Modern-day world lost spiritual orientation and sank in “high-tech paganism,” Kusturica believes
“High-tech pagans have invaded the world today. This paganism doesn’t do any good to a human-being. A person today lives under permanent technological control… However, the main difference of modern people is that they lost spiritual orientation. Uniqueness of a human being as God’s image in leveled down in the world today,” the film director said in his interview published by the NG-Religii paper in association with the Spas TV channel. Read full story from interfax-religion.com
Wiccan altar puts teacher, officials at odds
Dale Halferty, who has taught industrial arts at Guthrie Center High School for three years, was placed on paid leave Monday after he acknowledged to district officials that he told the student he could not build the altar in class. Read full story from desmoinesregister.com
Native status may be affected by diversity issues
DENVER – With the advent of an increasingly urban, multiracial country, it’s possible that Indian America will slowly be transformed as well, perhaps following a controversial trajectory toward inclusion in an ethnic American identity. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com
Fairies take over Norfolk estate
And as the Fairyland Trust gets ready to host its showcase event at Holt Hall, the organisers say they still dream of finding a permanent Norfolk lair for magical creatures and nature lovers. Read full story from northnorfolknews.co.uk
Court refuses to stop D.C. gay marriage law
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court today refused to block the District of Columbia’s gay marriage law, freeing the city to issue its first marriage licenses to same-sex couples the following day. Read full story from tbo.com
Pagan Festivals and much merriment Pantheacon 2010 was a hot spot for Pagan activities last weekend. We both were amazed at all Pagan wares for sale. It seemed like there was a lot more really beautiful occult supplies and jewels this year. The costumes and fine clothing were stunning as usual. Always surprising how creative the Pagan culture is. Read full story from examiner.com
Christian Right’s attack on rights
Recently, WallBuilders, Inc., whose founder David Barton has been a guest on Fox’s “Huckabee,” among other venues, filed an amicus brief in a case in the Ninth Circuit. The brief argues that the religion protections of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution should be limited to Christians or, at most, monotheists because, in the founding era, the word “religion” meant only Christianity or, at most, monotheism. Barton’s history is all wrong. Read full story from washingtonpost.com
The devil’s in the details
“I was appalled by the Satanic image of the devil in the canoe with the shadow over the reddened moon,” writes Dennis from Phoenix, Ariz. “What was that all about? … Is your newspaper getting any blowback on this? Are Canadians talking about it?” Read full story from vancouversun.com
Extreme nationalist brought to court for fiery swastika
The 45-year-old resident of the city Tashtagol did his landscape fire show on May 9 last year – the date of Russia’s national holyday marking the victory over Nazi Germany – which naturally led investigators to suspecting neo-Nazis responsible for the act. Read full story from rt.com
Bob Barr’s new Atlanta Journal-Constitution article on Paganism causes a stir
I did not like Bob Barr while he was in office as a Republican. I thought of him as a smug elitist bunghole, a slightly smarter verion of VP Joe Biden. Then he cut ties with his party. Later he joined the ranks of the Libertarian party, the one to which I belong. I found this encouraging. “Pehaps a zebra can change his stripes”, I thought. There were signs in interviews that he had relaxed, become more embracing of individual liberty and the Constitution. After giving the man a chance and voting for him in the Presidential election, one he had no shot at winning, I purposely lost track of him. I had other things on which to focus. Read full story from independentpoliticalreport.com
Discrimination defies any logic
Even on this campus, people are being taken for granted and stereotyped because of their religious beliefs. How is it possible to exclude any set of people without taking away that principle of religious freedom which we ourselves so warmly contend over? If you walk around, dressed in all black from head to toe, people would consider you a Goth (or emo) kid. But do clothes really define you as a person? Do your beliefs really determine your friends? We, as human beings, are so quick to judge one another. We put our brothers and sisters down, we encourage violence, and we choose to not live by the rules. I see so many people who are turned down from jobs, are not able to join organizations, or don’t even get the chance to walk by a group of people because they are judged. Read full story from studentprintz.com
First Pagan Chaplain Appointed at Syracuse University
This is the first new chaplain since the appointments of the Buddhist and the historically black church chaplains and the 11th chaplain at Hendricks. As a chaplain, Hudson will work at Hendricks two days a week, sponsor community outreaches and be apart of the Chaplains Council. Read full story from virtueonline.org
Mary Daly changed my life
When I heard that Mary Daly had died in early January, I wrote on my Facebook page that she had changed my life. The ferocious theologian was among those writers responsible for the unraveling of my Presbyterian Christianity. I find myself hesitating to write about her, knowing that it means approaching the thick tangle of culture, gender, anger, and God. In that place, scorpions patrol and guard, tails lifted and ready to strike at a misstep in thought, feeling, or choice of words. As the witches say, “Where there’s fear there’s power,” so here I go. Read full story from uuworld.org
