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The Witchy Moon, Magic, and News

Friday, June 24th, 2016

Friday, June 24, 2016: The moon phase is Waning Gibbous in the zodiac sign Aquarius until entering Pisces at 10:30 PM EST.

Element: Water
Color: Rose
Incense: Orchid (see below for magical uses)

Garden Activities:

  • Kill pests and weed
  • Harvest fruit and root crops
  • Hill up parsnips and carrots
  • Plant out asparagus crowns

Herbal Magic – Orchid

(Orchis spp.)

Folk Names: Levant Salap, Sahlab, Sahleb, Salep, Saloop, Satyrion

Deities: Bacchus, Cronus, Pan

Planet: Venus (Beauty, Fidelity, Friendship, Love, Youth)

Element: Water (Fidelity, Friendship, Healing, Love, Meditation, Prophetic Dreams, Purification, sleep)

Gender: Feminine

Powers: Love, Fertility

Lore: According to legend, Orchis was the son a Satyr and nymph. During a celebration for Bacchanalians he attempted to rape a priestess. Eventually, he was put to death by Bacchanalians. His father prayed to the Gods to give pity on him. Orchis was then given eternal life as this root, which led to the belief that Orchid roots provide a practitioner with the lusty sexuality of  the satyr.

Magical and Ritual Uses:

  • The tuber can be dried and carved into an amulet or talisman for love and romance.
  • The powdered root is considered to be an aphrodisiac.
  • Orchids are ideal for Handfastings.
  • The gift of an orchid puts romantic energy in motion. (It’s been used in the feast or cup for the Great Rite to embody the deities for fertility)

News:

Elderly relatives accused of being WITCHES by their children so they can burn them alive and claim their inheritance
Juma Kalume Musunye’s six grandchildren beat her until she fell to the ground crying, and then doused her in petrol, claiming she had used witchcraft to paralyse their mother’s hands.

‘They wanted to kill me,’ said the 65-year-old widow who lives on Kenya’s coast, where the Mijikenda people traditionally blame witches for illness and misfortune. Read more: dailymail.co.uk

Celebrate the magic of Samhain in Salem.

Thanks for stopping by,

Lisa

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References:

  • Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac
  • Llewellyn’s 2016 Moon Sign Book: Conseious Living by the cycles of the moon
  • Catherine Yronwode: Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic
  • Paul Beyerl: A Compendium of Herbal Magick
  • Scott Cunningham: Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of magical herbs

The Witchy Moon, Magic, and News

Thursday, June 23rd, 2016

Thursday, June 23, 2016: The moon phase is Waning Gibbous in the zodiac sign Aquarius.

Element: Air
Color: Turquoise
Incense: Jasmine (see below for magical uses)

Garden Activities:

  • Plow, Cultivate, and weed
  • Harvest fruits and root crops
  • Hill up parsnips and carrots
  • Plant out asparagus crowns

Herbal Magic – Jasmine

(Jasminum officinale, Jamsminum grandiflorum, Jasminum odoratissimum)

Folk Names: Anbar, Jessamin, Moonlight on the Grove, Peot’s Jessamine, Yasmin

Deities: Diana, Vishnu

Planet: Moon (Fertility, Healing, Peace, Prophetic Dreams, Sleep)

Element: Water (Fidelity, Friendship, Healing, Love, Meditation, Prophetic Dreams, Purification, sleep)

Gender: Masculine

Powers: Love, Money, Prophetic Dreams


Photo By snopek

Lore: Jasmine is associated with the feminine and maternal aspect of the Divine Universe. It was held as a sacred herb of Diana of Ephesus, Quan Yin, and the Virgin Mary. Jasmine corresponds well with the High Priestess and the four nine cards in the Tarot.

Magical and Ritual Uses:

  • For Love: Dried Jasmine flowers are added to sachets, charms and incense to attract a spiritual love.
  • For Money: The flowers will bring wealth and money if carried, burned or worn. It’s beautiful aroma is soothing and helps to lift spirits. Dreaming of Jasmine is said to foretell good fortune and good news for lovers.
  • For prophetic dreams: Burn in the bedroom.
  • For Creativity: Store Jasmine and Quartz crystals together to promote new and creative ideas.
  • Use in rituals when you wish to conjure the feminine properties of the Moon.
  • Jasmine is excellent to burn during meditation.
  • Dress and burn a candle with the oil for Psychic protection and health to one’s aura.

