Posts Tagged ‘Witch Hunts’

News & Submissions 9/4/2012

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

Arts & Entertainment:

New movie in production based on Rose Hall’s ‘White Witch’ legend
Albany pagans looking for future films related to witchcraft and the occult will definitely have some entertainment to look forward to next year. According to an article appearing in the “Jamaica Observer,” a new thriller film called, “The Rebellion: The Legend of the White Witch of Rose Hall,” is slated for production and release in 2013. The movie will be produced by Raquel Roxanne, directed by Rodrigo Retamoza III, and written by Nadine Barnett Cosby. The film will be based on the famed and haunted history at the Rose Hall Great House in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Read full story from examiner.com

The Sims 3 Supernatural Review: Witches, Fairies, Werewolves And Magic
With vampires, bots, imaginary friends and other strange beings brought into our Sims 3 communities thanks to previously released expansion packs for EA’s game, it’s hard to imagine things getting any weirder around the neighborhood. And then comes Supernatural, an expansion pack that unleashes a few new types of beings into the world, giving the player new ways to play the game, and new powers for their Sims to use and abuse at their discretion.

The following review contains spoilers, details and screenshots from the Sims 3: Supernatural expansion pack. It is based on game-play with a Macbook Pro with OS X Mountain Lion. This game is an expansion pack and requires the base game in order to play. Read full story from cinemablend.com

Education:

Aliens, witchcraft and zombie philosophers: 8 unconventional courses at University of Michigan
University of Michigan sparked a national debate nine years ago when the school offered a course titled “How to be Gay.”Last year, Michigan State University raised eyebrows when it offered a course called “Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse.”

This fall, U-M doesn’t seem to be offering courses quite as controversial or off-the-wall as those two, but the school definitely has a few oddballs sprinkled in its course packet.

The unconventional offerings include courses that explore whether aliens really exist, whether Robin Hood was real and what famous thinkers would be saying and doing if they were alive today. Read full story from annarbor.com

Lifestyle:

Beyond the surreal
A career Wicca, Ipsita Roy Chakraverti is on a mission to dispel myths surrounding witchcraft and save the lives of women victimised by superstitionFor Ipsita Roy Chakraverti, the world of the paranormal and metaphysical is not some make-believe hocus pocus, or the stuff that scripts sensational television drama. It is her life’s work. A popular Wicca, or witch in lay terms, she not only administers Wiccan ways of healing, but has also made it her mission to travel to remote villages across India, especially where innocent women are declared witches and then murdered, to dispel myths about “witchcraft”. Read full story from thehindu.com

News:

Ghana witch camps: Widows’ lives in exile
When misfortune hits a village, there is a tendency in some countries to suspect a “witch” of casting a spell. In Ghana, outspoken or eccentric women may also be accused of witchcraft – and forced to live out their days together in witch camps.A rusty motorbike speeds across the vast dry savannah of Ghana’s impoverished northern region, leaving a cloud of reddish dust in its wake. Arriving at a small group of round thatched huts, the young motorcyclist helps his old mother to dismount to begin her new life in exile.

Frail 82-year-old Samata Abdulai has arrived at the village of Kukuo, one of Ghana’s six witch camps, where women accused of witchcraft seek refuge from beating, torture or lynching. Read full story from standardmedia.co.ke

Witch hunts targeted by grassroots women’s groups
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Witch hunts are common and sometimes deadly in the tea plantations of Jalpaiguri, India. But a surprising source – small groups of women who meet through a government loan program – has achieved some success in preventing the longstanding practice, a Michigan State University sociologist found.Soma Chaudhuri spent seven months studying witch hunts in her native India and discovered that the economic self-help groups have made it part of their agenda to defend their fellow plantation workers against the hunts.

“It’s a grassroots movement and it’s helping provide a voice to women who wouldn’t otherwise have one,” said Chaudhuri, assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice. “I can see the potential for this developing into a social movement, but it’s not going to happen in a day because an entire culture needs to be changed.”  Read full story from news.msu.edu

Media:

Christians take discrimination cases to Europe’s top court (Source: CNN)

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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!

