News & Submissions 3/10/2011

March 10th, 2011 by sivodd

Dalai Lama to retire from political life
The Dalai Lama has announced he will retire from political life within days.

In a speech posted on the internet and delivered in the northern Indian hilltown of Dharamasala, the veteran Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader said that he would ask the Tibetan parliament in exile to make the necessary constitutional changes to relieve him of his “formal authority” as head of the Tibetan community outside China.

The assembly, which meets early next week, is expected to approve his request. Though long-anticipated, the move away from the limelight by one of the world’s best known political figures signals a dramatic change. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Chillicothe looks to add diversity to invocations
CHILLICOTHE — Chillicothe City Council has no intention of removing prayer from its formal meetings, but it likely will draft formal plans to make prayers more diverse and keep them separate from official business.

At a community affairs committee meeting Wednesday, council members met with Columbus attorney Matthew Burkhart, a member of the Alliance Defense Fund, a group that has helped communities across the country adopt policies to keep invocations as part of their meetings.

“This policy would see those invocations continuing and formalizing the procedures,” Burkhart said. Read fulls story from chillicothgazette.com

Pagan holidays in modern Ukraine
For the most flavourful celebration of pagan rituals, visit Ukraine in the summer for the Ivana Kupala festival of making wreaths, jumping over bonfires and peeking into the future. In December, Saint Andrew’s Day is another chance for some quality palm reading while saying goodbye to the sun for the winter. Epiphany, celebrated in January, helps wash sins away – in icy rivers and lakes – but not before another healthy dose of fortunetelling. And when decadent parades sweep European and American streets for Mardi Gras, Ukrainians stand by their forefathers munching on pancakes during the Pancake Week celebrations.

The easiest way to experience the supernatural is booking a trip to Kiev in July. Celebrated after the summer solstice on 6 July, Ivana Kupala refers to the god of the fruits of the earth. Legend has it that if you venture into the forest and find a fern in bloom – although it is nearly a botanical impossibility – start digging. This magic fern allegedly indicates a hidden treasure. The rite has found its way into films, cartoons and children’s books, all contributing to its mass popularity across the country. Read fulls tory from bbc.com

The deity by any other name: Army resilience program gets a thumbs down from atheists
The best thing about writing a story as a journalist is that you get to interact with astute readers who are never reticient about telling you what you missed in your reporting. My story, “The Neuroscience of True Grit,” the cover in the current issue, talks about what we know, and what we’re still trying to find out, about psychological resilience: the thing that  allows you to slog through when S**T happens.

Even though there’s a lot that we still don’t know, the U.S. Army has launched a gargantuan program to teach resilience to soldiers and their families, an effort that encompasses more than one million people. There is a software training module in one segment of the program to teach “spiritual” fitness. The Army is smart and they emphasize that the program is oriented toward the “human” side of spirituality. Translation: we are not violating separation of church and state. Secular, secular, secularissimo.

Here’s where it gets interesting, though. The atheists don’t really buy the official interpretation as handed down by the Army. “Spiritual,” to them, can’t be construed as anything but the sotto voce mouthing of the letters “G-O-D.” I got several e-mails about my uncritical mention of the spiritual fitness module, one of which contained a press release from The Freedom From Religion Foundation , the nation’s largest atheist organization (actually, they call themselves ‘nontheists’ because they also have agnostic members) that stated: Read full story from scientificamerican.com

The True Language of a Pow Wow Drum
The pow wow season is under way, and the sound of drums—the universal “heartbeat of the nation”—will reverberate in dance arenas around the country.

But in Denver, a major crossroads in Indian country, surprisingly few pow wow-goers may actually understand the words that accompany some drum songs—veterans’ songs, for example– rather than just hearing the vocables, or syllabic sounds, that accompany others. The same gap is likely true at other pow wows.

Doug Goodfeather, Lakota, leads a drum group that carries his grandfather’s drum’s name, Rock Creek Drum, from the South Dakota side of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. His name, Goodfeather (“Wiyaka Waste’”), was derived from both who he is as a Hunkpapa Lakota and also from who he is in terms of his personal character. It was given him as a small boy in ceremony by his grandmother after an eagle flew at him in attack mode and then shot skyward, leaving a feather behind.

The values of his Hunkpapa band are embodied in Sitting Bull, to whom Goodfeather’s grandmother always referred to as “Grandpa Sitting Bull” not “Chief Sitting Bull,” he said, adding he has not done the genealogy that might describe lineal descent.

He estimates that only a very small percentage of the 40,000-some Native residents along the Rocky Mountains’ Front Range are regular pow wow attendees or participants who really know and understand the songs. Read full story from indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com

Human remains found in Bronze Age pots
wo Bronze Age burial pots containing human remains have been found at the base of a standing stone in Angus.

Archaeologists excavated the ground around the Carlinwell Stone at Airlie, near Kirriemuir, after it fell over earlier in the winter.

Both pots – known as collared urns – could be up to 4,000 years old and were typically used in early Bronze age cremation burials.

The 7ft (2.1m) high monolith will be re-erected on Friday.

One of the pots is about 4in (10cm) in diameter, and the other is about 8in, the archaeologists said.

Melanie Johnson, from CFA Archaeology of Musselburgh, said: “The pots are typical of early Bronze Age cremation burials. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

Satanic sex cult paedophile guilty
AN “EVIL” paedophile and three women are facing years in jail today for establishing a satanic sex cult to abuse children and young adults in a quiet Welsh town.

Former Tesco security guard Colin Batley, 48, presided over the depraved “quasi-religious” sect which indulged in occult Egyptology-inspired rites from his home in Kidwelly.

