Healing for Japan – A Sacred Mists “Window of Time” Global Event
In an effort to organize a healing event that involves Sacred Mists members as well as inspire others around the world to participate, we have set aside a window of time that will provide us all the ability to take part in the event wherever we are in the world and at any time that is most convenient for us to do so. During this window of time, we ask that you take as much time as you are able to send healing, …strength, and focus of will to those in Japan affected by this tragedy.Click here for more information.
Many faiths, one goal: Teens ask, listen and learn
Local teenagers, more than 100 of them, gathered at a Charlotte church on Sunday to share the basics – and dispel the stereotypes – about their various religions.
The meeting, organized by Mecklenburg Ministries’ Interfaith Youth Council, began with the high school students forming into circles outside and then … playing games.
Depending on the circle, they hopped around on one leg, performed the moves of a Ninja warrior, clapped and sang, joined hands to form twisty tunnels, and, in classic “Duck, Duck, Goose,” tapped someone on the head, then ran as that someone gave chase. “Ice-breakers,” organizers called these get-acquainted games. Read full story from charlotteobserver.com
Witchcraft accused flee
THE Tzaneen municipality in Limpopo is frantically trying to locate two families who allegedly fled from a temporary shelter after being accused of practising witchcraft.
The municipality had offered the families shelter at a farm near Tzaneen after they were banished from their villages two weeks ago.
Though the buildings on the farm are dilapidated, the municipality had erected tents to accommodate the affected families.
In the first incident the Shipalanas from Julesburg village were banished after the head of the family was suspected of practising witchcraft following the mysterious death of a local person.
The Shipalana family was temporarily housed on Adam’s farm, while their problems with the community were being attended to by municipal officials.
But the Shipalana family allegedly spent one night in the tents. They are now nowhere to be found. Read full story from sowetanlive.co.za
For nearly 30 years, she has kept the art form alive by teaching it to others at St. John’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Uniontown.
Balas, a special-education teacher, was inspired to learn to make pysanky by one of her student’s mother, who also took the course.
“I had seen pysanky occasionally as a child,” she said. “I wanted to learn about this part of my Carpatho-Rusyn heritage.”
She then began making pysanky to raise money for St. John’s. The Rev. Eugene Yackonick, who then led the St. John’s parish, encouraged her to teach the art to other people. Read full story from pittsburghlive.com
Signs, signs, everywhere signs: Seeing God in tsunamis and everyday events
It’s only a matter of time—in fact, they’ve already started cropping up—before reality-challenged individuals begin pontificating about what God could have possibly been so hot-and-bothered about to trigger last week’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. (Surely, if we were to ask Westboro Baptist Church members, it must have something to do with the gays.) But from a psychological perspective, what type of mind does it take to see unexpected natural events such as the horrifying scenes still unfolding in Japan as “signs” or “omens” related to human behaviors? Read full story from scientificamerican.com
International Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2
Coming out to someone is a decision only you can make and it’s a decision best made when you are ready to do so. IPCOD encourages Pagans who are ready to come on out!
There are benefits, personally and for our religious community as a whole, as more Pagans come out. Some of these benefits include the reduction of anxiety caused by living a double life and creating a climate of greater acceptance for all Pagans. Read full story from pagancomingoutday.com
Bountiful a ‘cult,’ says polygamous leader’s brother
The isolated polygamous commune of Bountiful, B.C., is a “cult” where religion is used to control residents and take away their rights, says the brother of one the community’s leaders.
Truman Oler, whose brother James leads one of two divided factions within Bountiful, left the fundamentalist Mormon community in southeastern B.C. several years ago and has rarely seen his family since.
Oler, now 29, testified Tuesday at a B.C. court case examining Canada’s anti-polygamy law, describing a community where children are taught from an early age that anything less than complete obedience — including entering into polygamous marriages– would mean an eternity in hell.
“My thinking about Bountiful and the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) has evolved the longer I have been away from the community,” Truman said in a written affidavit filed in advance of his testimony.
“I now think that the FLDS is like a cult and that it is damaging for children to grow up in that environment. The FLDS does not permit anyone free choice. You are told what to do.” Read full story from ctvbc.ctv.ca
Producers want to film an episode of “Fact or Faked,” which would examine a tourist’s 2008 claim that he filmed a ghostly image of a boy running through the cemetery.
Acting City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney and Jerry Flemming, director of cemeteries, say they’re following city policy on the use of cemeteries.
