Posts Tagged ‘The Lords of Salem’

News & Submissions 3/28/2011

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Headlines:

Witchcraft accusations and human rights abuses in Africa
Witch‐hunts have become epidemic throughout Africa. Although witch‐hunts have historically been viewed as gender specific, with a large percentage of victims still identified as elderly and solitary women, recent reports show that victims of witch‐hunts include both women and men of all ages. read full story from paganrightsalliance.org3

Whistle-blowing witch grounded by TSA (Source msnbc)
Here’s a situation for all you aspiring managers: If you were the boss at a U.S. government agency and one of your employees complained that she was afraid of a co-worker’s religious practices, what would you do?

Would it change your decision if the religion were Wicca, and the employee feared her co-worker because she thought she might cast a spell on her? Read full story from msnbc.msn.com

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Arts & Entertainment:

Exploring power held by goddesses (Book Review)
GODDESSES FOR EVERY DAY: EXPLORING THE WISDOM AND POWER OF THE DIVINE FEMININE AROUND THE WORLD – BY JULIE LOAR
Her intention is clear: to provide goddess stories drawn from ancient myths that can empower women to find from within the courage, power, strength, love and wisdom they need to live their lives to the fullest — to “save the world one woman at a time.” Read full story from mysanantonio.com

Rob Zombie Gives a Peek at The Lords of Salem film
And so it begins. Here are a few shots from my recent scouting in Salem. Great town, great locations. Stay tuned to this blog for all upcoming LORDS updates. Much more to come since we are now moving full steam ahead. See photos at rzfilms.blogspot.com

Astronomy:

Coldest Star Found—No Hotter Than Fresh Coffee
Dubbed CFBDSIR 1458 10b, the star is what’s called a brown dwarf. These oddball objects are often called failed stars, because they have starlike heat and chemical properties but don’t have enough mass for the crush of gravity to ignite nuclear fusion at their cores.

With surface temperatures hovering around 206 degrees F (97 degrees C), the newfound star is the coldest brown dwarf seen to date. (Related: “Dimmest Stars in Universe Spotted?”)

“Over the years there has been steady but slow progress in pushing the boundaries of finding the coldest stars,” said study leader Michael Liu, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii.

“But with this latest discovery we have made a big leap forward—besting the previous record holder by at least 150 Kelvin [270 degrees F, or 150 degrees C],” he said. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com

Environment:

First Practical “Artificial Leaf” Powers Fuel Cells for Rural Homes
Scientists have long been trying to mimic the photosynthesis perfected by leaves — turning sunlight and water into energy that can be stored. While many have made attempts, there seems to be one group of scientists that have pulled it off. The news comes from the 241st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, where the researchers made their announcement. The “artificial leaf” would be used to generate power for off grid homes in developing areas, and the hope is that one such “leaf” could provide enough energy for an entire household. Read full story from treehugger.com

Lifestyle & Religion:

Mass graves replace elaborate funerals in northern Japan
Kamaishi, Japan (CNN) — Ikuo Fujiwara stops in front of the wreckage of the Buddhist temple, brings his hands together and prays.

The monk bursts into tears, an involuntary act, as he asks heaven what he can do to comfort his destroyed hometown and begin to rebuild his house of worship.

Fujiwara needs heaven to speak to him, for he must preside over Kamaishi’s first mass burials in memory. Behind his temple, the sound of heavy machinery digging giant ditches for unmarked coffins echoes through the shattered remains of the 300-year-old building. Read full story from cnn.com

Herbalists Form National Network
Kigali — Practitioners of traditional medicine from across the country, yesterday, met in Kigali to establish a forum that will protect their rights and regulate the profession.

Herbalists currently operate without clear guidelines, although the Ministry of Health, says that it has prepared a document that spells out the ethics for the practice of traditional medicine, guidelines for quality assurance and assessment, good agriculture practice and guidelines for research. Read full story from allafrica.com

Too Many Psychics in ‘Witch City’?
Salem, Massachusetts is famous for its modern witches and history of witch persecution. The city’s unique past supports a thriving menagerie of businesses selling everything from magical charms to fortunes, but some fear the number of psychics flocking to the community north of Boston could be too many.

In 2007, the city lifted a cap on the number of psychics allowed to operate and now some believe the ‘Witch City’ is getting overrun.

Barbara Szafranski is a long-time psychic license holder who conducts readings at her downtown shop Angelica of the Angels. She needed no crystal ball to tell her business would take a hit when more fortunetellers hit the scene. Read full story from foxnews.com

Christians and the pagans
In her letter Dr Emma Chung, President of Leicester Secular Society, stated that Christians had “purloined” Christmas and Easter from pagans (Mailbox, March 16). This is wrong.