A jury at Swansea Crown Court found him guilty of carrying out a series of perverted sexual acts on children and adults, including 11 rapes. Read full story from walesonline.co.uk

Dalai Lama ready to give up political power (soiurce cnn)

Al Qaeda trying to radicalize U.S. Muslims, congressman claims (source cnn)

Students walk out of high school to bring Ten Commandments back in (source wdbj7)

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Hump Day Herbs – Echinacea

March 9th, 2011 by sivodd

ECHINACEA

Botanical Name: Echinacea Augustifolia

Folk Names: Black Sampson, Coneflower, Rudbeckia

Echinacea is a Perennial plant from the the daisy family, Asteraceae. Native to North America, it grows to a height of 2-3 feet.

It was widely used by the Plains Indians for its medicinal qualities as a treatment for symptoms caused by the common cold. In the 1930s it became popular in both Europe and America as a herbal medicine.

Deities: Athena, Venus, Cerridwen

Element: Earth (Employment, Fertility, Healing, Money, Prosperity)

Gender: Male

Planet: Mars (Courage, Exorcism, Hex-Breaking, Lust, Protection, Sexual Potency)

Powers: Healing, Strengthening Spells

Medicianl Uses: Studies suggest that Echinacea contains active substances that enhance the activity of the immune system, relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and have hormonal, antiviral, and antioxidant effects. Professional herbalists may recommend Echinacea to treat urinary tract infections, vaginal yeast infections, ear infections, athlete’s foot, sinusitis, hay fever, as well as slow-healing wounds.

Magical Uses: Echinacea is often used to strengthen the power of spells. It was also used by the Native Americans not only to strengthen their spells, but as an offering to spirits.

Ritiual Uses: Echinacea can be used to strengthen the power of charms, blends or sachets and burned as incense. It’ s also an excellent root to use in money magic.

Other Uses: It has been used as a general immune system enhancer, as well as treating various ailments (poisonous insect and snake bites, toothaches, mumps, small pox, blood purifier, measles). Research has shown that taking Echinacea at the first sign of a cold can decrease the duration and intensity.

References:

Note: Consult with a Physician or certified herbologist if you are seeking medical remedies. The information is not intended as medical advice. PagansWorld.org is not liable for the misuse of the herb listed above.

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

Lisa

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News & Submissions 3/9/2011

March 9th, 2011 by sivodd

“Black Death” a treat for medieval history buffs
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – You can’t quarrel with that title, “Black Death.” The film is black all right, pitch black, and death is everywhere.

The story is set in 1348, after all, when the plague began to sweep through Europe, decimating its populace by as much as half and spreading panic to every corner. Yet what a strange land for a horror filmmaker to pitch camp in since he has little to add when horror is a fact of everyday life.

Sure enough, Christopher Smith (“Creep,” “Severance”) plays with the notion of necromancers and demons lurking within the pestilence, but winds up retreating into a kind of historical morality tale told with documentary flourishes and a grim attraction to violence and cruelty.

All of which leaves “Black Death” without a reliable audience. Horror film buffs like to giggle as much as scream but there’re no giggles here. To its credit, the film doesn’t indulge in visual-effects devilry as a very similar plague film, “Season of the Witch,” did just two months ago. So it’s up to medieval history buffs to fill the theaters when it opens on Friday. Lots of luck.

The coincidence of storylines between “Season of the Witch” and “Black Death” is rather striking and in every instance Black Death is the superior film. In both films, the church, seeing its grip on the population severely loosened by this inexplicable plague, sends Christian knights into a remote region to determine if witches, demons or non-believers are the source of this frightening scourge. Read full story from reuters.com

Bulgarian Mayor: ‘Dog Spinning’ Ritual Harmless Folklore, Not Barbarian!
The “dog spinning” ritual practiced in a southeastern Bulgarian village is misinterpreted by the society and the international community, according to Tsarevo Municipality Mayor Petko Arnaudov.

In dog spinning, which is practiced in Brodilovo, a southeastern Bulgarian village, at the beginning of March, a dog is suspended above water on a rope.

The dog is turned repeatedly in a given direction to wind the rope, then released so that it spins rapidly in the opposite direction as the rope unwinds, until the dog falls into the water. The locals claim that the dog is not supposed to be physically hurt.

This ancient ritual of pagan origin is performed in order to prevent rabies and is a part of the traditional Kukeri rituals. Read full story from novinite.com

Blair launches new faith films contest for youth
Last year, Tony Blair ran a film contest for young people, inviting them to make films about faith.

His Faith Foundation was overwhelmed by the response: hundreds of entries, from Jews and Christians, Muslims and Hindus, Sikhs and humanists, on five continents around the world.

Buoyed by the success of the first “Faith Shorts” film contest, Blair is now doing it again.

He was impressed not only by the quality of the films, he said, but what they said about the people who made them.

“I think the fascinating thing about young people and the films that they sent us about faith… is that for them their faith isn’t just about a personal relationship with God, it’s also motivating them to do things, to get active, to have a purpose in life,” he told CNN. Read full story from cnn.com

Muslim-Christian clashes in Cairo leave 11 dead
Clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, have left 11 people dead and more than 90 wounded.

The clashes broke out on Tuesday night as thousands of Christians protested against the burning of a Cairo church last week. The church was set on fire after tensions escalated over a love affair between a Muslim and a Christian that set off a violent feud between the couple’s families.

Security and hospital officials said six Christians and five Muslims died from gunshot wounds and 94 people – 73 Muslims and 21 Christians – were wounded. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

“An inoffensive, vanilla Christianity”
Paris, France (CNA) — Addressing a gathering of European church officials on March 4, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver warned that many contemporary Christians have reduced their faith to a convenient “form of paganism,” which cannot compete with the widespread “idolatry” of modern consumer culture.