Lisa

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News & Submissions 3/29/2011

Tuesday, March 29th, 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

Events:

“GhostFest: Paranormal & Horror Convention” – The heads in charge couldn’t have picked a better place than Salem for this weekend’s GhostFest: Paranormal & Horror Convention, which kicks off tonight.

Archeology:

Archaeological research visualizes urban life in ancient cities
A new archaeological research project at the University of Kent, south England, will reconstruct urban life in cities such as Constantinople during a period of history that has long remained hidden from view.

Reconstructions of daily life in ancient Roman cities such as Pompeii are plentiful, thanks to centuries of archaeological research. But that is not the case for the later Roman or ‘late antique’ period (AD 300-650) that saw the long transition from the Roman Empire to the Middle Ages.

This is set to change now – thanks to a three-year project called ‘Visualising the Late Antique City’ – that will see the University’s Dr Luke Lavan, a lecturer in archaeology, leading a team studying artwork, excavated artefacts and the ruins of ancient cities from around the Mediterranean.  Although Constantinople is now obscured by modern development within what is now Istanbul, other sites in Turkey, Tunisia, and Italy are expected to reveal much of the urban landscape of the period. Read full story from pashorizons.com

Arts & Entertainment:

4 Reasons Why David Gordon Green’s Suspiria Remake Could Be Great
In between fielding questions about Natalie Portman’s thong bikini in Your Highness, director David Gordon Green confirmed that he hopes to remake Dario Argento’s horror classic Suspiria next. As someone who really likes horror movies, I’m usually somewhere between disheartened and furious each time Hollywood announces a remake of another one of my favorite 70’s films. But a remake of Suspiria actually has real potential. Read full story from movieline.com

‘Ghost Adventures’ crew to probe `Idol` mansion
Washington: The ‘Ghost Adventures’ crew believes there may be demonic activity inside the haunted ‘American Idol’ mansion and they want to investigate the place as soon as possible.

Zak Bagans, the lead investigator of the ‘Ghost Adventures Crew’, insisted the alleged paranormal activity inside the Beverly Hills mansion where the ‘A.I.’ finalists were staying sounds legit and “possibly demonic.” Read full story from zeenews.com

DVD Review: Devil’s Playground
Devil’s Playground is one of the best examples of a schizophrenic horror film I’ve seen lately – and I don’t mean this in a good way. It hovers between horror, action and movie of the week melodrama, switching in tone so fast that you’ll probably give yourself whiplash as you struggle to make it through the full 90 minutes. Read full story from brutalashell.com

Lifestyle & Religion:

How Can A Bunny Lay Eggs?
While the Easter bunny may play second fiddle to Santa Claus in the pantheon of holiday myths, the wiggly-nosed critter actually has deeper historic roots than ol’ St. Nick.

The Easter bunny’s origins predate Christianity, whereas Santa Claus came to popular attention in the 4th century. Like the Easter eggs it is said to circulate, the Easter Bunny is an icon of fertility. The arrival of spring on one hand is a symbol of renewed life for people, but it also is the mating season for rabbits and hares, and it’s the time when birds lay eggs. If you put that together with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you wind up mixing Easter with the Easter bunny. Read full story from krdo.com

Cambodia: where fear, magic and murder intertwine
BOMNOK, Cambodia — In the midday swelter of early hot season, Pah Eang shivered and walked into a mountainous forest she’d once visited every day. She said she was scared. She hadn’t been to this place, open and silent, in five months. Not since the killings and whispers of magic.

Pulling at her red sweatshirt, Pah dissolved into the Cardamom Mountains that ripple through western Cambodia, and began her search for a place that keeps this 22-year-old awake at night and plagues what’s left of her family. Her path wound deeper until everything was quiet and the only mark of humanity was a bamboo-thatched hut in a clearing so idyllic the savagery of what had occurred there was difficult to imagine.

