Posts Tagged ‘Santeria’

News & Submissions 1/5/2012

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

Environment:

This is What the U.S. Would Look Like Without Environmental Protections (PHOTOS)
In the early 1970s, an amazing photojournalism project called Documerica captured a polluted nation in the midst of establishing its first major environmental protections. Documerica was sponsored by the fledgling E.P.A., which hoped to document and examine the extent of the country’s environmental troubles. A team of talented photographers was assembled to shoot, in breathtaking, uncompromising detail, the unchecked air pollution, contaminated waterways, hazardous coal mines, and some truly disturbing waste issues across the U.S. Read full story from treehugger.com

News:

New Native American Studies Program in Maryland
To fill an unmet need in Maryland the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) at Catonsville recently started offering a Native American Studies program.

According to the program’s coordinator, Stephanie A.L. Molholt, there are currently no Native American Studies programs in the state of Maryland so this one “meets a compelling need.”

She said the program enhances and furthers the school’s mission “by linking CCBC to under-recognized and under-served communities in Maryland and the U.S.” Read full story from indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/05/new-native-american-studies-program-in-maryland-70672 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/05/new-native-american-studies-program-in-maryland-70672#ixzz1ibFh0wxe

Firebombs Targeting a Mandir and the Hindu Community in New York
(CHAKRA) A group representing American Hindus (Hindu American Foundation) condemned a series of firebomb attacks that occurred at five separate locations late Sunday night in New York. Four of the firebombs targeted locations in Jamaica, Queens, including a Hindu temple housed within a residential property. This event was broadly ignored by mainstream media outlets and while no damage or injuries resulted from the attack, the temple’s priest, Ramesh Maharaj, who also lives in the house, believed the firebomb was intended to cause significant harm. A security camera outside the temple caught the attack on camera and helped police create a description of the suspect. Ray Lazier Lengend, a 40-year-old New York man of Guyanese descent, was arrested yesterday. Reportedly, he confessed to all five attacks and cited “personal grievances with each location.” Read full story from chakranews.com

Cuba’s Santeria priests predict upheaval, but no end of the world, in 2012
HAVANA — A body of top Afro-Cuban priests is predicting a year of change and upheaval in 2012, but the group says fears the world will end are wrong.

In their annual New Year’s forecast, the priests warned the world could see more earthquakes and increased global warming, and they cautioned that people should also be vigilant against matrimonial discord.

That may not be a very cheery message, but it’s a lot better than the fire-and-brimstone prophecies that that some have attributed to the Maya, whose calendar cycle ends on Dec. 21, 2012. The priests say they see a spiritual end to old things, but not a physical end to the planet. Read full story from washingtonpost.com

Religion:

AFA defends cost of worship area for Pagan cadets
The U.S. Air Force Academy has been taking fire for building an $80,000 Stonehenge -like worship area for a handful of Pagan and Wiccan cadets.

Yet the academy can justify building Falcon Circle for outdoor, earth-centered spirituality — and the price tag, spokesman Don Branum said today.

The $80,000 figure includes $26,500 spent on erosion control on the east side of the hill where Falcon Circle is situated, Branum said.

The academy did spend $51,484 on creating Falcon Circle, dedicated in 2010, for a small group of cadets — only three in Fall 2011 semester — who identify themselves as Pagans.

“The Air Force Academy did it because it’s the right thing to do,” Branum said. Pagan soldiers, he said, also have served and died for their country.

It’s not a waste of money, said Col. Robert Bruno, the academy’s senior chaplain. Read full story from denverpost.com

Reality checks available at Bloomfield library
‘ve been reading a book called “Buddhism Plain and Simple” by Steve Hagen. The early chapters explain that the problem most people have is their failure to pay attention. They feel disconnected from the reality of their own lives.

This is a simple concept, but it’s hard to grasp. Two other books I read last month illustrate that fact clearly. Eric Weiner’s “Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine” is light and funny. Debbie Nathan’s “Sybil Exposed” is terribly sad.

In many ways, Weiner reminds me of myself. He is a man who lives largely inside his own head. He is also a gastronomic Jew.

I was in college before I realized that the religious observances of my family had more to do with food than faith.

Weiner was a successful writer with a wife and child when agonizing stomach pains sent him to the hospital. While he was waiting for test results, a nurse asked him a chilling question.

“Have you found your God yet?” Read full story from northjersey.com

Media:

Pair On Trial Over Boy’s ‘Witchcraft’ Murder
A 15-year-old boy who died from “unspeakable savagery and brutality” was attacked by relatives who believed he was a sorcerer involved in witchcraft, a court has heard. Read full story from sky.com

Blogspot:

Feel free to leave comments regarding the articles posted.

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

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

Lisa

News & Submissions 12/28/2010

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

What is paganism, really?
Paganism.