Archbishop Chaput offered his observations at a conference in Paris honoring the late Cardinal Archbishop Jean-Marie Lustiger, a Jewish convert to Catholicism who was the Archbishop of Paris from 1981 to 2005.

The Denver archbishop described Cardinal Lustiger as “an unsentimental realist” who dared to speak about disturbing trends in the Church and society – including a lack of faith among professed Christians, leaving a vacuum that would be filled by other “gods” such as sex and money. Read full story from calcotholic.com

Fort Bragg says atheist concert was treated the same as Christian group
Fort Bragg’s garrison commander said Tuesday he supports an atheist concert on post, but the concert’s organizer said the colonel’s refusal to allow it on the Main Post Parade Field or to provide funding effectively canceled it.

Sgt. Justin Griffith was planning an event called Rock Beyond Belief for April 2 on Fort Bragg. British atheist Richard Dawkins was to be the keynote speaker in a day that included other speakers and bands, Griffith said.

Rock Beyond Belief was, in part, a response to Rock the Fort, a concert sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association that was held on the parade field in September.

In a letter dated Sept. 22, Lt. Gen Frank Helmick wrote in response to protests of Rock the Fort that Fort Bragg would be “willing to provide similar support to comparable events sponsored by similar nonfederal entities that address the needs of the soldiers on this installation.”

Col. Stephen Sicinski, the garrison commander, and Griffith disagree over whether Fort Bragg is holding true to that statement.

Sicinski said he has received overwhelmingly negative feedback since the concert’s cancellation, and he believes that in part is because people aren’t aware of the facts.

“It disheartens me a little bit to think that we’re being misrepresented,” Sicinski said.

Sicinski said Fort Bragg’s market analysis determined that Griffith’s event would draw, at best, hundreds of people. Events at the parade field need an expected crowd of 5,000 or more, Sicinski said. On March 1, Sicinski wrote to Griffith that the event could be held at the Main Post Theater or the York Theater. Read full story from fayobserver,cin

Why won’t pagans accept trans women?
At a pagan gathering in February, the Pantheacon in San Jose, California, trans women were excluded from a Dianic ritual in honour of Lilith. Many of the defenders of this position – the veteran witch Z Budapest, for example – argue from an essentialist position (“you have to have sometimes in your life a womb, and ovaries and moon bleed and not die”) but also by an appeal to tradition, which is a bit rich from a religious standpoint invented or at best recreated within the past 50 years.

Most of the really bad things that happen to trans women could happen to all women – rape, murder, unequal pay. Some of them happen to trans women more, proportionately; when there aren’t many of us to begin with, a murder rate worldwide of one every two or three days is something we notice.

So being snubbed or made to feel unwelcome in women’s space really is not all that important. After all, some hostile feminists will say – have always said – there are so few of us, why are we demanding all the time that we have this conversation? As if excluding us were not starting that conversation pretty definitively. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Early humans began in southern Africa, study suggests
Modern humans may have originated from southern Africa, an extensive genetic study has suggested.

Data showed that hunter-gatherer populations in the region had the greatest degree of genetic diversity, which is an indicator of longevity.

It says that the region was probably the best location for the origin of modern humans, challenging the view that we came from eastern Africa.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Africa is inferred to be the continent of origin for all modern human populations,” the international team of researchers wrote. Read drull story from bbc.co.uk

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News & Submissions 3/8/2011

March 8th, 2011 by sivodd

Witchcraft casts its spell over a growing community in Thanet
ALTHOUGH they were almost hunted to extinction during the Middle Ages there is a growing community of witches in Thanet.

Three covens, with up to 13 witches in each one, regularly meet either behind closed doors or outside at night.

Witch and Doyle’s Psychic Emporium owner Robert Doyle, 35, dabbles in what were once considered the dark arts. He said: “I have taken part in different rituals. In one, we welcome the four elements – earth, air, fire and water. Sometimes we meet in people’s homes and sometimes on the beach.”

Robert explained that witchcraft is deeply rooted in paganism. He added: “One ritual is called the rites of cake and ale where we say goodbye to winter and hello to summer. We pass cake and ale in a clockwise direction saying, ‘May you never hunger or thirst.’”

Witch Wendy Starr, 54, who co-owns a psychic shop called Magik in Ramsgate with Serena Lowman, 58, has started her own gathering of pagans called Magik Cafe. She said: “We had our first night last week and we had 30 people come along. I started it because I wanted to bring together the pagan community and give them somewhere to go when they meet up.” Read full story from thisiskent.co.uk

The Origins of Monothiesm in Hindu Dharma
The dialogue which Raja Ram Mohun Roy had started in the third decade of the nineteenth century stopped abruptly with the passing away of Mahatma Gandhi in January 1948. The Hindu leadership or what passed for it in post-independence India was neither equipped for nor interested in the battle for men’s minds. It believed in ‘organising’ the Hindus without bothering about what they carried inside their heads. It neither knew nor cared to know what Hinduism stood for. Its history of India began with the advent of the Islamic invaders. The spiritual traditions, ways of worship, scriptures and thought systems of pre-Islamic India were beyond its mental horizon.

The Christian missions, as we have seen, had never had it so good. Unchallenged ideologically, they broke out of the tight corner in which Mahatma Gandhi had put them and resumed the monologue which had characterised them in the pre-dialogue period. A number of mission strategies were dressed up as ‘theologies in the Indian context’. The core of the Christian dogma remained intact, namely, that Jesus Christ was the only saviour. The language of presenting the dogma, however, underwent what looked like a radical change to the unwary Hindus, particularly those in search of a ‘synthesis of all faiths’.

