Posts Tagged ‘Occult’

Sunday Morning Post

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Aleister Crowley’s influence on Colin Batley and his followers
A WELSH expert on the occult said Colin Batley and his disciples weren’t true followers of satanist Aleister Crowley – they were just perverts.

Oxford-educated Mogg Morgan, of Newport, who runs Mandrake Publishing, said Batley and his followers just blamed the notorious writer for their own moral failings.

At their homes in Clos yr Onnen, Kidwelly, Batley and his followers laminated copies of texts by Crowley, who died in 1947, so they could be read out.

Crowley, who established his own cult called Thelema, was known as the “Great Beast”. His favourite saying was: “Do what though wilt”.

His fans claim Crowley’s bisexuality, fascination with the occult and use of drugs was just a rebellion against the socially rigid conventions of his time. And he has been cited as an influence by famous figures including Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, who bought Crowley’s former home and set up an occult bookshop and publishing house which reprinted some of his writings. Read full story from walesonline.co.uk

Move over Charlie Sheen, meet Wales’ real-life warlock
Move over Charlie Sheen… meet a real warlock.

Hollywood’s bad-boy star may have made headlines declaring himself a tiger-blood drinking warlock, but Llangollen’s Cerwyn Jones is the real deal.

The 52-year-old father-of- three, who carries a five-inch ceremonial knife for moonlight rituals, this week appeared in a North Wales court because his blade was seen as an offensive weapon.

Sympathetic magistrates accepted he was a genuine follower of the religion of Wicca – or white witchcraft – and agreed to lift the nighttime curfew imposed as a punishment whenever there is a full moon.

Jones told Wales on Sunday he discovered his faith during four years living in a tent at the stunning Horseshoe Pass near his home in Llangollen.

Speaking at his house surrounded by his neo-pagan imagery, including a pentacle, his holly wood staff, a carving of the lord of the woods and dressed in his pilgrim’s garb, he said the fundamental basis of his belief was to harm no-one, and that he spent his time peering into other people’s dreams. Read full story from walesonline.co.uk

Martha Corey
Who are you? Bonita McCoy, 60, South Heidelberg Township, a registered nurse and director of the surgical technology program at the Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences.

Who are you portraying? Martha Corey (1630-1692), a respected member of Salem, Mass., society and of the local church.

Why is this woman historically significant? In early 1692, three women were accused of witchcraft by young girls in the town. These women were perceived as social outcasts, misfits, and were not members of the church. However, Martha Corey was a respected citizen.

She was critical of the young girls and had the audacity to publicly and vehemently denounce the witch trials and the judges involved in the hearings.

Corey was then accused of witchcraft by the girls on March 11, 1692. She was tried and convicted of witchcraft and was hanged Sept. 22, 1692. Read full story from readingeagle.com+

‘Ghost’ forces Kondhwa school to shut
Sultan Shaikh of Kondhwa is not willing to send his children to school. The children say they are scared to even step into the school as they feel it is haunted. Last Monday, almost all students of Lady Haleema Begum Urdu School, Kondhwa, fled after what they claim was supernatural activity in school. Read full story from indianexpress.com

Dear St Patrick . . . Love, Ireland
Dear St Patrick – First of all, congratulations on 1,600 years of achievement. You’re probably in the top five most famous saints worldwide. Dublin has expanded your feast day into a week-long festival. You still stop traffic on Fifth Avenue every March 17th. And all this despite the fact that you were never formally canonised.

You even have a cross named after you: the red diagonal one on the Union Jack. My sources tell me that a saint normally had to be martyred, like George and Andrew, to earn such an honour, whereas, by all accounts, you died of natural causes. In one version you were 119 at the time. Anyway, I’m not asking how you got the rules bent. Just well done.

The success of your global brand aside, there’s bad news too. Paganism has made a big comeback in Ireland, although you’ll be glad to know that, except at certain music festivals and anti-motorway protests, druids are a thing of the past. Is it true, by the way, that the “snakes” you banished were just a metaphor for the druids’ serpentine symbols, or did Wikipedia make that up? Read full story from isrishtimes.com+

Court allows ‘warlock’ out to break curfew on full moon nights to perform Wicca ritual
For  a warlock who worships the goddess of the moon,  curfews can be a bit of a hindrance.