News:

Branded witches and cursed by spirits, Kenyan widows ousted from land
NAIROBI, June 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Juma Kalume Musunye’s six grandchildren beat her until she fell to the ground crying, and then doused her in petrol, claiming she had used witchcraft to paralyse their mother’s hands.

“They wanted to kill me,” said the 65-year-old widow who lives on Kenya’s coast, where the Mijikenda people traditionally blame witches for illness and misfortune.

“My son told them I had bewitched his wife.”

Hearing her screams, Musunye’s neighbours rushed out and rescued her.

“I am really bitter,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation ahead of International Widows’ Day on Thursday.

“I am old, my health is not good and my children do not care about me.”

Musunye was speaking by phone from Kaya Godoma, a centre set up in 2008 to care for elderly people ousted by their relatives. Read full story – dailymail.co.uk

Portsmouth medium jailed as a witch for ‘predicting’ sinking of battleship
My recent picture of HMS Barham leaving Portsmouth Harbour in the 1930s reminded Calum Kennedy of the unusual connection between the battleship, Portsmouth and witchcraft.

He recalls that in November 1941 Helen Duncan, a Scottish spiritual medium, held a séance at the Master Temple Psychic Centre, a room above Homers drug store at 301 Copnor Road, Copnor. During the séance Duncan indicated that HMS Barham had been sunk. Read full story – portsmouth.co.uk

Thanks for stopping by,

Lisa

References:

  • Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac
  • Llewellyn’s 2016 Moon Sign Book: Conseious Living by the cycles of the moon
  • Catherine Yronwode: Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic
  • Paul Beyerl: A Compendium of Herbal Magick
  • Scott Cunningham: Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of magical herbs

The Witchy Moon, Magic, and News

Tuesday, June 21st, 2016

Tuesday, June 21, 2016: The moon phase is Waning Gibbous in the zodiac sign Capricorn.

Element: Earth:
Color: Black
Incense: Cinnamon (see below for magical uses)

Garden Activity:

  • Plant potatoes and tubers
  • Trim to retard growth
  • Pick mushrooms
  • Prune to promote healing
  • Mow lawn

Herbal Magic – Cinnamon

Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, C. verum

Folk Names: Ceylon cinnamon, Sweet Wood

Deities: Aphrodite, Venus

Element: Fire (Courage, Exorcism, Health, Lust, Strength, Protection)

Planet: Sun (Healing Legal Matters, Protection)

Power: Healing, Love, Lust, Power, Psychic Powers, Spirituality, Success


Photo by Dennis Brekke

Lore: Cinnamon was burned to purify temples in ancient China. It also promotes health, vigor and libido.

Magical and Ritual Uses:

  • For Love: Add to oils, powders, and mojo bags.
  • Cleansing Incense: Mix with Frankincense, Myrrh, Camphor, and Sandalwood, burn every day for 14 days to purify your home. The insencse can also be used to smudge the body or gifts received from unknown parties or the dead.
  • To Draw money: Place three Cinnamon sticks with Fast Luck oil in a green bag, add Nutmeg with money drawing oils. Place in an amulet for good fortune
  • When burned as an Incense: Aids in healing, concentration, high spiritual vibrations, stimulates psychic powers, and enhances protective vibrations.

News

Summer solstice events and pagan sites around Britain
The summer solstice festival continues until June 21 on the campsite set closest to Stonehenge, and visitors can enjoy free access to the sacred site to celebrate the summer solstice from tonight at 7pm until 8am tomorrow (sunrise will be at 4.45am). Offerings include various food stands, a real ale bar and cider festival, as well as fire twisters and musical entertainment by night. Read full story – telegraph.co.uk

On the Summer Solstice, it’s not just neo-pagans like me who should be reconnecting with the natural world
We have a deep and undeniable relationship with nature – from the fact that our bodies naturally wake up when they see sunlight, to our tendency and need to live beside water, to the spooky fact that the menstrual cycle is the same length as the lunar month. Read full story – independent.co.uk

French woman accused of murdering daughter on beach blames witchcraft
A French woman who left her baby daughter to drown on a beach blamed “witchcraft” when she went on trial for murder on Monday.