In the time of Rome‘s dominance (a pagan society), Christians were in the minority.

It was emperor Lucinius, a pagan, who “ordered” Christians to treat Sunday as a day of rest, as it suited Rome. Later, Emperor Constantine “ordered” Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus on the same day, December 25, pagans celebrate the re-birth of the sun following winter (the Feast of Natalis Solis Invicti), as it suited Rome. Read full story from thisislleicestershire.co.uk

A deity diverse and divisive
In the wide, red land led by an atheist and where evolution has prevailed in its political war with creationism, God has not died. But Australia’s almighty has become a far more diverse and divisive deity, still influencing laws and values and maintaining the potential to undermine social cohesion.

The complexity of beliefs haunts policies and legislators. Christians fear suffocation by political correctness and attack from opposing fundamentalism; Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists complain of bias; pagans rail against marriage laws and the ban on pagan chaplains in the military.

Indigenous Australians say their spirituality has been bundled with paganism and dismissed as a valid belief system, further undermining their ability to manage their affairs, and damaging the fragile process of reconciliation. Read full story from nzherald.co.nz

News:

Radiation levels at Japan nuclear plant reach new highs
TOKYO — As radiation levels at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant reached a new high Sunday, workers contended with dark, steamy conditions in their efforts to repair the facility’s cooling system and stave off a full-blown nuclear meltdown. Wearing respirators, face masks and bulky suits, they fought to reconnect cables and restore power to motor pumps the size of automobiles. Read full story from washingtonpost.com

Vietnam Zoo Owner Gets Jail Time For Selling Dead Tigers
A zoo keeper in Vietnam was charged with the illegal selling of five endangered tiger carcasses and was sentenced to 3 years in jail. The owner had raised the tigers on his farm near Ho Chi Minh City, but after they died (reportedly from bird flu and choking on a bone), he attempted to sell the carcasses — a product that can earn big money on the black market. Read full story from treehugger.com

Radiation From Japan Plant Seeping Into Pacific
Radiation from a crippled atomic plant northeast of Tokyo has wafted into the air, contaminating farm produce and drinking water as well as seeping into the Pacific Ocean, although officials stress there is no imminent health threat.

Highly radioactive water has been found seeping from reactor two’s turbine building, the operator said Monday, worsening fears that it is leaking into the environment.

Engineers are racing to restore cooling systems knocked out by the tsunami, but have been hindered by pools of highly radioactive water thought to have leaked from the steel-and-concrete reactor casings or their pipe systems. Read full story from discovery.com

Paranormal:

Who you gonna call? Family send in paranormal experts after ‘capturing ghost’ in home video
A spooked family have called in a real-life ‘ghostbuster’ – after claiming to have captured on video a poltergeist moving a chair across a bedroom.

Lisa Manning and her children Ellie, 11, and Jaydon, six, have fled their house in terror several times because of bizarre goings-on.

They include pots and pans being thrown around the kitchen, window blinds moving up and down by themselves, lights being switched on and off and drawers being opened. Read full story from dailymail.co.uk

Media:

Exclusive: Neil Gaiman confirms ‘American Gods’ film (Source Digital Spy)

Syfy ‘Destination Truth’ Sandstorm spirits (Source Syfy)

Blogspot:

Feel free to leave comments regarding the articles posted.

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

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

Lisa

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Saturday Morning Post

Saturday, February 19th, 2011

Toronto’s one-stop Occult Shop
The next time you’re satisfying a serious ice-cream craving at Dutch Dreams on Vaughan Road, wander a little bit north and you’ll find a large, white building containing an inconspicuous store framed by clouded windows. The red, weather-beaten, wooden sign hanging above the entrance reads, “The Occult Shop,” and despite its humble facade, the store serves as a gathering place for a range of spiritual subcultures in Toronto.

Tamarra and husband Richard James (pictured at right) opened The Occult Shop in 1979 at a location on Queen Street West (where Doc’s Leathers & Motorcycle Gear now resides). After a few years of moving around, they finally settled into their current home at 109 Vaughan, where they dole out spiritual advice with their herbs, incense and candles.

“We make sure that we know our product really, really well,” says Richard, who, with Tamarra, also also founded the Wiccan Church of Canada (WCC) around the same time that they opened the store. The church’s headquarters and main temple—which holds open rituals every Sunday at 7pm—is housed in the same building as The Occult Shop. The James started the group partly because of customer demand, but also to educate people on this often misunderstood faith. The church currently has a satellite temple in Hamilton and around 100 members, although Richard points out that that number fluctuates. Read full story from eyeweekly.com

It’s a witch…It’s a boat…It’s Salem
These three words, together with a logo that can be seen as either a sailboat or witch hat, were unveiled yesterday as a new brand Salem will use to sell itself.