So when Cerwyn Jones found himself being punished by a court for carrying a five-inch ceremonial knife in a pub he was quick to plead special Wiccan circumstances.

The 52-year-old was sentenced to four months of staying indoors between the hours of 7pm and 7am.

But magistrates agreed to suspend the order on four nights after hearing he needed to go out during a full moon to practise his Wicca faith.

Wicca – or white witchcraft – is a neo-pagan religion which saw a resurgence in popularity in the 20th century.

Its followers believe the whole cosmos is alive and as such the waxing, waning and full moon are extremely important.

During the full moon, ‘magic’ ceremonies are performed and the gods and goddesses of Wicca are honoured. These ceremonies may be officiated by a chosen warlock and most groups meet at least once a month, timing celebrations to coincide with the full moon. Read full story from mailonline.co.uk

Where doomsday fears come from (source NECN)

Saturday Morning Post

Saturday, February 19th, 2011

Toronto’s one-stop Occult Shop
The next time you’re satisfying a serious ice-cream craving at Dutch Dreams on Vaughan Road, wander a little bit north and you’ll find a large, white building containing an inconspicuous store framed by clouded windows. The red, weather-beaten, wooden sign hanging above the entrance reads, “The Occult Shop,” and despite its humble facade, the store serves as a gathering place for a range of spiritual subcultures in Toronto.

Tamarra and husband Richard James (pictured at right) opened The Occult Shop in 1979 at a location on Queen Street West (where Doc’s Leathers & Motorcycle Gear now resides). After a few years of moving around, they finally settled into their current home at 109 Vaughan, where they dole out spiritual advice with their herbs, incense and candles.

“We make sure that we know our product really, really well,” says Richard, who, with Tamarra, also also founded the Wiccan Church of Canada (WCC) around the same time that they opened the store. The church’s headquarters and main temple—which holds open rituals every Sunday at 7pm—is housed in the same building as The Occult Shop. The James started the group partly because of customer demand, but also to educate people on this often misunderstood faith. The church currently has a satellite temple in Hamilton and around 100 members, although Richard points out that that number fluctuates. Read full story from eyeweekly.com

It’s a witch…It’s a boat…It’s Salem
These three words, together with a logo that can be seen as either a sailboat or witch hat, were unveiled yesterday as a new brand Salem will use to sell itself.

“We want this to be a tool for communication and for sharing what we are here in Salem,” said Kate Fox, executive director of Destination Salem.

A nonprofit funded by a combination of city money and advertising dollars, Destination Salem is charged with promoting the city and attracting visitors. The group paid Rattle, a Beverly advertising, design and marketing firm, $25,000 to create the logo and tag line.

When it was first shown at the end of a video about the city, the Salem business owners and managers who gathered in a Peabody Essex Museum auditorium broke into applause.

“I’m super excited about it,” Mayor Kim Driscoll said. “What it says to me is that the more we change and grow, in many respects, the more we stay the same.”

The dual-purpose logo acknowledges Salem’s popular “Witch City” identity but also celebrates its maritime roots. Read full story from salemnews.com

Norse code as Vikings return to York
WE’RE used to seeing the occasional blood-spattered Viking wandering the streets of York. But for nine days you won’t be able to move for axe-wielding Norsemen, even when you are doing the weekly shop in Monks Cross.

Next weekend they will even be rampaging across the racecourse.

The annual Jorvik Viking Festival starts today and this year hundreds of warriors will descend on the city to commemorate King Ethelred’s battle to capture York. Read full story from yorkpress.co.uk

Thomas Reed Interview: Part 2 (Conclusion) (Video)
Well everyone, here it is! The long awaited conclusion of the Thomas Reed Interview. It’s been a long time coming and it took quite a lot of editing to get it to a manageable length but I did it.The Reed Saga is quite extraordinary and I hope I was able to do it justice. In the conclusion we talk to Tom about his mid to late abductions as well as those of his brother Matt. We also were able to speak with Debbie Kauble and get her input as well as a video clip she took during a MUFON investigation of Matt’s SUV after his latest experience. Read full story from ghosttheory.com

Renowned atheist draws crowd at Nova Southeastern
t was more than an hour before the biology professor walked onto stage at Nova Southeastern University, but dozens of fans had already lined up Thursday night in hopes of getting in to hear his much-anticipated speech.