In the days of old, the missions had denounced Hinduism as devil-worship and made it their business to save the Hindus from the everlasting fire of hell. Now they abandoned that straight-forward stance. In the new language that was adopted, Hinduism was made a beneficiary of the Cosmic Revelation that had preceded Jehovah’s Covenant with Moses. Hinduism was also credited with an unceasing quest for the ‘True One God’. The business of the missions was to direct that quest towards Christ who was ‘hidden in Hinduism’ and thereby make them co-sharers in the final Covenant which Jesus had scaled with his blood. That was the Theology of Fulfilment. A number of learned treatises were turned out on the subject. The labour invested was perhaps praise-worthy. The purpose, however, was deliberately dishonest. Read full story from chakranews.com

International Women’s Day reminds us why feminism must not lose its bite
This is International Women’s Day and it is a great moment to take the temperature of the women’s movement in the UK. For quite a while it’s been clear that the long-predicted demise of feminism has not happened; on the contrary, over the last few years there have been sparks of new life that have surprised many observers.

You can map those sparks in the growth of grassroots events, such as the Million Women Rise march, launched three years ago, and the Feminism in London conference, whose thousand cheering delegates surprised me with their numbers and energy last year.

You can also map them in the increasing readiness of influential organisations and individuals, from the UN to Judi Dench, to be associated with what might once have been seen as stridently feminist rhetoric. To see the grassroots and the establishment coming together is to witness a movement with a great legacy taking on new energy.

International Women’s Day has not, historically, been a huge deal in the UK. It kicked off in 1911 in more idealistic and embattled times, when women all over the western world were seeking basic political and employment rights. With its roots in the international socialist movement, it is perhaps unsurprising that we hear it has more of a profile in China and Russia than in Britain. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

International Women’s Day: how rapidly things change
A century ago International Women’s Day was associated with peace, and women’s and girls’ sweated labour – which votes for women were to deal with. Not a celebration, but a mobilisation. And because it was born among factory workers, it had class, real class. Later it came to celebrate women’s autonomy, but changed its class base and lost its edge. This centenary must mark a new beginning.

We live in revolutionary times. We don’t need to be in North Africa or the Middle East to be infected by the hope of change. Enough to witness on TV the woman who, veiled in black from head to foot, led chants in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, routing sexism and Islamophobia in one unexpected blow. She and the millions moving together have shaken us from our provincialism, and shown us how rapidly things can change. Women in Egypt have called for a million women to occupy Tahrir Square today. Who would have predicted that a month ago?

Feminism has tended to narrow its concerns to what is unquestionably about women: abortion, childcare, rape, prostitution, pay equity. But that can separate us from a wider and deeper women’s movement. In Bahrain, for example, women lead the struggle for “jobs, housing, clean water, peace and justice” – as well as every demand we share. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

Museum of Natural History Lecture Explores Ancient Animal Remains Burial Cave In Israel
The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History presents “Feasting with the Dead on the Eve of Agriculture: Ancient Animal Remains from a Burial Cave in Israel,” a lecture by Dr. Natalie Munro from the Department of Anthropology at UConn. The lecture will be held in the Biology/Physics Building, Room 130, UConn Storrs Campus, on Sunday, March 20, 3 p.m.

Zooarchaeological evidence from a small burial cave in Israel reveals evidence that prehistoric funerary feasts and shamanism were practiced as early as 12,000 years ago, at the very beginning of human transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist. The site of Hilazon Tachtit in Israel, where Dr. Munro has conducted her research for several years, contains a variety of unusual deposits of animal associated with funeral practices. Read full story from courant.com

Stone Age walkers cause a stir
WALKERS clad in Stone Age costumes attracted plenty of modern-day interest as they made their way from Avebury to the Ancient Technology Centre in Dorset.

The fur-wearing wanderers were recreating a Walk of the Ancients which took them via Stonehenge, Old Sarum and the city centre.

On the way they visited St Michael’s School in Figheldean and met children and parents at Larkhill to answer questions about Stone Age life. Read full story from salsburyjournal.co.uk

Mexicans seek spiritual solace amid chaos (source YouTube – AlJazeeraEnglish)

Road trip to the end of the world (source cnn)

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News & Submissions 3/7/2011

March 7th, 2011 by sivodd

An interview by Raymond Buckland by Bernadette Montana
It is with great pleasure that I post this interview today! Raymond Buckland has always been a huge influence on me, and is someone who has helped to shape our wiccan community today. Read full story from sacredmistsblog.com

Merlin Stone Memorial Sept. 24th
On April 10th, Z Budapest has called for a global remembrance of Merlin Stone. Here’s what Z posted to her Facebook account:

After i have considered the possibility that we all do a ritual for Merlin Stone at the same time, found it not doable. What we should do is a Parenthalia, find it in my “Grandmother of Time” or “Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries” books.

A dumb super to celebrate her life.

I talked to Lenny (Merlin’s life-partner) again today, asked what her favorite foods were. She was a vegetarian; she liked quesadias, and black coffee – no milk, no sugar.

So if you get together, serve strong black coffee and eat something vegetarian.

Lenny is sending me a box filled with her pictures, memorabilia, unpublished articles. Bobbie will put it up on her page (here on the MerlinStone.net site) and include it in the Merlin Stone Projects we are doing with your help. It seems her daughter is getting her royalties, so that’s all cool.

