An interview with Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone by Bernadette Montana
Today’s interview is with Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone. The contributions that they have given to the pagan community over these many years, are too numerous for me to mention here. I would suggest printing out this interview for future use as a teaching aid, or as adjunct to the course that both Janet and Gavin teach, here at Sacred Mists. Enjoy! Read full story from sacredmistsblog.com
Salem needs a new museum to explore its witch-trial past
OCTOBER HAS a special significance in Salem, where the month-long Haunted Happenings is the nation’s leading celebration of Halloween. It’s a unique event, combining everything from ethnic dance presentations to demonstrations by the city’s psychic community and followers of Wicca, to such family fare as haunted houses and fireworks. Read full story from boston.com
Victorian book proves Old wives aren’t all witchcraft and wizardry
First published in 1856 ‘Enquire Within Upon Everything’ was a how-to book for domestic life, first published in 1856 by Houlston and Sons of Paternoster Square. The book was a top-seller in its day, and was regularly updated with an encyclopedic collection of cheap and straight-to-hand remedies using day to day items found in an average house of the 1800’s (and latterly the 1900’s; its last edition was printed in 1976). Read full story from entertainment.stv.tv
Shamanism: Spirits in the valley
The cultural heritage of pre-Islamic philosophy and mythology is so interwoven into the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan that strands of it survive to this day. Religions born of their environments, the influence of centuries of Shamanism, Buddhism, Baoism and Zartosht are seen most clearly in their interaction with nature, where the word worship can be interchanged with respect for and love of. Read full story from tribune.com.pk
Media needs to stop enabling stigmas
The Senate is on the verge of change as 37 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election in November. However, one candidate for the senate in Delaware is causing quite a stir. Tea party favored Christine O’Donnell caused an upset when she became the GOP Senate candidate after the primaries. Though I disagree with everything the tea party stands for, my issue with O’Donnell does not revolve around her party affiliations, but rather her idiotic comments. Read full story from understatesman.com
Man stabbed in arms by friends who wanted to suck his blood
CHANDLER, Ariz. – Police say a man was stabbed for refusing to let two of his friends suck his blood.
Aaron Homer, 24, and Amanda Williamson, 21, are reportedly into “vampire stuff” and “paganism.” Read full story from azfamily.com
Halloween boo-ted by one day
CALGARY - Sweet-toothed little creatures of the night won’t have to wait as long to sink their fangs into treats in at least one southern Alberta town.
My Take: So who are the Druids, anyway?
The Druids have hit the headlines in the recent days because religious charity status has been granted in the UK to The Druid Network – a group set up to foster Druid values and projects. Read full story from cnn.com
Priest fears Masonic ‘witchcraft’
A Christian minister in Carterton is objecting to a Masonic Lodge being used for a temporary library because he considers it connected to witchcraft. Read full story from time-age.co.nz
Witch Bottle Discovered; Made to Ward Off Evil Spirits?
**October 29, 2009—**In time for Halloween, a beer bottle-turned-talisman against malicious spirits has been found buried near a former pub in England, archaeologists say. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com
Ten-year-old refuses to stand for Pledge of Allegiance
When ten-year-old Will Phillips, of West Fork, Ark., found a principle he couldn’t stand up for––he sat down. And the repercussions from that action have spread across the country. Read full story from uuworld.org
Here Come The Werewolves…
Every few years there’s an ever changing fad in Hollywood. Whether the fad is on dystopian stories, Sci-fi, dogs or the most recent, Vampires; we always see the trickle-down effect. It starts in the most impressionable of sources. Books. Read full story from ghosttheory.com
The Sunday (Pagan) Movies Round-Up
Some big-screen news for those with Pagan views! We start off with an update on “The Wicker Tree”, the currently-shooting spiritual companion/sequel to the 1973 cult-classic “The Wicker Man”. On Halloween in New York, a special screening of “The Wicker Man” was held (along with a cool concert featuring Silver Summit), and director Robin Hardy was on hand to talk about the cult-classic and screen ten minutes of footage from the new film. Lucky for us all, Dread Central was there and files a report. Read full story from The Wild Hunt
Hallowe’en: trick, treat and a total travesty?
Hallowe’en, as we know it now, is a fake. It was imported from America in the 1980s, which is when British children found out from the film ET (1982) how to go about trick-or-treat. It may not be long ago, but it is long enough to seem immemorial to anyone under 30. To them, Tesco’s Hallowe’en Frankenstein cake or Asda’s “Bride of Chuckie’s very own recipe for Creepy Cupcakes” seem just like the commercialisation of Christmas. The difference is that there’s really nothing behind them. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk
Does a Wtich live Next Door?
With Halloween coming up tomorrow, most folks are stocking up on candy and other treats to be given away to all the little ghosts, goblins and witches who will be trooping up to the front door screaming, “Trick or Treat.” Read full story from somd.com
Americans embrace alternatives to ‘pagan’ Halloween
WASHINGTON — Witches, beware. Mummies, be gone. Halloween may be a celebration of all things creepy and macabre, but a growing number of US communities are shunning traditional ghoulish festivities, seen by some as tainted by association with paganism and the occult. Read full story from google.com
Day of the Dead honors ancestors
Día de los Muertos, meaning Day of the Dead, is celebrated on November first within the Hispanic cultures around the world. Originating in Mexico, this annual ritual dates back some 3,000 years in history. The rituals are about honoring and communicating with one’s dead ancestors, and was practiced among the Zapotec, Mixtec, Olmec, Maya, P’urhepecha, Totonac and Mexica societies. Read full story from The Examiner