Universities are naturally magnets for academics to talk about their study, but this was no average scientist.

A sold-out crowd was already inside.

If it’s possible to conceive a God of the world of atheism and evolutionary biology, Richard Dawkins would be hard to beat for the title.

One of the most prolific atheists and secular humanists living today, he spoke on “The Fact of Evolution” and his stance against creationism in an hour-long chat that spanned topics from philosophy and theology to biology and gene mutation. Read full story from miamiheral.com

Rob Zombie Talks ‘The Lords of Salem’
Rob Zombie is touching on some of his inspirations for his next film “The Lords of Salem.”A co-production between Haunted Movies (“Insidious”) and Alliance Films, “The Lords of Salem” is written and directed by Zombie (“The Devil’s Rejects,” “Halloween”).

The film will center on contemporary Salem, where the residents encounter a 300-year-old coven of demonic witches.

“I’m going to probably start pre-production in March,” Zombie said in an interview with List.co.uk. “Hopefully I’ll shoot it around June. … ‘Lords of Salem’ is an original idea, it’s a new thing. Read full story from rabiddoll.com

Why Are Some Paranormal Beliefs More Attractive to Males While Others Are More Appealing to Females?
There are interesting differences between men and women on so-called “paranormal beliefs,” such as the belief in astrology, ESP, UFOs, Bigfoot, and ghosts. An abundance of research in the sociology of religion has found that women are more spiritual than men in a variety of ways. Women are more likely to belong to conventional religious organizations and hold traditional religious beliefs. They are also much more likely than men to believe in psychic powers, astrology, the power of mediums, and ghosts.

Men are more likely than women to believe that some UFOs are extraterrestrial craft and about equally likely to believe in creatures such as Bigfoot. Concerning an escalation of participation to the level of active research, men are also more likely than women to pursue these beliefs by becoming Bigfoot or UFO “hunters.”
These discrepancies indicate that men have a tendency to approach the paranormal differently from women. Men are more likely to see the paranormal as a means of discovery—i.e., they hope to capture Bigfoot to prove to others that it is (empirically) real. Females are more likely to see the paranormal as a source of personal discovery and enlightenment, a route to achieving a more thorough understanding of themselves and their relations to other people. Such lines of interest may also be pursued in the effort to “become a better person.” scienceandreligiontoday.com

Buying a new home? Add a touch of witchcraft (source necn)

Couple Finds Image of Jesus in Wooden Chair (source ktla)

News & Submissions

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Accused pig killer in trouble again
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) – The woman accused of killing and maiming two pigs, then leaving one of the pig’s heads on its owner’s front porch last week is in trouble again.

Police say 21-year-old Ashley Marie Fowler was arrested at her place of employment last Wednesday after they found evidence in her car linking her to a recent church burglary.

On February 9, just a day after the accused pig killings, Chesapeake police responded to the Northwest Baptist Church on Ballahack Road in reference to a burglary. Several items were taken from the church, according to police reports, including: three fire extinguishers and three wooden crosses. Read full story from wavy.com

Indonesian blasphemy law sparks Muslim violence in Java
Indonesia has been shocked this month by two outbreaks of religious violence on the island of Java, involving Muslim fundamentalists who attacked members of the Muslim Ahmadiyya sect and, in a separate incident, three Christian churches.

On 8 February an angry mob condemned a court in Temanggung for its “lenient” sentence against a Christian convicted of blasphemy. Antonius Banwengan, 58, was arrested last year for handing out a Christian book and leaflets poking fun at some of the most sacred Islamic symbols. The five-year prison sentence for blasphemy, the maximum allowed under Indonesian law for this type of offence, was not enough for the crowd. “Kill him,” chanted more than 1,000 demonstrators who attacked the building and police, threatening the judges and prosecutor, the accused and his counsel. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Fortune telling ordinance challenged
MERIDIAN — Sandy Mitchell stood in front of his computer Tuesday afternoon and pointed indignantly at the section of the city’s Web page that boasts of the historic Rose Hill Cemetery and its primary attraction, the side-by-side graves of the king and queen of the gypsies.

“They can use my family’s gravesite as a tourist attraction,” he said,” but they won’t let their descendants do business in the city.”