Counting 49 days and nights from the 25th of Feb, till 1oth of April – she is sleeping. On that day, we should all have a party in her honor to celebrate her rebirth on the other side. This elevates the soul.That’s what we can do – elevate her soul. Read full story from merlinstone.net

Faith and yoga in Roanoke: Is yoga compatible with Christianity?
Christians stand on mats at a church hall on Roanoke’s bustling Williamson Road, stretching their arms to the heavens and bending to their toes. They lay their palms on the floor, the soles of their feet perfectly flat. Chants spill from a stereo.

It looks and it sounds like the downward dog — but it isn’t. This group meets Saturday mornings to bend into poses they call the Tallit, not the Big Toe, and the Dove, not the Pigeon.

A debate over yoga’s compatibility with Western religions has torn through exercise and meditation studios across the United States in recent months, with conservative Christians denouncing yoga as pagan and demonic. Yogis respond that it isn’t. In between, some Christians practice yoga on weekdays and go to church on Sundays. Read full story from roanoke.com

New book Secret Symbols about West Wycombe Caves released
A PUB landlord has completed ‘a kind of Da Vinci Code journey’ through the notorious Hell Fire Caves – and written a book to dispel some of the myths surrounding the West Wycombe tourist attraction.

Eamonn Loughran, 42, has published ‘Secret Symbols of the Hell Fire Club’ after living for 20 years on West Wycombe Road and looking up at the Dashwood Mausoleum every day.

He says the much-published ‘history’ of the Hell Fire Club adds up to little more than gossip, adding: “The idea that Sir Francis Dashwood dug these caves simply to get drunk and worship the devil is absolute rubbish.

“There were a lot of very bad books written about the club from early 1900s onwards, mostly by journalists who sensationalised the stories.”

Rumours of black magic, satanic rituals and orgies surrounded Dashwood’s club when it was around in the 1750s and 60s. Read full story from bucksfreepress.co.uk

The Sacred Practice of Understanding Religious Difference
Last week I piled my books and student papers in my bag and headed out to The Flying Joe, a local coffee shop where the excellent mocha takes some of the pain out of grading undergraduate and seminary papers. While my visits there are inconsistent, I do notice the regulars, and the baristas obviously have taken the time to learn the details of every order, including mine.

Learning those details takes a good listener, someone invested in bringing you back for another espresso hit. It is a practice that takes patience. And it is a practice that I require of students in my world religions and non-religious worldviews classes. One of their assignments is to step outside of their bubbles and interview someone of a different worldview. They are required to return their report to the original interviewee for input before they submit it to me for their grade, which encourages them to present the view fairly. The kicker for many of them is that they cannot proselytize during their interviews, forcing them to listen and to get the details right about the other person’s views. Read full story from huffingtonpost.com

The Salem Witches conduct a Ritual to Heal and Bind Charlie Sheen (source YouTube – ChristianDay)

Meet America’s top exorcist, the inspiration for ‘The Rite’ (source cnn)

Road trip to ‘doomsday’ (source cnn)

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Sunday Morning Post

March 6th, 2011 by sivodd

17th century witch chronicles published online
LONDON — A 350-year-old notebook which documents the trials of women convicted of witchcraft in England during the 17th century has been published online.

The notebook written by Nehemiah Wallington, an English Puritan, recounts the fate of women accused of having relationships with the devil at a time when England was embroiled in a bitter civil war.

The document reveals the details of a witchcraft trial held in Chelmsford in July 1645, when more than a hundred suspected witches were serving time in Essex and Suffolk according to his account.

“Divers (many) of them voluntarily and without any forcing or compulsion freely declare that they have made a covenant with the Devill,” he wrote. Read full story from msnbc.msn.com

Krause probes Renaissance witchcraft
“‘She confessed and was burned’ was a refrain,” Virginia Krause, an associate professor of French at Brown University, said during her lecture yesterday, titled “Under the Witch’s Spell: Demonology in Renaissance France.”

During the lecture, held in the Mandel Center for the Humanities and sponsored by the Mandel Center for the Humanities, the Romance Studies Department, the History of Ideas Program and the Comparative Literature Program, Krause focused on the intangible evidence that many courts required while prosecuting witches.

Her main focus was on Jean Bodin, the 16th-century French author, who wrote treatises advising the French courts to rely on auricular evidence rather than visual, believing that the auricular was more trustworthy than the visual.

Due to this belief, most witches were prosecuted with their own confessions, obtained after torture. Bodin wrote that a confession “must pass from the mouth of the witch to the ears of the judge.” Read full story from thebrandeishoot.com

Woman attacked for ‘witchcraft’
Dungarpur (Rajasthan), March 5 : Rajasthan police Saturday began probing an alleged attack on a woman by villagers who labelled her as a witch. Five villagers, including two women, have been charged in the case, an official said.

According to police, Kamla of Modar village in Dungarpur district complained that she was being tagged as a witch and was tortured by some villagers. Read full story from topnews.in

NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life
Aliens exist, and we have proof.

That astonishingly awesome claim comes from Dr. Richard B. Hoover, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, who says he has found conclusive evidence of alien life — fossils of bacteria found in an extremely rare class of meteorite called CI1 carbonaceous chondrites. (There are only nine such meteorites on planet Earth.) Hoover’s findings were published late Friday night in the Journal of Cosmology, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

“I interpret it as indicating that life is more broadly distributed than restricted strictly to the planet earth,” Hoover, who has spent more than 10 years studying meteorites around the world, told FoxNews.com in an interview. “This field of study has just barely been touched — because quite frankly, a great many scientist would say that this is impossible.” Read full story from yahoo.com

A look at the ways the world could end
Think you’ve got a prediction for when and how the world will end? Get in line.

Throughout time, and across continents and belief systems, humankind has dished out enough end dates to fill a doomsday menu.