Last September, Pah’s father and younger brother were killed around 1 a.m. in this hut. The father, Pheng Pah, 46, was stabbed to death while his son, Pah Broh, 15, had his throat slit. When the bodies were discovered the next morning, some villagers in this deeply rural community 25 miles from a paved road rejoiced. They said the father and son were “sorcerers” and had deserved to die. Read full story from globalpost.com

The Episcopal Church:The Way of Balaam
Manchester Cathedral to host tarot card readers and healers at ‘new age’ festival screamed a headline in a British broadsheet. The cathedral will also feature crystal healers and ‘dream interpretation’.

Fortune tellers, meditation experts and traditional healers will fill the pews during the day-long festival in May. The Bishop of Manchester, Rt. Rev Nigel McCulloch, said he wanted to celebrate ‘all forms of spirituality’. Bishop Nigel said the unconventional activities are not incompatible with Christian belief. Read full story from virtueonline.com

Gingrich fears ‘atheist country … dominated by radical Islamists’
Hours after declaring Sunday that he expects to be running for president within a month, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he’s worried the United States could be “a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists,” in the foreseeable future, according to Politico. Read full story from cnn.com

News:

BP managers could face manslaughter charges over Gulf oil spill
The US authorities are considering charging BP managers with manslaughter after decisions they made before the Deepwater Horizon oil well explosion last year killed 11 workers and caused the biggest offshore spill in US history.

Sources close to the process told Bloomberg that investigators were also examining whether BP’s executives, including former chief executive Tony Hayward, made statements that were at odds with what they knew during congressional hearings last year. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Paranormal:

County’s Paranormal Society explores haunted hotel
Could Sonoma State be haunted? You should ask our own team of ghost adventurers, the Sonoma County Paranormal Society (SCPS) headed by Lead Investigator, Sonoma State sophomore and Environmental Studies and Planning major Joshua Goudy and friends. The SCPS spend their free time studying locations rumored to be haunted for proof of life after death.

Goudy and his crew will be visiting the Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley, Calif. on Tues, April 12., a location famous for multiple instances of paranormal encounters.

The SCPS is made of a core group of five students of both Sonoma State and the Santa Rosa Junior College with a common interest and the desire to share experiences in their studies of paranormal activity. Read full story from sonomastatestar.com

Science:

Lost in Triangulation: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mathematical Slip-Up
Artist, inventor and philosopher Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was without a doubt a genius. Yet, there is some criticism. In his book 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance (William Morrow, 2008) British author and retired submarine commander Gavin Menzies claims that da Vinci swiped most of his ideas from the Chinese. Menzies’s theory was poorly received by the world of science. Besides, isn’t da Vinci’s brilliance beyond question? Definitely, but the Dutch mathematician and artist Rinus Roelofs did find an error in one of the Renaissance man‘s drawings. Read full story from scientificamerican.com

Media:

FLDS Church elder moves to replace Warren Jeffs (Source: Youtube – ksltube)

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

Lisa

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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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News & Submission 4/6/2010

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

BREAKING NEWS: Former Cherokee Nation Chief Wilma Mankiller dies
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Former Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller died in the morning hours of April 6 at her home in rural Adair County, Cherokee Nation officials confirmed to the Cherokee Phoenix. Read full story from cherokeephoenix.org

April is Disaster Preparedness Month
There’s a reason April is Disaster Preparedness Month: hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, drought, wildfires, disease outbreaks. Are you ready for the unexpected? Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Cherokee Nation honors three veterans during March council
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Cherokee Nation honored three veterans during its March tribal council meeting, held in Tahlequah. Among them, their careers represent nearly 50 years of service in three separate branches of the military. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Witchcraft: affliction or religion?
A Nigerian cleric, Bawa Madaki, was recently arrested and charged with child trafficking. He is accused of exploiting 23 children between the ages of 5 and 20 he claims were brought to him for deliverance from witchcraft. The cleric says Jesus appeared to him on 25 June 2004 and blessed him with the powers to “cure witchcraft”. Read full story from newstime.co.za