Mitchell is a Roma gypsy, a self-proclaimed descendant of Meridian’s famed Gypsy Queen Kelly Mitchell and King Emil Mitchell. He and his family have been reading palms and tarot just outside of Meridian for decades, but his repeated attempts to move his business inside the city limits have been denied —  fortune telling as a business has long been outlawed within the city limits.

Now, the Mississippi chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has challenged the constitutionality of the law, and the city council has declared a temporary moratorium on fortune telling. Read full story from Read full story from meridianstar.com

Make your own talisman
What, you may wonder, is a talisman? According to Dictionary.com it is:

1. a stone, ring, or other object, engraved with figures or characters supposed to possess occult powers and worn as an amulet or charm;

2. any amulet or charm.

3. anything whose presence exercises a remarkable or powerful influence on human feelings or actions; Read full story from journalgazette.com

The administration of magic
I love Harry Potter. I’ve read the books more times than is socially acceptable, and I have been to every midnight movie showing since “Order of the Phoenix.” But like any superfan, I have overanalyzed the Harry Potter universe many times, and I always wonder: Who pays for Hogwarts? Where do the professors get their salaries? If it’s apparently tuition-free, does the Ministry of Magic collect taxes from magical families?In the real world, it seems Romania, land of Transylvania and the largest concentration of Gypsies in Europe, has considered the taxation of witches.

In legislation aimed at helping finance Romania’s debt obligations, Romania reclassified witches and soothsayers as a “taxable profession” one month ago.  Read full story from idsnews.com

Evidence of slave life found at Eastern Shore estate
One day more than two centuries ago, a Maryland slave of West African descent took a smooth stone he had probably found in a plowed field and slid it between the bricks of a furnace he was building.The slave might have believed, as West Africa’s Yoruba culture held, that such stones had connections to Eshu-Elegba, the deity of fortune, and were left behind like mystical calling cards after a lightning strike.

The bond servant sealed the stone into the brickwork, where it would stay for generations, an artifact of the enslaved man as much as the god whose favor he sought.

On Monday, the University of Maryland unveiled, among other things, details of the stone’s discovery at the Wye House “orangery” – a jewel of European architecture, now found to have imprints of the slaves who built it. Read full story from washingtonpost.com

Dalai Lama’s nephew killed while walking road in Palm Coast
The nephew of the most recognized figure in Buddhism was killed Monday while walking along a Florida highway in an attempt to draw attention to the struggle of Tibetans to gain their independence fromChina.

Jigme Norbu, 45, of Bloomington, Ind., was the nephew of theDalai Lama. Norbu was walking along the white line on the side of the dark highway when he was struck and killed by an SUV about 7:30 p.m. on State Road A1A, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Norbu was struck by an SUV driven by Keith O’Dell, 31, of Palm Coast. O’Dell had two children with him in his vehicle at the time of the crash. They were not injured, and O’Dell was not charged.

Few other details about the crash were revealed. In September, a man was killed on a bicycle on the same highway.Read full story from orlandosentinel.com

Apostasy Now
In contemporary America, apostate is a casual term of derision used to describe someone who is in some vague way at odds with a party, as in Charles Krauthammer’s discussion of the two Republicans who gunned for the 2008 presidential nomination: “Giuliani’s major apostasy is being pro-choice on abortion. McCain’s apostasies are too numerous to count … . [On] tax cuts, immigration, campaign finance reform, Guantanamo he … opposed the conservative consensus.” Paul Waldman used the same metaphor in a recent post at the American Prospect blog: “the Republican Party takes a harsher view of apostasy than their Democratic counterparts.”

To risk splitting hairs: Krauthammer and Waldman should have invoked heresy, not apostasy. Heretics continue to claim identification with their religious community, even as they hold heterodox views. (Martin Luther, for example, was charged with heresy—he did not reject Christianity; he just had revolutionary ideas for reforming it.) The heretic might get thrown out, but she wants to belong, and indeed often claims to represent the authentic expression of the faith. An apostate, by contrast, rejects her faith and religious community altogether—like Paul Haggis, Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter of Crash. As Lawrence Wright describes at great length in his much discussedNew Yorker article, Haggis resigned from the Church of Scientology in 2009 over the church’s refusal to denounce California’s Proposition 8, which aimed to undo the state’s recognition of same-sex marriage. Read full story from slate.com

Nigeria’s celebrity preacher wants to save your soul
Dressed in simple trousers and a shirt and bowtie, Enoch Adeboye’s modest appearance belies the enormous influence and power he wields.The Nigerian pastor, known to his flock as “Daddy,” is one of the world’s most influential spiritual leaders. On any given night, he can draw more than a million to his service at Nigeria’s Redeemed Christian Church of God.