Fabienne Kabou, 39, who was described as having “remarkable intelligence … but subject to irrational beliefs”, travelled to Berck-sur-Mer with her only child, Adélaïde, in November 2013. Read full story - theguardian

Thanks for stopping by,

Lisa

References:

  • Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac
  • Llewellyn’s 2016 Moon Sign Book: Conseious Living by the cycles of the moon
  • Catherine Yronwode: Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic
  • Paul Beyerl: A Compendium of Herbal Magick
  • Scott Cunningham: Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of magical herbs

The Witchy Moon, Magic, and News

Friday, June 3rd, 2016

Friday, June 3, 2016: The moon phase is fourth quarter (waxing), it falls under the zodiac sign Taurus until entering Gemini  at 11:01 PM EST.

Activity:

  • Mow lawn, destroy weeds, and pests
  • Harvest fruit and root crops

Element: Air
Color: Pink
Incense: Thyme

Herbal Magic – Thyme

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

Folk Names: Common Thyme, Garden

Powers: Health, Healing, Sleep, Psychic Powers, Love, Purification, Courage


Photo by H Flannery

Thyme is a perennial shrub, and a member of the mint family. With over a hundred varieties, the most common being garden and lemon Thyme.

The Greeks used Thyme “to make a burnt offering.”  In the Middle Ages, Europeans placed it under pillows to promote sleep and ward off nightmares. Women would also give the leaves to knights to bring courage. Thyme was also placed on coffins and burned as incense during funerals to send one into the next life.

Deities: Ares, Fairies, Mars

Gender: Feminine

Element: Water (Dreams, Fidelity, Friendships, Healing, Love, Meditation, Prophetic Dreams, Purification, Sleep)

Planet: Venus (Beauty, Fidelity, Friendships, Good Fortune, Love, Money, youth)

Magical and Ritual Uses:

  • To stop nightmares or have prophetic dreams: Place beneath your pillow, or burn on charcoal and take in the aroma. (it is also great for meditation)
  • For Money: Plant THYME in the garden. Fold a dollar bill around THYME leaves, then fold again to make a packet, tie it up, and bury it on a full moon at the middle of a crossroads.
  • Growing various types of THYME: Encourages the devas to be lively.
  • To see Fairies: Carry in an amulet or sachet.
  • Money-Protection: Combine THYME, MINT, and BAYBERRY.
  • For purification: Burn prior to a ritual to cleanse the area. In spring, make a cleansing bath composed of MARJORAM and THYME to ensure all the sorrows and ills of the past are removed.
  • THYME is also carried and smelled to give courage and energy.
  • For good health: Thyme is burned or worn in an amulet. It is excellent in healing spells.
  • It is also used to communicate with friends and relatives who have passed.  THYME can be most useful on SAMHAIN.

Entertainment

The Conjuring 2: Movie Review
Between the fantastic talent of and chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, and the vision of James Wan, The Conjuring 2 demonstrates incredible potential for the emerging franchise. Real full story – cinemablend.com

News

First shamanism museum opens in Seoul
South Korea’s first shamanism museum, located at Geumseongdang Shrine, opened its doors in Eunpyeong-gu, northwestern Seoul last week.

The shrine, close in style to the traditional Korean house, or hanok, was founded to appease the spirit of Prince Geumseong (1426-1457), who was ordered a lethal dose of poison upon charges of trying to reinstate the deposed King Danjong. Read full story - asiaone.com

Blogspot

References:

  • Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac
  • Llewellyn’s 2016 Moon Sign Book: Conseious Living by the cycles of the moon
  • Catherine Yronwode: Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic
  • Paul Beyerl: A Compendium of Herbal Magick
  • Paul Huson: Mastering Herbalism: A Practical Guide
  • Scott Cunningham: Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of magical herbs

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessed weekend!

Lisa

News & Submissions – 8/8/2013

Thursday, August 8th, 2013

Entertainment:

Coven Season Three: ‘American Horror Story’
Details About ‘Coven’ Season Three: ‘American Horror Story’

Ryan Murphy revealed the set up for the next installment of “American Horror Story” during a Friday night event for Emmy voters. Coven will be a massive witch-off: Salem versus voodoo.