Newcomb: ‘Avatar:’ An eye-opener about indigenous peoples
Ever since its release this past December, James Cameron’s blockbuster 3D movie “Avatar” has generated a tremendous amount of discussion. Even the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, stepped into the fray, criticizing “Avatar” because of concerns the movie promoted “nature worship” and “neo-paganism.” Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com
Screamy Window
A PALE young woman appears at the window of a ruined castle – in a photo said to show a GHOST. Read full story from thesun.co.uk
ACLU accuses community college instructor of religious indoctrination
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An instructor at a public community college in Fresno has been presenting his religious views on homosexuality, abortion and global warming as fact to students in an introductory health science class, the American Civil Liberties Union claims. Read full story from poconorecord.com
Scientologists in Haiti: A Firsthand Account
We’ve spoken to someone who traveled to Haiti on a Scientology plane — and witnessed firsthand the ineptitude, quackery and irresponsibility of the church’s minions in a disaster zone. Here’s his account. Read full story from gawker.com
Farewell to the Bodhi Tree Bookstore The founding owners of the Bodhi Tree Bookstore are dealing with the closure of their L.A. institution as only spiritualists can. “In our best Buddhist sense, we try to incorporate the idea that things always change,” says Phil Thompson, who, along with Stan Madson, opened the Bodhi Tree 40 years ago. Through the years, their cozy Melrose Avenue shop became a nationally known, much beloved center for Buddhists, astrologers, psychics, yogis, swamis, acupuncturists, naturists and others seeking enlightenment. Read full story from laweekly.com
Inside the AFA worship circle
The new Wiccan, Druid and Earth-centered religious worship circle on a mountaintop at the Air Force Academy is equipped with a propane gas hookup for the ritualistic soul-healing fires — just like the worship circles a thousand years ago, when the High Priestess of Babalashadan would stand by the fire and cry out in an enchanted voice, “Lagaz atha cabyolas,” which means, literally, “OK, who brought the marshmallows?” Read full story from csindy.com
Pagans and Politics…Who and What
Having been asked many times what the heck a Pagan is, I’ve sort of distilled it down to some easy sound bites which actually may define most of us. Think of the three-legged stool analogy; here are the legs of the stool, in no particular order. First, Pagans believe that the Sacred Divine (note: no gender implied) is too enormous to fit into any single definition comprehensible to we humans. No “old man in the sky”, just something just beyond our grasp, something toward which we each find our own path. Read full story from pagannewswirecollective.com
Pagan Spirit Gathering 2010:”Spirals of Spirit and Light”
The Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG) is one of America’s oldest and largest Nature Spirituality festivals. Since its inception in 1980, PSG has been bringing together hundreds of people from throughout the United States, plus other countries, to create community, celebrate Summer Solstice, and commune with Nature in a sacred environment. Sponsored by Circle Sanctuary, PSG is open to long-time practitioners as well as newcomers of a wide range of Nature religion traditions, including Wiccan, Contemporary Pagan, Druidic, Heathen, Celtic, Baltic, Greco-Roman, Isian, Shamanic, Hermetic, Animistic, Egyptian, Native American, Afro-Carribean, Taoist, Pantheistic, Ecofeminist, and Nature Mystic. PSG is an opportunity for personal renewal, networking, education, and cultural enrichment. Get more details at circlesanctuary.org
Valentine’s Day: Ancient Festival of Sexual Frenzy
Valentine’s Day has its roots in ancient orgiastic festivals. On February 14, The Romans celebrated Febris (meaning fever), a sacred sexual frenzy in honor of Juno Februa, an aspect of the goddess of amorous love. This sex fest coincided with the time when the birds in Italy were thought to mate. Read full story from huffingtonpost.com
Haiti calls on voodoo priests to help battered nation heal
MARIANI, Haiti – To the outside world, their faith has long been shrouded in mystery, ministering as much to the dead as the living, and associated with images of animal sacrifices and human skulls. Read full story from boston.com
Stunningly Preserved 165-Million-Year-Old Spider Fossil Found
Scientists have unearthed an almost perfectly preserved spider fossil in China dating back to the middle Jurassic era, 165 million years ago. The fossilized spiders, Eoplectreurys gertschi, are older than the only two other specimens known by around 120 million years. Read full story from wired.com
Hindu healer wins funeral pyre battle
It took four years of complex legal wrangling, nearly bankrupted an ailing Hindu guru and has cost the tax-payer tens of thousands of pounds. But in the end open air cremations were legal all along. Read full story from independent.co.uk
Author to discuss paganism at Pacific
STOCKTON — Margot Adler, an author and correspondent for National Public Radio, will lecture about paganism in America at 8 p.m. next Tuesday at the Long Theatre at University of the Pacific. Read full story from recordnet.com
Billboards on Tampa Bay roads duel over existence of God
