Posts Tagged ‘Salem Witch Trials’

News & Submissions 2/3/2010

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Cat predicts 50 deaths in RI nursing home
Dr David Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor at Brown University, said that five years of records showed Oscar rarely erring, sometimes proving medical staff at the New England nursing home wrong in their predictions over which patients were close to death. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

US Baptists ‘knew taking children out of Haiti was wrong’
Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said some of the children have parents who are alive. The government is attempting to locate them. He says a judicial system needs to determine whether the Americans were acting in good faith – as they claim – or are child traffickers. Read full story from independent.co.uk

Cross found at Air Force Academy’s Wicca center
Reporting from Denver – The Air Force Academy, stung several years ago by accusations of Christian bias, has built a new outdoor worship area for pagans and other practitioners of Earth-based religions. Read full story from latimes.com

Not so smart after all
New Age is a spiritual movement that combines astrology, folk religion, Buddhism, Hinduism, paganism, physics, psychology and more. Though it can incorporate elements of mainstream Western religions (Christianity, Judaism), New Age rejects their dogma. Important to many followers is the Harmonic Convergence, a planet alignment tied to the Mayan calendar, last occurring in 1987. Read full story from theleafchronicle.com

Flock Is Now a Fight Team in Some Ministries
Mr. Renken’s ministry is one of a small but growing number of evangelical churches that have embraced mixed martial arts — a sport with a reputation for violence and blood that combines kickboxing, wrestling and other fighting styles — to reach and convert young men, whose church attendance has been persistently low. Mixed martial arts events have drawn millions of television viewers, and one was the top pay-per-view event in 2009. Read full story from nytimes.com

Voodoo Dialogue
In the wreckage of the earthquake, in that heavily Christian-Voodoo nation surely some whispered Psalms, words born in Hebrew, now shared, a crying from “out of the depths.” It is an island punished by nature but not God forsaken. Many Haitians believe that even before the rescuers arrived, God was with the mourners on the mattresses in the dirt, and on the pieces of cardboard that pass for mattresses. Read full story from thejewishweek.com

Top boutique hotel haunted after cellar refurbishment
STAFF at a top boutique hotel believe they may be accommodating some extra guests after hearing strange noises coming from the basement. Read full story from deadlinescotland

Why Detox?
Detoxes and cleanses are all the rage in the world of wellness. If you know someone who religiously practices yoga, gets acupuncture, or reads up on nutrition, chances are, they’ve done the Master Cleanse or some such other fad cleanse at least once. Read full story from examiner.com

Comanche Nation blasted by ice
LAWTON, Okla. – In the aftermath of a brutal ice storm Jan. 28, the Comanche Nation went into full emergency management system mode and opened a command center to field response operations, officials said. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Eric Christensen Accused of Killing, Dismembering Girlfriend Sherry Harlan Because She Was a “Warlock”
According to court documents, Christensen, 40, has told police that when he found out his girlfriend, 35-year-old Sherry Harlan, was talking to another man, he forced her to take a Wiccan blood oath, making her promise she’d end all contact. Christensen says he found a text message from the guy on Harlan’s phone shortly thereafter, a transgression that he alleges made her a “‘warlock,’ literally an evil traitor.” Read full story from seattleweekly.com

The Irish calendar – staying grounded with the 8 seasonal holidays
Some cultures call the Equinox and Solstice the start of the season. The Irish start the seasons between them with cross-quarter holidays–Imbolc, Bealtine, Lughnasadh, Samhain–and think of the equinoxes and solstices as the zenith of the seasons. Read full story from irishcentral.com