His fervent sermons, coupled with his magnetic personality, have turned the Pentecostal church into one of the fastest-growing evangelical congregations across the globe. Read full story from cnn.com

The World’s Worst Place to Be Gay? (source YouTube – TreVelocita)

News & Submissions 11/30/2010

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

Can Faith Slow Climate Change?
Give us all a reverence for the Earth as your own creation, that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others and to your honor and glory.

The prayer was recited regularly by a young Sally Bingham growing up in San Francisco.

Only years later, as an ordained Episcopal Church priest, did Bingham realize something was amiss with the childhood supplication. Read full story from scientificamerican.com

Headless Scorpio Seeking Answers
In a past life I was beheaded on the battlefield, and I’m unable to release my hatred towards the man who killed me. That’s the only professional explanation that I’ve received for my chronic upper back pain, and I’m not convinced of its validity. Thus far, my supernatural queries have failed to explain my life, yet I continue to consult the paranormal for answers.

The allure of the occult stems from my interest in explaining the vagaries of the world. My astrologist, Deb, who thankfully is also the chef at my fraternity house, attributes my fascination to the fact that I’m a Scorpio. She also tells me I should date a Pisces. Why a fish and a scorpion make a good combo is beyond me, but she’s my go-to gal for these matters. Read full story from cornellsun.com

Islands fear “end of history” due to climate changes
CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) – Some low-lying island nations face the “end of history” due to rising sea levels unless the world takes stronger action to slow global warming, a spokesman said at U.N. climate talks on Monday.

Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives were most at risk, said Antonio Monteiro Lima, a delegate of Cape Verde who is vice-chair of the 43-member Alliance of Small Island States. Read full story from Scientificamerican.com

7 Herbal Remedies You Already Have in Your Kitchen (PHOTOS)
Many people have asked me if I eat differently since writing “Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life” with Chinese medicine experts Yuan Wang, L.Ac., and Warren Sheir, L.Ac. The answer is “Yes, but not always in the way you might imagine.”

Some formerly exotic foods have become familiar (Lotus root? Bring it on!), but a larger shift involves the way I look at many of the ingredients that were already on my kitchen shelf.

Here are seven familiar foods and spices that I have come to appreciate for their therapeutic properties in the 3000-year-old East Asian tradition of treating — and preventing — physical ailments through diet. Read full story from huffingtonpost.com

Stonehenge ‘was built by rolling stones using giant wicker baskets’
It is one of the abiding mysteries of Britain’s Neolithic past.

For all the awe-inspiring wonder of the standing stones at Stonehenge no one has ever worked out how our ancient ancestors were able to heave boulders weighing many tonnes over such huge distances.

But now an engineer and former BBC presenter believes he has come up with a theory which explains how the giant stones were moved.

Garry Lavin believes that the engineers who built Stonehenge used wicker basket-work to ‘roll’ the huge boulders all the way from Wales to their present location. Read full story from dailymail.co.uk

Judge issues permanent injunction on Oklahoma Sharia law ban
A federal judge in Oklahoma has issued an order putting on hold the certification of a ballot measure that forbids state courts from considering or using international laws, as well as Sharia, or Islamic law.

That permanent injunction will allow the judge more time to consider the constitutional issues raised by State Question 755, which was approved by voters earlier this month.

Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange had earlier issued a temporary restraining order in favor of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which had sued to nullify the law completely. Read full story from cnn.com

Gardens: Things to do in December
The leaves are down from the trees now, the light falling to earth for the first time in half a year. We have had frost, even in the microclimate of London, and there is no denying it, winter is with us. There’s a host of jobs to do now that the growing side of things is out of the way, but you need to be strategic over the next few months to work with the weather. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Onondaga Nation faces new environmental threat: Fracking
NEDROW, N.Y. – The Onondaga, a member nation of the Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy and long leaders as healers of the environment face a new threat: Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The technique, used for much of today’s natural gas extraction shoots chemicals mixed with millions of gallons of sand and water thousands of feet underground to break apart the rock, allowing more gas to escape and flow out of a well.