Witch-hunts then – and now
Anyone who thinks that witchcraft belongs only to our past and imaginations should think again. Tens of thousands of people were executed as diabolists between the 15th and 18th centuries, an episode that for many signifies an age of ignorance and intolerance from which the Enlightenment saved us. There’s some truth in this. And yet much of the world still believes in witches, their supernatural powers and malevolent intentions. And all too often the accused are abused and ostracised, or tortured and killed. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Pagan club Gaia’s Titans brings religious diversity to campus
“An it harm none, do as you will,” is the golden rule of the Wiccan faith, said Hayley Arrington, 25, anthropology major and founder of Gaia’s Titans, the on-campus Wiccan/Pagan club.

Paganism and Wicca are both Earth-based religions, Arrington said. Wicca specifically involves goddesses, Witchcraft, “magick” and following the rules of karma, she added. Read full story from dailytitan.com

New Exhibition Explodes Myth of SS Castle Wewelsburg
Wewelsburg Castle, once a pseudo-religious sanctum for Hitler’s SS, has been shrouded in mystery since 1945. Its echoing crypt and mysterious occult symbols have spawned fantasies of pagan, torch-lit ceremonies held by the murderous brotherhood. A new exhibition at the site aims to dispel such myths — and reflects Germany’s new approach towards explaining its darkest places. Read full story from spiegel.de

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News & Submissions 10/26/2010

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Millions around the globe set to observe ‘Earth Hour 2010′
Millions of homes around the world are geared up to observe the ‘Earth Hour 2010′ on Saturday, March 27, 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in order to conserve energy and pay attention towards global warming. Read full story from themoneytimes.com

Albuquerque police and media take steps to learn about Wiccan religion after stabbing
30 year old Angela Stanford has been accused of stabbing a man to death on March 22 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Claiming self-defense, the woman told police that she had taken the man into the woods near a hiking trail to perform what she claims was a Wiccan ritual for spring.  Sanford says when the man sexually assaulted her, she stabbed him with a “Wiccan dagger” to save herself.  Early news reports and statements from police showed a lack of understanding by the media and police force of the Wiccan religion. Read full story from examiner.com

Spirituality and reincarnation through Wiccan eyes
What is “spirituality?” It’s a great marketing tool for preachers and writers, but it doesn’t have much real meaning for nearly anybody today. The problem is that we don’t understand the relationship between the finite part of ourselves the part that lives and dies and our eternal part. Read full story from statesman.com

The Episcopal Church, Wiccans, and the Divine Feminine
In this holiest of Christian seasons, on the evening before Passion Sunday, the Cathedral of All Souls Episcopal Church in Asheville, N.C., hosted an event in its parish hall for an organization called The Mother Grove Goddess Temple. The purpose of the event? To celebrate the spring equinox of course. Wait, you say, that’s not Christian, that’s pagan. But there’s more. According to Mother Grove’s website, its mission “is to create and maintain a permanent sanctuary where people of all faith traditions may openly and safely celebrate the Divine Feminine.” According to Byron Ballard, a Wiccan priestess and a member of the temple, Mother Grove “isn’t a Wiccan group, though some of us are Wiccans.” Just in case you were wondering, Ballard goes on to explain that “Wiccans may also refer to themselves as witches.” Read full story from worldmag.com

Witchcraft exists everywhere – even in you
Witchcraft, argues Malcolm Gaskill, PhD, a researcher in early modern history at the University of East Anglia (UEA), leading expert and author in witchcraft, is not a thing of the past or something that only exists in developing nations Read full story from independent.co.uk

Judge: Wiccan inmates have no right to sweat lodges, raw meat
CARSON CITY — A federal judge has ruled that prison inmates have no right to sweat lodges and raw meat to practice the Wiccan religion.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro rejected the civil rights suit of Scott Fletcher, who claimed the federal law on religious rights of prisoners required the prison to provide such things. Read full story from lasvegassun.com