Cotton Mather & the Salem Witch Trials
“If they do good, it is only that they may do hurt.”  So preached the Reverend Cotton Mather in 1689, three years before the horrific hysteria that was the Salem Witch Trials, in a sermon entitled “A Discourse in Witchcraft,” which was then printed and circulated as part of a larger collection, Mather’s Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possession.  Although Mather was speaking of witches in that line, asserting that there were no such thing as “good” witches, he would have done well to apply the line to himself; Mather succeeded in causing more harm, albeit unintentionally, for his community with his discourse, despite the seemingly honorable intention of alerting the Boston townspeople to the dangers of witchcraft.  In his attempt to educate the people of Boston about the evils of magic, Cotton Mather, through his discourse, inadvertently assisted in fueling the hysteria that caused the Salem Witch Trials by creating an environment of unease and distrust among townspeople. Read full story from australia.to

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

News & Submissions 1/21/2010

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Voodoo Brings Solace To Grieving Haitians
Erol Josue lost more than two dozen friends and extended family in Haiti’s devastating earthquake. The Voodoo priest, who lives in New York, says he has spent the past week saying traditional Voodoo prayers. Read full story from wbur.org

What is an Atheist?
When defining something it often helps to define what it is not. Because of the many misconceptions (to be polite) about atheists, let’s start that way. An atheist is not an amoral or an immoral person, not licentious, and not un-patriotic. An atheist is your neighbor, practicing his/her constitutional right to hold his or her own freedom of thought. Read full story from madisoncountycourier.com

Lights, Action, Camera: Witch City TV is on the Air
The name of the local station will be Witch City TV, while our International Internet TV Station Network will continue to be Magick TV. We will combine a couple of different ideas, and do daily programming that is meaningful, purposeful, as well as entertaining and fun. Daily programming, and something that jumps beyond simply seeing people on Facebook, Myspace, Ning, and being available for real viewing and interaction in a way that we have come to enjoy, when you want, how you want. It is a very exciting dream Read full story from associatedcontent.com

Renee murder psychic probes spirit world kids
Joanne, who has penned a new book, Psychic Children about her work with youngsters, told the Highland News Group: “The wonderful array of psychic gifts and abilities that children possess include things like having imaginary friends, talking to spirit people and seeing angels. A psychic child can tell you things they could not possibly have known such as information that predicts the future, or even things that reveal the past. Read full story from highland-news.co.uk

Series to explore tough questions
Several diverse faiths will come together over the next month to debate where religion fits into some of the most contentious issues in our society. Read full story from martlet.ca

8 Ways Religious Groups Show Their Green Beliefs
When the pope says, “respect creation,” people are going to listen. And over the past few years, religious figures representing all faiths have been increasingly spreading the same message to the 85 percent of the world’s population that holds religious beliefs. From Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, to the Akal Takht, the highest temporal authority in Sikhism, spiritual leaders have been telling their followers that protecting the environment is their moral and religious duty. Here are eight ways members of religious groups are paying heed. Read full story from treehugger.com

The mysterious production of blizzards
A town where the Weather Channel is treated with as much skepticism as a palm reader has little choice but to turn to superstition and charms. And the rituals surrounding the summoning of snow in this town are as eclectic as the residents themselves: some have been here for decades, others are as itinerant as the summer-phobes who bring them each season, and there are a few that — through their sheer insanity — lay bare a naked enthusiasm for these mountains. Read full story from telluridenews.com

Religious riots spread despite Nigerian troops
As street clashes broke out in Pankshin and Mangu, one report said 464 people had died in Jos, where the fighting between Christians and Muslims began on Sunday. “The figure sounds credible,” said local reporter Bashir Ibrahim Idris, “but it is impossible to verify due to the 24-hour curfew”. Read full story from independent.co.uk

The Big Question: Is Nigeria teetering on the brink of a major crisis?
Upto 265 people are reported to have died in the Nigerian city of Jos after fighting between Muslims and Christians. Calm has now been restored but only after a 24-hour curfew imposed by the government which has sent soldiers armed with machine guns to patrol the streets in pick-up trucks. But there are reports that the violence has now spread to Pankshin, 60 miles to the south-east. Read full story from independent.co.uk

Site Updates 11/12/2009

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

I’ve added a new section to PagansWorld.org. The Witch Hunts page provides links and resources to information on the Salem Witch Trial and European Witch Hunts. Come by and check it out!

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