Complaints have soared as fracking has expanded across the country. “Every state where this is going on, people’s water is contaminated,” said Joseph Heath, general legal counsel to the Onondaga Nation. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Father Loses Custody of His Children for Being Agnostic (source Live Leak)

News & Submissions 11/18/2010

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Science of Winter (Source National Geographic)

News & Submissions 10/25/2010

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Lost Abbey Ale may Change Label on Witch’s Wit after Wiccan ‘Brewhaha’
The bottle label shows a picture of a “witch” burning at the stake. Vicki Noble, who is “famous” in the pagan and Wiccan communities saw the bottle. What ignited was not just a witch on the bottle, but a fire storm about beer, being politically correct or offensive, and what is considered satire on a bottle label. Read full story from gather.com

Interview with Janet Munin, author of “Queen of the Great Below: An Anthology in Honor of Ereshkigal.”
October, it seems, has been an interesting month for devotional work. This week has seen the release of the first devotional devoted entirely to Ereshkigal: the Sumerian Goddess of the Underworld. Janet Munin’s book, titled ‘Queen of the Great Below: An Anthology in Honor of Ereshkigal’ is an intense and beautifully written work of devotion, desire, and service in honor of a Goddess often overlooked by contemporary Pagans. To my knowledge, this is only the second contemporary devotional to any of the Sumerian Deities (the first being my own “Into the Great Below”) and it is the first entirely for Ereshkigal. Read full story from patheos.com

Counting down to calm
When I was at university, hypnotists were regular features at the May ball. One summer, I was lured on to a stage, somewhat the worse for drink, and persuaded that I was a lovelorn kangaroo in search of a marsupial mate. I’m not sure how effective the hypnosis was – I certainly remember acting like an idiot, but I suppose it did give me an excuse for doing so. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

Crows And Scarecrows Occult Meaning
Let us consider the humble scarecrow. On the surface there wouldn’t seem to be any occult meaning behind the scarecrow. It was a farmer’s tool from agrarian times, used to literally scare away crows and other birds from their crops. What more could there be, outside of an occasional literary purpose (i.e. Wizard of Oz)? Today they are decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Read full story from occultview.com

Burning the Holy Books Is a Loathsome Act:
Prof. John E. Hare is the Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at the Yale University’s Divinity School. A British classicist, philosopher and ethicist, he is the author of several well-known and best-selling books in religion and morality including “God and Morality: A Philosophical History”, “The Moral Gap”, “Ethics and International Affairs”, “Why Bother Being Good” and “Plato’s Euthyphro”.

John Hare has in his background the experience of teaching philosophy at the University of Lehigh from 1975 to 1989. In his “God’s Call” book, Hare discusses the divine command theory of morality, analyzing texts in Duns Scotus, Kant and contemporary moral theory.

John joined me in an exclusive interview and answered my questions on the necessity of establishing a universal inter-faith dialogue between the followers of Abrahamic religions, the impacts of materialism on the decline of ethical and moral values and the role of religion in solving the problems of contemporary man. He also answered my special question on the objectionable incidence of Quran burning in the United States on the anniversary of 9/11 attacks. Read full story from aljazeerah.info

Red Lake approves own wolf management plan
RED LAKE, Minn. – While children of European descent are raised on tales of the Big Bad Wolf eating Grandmother and menacing Red Riding Hood, Ojibwe children hear a different set of stories – of Wolf, Ma’iingan, living harmoniously with Naniboujou and grandmother, Nokomis.

It is said that the fate of wolves will parallel that of the Ojibwe people – a healthy wolf population signals a good future. So the strong comeback from near disappearance made by gray wolves, sometimes called timber wolves, in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan has been welcomed in Ojibwe communities. Now, as the wolf population has grown, the U.S. government is poised again, within as early as one month, to delist it as a threatened species, reverting management to the states. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Satanists’ event in Oklahoma draws Christian protest (source cnn.com)

News & Submissions 4/1/2010

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Wistful about Wicca
What do you think about Wicca? Does it make you think: “Yikes! Evil witches!” or grounding earth-based ritual or stoned bare-foot hippies or some manner of something in between? Let me know, I am really interested. And don’t hold back. Read full story from women24.com