“The witches of Salem, the smart ones, got out very early and they were none of the ones who were burned,” Murphy explained. “They all gravitated toward New Orleans, where they now live, and every generation has a great witch who has the most powers of them all, and that’s called the Supreme. Ms. Jessica Lange is the Supreme.” Read full story – au.ibtimes.com

Books:

Out of the Broom Closet, into the Rave: ‘Pop Pagans: Paganism and Popular Music’
Paganism and popular music share a love of physicality. Rooting this scholarly anthology not in beliefs constructed by modern society referring to nature, but arising rather from earth’s own manifestations by cultural contexts, co-editor Donna Weston introduces 13 contributions to the study of Pagans and music now. (The capitalization is significant: convention prefers a “P” for modern followers and a “p” for pre-Christian adherents.) Read full story – popmatters.com

News:

Witchcraft-accused force-fed human excreta
PARSA, AUG 07 – A single woman in Bishrampur-1 in the district was allegedly thrashed and force-fed human excreta on the charge of practising witchcraft , police said.

According to police, Devmati Chaurasiya, Lalchuni Chaurasiya and the latter’s son Manjaya, who beat 65-year-old Saraswoti Devi Chaurasiya on Tuesday evening, are arrested for necessary investigation.

However, local resident Bijaya Chaurasiya, who was also reportedly involved in the incident, is at large. Read full story – ekantipur.com

My Mother the Witch
what if your mother were a witch? Do you think she would have done things a bit differently from other mothers? Based on my experience, you would be right…

My mother Maggie, as she likes to be called, has referred to herself as a witch for a couple of decades now — at least since she was in her early 70s. That was around the time she started adding 8,000 years to the date: She would date her letters to me 9989 instead of 1989 and 9992 instead of 1992, to signal that she was reckoning time from the estimated beginning of Goddess worship. Nowadays, at 92 years young, she talks about the Goddess often, keeps an altar with a Goddess statue from Malta, and regularly wears a large pentacle around her neck. Read full storyhuffingtonpost.com

Slippery Spells: Gay-Inclusive Curriculum Leads To Witchcraft Says South Carolina Teacher
A South Carolina teacher is making the rounds on the anti-gay circuit for his wild claims about homosexuality in the classroom. Last week the infamous Fox News contributor and American Family Association radio host Sandy Rios — who last week compared the love two gay men feel to the “love” kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro felt for the women he kept captive as slaves in his home — talked with Ira Thomas, a South Carolina teacher.

Thomas told Rios that a gay-inclusive curriculum is harmful to children, and said “it’s like teaching people about how to use crack.” Read full story -thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

Mother told she can’t pray on grounds of Concord High School
CONCORD, N.H. —A mother has been told she can no longer pray on the grounds of Concord High School.

During the school year, Lizarda Urena, the mother of two students, prayed out loud on the steps of the school as students walked in.

Urena said she had a calling in 2011 to fight school violence with prayer, so she started praying on the steps of the auditorium between 7 and 7:15 a.m. as students filtered in. Read full story - wcvb.com

Woman charged in Globe crash threatened voodoo hex, police say
BOSTON —A police report says an Everett woman accused of being drunk when her car rammed a newspaper delivery truck on a Boston highway, sending it plummeting 40 feet to the ramp below, threatened to put a voodoo hex on the arresting officer.

Police say 25-year-old Vivencia Bellegarde struck the Boston Globe truck on Interstate 93 at about 3:15 a.m. Monday. The driver, Paul Healy Jr. of Brockton, was listed in fair condition at a hospital on Tuesday. Read full story - wcvb.com

Paranormal:

Couple says app lets the iPhone communicate with ghosts
INDIANAPOLIS STAR – Those thumps and bumps in the night, or the item that mysteriously falls from a shelf, are more than coincidence and may be signs the spirit world is trying to communicate. At least that’s what a Greenwood, Ind., couple is banking on.

Ghost hunters Roger Pingleton and Jill Beitz, founders of StreamSide Software, have developed an iPhone app they say gives the dead a voice.

In developing the Spirit Story Box app (99 cents to download at the Apple app store; there is no Android version), Pingleton said his goal was to improve on other paranormal apps for the iPhone. Read full story – KSDK.com

Blogspot:

Thanks for stopping by!

Lisa

News & Submissions – 8/6/2013

Tuesday, August 6th, 2013

News:

Bedfordshire kids taken by social services over card game, claim parents
A PAGAN couple claim a game of dungeons and dragons led social services to take their kids away after the authority equated it with ‘witchcraft’.

The Bedfordshire pair, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of their two daughters, say they have been persecuted for their beliefs and claim social services accused them of ‘devil worship’.