The Easter Bunny Must Die
Among the peeves I keep as pets, chief is my loathing of the Easter Bunny.  There are many reasons to hate the Bunny.  I will get into why in particular the Bunny, but first to some other pressing business. Read full story from ncregister.com

Police Work With Wicca Community After Stabbing
A self-proclaimed Wicca practitioner and murder suspect faced a judge Wednesday as police try to learn more about the woman’s practices. Read full story from koat.com

Religious groups fear ‘witch-hunt’
RELIGIOUS groups fear the Equal Opportunity Bill debated in State Parliament yesterday will launch a witch-hunt against them and schools, forcing some to secularise or disband. Read full story from theage.com

30 days of advocacy against Witch-hunts in Africa
The words witch and witchcraft are used predominantly as an accusation throughout Africa, either to describe a number of clearly defined traditional religious practices that do not self-define as witchcraft, as well as a number of variable urban legends perpetuated by religious leaders, churches and traditional healers, or to identify women, children and men who are not actual Witches. Read full story from therichmarksentinel.com

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News & Submissions 12/26/2009

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

Kenyan witch-hunt targets elders
Dozens of villagers in the Kenyan district of Kisii are falling prey to superstitious groups accusing them of witchcraft. Read full story from aljeezra.net

Despite the sceptics, there is real truth in the story of Christmas
There are enough question marks over the Christmas story for dogmatic sceptics to have a field day at this time of year, but the core historical realities are not easily swept away. Read full story from smh.com.au

Random Christmas thoughts for the day after
Most people enjoyed the presents they opened yesterday, the rest are in exchange lines today. And don’t forget that today is the first day of the after Christmas sales. Happy shopping. Read full story from highlandstoday.com

St. Joseph Skeptics Sign Stolen
The St. Joseph Skeptics had their sign stolen. It was a small sign that simply said, “Be Good For Goodness Sake,” and included the name of the organization and its website. It survived for three days until someone decided it was out of place surrounded by Christmassy style displays and ran off with it. Read full story from unreasonablefaith.com

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News & Submissions 11/25/2009

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Solitary or Social Pagan?
Pagans practice in one of three ways: solitary (alone), socially (in a group), or semi-socially. Here are some ideas of what these three entail and tips on if you are a pagan and want to change from solitary to social. Read full story from The Examiner

ENA and content filtering categories for the Indianapolis Public Schools
Based on Content Filtering Categories for the Indianapolis Public Schools opt-in listed at http://www.ena.com/help/BlueCoat/InSchools/, anything with a single asterisk (*) is content that is blocked by Indianapolis Public Schools. Anything with a double asterisk (**) is always allowed by Indianapolis Public Schools. On this page, it is also stated that, “Websites that are categorized in this way are always allowed regardless of multiple categorizations.” Read full story from The Examiner

Islam in the Land of the Rising Sun
Everyday the call to prayer is made in different corners of the predominantly Buddhist country – unobtrusively within the confines of its 50 or so mosques and approximately 100 musollas or communal prayer rooms. Read full story from aljazeera.net

Nepal’s bloodbath fair claims three Indian infants
Kathmandu, Nov 25 (IANS) At least three Indian infants died due to cold in Nepal’s most controversial religious fair, where thousands of animals and birds are being slaughtered by Indians and Nepalis, mostly in the hope of getting a son or wish fulfilment. Read full story from sindhtoday.net

U of A offering occult course
For about 15 years Bruce Miller taught Witchcraft and the Occult at the University of Alberta as a credited course.
It was so popular that the university had to split the class in two and hire another teacher. Read full story from metronews.ca

Family group declares victory in ‘Christmas’ battle
The American Family Association has tentatively declared a victory in its battle to keep Christmas in American culture, suspending its boycott of Gap, Inc., after the clothing retailer announced an upcoming pro-Christmas commercial campaign. Read full story from wnd.com

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Site Updates 11/12/2009

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

I’ve added a new section to PagansWorld.org. The Witch Hunts page provides links and resources to information on the Salem Witch Trial and European Witch Hunts. Come by and check it out!

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