The backgrounds of the people who serve them up may differ, as might the details of what will unfold, but the general apocalyptic worldview is nothing original, says Lorenzo DiTommaso, an associate professor of religion at Concordia University in Montréal, Quebec and author of the forthcoming book, “The Architecture of Apocalypticism.”

“It’s a philosophy that explains time, space and human existence,” DiTommaso says. And by buying into this sort of outlook, a person can find comfort in a “comprehensive answer.”

Having studied apocalyptic movements for nearly 12 years, DiTommaso has strong opinions. He calls the apocalyptic worldview “adolescent” because it’s “a simplistic response to complex problems” and one that “places responsibility for solving these problems with someone else or somewhere else.” Read full story from cnn.com

The war that must be lost
In every religious domain, every geographical sector of the world, every culture and in every organised human endeavour, the ‘maximum patriarch’ has historically declared war on everyone who was privileged to be born with a vagina.

This unholy, cruel, oppressive, evil, anti-development, well-organised and systematically executed war has used every weapon in the patriarch’s arsenal to remove the inherent human rights and dignity of every woman in the global village.

Of course, the historical records of this universal war against the female of the species has been noted, documented and passed on in the religious tracts, the oral history, the artefacts, legal records and other documented facts from generation to generation.

In more recent times, the areas in which the women of the world have blunted the patriarch’s weapons have not only been documented but have set the stage for strategising around the female war plans in the continuing search for effective antidotes to relieve battle fatigue and the conservation of the positive energies to neutralise the enemy forces through love, compassion, determination and the best qualities of the human spirit. Read full story from jamaica-gleaner.com

Sex swap prisoners get right to bras and make-up
A detailed new policy document drawn up by Kenneth Clarke’s Ministry of Justice sets out the rights of sex change inmates, saying they must be allowed to purchase “gender appropriate” clothing from a home shopping catalogue.

Jail warders, who are already required to address inmates by courtesy titles such as Mister, must call transsexual prisoners “Miss” or “Ms” under the new mandatory guidelines, which come into effect later this month.

The document also offers advice on other problematic issues when dealing with transsexual prisoners – such as access to prison showers – and urges officers to contact the Ministry of Justice’s dedicated “gender recognition policy team” if they have questions about the policy.

The 20-page guidebook, issued to prison governors last week, says: “An establishment must permit prisoners who consider themselves transsexual and wish to begin gender reassignment to live permanently in their acquired gender.” Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

Deborah Harkness And A Discovery Of Witches
Once upon a time, science and the supernatural were pretty much the same thing. The stars, Haley’s Comet, eclipses, mysterious diseases, chemical reactions, it all seemed pretty paranormal to the wizards and monks and scholars who studied them.

Historian Deborah Harkness has thought a lot about the science and the supernatural. Now, she’s written her first novel, a fantasy about modern-day scholarly witches & research scientist vampires fighting great battles in our midst. And it has become a runaway best-seller.

This hour, On Point: Writer Deborah Harkness and A Discovery of Witches. Read full story from wbur.org

TheTrue Blood: Season 4 “Waiting Sucks” Eric (HBO) (soiurce Youtube – HBO)

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

Lisa

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Friday’s Food For Thought!

March 4th, 2011 by sivodd

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you enjoy today’s recipe.

Penne with Spicy Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 package penne pasta
  • 1 can (28 ounces) Italian-style tomatoes, undrained
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup grated or shredded Parmesan

Preparation:

  • Cook and drain pasta as directed.
  • While pasta is cooking, place tomatoes with juice in food processor or blender. Cover until coarsely chopped and set aside.
  • Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook red pepper, garlic and parsley in oil, about 5 minutes. Stir frequently until garlic begins to turn golden. Stir in chopped tomatoes and paste. Heat to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally until slightly thick.
  • Add pasta and 1/4 cup of the cheese to tomato mixture. Cook about 3 minutes, tossing gently until pasta is coated. sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese.

Thanks for stopping by! Well wishes to you all and have a great weekend!

Lisa

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News & Submissions 3/3/2011

March 3rd, 2011 by sivodd

‘Witch’ killings described in book
A 350-year-old notebook which describes the execution of innocent women in East Anglia for consorting with the devil has been published online.

Puritan writer Nehemiah Wallington wrote passages on his attitudes to life, religion, the civil war as well as the witchcraft trials of the period.

By 1654 Wallington had catalogued 50 notebooks, of which only seven are known to have survived. Four are in the British Library, one in the Guildhall Library, one in the Folger Library in Washington DC, and one at Tatton Park in Cheshire.

The Tatton notebook describes battles and skirmishes of the English Civil War period and the disturbing violence of the 1640s in which dozens of East Anglian women were killed. Read full story from newsletter.co.uk

Government releases UFO sighting and policy files
(Reuters) – The government Thursday released 35 previously classified files documenting sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by the military and members of the public dating back to the 1950s.

The files contain around 8,500 pages which mainly cover the period from 1997 to 2005 and include photographs, drawings and descriptions of flying saucer sightings, as well as letters the Ministry of Defence sent eyewitnesses in response to their accounts.

Policemen, a soldier, a RAF officer and members of the public report sightings of objects including a “chewy mint shaped solid craft” and aerial objects resembling a “ring,” a “jellyfish” and a “silver voile spin top.”

In one account a man said he believed he had been “abducted” by aliens in October 1998 after seeing an unidentified craft hover over his London home and finding he had gained an hour of time in the process. Read full story from reuters.com

My Take: The Bible really does condemn homosexuality
In her recent CNN Belief Blog post “The Bible’s surprisingly mixed messages on sexuality,” Jennifer Wright Knust claims that Christians can’t appeal to the Bible to justify opposition to homosexual practice because the Bible provides no clear witness on the subject and is too flawed to serve as a moral guide.