Derry couples seeking Pagan weddings – claim
Raymond MacSuibhne, of the Pagan Federation of Northern Ireland (PFNI), says the peace process has allowed “interest and participation in Paganism” to flourish in Derry and across the North over recent years. Read full story from derryjournal.com

Occult dabbling at ancient Gloucestershire well
Wannabe teenage witches are being blamed for sinister signs and symbols springing up around the ancient sacred site at St Anthony’s Well

The spring, which is supposed to have miraculous healing powers and was once used for public baptisms, is becoming a magnet for young people interested in witchcraft. Read full story from thisisgloucestershire.co.uk

Lawyer: Saudi could behead Lebanese for witchcraft
BEIRUT — The lawyer of a Lebanese TV psychic who was convicted in Saudi Arabia for witchcraft said Thursday her client could be beheaded this week and urged Lebanese and Saudi leaders to help spare his life. Read full story from google.com

Can Science Explain Heaven?
There are those who believe that science will eventually explain everything—including our enduring belief in heaven. The thesis here is very simple: heaven is not a real place, or even a process or a supernatural event. It’s something that happens in your brain as you die. Read full story from newsweek.com

Opposition to online wagering softening
Tribal governments and commercial gambling companies are softening opposition to legalize Internet wagering, although it does not appear likely that pending legislation to permit online poker will be successful in the current session of Congress. Read full story from Indiancountrytoday.com

Autumn glory lets us count our blessings
Easter was once a pagan spring festival. A time for growth, renewal, rejuvenation, birth, hence the bunnies and eggs as symbols of new life after a time of bleakness or infertility. It’s also the logic of the passion: Christ’s rebirth after death and hopelessness. Read full story from smh.com.au

Why we celebrate easter
Some of the pagan traditions which have been absorbed in Easter include the Easter Bunny, a symbol of fertility, and coloured Easter eggs, originally painted with bright colours to represent the sunlight of spring in the northern hemisphere. Read full story from iol.co.za

Danielle Egnew – “Montgomery House: The Perfect Haunting”

News & Submissions 11/25/2009

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Solitary or Social Pagan?
Pagans practice in one of three ways: solitary (alone), socially (in a group), or semi-socially. Here are some ideas of what these three entail and tips on if you are a pagan and want to change from solitary to social. Read full story from The Examiner

ENA and content filtering categories for the Indianapolis Public Schools
Based on Content Filtering Categories for the Indianapolis Public Schools opt-in listed at http://www.ena.com/help/BlueCoat/InSchools/, anything with a single asterisk (*) is content that is blocked by Indianapolis Public Schools. Anything with a double asterisk (**) is always allowed by Indianapolis Public Schools. On this page, it is also stated that, “Websites that are categorized in this way are always allowed regardless of multiple categorizations.” Read full story from The Examiner

Islam in the Land of the Rising Sun
Everyday the call to prayer is made in different corners of the predominantly Buddhist country – unobtrusively within the confines of its 50 or so mosques and approximately 100 musollas or communal prayer rooms. Read full story from aljazeera.net

Nepal’s bloodbath fair claims three Indian infants
Kathmandu, Nov 25 (IANS) At least three Indian infants died due to cold in Nepal’s most controversial religious fair, where thousands of animals and birds are being slaughtered by Indians and Nepalis, mostly in the hope of getting a son or wish fulfilment. Read full story from sindhtoday.net

U of A offering occult course
For about 15 years Bruce Miller taught Witchcraft and the Occult at the University of Alberta as a credited course.
It was so popular that the university had to split the class in two and hire another teacher. Read full story from metronews.ca

Family group declares victory in ‘Christmas’ battle
The American Family Association has tentatively declared a victory in its battle to keep Christmas in American culture, suspending its boycott of Gap, Inc., after the clothing retailer announced an upcoming pro-Christmas commercial campaign. Read full story from wnd.com

News & Submissions 11/17/2009

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

2009 Wild Hunt Winter Pledge Drive, Nov 16-22
Since it started in 2004, the Wild Hunt has become a vital news source for modern Pagans, and a crucial resource for those outside the Pagan movement who want to explore the issues that are important to us. Read full story from The Wild Hunt