“We want this to be a tool for communication and for sharing what we are here in Salem,” said Kate Fox, executive director of Destination Salem.

A nonprofit funded by a combination of city money and advertising dollars, Destination Salem is charged with promoting the city and attracting visitors. The group paid Rattle, a Beverly advertising, design and marketing firm, $25,000 to create the logo and tag line.

When it was first shown at the end of a video about the city, the Salem business owners and managers who gathered in a Peabody Essex Museum auditorium broke into applause.

“I’m super excited about it,” Mayor Kim Driscoll said. “What it says to me is that the more we change and grow, in many respects, the more we stay the same.”

The dual-purpose logo acknowledges Salem’s popular “Witch City” identity but also celebrates its maritime roots. Read full story from salemnews.com

Norse code as Vikings return to York
WE’RE used to seeing the occasional blood-spattered Viking wandering the streets of York. But for nine days you won’t be able to move for axe-wielding Norsemen, even when you are doing the weekly shop in Monks Cross.

Next weekend they will even be rampaging across the racecourse.

The annual Jorvik Viking Festival starts today and this year hundreds of warriors will descend on the city to commemorate King Ethelred’s battle to capture York. Read full story from yorkpress.co.uk

Thomas Reed Interview: Part 2 (Conclusion) (Video)
Well everyone, here it is! The long awaited conclusion of the Thomas Reed Interview. It’s been a long time coming and it took quite a lot of editing to get it to a manageable length but I did it.The Reed Saga is quite extraordinary and I hope I was able to do it justice. In the conclusion we talk to Tom about his mid to late abductions as well as those of his brother Matt. We also were able to speak with Debbie Kauble and get her input as well as a video clip she took during a MUFON investigation of Matt’s SUV after his latest experience. Read full story from ghosttheory.com

Renowned atheist draws crowd at Nova Southeastern
t was more than an hour before the biology professor walked onto stage at Nova Southeastern University, but dozens of fans had already lined up Thursday night in hopes of getting in to hear his much-anticipated speech.

Universities are naturally magnets for academics to talk about their study, but this was no average scientist.

A sold-out crowd was already inside.

If it’s possible to conceive a God of the world of atheism and evolutionary biology, Richard Dawkins would be hard to beat for the title.

One of the most prolific atheists and secular humanists living today, he spoke on “The Fact of Evolution” and his stance against creationism in an hour-long chat that spanned topics from philosophy and theology to biology and gene mutation. Read full story from miamiheral.com

Rob Zombie Talks ‘The Lords of Salem’
Rob Zombie is touching on some of his inspirations for his next film “The Lords of Salem.”A co-production between Haunted Movies (“Insidious”) and Alliance Films, “The Lords of Salem” is written and directed by Zombie (“The Devil’s Rejects,” “Halloween”).

The film will center on contemporary Salem, where the residents encounter a 300-year-old coven of demonic witches.

“I’m going to probably start pre-production in March,” Zombie said in an interview with List.co.uk. “Hopefully I’ll shoot it around June. … ‘Lords of Salem’ is an original idea, it’s a new thing. Read full story from rabiddoll.com

Why Are Some Paranormal Beliefs More Attractive to Males While Others Are More Appealing to Females?
There are interesting differences between men and women on so-called “paranormal beliefs,” such as the belief in astrology, ESP, UFOs, Bigfoot, and ghosts. An abundance of research in the sociology of religion has found that women are more spiritual than men in a variety of ways. Women are more likely to belong to conventional religious organizations and hold traditional religious beliefs. They are also much more likely than men to believe in psychic powers, astrology, the power of mediums, and ghosts.

Men are more likely than women to believe that some UFOs are extraterrestrial craft and about equally likely to believe in creatures such as Bigfoot. Concerning an escalation of participation to the level of active research, men are also more likely than women to pursue these beliefs by becoming Bigfoot or UFO “hunters.”
These discrepancies indicate that men have a tendency to approach the paranormal differently from women. Men are more likely to see the paranormal as a means of discovery—i.e., they hope to capture Bigfoot to prove to others that it is (empirically) real. Females are more likely to see the paranormal as a source of personal discovery and enlightenment, a route to achieving a more thorough understanding of themselves and their relations to other people. Such lines of interest may also be pursued in the effort to “become a better person.” scienceandreligiontoday.com

Buying a new home? Add a touch of witchcraft (source necn)

Couple Finds Image of Jesus in Wooden Chair (source ktla)

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