Who wrote the dictionary on the word paganism exactly? The World English Dictionary defines this interesting umbrella term as “a member of a group professing a polytheistic religion or any religion other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam” then in the second definition names a pagan as “a person without any religion; heathen.” Pagan, to The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, is a term that describes a person who “belong[s] to a religion which worships many gods, especially one which existed before the main world religions.” Its origins span as far back as to the early Roman empire as another word for “civilian” compared to “miles Christi” (Soldiers of Christ). More derivations conclude the simple-minded ridiculed “country bumpkins,” “outsiders,” and “hicks.” Basically an episode of Glee. The pagans are the underdog, the overseen and underrated. At least in word alone, causing animosity through time of medieval Witch hunts, the obsession with magic and outside misunderstanding of human mortality in a organized religion. Read full story from examiner.com

A Cultural History of the Moon
The book “Moon: A Brief History,” with its wide variety of illustrations from classical texts, science fiction and other sources, describes not just the history of the celestial body but the ways it inspired the human imagination to take flight, fueled, as Proust put it, by “the ancient unalterable splendor of a Moon cruelly and mysteriously serene.” Read full story from nytimes.com

2010: A Good Year For Neanderthals (And DNA)
This year was a good year for Neanderthals. Yes, they did go extinct about 30,000 years ago, but scientists now say their genes live on — in us.

Scientists also found a 40,000-year-old finger in a Siberian cave that apparently belonged to an unknown human-like creature. And hair from the corpse of a 4,000-year-old hunter revealed his blood type and a predisposition for baldness.

What made these discoveries possible was DNA, which is becoming biological science’s window into the past. Read full story from npr.org

Harry Potter was a good Christian?
In a new book out this month, author Danielle Tumminio asserts Harry Potter is good Christian. Tumminio argues Potter lives a life that lines up with Christian values.

“I see him best as a seeker in a world where Christianity is not the vocabulary. I see him best as a seeker trying to live a life of faith in the same way a Christian seeker tries to live a life grace,” Tumminio told CNN.

Tumminio said she wrote God and Harry Potter at Yale: Teaching Faith and Fantasy Fiction in an Ivy League Classroom, to explore the contention by conservative Christians that Harry Potter is akin to heresy. Read full story from cnn.com

Neanderthals cooked and ate vegetables
Neanderthals cooked and ate plants and vegetables, a new study of Neanderthal remains reveals.

Researchers in the US have found grains of cooked plant material in their teeth.

The study is the first to confirm that the Neanderthal diet was not confined to meat and was more sophisticated than previously thought.

The research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The popular image of Neanderthals as great meat eaters is one that has up until now been backed by some circumstantial evidence. Chemical analysis of their bones suggested they ate little or no vegetables. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

Palm oil in our everyday products pushing indigenous peoples off their land
It’s the usual morning rush. You put your makeup on, take a dry creamer in your morning cup of coffee, luxuries we don’t give a thought to in the U.S. What – luxuries?

When it’s “pushing indigenous peoples off their lands,” it’s a luxury, said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chair of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. “Hundreds are murdered and thousands are forced off their land of origin to grow the palm oil that goes in your cosmetics.”

Besides deforesting land for palm oil plantations, the controversial crop also used in biofuels, detergents, toothpaste and foods has fueled a ruthless landgrab by paramilitary groups in Colombia’s rural areas. In a desperate bid to protect themselves Colombia’s Internally Displaced People have set up “Humanitarian Zones” on small patches of collective land. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Santeria faith in Park City: decapitated animals are telltale sign of followers
The decapitated animals discovered in Park City in mid-December appear to have been killed in sacrificial ceremonies conducted by people practicing a faith that originated in Africa, an expert said in an interview, affirming a suspicion by local investigators that the animals were killed as part of some sort of ceremony.

Don Rimer, who spent 30 years as a law enforcement officer and now provides training in the fields of ritual crimes and the occult, said the decapitated animals are telltale evidence of people who practice a faith known as Santeria. Followers brought the faith with them to the New World when they were taken from Africa during the slave trade, first establishing themselves in the Caribbean region, he said. Santeria is a blend of ancient African religion and Catholicism, Rimer said. Read full story from parkrecord.com

WRIGHT WAY: Behind New Year’s Day
The New Year celebration is considered the oldest holiday observance in history, dating back some 4,000 years to Babylon. It was also known as Akitu and it lasted 11 days. Each day had its own unique celebration.

The carnival atmosphere laced with laughter, food and drinks epitomized each new year celebration as the most vibrant occasion of Mesopotamia, according to www.123newyear.com. Some form of a New Year’s celebration is performed around the world by people of all cultures.

In fact, it would be difficult to understand our days of the week and months of the year without considering the origin of New Year’s Day. Why is this true?

According to The World Book Encyclopedia, “The Roman ruler Julius Caesar established Jan. 1 as New Year’s Day in 46 B.C. The Romans dedicated this day to Janus, the god of gates, doors and beginnings. The month of January was named after Janus, who had two faces — one looking forward and the other looking backward.”

Although the Romans continued celebrating the new year into the first century, the early Christians condemned their festivities as paganism. Centuries later the church began having its own religious observances concurrently with many pagan celebrations, blending the two, including New Year’s Day. Read full story from clevelandbanner.com