Retired policeman speaks in Farmville on occult
FARMVILLE — Juggalos, Wiccans, Satanists and vampires are all subcultures of the occult that are on the periphery of the mainstream. Read full story from timesdispatch.com

Satan, the great motivator
What makes economies grow? It’s a question that has occupied thinkers for centuries. Most of us would tick off things like education levels, openness to trade, natural resources, and political systems. Read full story from boston.com

ACLU: Bibles passed out, prayer encouraged in Cheatham County schools
A lawsuit has been filed against the Cheatham County School Board alleging that school officials have promoted their own religious beliefs and allowed and encouraged public prayers at school events. Read full story from tennessean.com

Indianapolis Public Schools Block the Pagans
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, you may remember them from the Green Bay Nativity case, is demanding that the Indianapolis Public School system change its current web access policy which bans access to “occult”, “Wiccan”, “Voodoo” and “mysticism”-boosting sites. Read full story from The Wild Hunt

The wonders and worries when traditions converge
We’ll get ready, soon, to decorate the Christmas tree. Or light the menorah. Or celebrate Kwanzaa. Read full story from washingtonpost.com

News & Submissions 10/24/2009

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

Near stadium, Cowboys have a new rival: Satan
ARLINGTON — A wee bit o’ Scotland has come to the outskirts of Cowboys Stadium, and with it a foggy auld controversy over whether a Scottish sculpture park is also a pagan shrine that might hex the Dallas Cowboys. Read full story from star-telegram.com

Wiccan Ways
This is a busy time for Wiccans as they prepare for the pagan New Year. Read full story from fresnobee.com

Archaeologists may have unearthed beer hall of ancient Viking kings in Denmark
Copenhagen, October 19 : Archaeologists have unearthed a large mud building in Denmark, which may have been a cult place or beer hall of the ancient Viking kings. Read full story from irishsun.com

Buddhists gather with the goal of being in the moment
SALISBURY — In a relaxed atmosphere, dedicated Buddhists gather for meditation and discussion by candlelight. Read full story from delmarvanow.com

‘I’m a good witch’
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — What? No long black hair? No piercing green eyes? What about the wrinkled, gray complexion? Her hands aren’t gnarled. Her nails aren’t claws. She isn’t even wearing a tall black hat. Read full story from sundaygazettemail.com

Basic Tools of Wicca
Wiccan ritual and spell work can be as simple or elaborate as you want to make them. There is a multi-million dollar market in America for supplies for witches to perform their magick. Many new to the path will obsess about obtaining all kinds of fancy tools in hopes of enhancing their magical workings. While no tools are rally needed, let’s look briefly at the most common ones and their uses. Read full story from bellaonline.com

Salem, Mass., witch hunt of 1692 resulted in deaths of many innocents
When a colleague told me that one of his wife’s goals in life was to spend Halloween week in Salem, Mass., I felt it only fair to warn him. I was brewing up an anti-Salem column in my cauldron. Read full story from kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com

Wiccan Says Firing Was Religious Bias
HARTFORD (CN) – A sales manager says she was fired unfairly for making her annual religious pilgrimage to Salem, Mass., to celebrate the Wiccan New Year. She claims her boss told her, “You will need a new career in your new year. … I will be damned if I have a devil-worshipper on my team.” Read full story from courthousenews.com

Hey, Brainheads, Hallowe’en is Not A Pagan Holiday
I say this every year at about this time–in fact, I say this so often that I should probably have it printed and hand it out to strangers every day of the world–Hallowe’en is not a Pagan holiday. Read full story from the Village Witch

‘New Years Around the World’ series examines Wicca in time for Halloween
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Gory ghouls and fang-bearing vampires may bang the doors for candy or heave toilet paper into trees in your neighborhood come Halloween. Read full story from silive.com

Season of the Witch
October has became the season of the witch in the collective consciousness. The “witch” despised and demonized flies again on her broomstick carrying with her ancestor memories and our fears about women, death and lately commercial income. Read full story from the Examiner

Pop Culture Paganism: Wicca, Neovampirism, and the Occult
Paganism is quickly becoming the most influential ideology in both Europe and America as millions practice it worldwide. Many are still active members of the Christian Church. The Law of Attraction, the power behind The Secret is examined with a shocking conclusion! Research is brought to life with dramatic unmasking of it’s original author and ties to Alchemy . Read full story from jeremiahfilms.com