They are due to appear in court for the custody of the children in September after they were taken into foster care around 18 months ago. Read full story bedfordshire-news.co.uk

Mbozi man killed, wife injured over witchcraft
THREE people, including an old man who was butchered by unidentified people on suspicion of witchcraft at Lumbila Village, Mbozi District in Mbeya Region, died in spearate incidents over the weekend.

Mbeya Regional Police Commander (RPC), Diwani Athumani, said that the old man, Msawile Halinga (70) was stabbed to deathe by unidentified people, saying the suspects also wounded his wife Esther Mgala Mgala (60). “The deceased’s wife was taken to Mbozi District Hospital for medical treatment after she sustained multiple wounds on her body,” said the RFC. Read full story dailynews.co.tz

Police arrest man suspected of killing elderly persons over witchcraft
Kilifi,Kenya: Kilifi police are holding a man they claim is the killer behind ten deaths since 2004 in Ganze District.

His victims have been the elderly or people suspected of practising sorcery and police said he killed them “after being paid”. They added that he about to wipe out a family when he was nabbed.

But it is not clear why the suspect has been held without charge since July 18 or if police have sought court permission to continue holding him. Read full story from StandardDigital

Mysterious pentagram etched into remote Kazakhstan field explained
A mysterious pentagram discovered by satellites etched into a remote corner of northern Kazakhstan, baffling and mystifying viewers around the world has been explained — and it couldn’t be further from the Gates of Hell.

The massive 1,200 feet in diameter pentagram just 12 miles west of the city of Lisakovsk has been identified as the remnants of a former Soviet-era summer camp whose grounds are said to have never been completed. Read full story nydailynews.com

Paranormal:

Ghostly reputation makes house a tough sale
WILKES-BARRE – For sale: Two-story single family home on South Welles Street, complete with washer, dryer, kitchen appliances – and ghosts.

Stacey Evans and her husband, Matt, are trying to sell her mother’s house, but they’re afraid its long-standing reputation as haunted might hinder the sale.

Enter investigators from nonprofit, Luzerne County based Deadline Paranormal to find out for sure.

On Sunday evening the house at 46 S. Welles St. swarmed with human activity as investigators placed cameras, recorders and assorted other electronic devices throughout both floors and the basement in order to check for paranormal activity. Read full story citizensvoice.com

Media:

Life After Death – Documentary (Source: YouTube - TheRevivalChannel)

Blogspot:

  • LLEWELLYN – 10 Reasons to Help a Ghost Cross Over
  • Mooncircles – Leo New Moon: The Divine Child Within
  • The Wild Hunt - Pagan Voices: Courtney Weber, Gus DiZerega, Lupa, Arthur Pendragon, and More!
Thanks for stopping by!

Lisa

News & Submissions 9/18/2012

Tuesday, September 18th, 2012

Pagan Pride 2012:

Pagan Pride festival dispels myths
Amanda Hyde admits it was the spells and rituals that drew her to paganism as a rebellious teenager. But more than a decade later, that shock value has long subsided.

“There are a lot of misconceptions,” she laughed.

For 10 years now, Hyde has organized Pagan Pride Day in Hamilton as a chance to celebrate their beliefs and give outsiders a glimpse into their lifestyle to dispel the myths.

“A lot of people think of pagan people as fringe folk. But you come here and you meet teachers, police officers, government workers…” she said of the volunteer-run event. Read full story from metronews.ca

UConn students display Pagan pride on Fairfield Way
The first Pagan Pride Day took place on Fairfield Way Saturday afternoon in order to educate students about the Pagan beliefs and make the community aware of their presence on campus.

Sponsored by the Pagan Organization of Diverse Spirituality (PODS) they manage to attract a few people in and out of the event who were curious enough to learn more about the different religions that were represented. Each stand had their own unique religion that branches off from the Pagan religion. The beliefs ranged from Troth to Witchcraft and Wiccan and each stand handed out information on them. Read full story from dailcampus.com

Arts & Entertainment:

Why Witches Will Replace Hollywood’s Obsession With Zombies & Vampires
Maybe you’ve noticed something in Hollywood when it comes to action and horror movies; they jump on the popularity of a trend faster than you walked out of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. We’ve already been treated to a debacle of 80s cartoon remakes, with Transformers, G.I. Joe, The Smurfs, and a new Ninja Turtles reboot headed our way, courtesy of Michael Bay. But Hollywood, faithful as you’d expect to deliver what the people want, goes beyond that.

