than gossip, adding: “The idea that Sir Francis Dashwood dug these caves simply to get drunk and worship the devil is absolute rubbish.

“There were a lot of very bad books written about the club from early 1900s onwards, mostly by journalists who sensationalised the stories.”

Rumours of black magic, satanic rituals and orgies surrounded Dashwood’s club when it was around in the 1750s and 60s. Read full story from bucksfreepress.co.uk

The Sacred Practice of Understanding Religious Difference
Last week I piled my books and student papers in my bag and headed out to The Flying Joe, a local coffee shop where the excellent mocha takes some of the pain out of grading undergraduate and seminary papers. While my visits there are inconsistent, I do notice the regulars, and the baristas obviously have taken the time to learn the details of every order, including mine.

Learning those details takes a good listener, someone invested in bringing you back for another espresso hit. It is a practice that takes patience. And it is a practice that I require of students in my world religions and non-religious worldviews classes. One of their assignments is to step outside of their bubbles and interview someone of a different worldview. They are required to return their report to the original interviewee for input before they submit it to me for their grade, which encourages them to present the view fairly. The kicker for many of them is that they cannot proselytize during their interviews, forcing them to listen and to get the details right about the other person’s views. Read full story from huffingtonpost.com

The Salem Witches conduct a Ritual to Heal and Bind Charlie Sheen (source YouTube – ChristianDay)

Meet America’s top exorcist, the inspiration for ‘The Rite’ (source cnn)

Road trip to ‘doomsday’ (source cnn)

Week in Review

Saturday, February 26th, 2011

In case you missed anything, here are highlights from this past week. I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Highlights!

Who Are We? By Stacy Evans

We can be anyone we want to be, more so because Wicca can encompass anything. We are everyone. We are kind and loving. We can be mean, because we are only human. We are not better than anyone else, but we are equal to everyone else.

This isn’t about rights, it’s about respect. We need to find a way for people to respect us, regardless of those who try to bring us down. And maybe, we can even look to Christianity for examples. Is this our arena, and are the Christians our lions? Perhaps. Not all of them certainly. Obviously, however, some of them fall under this category. We are in a young religion, and we are being forged in the fires. Will we break, or come out stronger? Read more…

Hump Day Herbs – Calamus

Botanical Name: Acorus Calamus

Folk Names: Gladden, Myrtle Flag, Myrtle Grass, Myrtle Sedge, Lubigan, Sweet Cane, Sweet Flag, Sweet Grass, Sweet Root, Sweet Rush, Sweet Sedge

Calamus are perennial flowering plants from the Acorus family. Native to to North America and northern and eastern Asia. The leaves grow between 0.7 and 1.7 cm wide, with average of 1 cm, and the flower is between 3 and 4 mm.

The Penobscot people would cut the root and hang it throughout the house to cure illness. When traveling, they would take a piece of the root, and chew to ward off sickness. To cure a runny nose, The Potawatomi people would powder the dried root and put up their nose. The Teton-Dakota warriors believed it prevented excitement and fear when facing their enemy, they would chew it to a paste and rub it on their face. Read more …

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

Lisa