“The municipal cemeteries are not for sensational or entertainment purposes. Any tours or events marketed as haunted, paranormal, or involving ghosts, spiritualists or mediums are strictly prohibited from any of the municipal cemeteries,” the policy states.
Aldermen Tony Thomas, Mary Ellen Sprague, Clifton Jones and Larry Stuber agreed the sanctity of the cemetery and the respect owed to the deceased and their families has to be considered. Read full story from ajc.com
As part of the Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County’s “Living Library” program last Sunday, representatives from various religions and faiths shared their experiences and answered questions while maintaining the feel of a traditional library.
“My first patron asked about my life, the success and failures in my own practice of Christian Science,” said Jackson, representing the First Church of Christ, Scientists.
Each representative was given a call number and patrons were allowed a 20-minute checkout.
“It’s nice for me to hear the variety of paths people have taken,” said Mark Salzer of Ann Arbor Township.
Salzer, who attends a Mennonite church, was conflicted as to whether he wanted to look into the Pagan or Universalist faiths next after having heard about Science of the Mind. Read full story from annarbor.com
An act of faith, desperation or protest: Self-immolations through time (CNN) — Night had fallen when the men heard the sounds on the mountain. First it was a chime, then a recitation of verses, followed by the crackle of wood burning. They scrambled to the summit to see what was happening.
There, seated with his palms together and facing west, was their friend. Flames leapt around the peaceful man, engulfing him. It was just as he’d intended.
The year was 527.
This story of Daodu, a Buddhist monk, is told in James Benn’s “Burning for the Buddha: Self-Immolation in Chinese Buddhism.” Benn, an associate professor of religion at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, writes that the act of setting one’s self on fire dates back in Chinese Buddhist tradition to the late fourth century.
But no matter how old, self-immolation still leaves people horrified, riveted and moved. Read full story from cnn.com
This may seem like a curious task given that we all know or should know the story of our lives. We’ve been imagining the movie to be made from that story forever, right?
Well, that may be true of some us, but a surprising number of people actually don’t have a coherent story: something that hangs together, makes sense, and has some internal consistency. The story may have large, important chunks missing. Or the narrative is fragmented and chaotic. Sometimes the story is there but it is self-condemnatory and unfair.
A woman who was raped at the age of 16 was telling herself that she consented to sex with a man much older than she was, someone she barely knew. She thought of herself as a slut. All the adults in her family would agree (if they knew the story): a 16-year-old is a grown-up and responsible for her actions. Read full story from scientificamerican.com
India must face up to Hindu terrorism
For far too long, the enduring response of the Indian establishment to Hindu nationalists has rarely surpassed mild scorn. Their organised violent eruptions across the country – slaughtering Muslims and Christians, destroying their places of worship, cutting open pregnant wombs – never seemed sufficient enough to the state to cast them as a meaningful threat to India’s national security.
But the recently leaked confession of a repentant Hindu priest, Swami Aseemanand, confirms what India’s security establishment should have uncovered: a series of blasts between 2006 and 2008 were carried out by Hindu outfits. The attacks targeted a predominantly Muslim town and places of Muslim worship elsewhere. Their victims were primarily Muslim. Yet the reflexive reaction of the police was to round up young Muslim men, torture them, extract confessions and declare the cases solved. Read full story from guardian.co.uk
Russians seek omens and foretell husbands in winter ritual
MOSCOW — On winter nights set aside for fortune telling, young Russian women drip hot wax, throw shoes out of the window and crumple newspapers, hoping to foresee their future husbands and careers.
In a ritual vividly described in 19th century literature and still alive today, Russians tell fortunes in the evenings between Russian Orthodox Christmas (January 6-7) and the festival of Epiphany on January 19.
While fortune-telling is practised between Christian holidays, it is frowned upon by the Russian Orthodox Church, which sees it as a remnant of paganism. Read full story from google.com
Church letter warns against mandatory reporting of child sex abuse Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) — Irish victims of sexual abuse are “disgusted” by a newly revealed letter in which a Vatican official expresses “serious reservations” about requiring bishops to report suspected abuse by priests to police, they said Wednesday.
Abuse survivors will question the cardinal leading a special papal delegation to Ireland about the letter, they said.
“We are disgusted by details revealed in the letter. Many of our members just can’t take this in and have been deeply affected by the revelations,” Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse spokeswoman Margaret McGuckin told CNN. Read full story from cnn.com