When a zombie movie is released to major success, a multitude of zombie films randomly appear to be thrust into screens everywhere. After Danny Boyle’s 2002 feature 28 Days Later, we were treated with Resident Evil, House of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Dawn of the Living Dead, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Shaun of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, Zombieland…you get the point. The fact is, we saw a whole lot more big budget zombie flicks after the success of one, and it’s not just a case of the undead. Read full story from whatculture.com

News:

Pagans practice, live in hiding in Wyo.
LARAMIE, Wyo. – - Becca Haskins has “the best job in the world,” she says, working in a lab at a Powder River Basin coal mine.

For that, she thanks her faith – paganism.

Before Haskins got the job, she performed a spell with candles. Then everything fell into place.

Haskins is 22, lives in Gillette and applies her faith as a “solitary practitioner,” meaning she is not affiliated with a group.

Among pagans, Wyoming is a state of solitary practitioners, the result of low population, wide spaces between cities and towns and dozens of pagan sects. The exception is Laramie, which has the Wolf Tree Kindred. Read full story from standard.net

Man ‘used witchcraft to traffic children’ for prostitution
An alleged people trafficker cut the chest of a vulnerable 14-year-old girl with a razor during a series of “juju” witchcraft rituals aimed at terrifying young recruits into silence before selling them into prostitution across Europe, a court heard yesterday.

Osezua Osolase recruited and raped impoverished young Nigerian orphans and forced them to undergo West African rituals in which hair, nails and blood were removed to “cast a spell” over them and ensure their obedience, Canterbury Crown Court was told. Read full story from indpendent.co.uk

Witchcraft at Fourah Bay
Two boys of No. 3 Foster Street, at the Fourah Bay community, East of the capital on Thursday, September 13th openly confessed of practicing wizardry, after being conjured by a witch doctor called, Umaru Kamara, a native of Yoni Bana Chiefdom.

The eldest of the confessors named Osman Njai and his cousin, Amidu Savage, 13 and 12 years old respectively, confessed to a mammoth crowd of family members and relatives including journalists and people of that community that they were responsible for the multiple mishaps facing their family relatives in the spirit realm. Read full story from sierraexpressmedia.com

Media:

Witch claims discrimination at local doctor’s office (Source: kplctv.com)

KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana

Rosh Hashanah: Science vs Religion (Source: YouTube - Tr3Bel0cita)

Blogspot:

  • PaganDad – Review of Pagan Parenting in the NICU – An Ebook
  • Patti Wiginton – Mabon Countdown: Honoring the Dark Mother

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!

Lisa

News & Submissions 9/06/2012

Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Arts & Entertainment:

Trailer: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton Hunt Down Witches in ‘Hansel and Gretel’
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters has been kicking around for a while now. With the summer movie season officially over, we get our first look at the re-imagined take starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton in the title roles. Read full story from fandango.com

News:

Woman Killed and Burned in Colombia over Suspected Witchcraft
A woman suspected of practicing witchcraft was murdered and her body burned over the weekend in the Colombian town of Santa Barbara.María Berenice Martínez’s naked body was found inside her house with blows to the skull, her hair ripped out and burn marks, according to Colombian press reports. The killers had tied the door shut with a rope so she couldn’t escape.

After killing Martinez, the murderers took her hair and some photos to the patio and set them on fire as her six dogs barked at them.

Police suspect two men of committing the crime, though Martinez’s sister—also named María—says more people may have known about the plot. Read full story from foxnews.com

As autumn starts to draw in, thoughts turn to the pagans of our ancient past
The nights are growing longer and on many trees the leaves are slowly turning from green to gold, heralding the arrival of autumn. We seem to have missed out on the season of summer this year and crops of fruit and grain are poor at a time when they should be in abundance. Good hay is virtually unobtainable but the wrapped round bale has allowed us to at least salvage a fodder crop of some sort. The summer we have just endured reminded me of a passage in David Thomson’s book Woodbrook, when he wrote of helping to make hay in a wet season in Roscommon in the 1930s. Read full story from independent.ie

Federal safety minister hexes job posting for prison witch in B.C.
VANCOUVER — Public Safety Minister Vic Toews appears less concerned about the quality of spells cast from behind bars than he is about a backlash from taxpayers, cancelling a Corrections Canada tender for a priest to nurture the spiritual needs of witches in prison.