Two billboards, in Hillsborough County near Fowler Avenue and 17th Street and in Pinellas County near Ulmerton Road and U.S. 19, are the latest in a publicity blitz over religion. They are part of a national advertising campaign by the United Coalition of Reason. Read full story from tampabay.com
Off in the New Age
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 detnews.com
Rights are sometimes absent in Indian country
BOULDER, Colo. – The Constitution is often given short shrift in Indian country, where it’s unlikely there will be a jury of one’s peers, a federal courthouse within a reasonable driving distance, or a grand jury convened nearby. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com
Democrats push to repeal religious dress ban in schools
BDemocrats are leading the charge to lift the ban because they say it is unconstitutional and discriminatory. In a move to make their proposed law more palatable to critics of repealing the ban, Democratic lawmakers recently added an amendment that would allow school districts to restrict religious clothing if it affects “religious neutrality in the classroom.” Read full story from katu.com
Pink Ouija Board Targeting Young Girls Riles Critics
The children’s sleepover staple — sold by Hasbro since 1967 — now comes in hot pink, an edition released two years ago that gets tweens to call on “spirits” to spell out answers to life’s pressing questions. Read full story from foxnews.com
Fire in the head, Spirit in the heart
I had originally intended this as just a short response to fellow blogger Edward Smith’s comment on my Imbolc posting. But that would not allow me to share the lovely images, which so well illustrate our common point. Read full story from stltoday.com
Turkish girl, 16, buried alive for talking to boys
Turkish police have recovered the body of a 16-year-old girl they say was buried alive by relatives in an “honour” killing carried out as punishment for talking to boys. Read full story from guardian.co.uk
Energy Medicine Practitioner Dawn Stranges to Speak
Integrative medical researcher and consultant Dawn Stranges will share her ideas about “energy medicine” during two lectures of the SUNY Cortland’s Spring 2010 “Wellness Wednesday series, on Feb. 10 and Feb. 17. Read full story from cortland.edu
Advocates of pagan church near Bowdon blame prejudice for BOC permit denial
Appearing at the Carroll County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday night, a number of residents spoke in favor of a conditional-use permit for a church near Bowdon, claiming the Planning and Zoning Board’s past recommendation of denial stemmed from unconstitutional prejudice. Read full story from times-georgian.com
94. Dr. Jeffrey Long’s Near-Death Experience Research a “Game Changer” for Science
Science has studied the near-death experience for more than 20 years. Most research has concluded NDEs are real and unexplainable, but scientists have been slow to accept consciousness beyond death. A new scientific study by Jeffrey Long, M. D. may change that. The research compiled in his new book, Evidence of the Afterlife, represents the largest, most comprehensive study of near-death experience and according to the study’s author is, “a real game-changer” Read full story from skeptiko.com
Prosecutors: Informant in artifacts case is clean
SALT LAKE CITY – The undercover operative in a federal bust of artifact trading collected around $7,500 a month for secretly recording transactions with collectors and sellers across the Southwest for more than two years, new court papers say. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com
Christian Serbia maintains its faith in folklore
While Serbia is a deeply religious nation, it also happens to be steeped in superstition. The BBC’s Mark Lowen finds that folklore and tales of medieval military glory are part of daily life for many Serbians. Read full story from bbc.co.uk
Spooky Encounters with the Ghost of Catherine’s Hill
Some of you who have driven the Black’s Woods Road in Downeast Maine between Franklin and Cherryfield, may have heard about the legend of Catherine’s Hill. Read full story from wabi.tv
Course explores wicca religion
The Temple of the Green Cauldron is offering Introduction to Wicca, running Wednesdays from Feb. 17 to March 14 at the Harewood Activity Centre, 195 Fourth St. Read full story from bclocalnews.com
Campaign finance ruling impacts tribes
WASHINGTON – Many tribes already have trouble getting their voices heard in the American political system. A controversial Supreme Court campaign finance ruling may amplify the problem, according to political observers. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com
March of the pagans, from the Bible belt to Hollywood
I had a friend, an ardent Pentecostalist – “shouters”, those hillbillies called themselves – whose trailer featured by way of cultural uplift only the Bible and a big TV set permanently tuned to the Christian Broadcasting Network, on which Pat Robertson used to denounce New Age paganism on an hourly basis. Read full story from theirfirstpost.co.uk
Libya: Stop Blocking Independent Web Sites
(New York) – Libya’s moves in late January, 2010, to block access to at least seven independent and opposition Libyan web sites based abroad and to YouTube is a disturbing step awayfrom press freedom, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should restore web site access immediately, Human Rights Watch said. Read full story from hrw.org
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
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
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
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