As a scholar who has written books and articles on the Bible and homosexual practice, I can say that the reality is the opposite of her claim. It’s shocking that in her editorial and even her book,  Unprotected Texts, Knust ignores a mountain of evidence against her positions.

It raises a serious question: does the Left read significant works that disagree with pro-gay interpretations of Scripture and choose to simply ignore them?

Owing to space limitations I will focus on her two key arguments: the ideal of gender-neutral humanity and slavery arguments. Read full story from cnn.com

Spiritual panel explores ideals
The Nordic Lounge was host to the Anthropology Student Association and Pagan club’s Spirituality Panel on Thursday Feb. 24, where leaders and teachers from different faiths shared their personal stories and discussed the main aspects of their respective faiths.

Hinduism; Spirituality of Recovery Programs, also known as the 12 -Step Program; Asatru, a Norse/Germanic Paganism; Soka Gakkai, a form of Buddhism; and Wicca were represented.

The speakers talked about their faiths and shared with the audience their gods, myths and history.

Dennis Price, an undecided major, said, “I really am grateful that the Anthropology and Pagan Clubs make this possible for us. I think it is essential for us to know about the spiritual paths that they took. It’s like putting on different glasses to see different effects.” Read full story from lbcvikingnews.com

US declares eastern cougar extinct
WASHINGTON – The US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern cougar officially extinct Wednesday, even though the big cat is believe to have first disappeared in the 1930s.

The eastern cougar is often called the “ghost cat” because it has been so rarely glimpsed in northeastern states in recent decades. It was first placed on the endangered species list in 1973. Read full story from rawstory.com

13 face charges of arson
THERE was pandemonium at the Naphuno magistrate’s court in Limpopo when 13 people appeared in court for allegedly burning the houses of people they accused of practising witchcraft.

The accused, all aged between 19 and 50 years, were arrested on Monday and appeared on Tuesday on charges of public violence.

Their appearance follows an incident at Santeng village outside Hoedspruit on Sunday when a group of angry villagers allegedly set alight seven houses belonging to people accused of practising witchcraft.

This followed allegations that a 13-year-old girl was caught naked casting a spell over a neighbour’s house just after midnight.

The girl was allegedly arrested and forced to appear before the village’s kangaroo court where she was grilled by the villagers. Read full story from sowetanlive.co.za

Grandmothers get support from safe
In most rural areas in Malawi, elderly people, who are not longer active and need the support of canes to walk, are always suspected of being witches.

One such victim of old age is Daitoni Wala of Nyanu Village, T/A Malemia in Zomba. He lost his wife and two children in 1954 due to a flood that hit Mulanje in the year. Since then, his life has been a misery. Wala says he used to live a good life until he lost his family. And as he grew older, he says, society became hostile towards him.

He says people in the community always suspect elderly people of witchcraft and blame them for any bad thing that happens in the community. Wala says he has no one to assist him and he lives alone in a house which is in a bad state.

However, his dream to live a better life may one day be realised even though he is old. The Sub-Saharan Family Enrichement (Safe), a non-governmental organisation working in Malawi, introduced a group called goo Grandmothers, to provide a support system for the elderly. Read full story from nationnw.net

Sweat lodge trial fuels Native American frustrations
Growing up on a reservation in lower Saskatchewan, Alvin Manitopyes learned early to respect the sweat lodge. He was 10 when he attended his first sweat ceremony, and for more than 15 years tribe elders instructed him in his people’s ways.

He understands the spiritual mandate he was given as a healer to serve as an intermediary between people and the spirit world. He carries with him the ancient ceremonial songs, passed on through generations.

He knows how the natural elements – earth, fire, water and air – work together to cleanse people, inside and out, and create balance. At 55, he has spent more than 20 years conducting ceremonies in sweat lodges, where water is poured over hot lava rocks as part of a purifying ritual.

“If you have the right to do it, then the environment you’re creating is a safe place,” says Manitopyes, a public health consultant in Calgary, Alberta, who is Plains Cree and Anishnawbe. “But today we have all kinds of people who observe what’s going on and think they can do it themselves. … And that’s not a safe place to be.” Read full story from cnn.com

Funeral protest ruling painful but right
(CNN) — The Supreme Court ruled that a Kansas church whose members travel the country to protest at military funerals, holding signs that say “Thank God for dead soldiers” and “God blew up the troops,” has a right to continue such demonstrations.

The case was brought by Albert Snyder, whose 20-year-old son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, was killed in Iraq in 2006. The family-dominated Westboro Baptist Church, run by Fred Phelps, protested at Matthew Snyder’s funeral to spread their opinion that American deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God’s punishment for U.S. immorality and tolerance of homosexuality and abortion.

CNN.com talked to CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin about Snyder v. Phelps, which pitted the right of families to grieve in privacy against the First Amendment right to free expression. Read full story from cnn.com

Cracked Mayan Code May Pave Way to Lost Gold
Led by Joachim Rittsteig, an expert in Mayan writing, a group of scientists and journalists left Germany Tuesday, on a mission to Guatemala in search of a lost Maya treasure allegedly submerged under Lake Izabal.

According to the German newspaper Bild, which sponsored the expedition, the expedition includes two reporters from the publication, a photographer, a television camera, and a professional diver who will submerge into Lake Izabal in an attempt to find eight tons of gold said to have been lost there. Read full story from foxnews.com

Charlie Sheen, you are sooo hexed!
A trio of Salem witches, offended by Hollywood hell-raiser Charlie Sheen’s proclamation that he is a “warlock,” are planning a spiritual housecleaning for the “Two and a Half Men” train wreck in the Witch City on Sunday.