Earlier this week, the federal prison agency put out a request for a proposal for a Wiccan chaplain in British Columbia who would provide about 17 hours of service a month, about an hour less service than the department says it needs for the Jewish faith. Read full story from vancouversun.com

Paranormal:

‘Paranormal Activity’ producer branches out into haunted houses
In the underground dressing room of a dilapidated theater in downtown Los Angeles, a Hollywood art director is telling a chilling tale.”It was closing night in the 1930s, and the owner’s wife desperately wanted to be the magician’s assistant,” said Thom Spence, a burly man with two earrings, long sideburns, a mustache and a soul patch. “But after Magi the Mysterious put her in the vanishing box, she never came back.”

In less than a month that story will come to life at the 88-year-old Variety Arts Theatre under the direction of film producer Jason Blum — not as a play, movie or TV show, but as a haunted house. Read full story from latimes.com

‘Ghost Hunters’ production crewmembers miss Grant Wilson
Members of the production crew for “Ghost Hunters” expressed their feelings about Grant Wilson’s departure from the show via Twitter after the debut of the first show without him on Sept. 5.

Hagar, the camerawoman for Amy Bruni and Adam Berry, made an unexpected appearance on the show last night after being attacked and scratched by an invisible entity – but this didn’t go unnoticed by Grant Wilson.

Grant contacted Hagar this morning via Twitter to congratulate her on her appearance on “Ghost Hunters” after receiving a tweet from her telling him how much he was missed. Read full story from examiner.com

Media:

Britain’s religious clash with secular society (Source: YouTube - Al Jazeera English)

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!

Lisa

News & Submissions 9/4/2012

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

Arts & Entertainment:

New movie in production based on Rose Hall’s ‘White Witch’ legend
Albany pagans looking for future films related to witchcraft and the occult will definitely have some entertainment to look forward to next year. According to an article appearing in the “Jamaica Observer,” a new thriller film called, “The Rebellion: The Legend of the White Witch of Rose Hall,” is slated for production and release in 2013. The movie will be produced by Raquel Roxanne, directed by Rodrigo Retamoza III, and written by Nadine Barnett Cosby. The film will be based on the famed and haunted history at the Rose Hall Great House in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Read full story from examiner.com

The Sims 3 Supernatural Review: Witches, Fairies, Werewolves And Magic
With vampires, bots, imaginary friends and other strange beings brought into our Sims 3 communities thanks to previously released expansion packs for EA’s game, it’s hard to imagine things getting any weirder around the neighborhood. And then comes Supernatural, an expansion pack that unleashes a few new types of beings into the world, giving the player new ways to play the game, and new powers for their Sims to use and abuse at their discretion.

The following review contains spoilers, details and screenshots from the Sims 3: Supernatural expansion pack. It is based on game-play with a Macbook Pro with OS X Mountain Lion. This game is an expansion pack and requires the base game in order to play. Read full story from cinemablend.com

Education:

Aliens, witchcraft and zombie philosophers: 8 unconventional courses at University of Michigan
University of Michigan sparked a national debate nine years ago when the school offered a course titled “How to be Gay.”Last year, Michigan State University raised eyebrows when it offered a course called “Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse.”

This fall, U-M doesn’t seem to be offering courses quite as controversial or off-the-wall as those two, but the school definitely has a few oddballs sprinkled in its course packet.

The unconventional offerings include courses that explore whether aliens really exist, whether Robin Hood was real and what famous thinkers would be saying and doing if they were alive today. Read full story from annarbor.com

Lifestyle:

Beyond the surreal
A career Wicca, Ipsita Roy Chakraverti is on a mission to dispel myths surrounding witchcraft and save the lives of women victimised by superstitionFor Ipsita Roy Chakraverti, the world of the paranormal and metaphysical is not some make-believe hocus pocus, or the stuff that scripts sensational television drama. It is her life’s work. A popular Wicca, or witch in lay terms, she not only administers Wiccan ways of healing, but has also made it her mission to travel to remote villages across India, especially where innocent women are declared witches and then murdered, to dispel myths about “witchcraft”. Read full story from thehindu.com

News:

Ghana witch camps: Widows’ lives in exile
When misfortune hits a village, there is a tendency in some countries to suspect a “witch” of casting a spell. In Ghana, outspoken or eccentric women may also be accused of witchcraft – and forced to live out their days together in witch camps.A rusty motorbike speeds across the vast dry savannah of Ghana’s impoverished northern region, leaving a cloud of reddish dust in its wake. Arriving at a small group of round thatched huts, the young motorcyclist helps his old mother to dismount to begin her new life in exile.

Frail 82-year-old Samata Abdulai has arrived at the village of Kukuo, one of Ghana’s six witch camps, where women accused of witchcraft seek refuge from beating, torture or lynching. Read full story from standardmedia.co.ke

Witch hunts targeted by grassroots women’s groups
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Witch hunts are common and sometimes deadly in the tea plantations of Jalpaiguri, India. But a surprising source – small groups of women who meet through a government loan program – has achieved some success in preventing the longstanding practice, a Michigan State University sociologist found.Soma Chaudhuri spent seven months studying witch hunts in her native India and discovered that the economic self-help groups have made it part of their agenda to defend their fellow plantation workers against the hunts.

“It’s a grassroots movement and it’s helping provide a voice to women who wouldn’t otherwise have one,” said Chaudhuri, assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice. “I can see the potential for this developing into a social movement, but it’s not going to happen in a day because an entire culture needs to be changed.”  Read full story from news.msu.edu

Media:

Christians take discrimination cases to Europe’s top court (Source: CNN)

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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!

Lisa

News & Submissions 8/07/2012

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

Archaeology:

A ROMAN SHIPWRECK IN THE ANCIENT PORT OF ANTIBES
A team of archaeologists from Inrap have uncovered a Roman shipwreck in southern France, in what was once part of the bustling ancient port of Antibes.

Antibes was known as Antipolis, a Greek colony originally founded by the Phoenicians of Massalia. The date of its origin is uncertain, but situated on the coast of Provence, Antipolis occupied a privileged position on the sea routes linking Marseilles to the Italian coast and contained a natural harbour – Anse Saint-Roch – which protected shipping from prevailing winds. Read full story from pasthorizonspr.com

News:

Possible da Vinci painting found in Scottish farmhouse; could be worth $150 million
Fiona McLaren, 59, had kept an old painting in her Scottish farmhouse for decades. She reportedly didn’t think much of the painting, which had been given to her as a gift by her father. But after she finally decided to have the painting appraised, some experts are speculating that it may in fact be a 500-year-old painting by Leonardo da Vinci and potentially worth more than $150 million. Read full story from yahoo.com

Paranormal:

Witch Claims That The Loch Ness Monster Is Actually A Ghost
Kevin Carlyon, a ‘white witch’ and official ‘Protector of Loch Ness and the Loch Ness Creature’ is planning on holding a mass seance at the famous Scottish site in order to make contact with ‘Nessie’ who he believes is a ghost.

Carylon named himself as protector of Nessie after he cast a spell over Loch Ness which would prevent Swedish ‘monster hunter’ Jan Sundberg from capturing the mythical beast when he visited the Loch in 2001 on a Nessie hunt. The pair have since traded insults via email in an ongoing feud which lead to Sundberg threatening to cut Carylon an extra “asshole” and shove his head through it. Carylon responded by outing Sundberg as a convicted child molester. Read full story from themorningstarr.co.uk

Former owner of haunted Oaklands Mansion identifies himself in EVP
Oaklands Mansion in Laurel, MD, dates from 1732 and was once a prosperous plantation on over 1,000 acres. Through the years, it’s sheltered a number of different families. The Staggers family purchased it in the 1920’s and it’s still owned by a descendant today.

This once magnificent mansion, which now sits in the middle of a modern housing development in Price George’s County, has fallen into disrepair. Restoring it to its former glory is a labor of love for the owner, who has boyhood memories of visiting the house. His memories include imported Persian rugs on the gleaming hardwood floors, the elegant flocked velvet wallpaper and crystal chandelier in the dining room, and the large working fireplaces. In its day, Oaklands Mansion must have epitomized the opulent lifestyle of the southern aristocracy. Read full story from Examiner.com

Media:

Explaining Sikhism (Source: CNN)

Pat Robertson Blames Atheists for Sikh Temple Shooting (Source: YouTube – RWWblog)

Close-knit mosque community shaken by fire (Source: CNN)

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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