“If he doesn’t get some spiritual help, he could end up dead,” said a witch who goes by the name of Lorelei. Just Lorelei. She’s hosting the Sheen-orcism at her witchcraft emporium Crow Haven Corner.

So what will you do Sunday, Loreliei?

“Sacrifice him,” deadpanned the witch, who was immediately chastised by her conjuring colleague Christian Day.

“We’re going to use high ritual and high magic to give him all the help he needs,” declared Christian.

Salem’s sorcerers have their cloaks in a twist ever since Sheen, in an interview with “Today,” said CBS had “picked a fight with a warlock.” Day, a self-proclaimed warlock and the owner of Hex, an “Olde World Witchery” shop, said Charlie seems to be confusing warlocks with warlords. Read full story from bostonherald.com

The Great Debate – What is Life? (source The Science Network)

Richard Dawkins on his book The God Delusion – full show (souirce Youtube – AllenGregg)

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Hump Day Herbs – Datura

March 2nd, 2011 by sivodd

DATURA

Botanical Name: Datura Stranmonium

Folk Names: Devil’s Apple, Devil’s cucumber, Devil’s Trumpet, Ghost Flower, Jimsonweed, Love-Will, Mad Apple, Madherb, Manicon, Moonflower, Stinkweed, Sorcerer’s Herb, Thornapple, Toloache, Witche’s Thimble, Yerba del Diablo (Spanish herb of the Devil)

Datura is an annual herb from the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. It is believed to be native to Asia or South America, origins are unknown. It grows to a height of 2-4 feet, reaching a diameter of 4-6 feet.

Native Americans used Datura to induce trance-like states and enlightenment, often this was served as a right of passage. In l676 in the Jamestown Colony, a group of English soldiers believed the leaves of the Datura to be suitable pot greens. They boiled and and consumed  it, the effects lasted for eleven days.

Deities: Hades, Hecate, Saturn

Element: Water (Fidelity, Friendships, Healing, Love, Meditation, Prophetic Dreams, Purification, Sleep).

Gender: Feminine.

Planet: Saturn (Endings, Exorcisms, Longevity, Visions, ).

Powers: Hex-Breaking, Protection, sleep

Medicinal Uses: Datura has been used as an alternative medicine in treatments for various diseases. Seeds are the most active medicinal part of the plant. Flowering tops, Leaves and  seeds have anti-asthmatic, anodyne, hypnotic, hallucinogenic, mydriatic and narcotic properties.

Magical Uses: Datura can be used in amulets for insomnia, breaking spells and to ward off evil spirits. Sprinkle it around the house for protection. (If placed in incense, it may cause nausea and does not have a pleasant smell)

Ritual Uses: Datura was used by Shamans to transcend the physical world and embark on magical flights to the spirit world. The entire plant was used for divination, prophecy, initiation ceremonies, ritual intoxication, diagnosis and healing.

Other Uses: It is said to protect neighboring plants from insects. To cure dandruff and falling hair, the fruits of the juice are applied to the scalp.

Health Hazards: Poison!.  Datura is considered toxic.  It  should only be used under Physician’s supervision. (handling it may cause skin irritation)

References:

Note: Consult with a Physician or certified herbologist if you are seeking medical remedies. The information is not intended as medical advice. PagansWorld.org is not liable for the misuse of the herb listed above.

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

Lisa

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A Pop Culture Nightmare’s Journey to Paganism…(Guest Post By Wendy Chiles, the NOT so good Witch)

March 1st, 2011 by sivodd

Everyone has an event that changes their perception of the world.  Be it a death in the family, war or an older sister chasing bullies with a broom, everyone goes through this process.

I had two, and oddly enough, they both had to do with my mother.  That never happens to anyone else, right?

The first started off simply enough.  I was in the car with my mum; I pulled out a book and began to read.  I was about seven years old and I had just discovered my love of reading.  I read anything with the voraciousness of a starving line backer.  Shakespeare, Blume, King, pretty much anything not nailed down.  The book I was reading that day was “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The simple, innocent Christian allegory was fabulous, until my overly zealous Roman Catholic, Latin service mum saw the title, THE TITLE, and threw it out of the car window.  She then proceeded to run over it, not ,once but twice, with the car.  She then looked at me, with mildly validated eyes and said, “That will drive the devil out of it.”

The second was a film protest.  The evil film “Monty Python’s The Life of Bryan” came out when I was eight.  I wasn’t the big movie nut yet, that started at 12 when I saw “Some Like It Hot” and “The Misfits” in a double feature at the Byrd Theatre.  However, even at that age, I knew something was special about “Bryan”.  My mum never let me play on the sidewalks in Richmond City.  That night, she had bought me a new hula hoop and great comic books to handout to passers by.  I loved these comics, which I later found out were called Tracts.  I gave them out happily until one of the older kids told us about the movie and how funny it was.  I walked up to my Mum, not understanding why she would be so against a comedy.  She looked down at me and in her fervor shouted, “It’s blasphemous.” The like-minded non-thinkers shouted in approval.  I asked her what that meant and she explained that anything against God was blasphemous and evil.

I looked at her and asked innocently, “Have you seen it?” “I would never watch such FILTH.”

I decided at that moment never to judge anything until I had experienced it for myself.  I also decided to actually pay attention to the world.  I read even more and lived even more.  At thirteen, I decided to start down my current path of The Craft.  I thank my mother now for the moments of insanity she shared with me.  They shaped me into the wacky Witch you see before you now.

“Always look on the bright side of life…”

W
http://apaganslifeforme.blogspot.com/
www.apaganslifeforme.com


Thanks for a great read Wendy!

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

Lisa

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