Proud pagans party for magical time
ajc.com: “The annual Atlanta Pagan Pride festival draws hundreds of Wiccans, witches and other earthy worshippers to Decatur’s Glenlake Park. Last weekend, the fourth celebration brought together 800 colorful characters.
As in Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ’ fairies showed up —- the youngsters wearing synthetic wings made of wires and see-through cloth. ‘Lords’ and ‘Ladies’ walked amongst commoners. Children danced the maypole.
Pentagram amulets, ponytails and tattoos —- the quarter-moon on the forehead —- were everywhere. Vendors hawked Doritos, detachable horns and magic potion —- actually bath salt that promises to spike your income for $3.”
Family tree leads some to witches, naked queens, Romeos
AZCentral.com: “Winnifrid Benham was tried in 1600s in the last Witch Trial in Salem, Massachusetts and Benham even found a book containing a transcript of the trial.
Meanwhile, his wife Anne claims that her paternal ancestor, William Wainner, made shoes for Tom Thumb, the real life, diminutive character that inspired the folk tale.
Genealogy can be akin to solving a mystery, as many Gilbert residents have found out. They say you’ll never know what you’ll discover after poring over the manuscripts and databases available at the Mesa Regional Family History Center at the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints Temple in downtown Mesa.”
Summer solstice at Stonehenge
The Frame: Summer solstice: “STONEHENGE, England (AP) — Pagans and partygoers drummed, danced or gyrated in hula hoops to stay awake through the night, as more than 35,000 people greeted the summer solstice Sunday at the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge. Despite fears of trouble because of the record-sized crowd, police said the annual party at the mysterious monument was mostly peaceful. Stonehenge, which sits on Salisbury Plain about 80 miles southwest of London, is one of Britain’s most popular tourist attractions, visited by more than 750,000 people a year. It was built in three phases between 3,000 B.C. and 1,600 B.C. Mystery surrounds the monument’s original purpose. The solstice is one of the few times during the year that visitors can get close enough to touch the rocks. (25 images)”
(Via http://www.sacbee.com.)
Ask Phyllis…Astrology and Beyond
Dear Phyllis:
Did something just change astrologically? I feel kind of hopeful and excited. But so many things have fallen apart in the past few months I’m almost afraid to believe life could be moving ahead.
Signed,
Tentatively Excited.
Dear Go ahead and be Excited…
Yes! New possibilities and fresh energies are forming that can help us (finally!) move forward in our relationships, attitudes and goals. Venus the planet of Love, and Mars the planet of Action are both entering the dynamic sign of Aries. They can work wonders to awaken a gutsy empowerment that urges us to initiate something new and exciting in our lives.
Venus in Aries through June 6th can really enliven our relationships! Many will feel more assertive and adventuresome with others. Sexier, too. Since Aries is the ‘Me First’ sign, we’ll also be more likely to speak up for what we really want and need. Done with loving, this can refresh existing relationships and spark compelling new connections.
Read more: Phyllis F. Mitz: Ask Phyllis…Astrology and Beyond
Meacham: The End of Christian America
Meacham | Newsweek.com: “It was a small detail, a point of comparison buried in the fifth paragraph on the 17th page of a 24-page summary of the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey. But as R. Albert Mohler Jr.—president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the largest on earth—read over the document after its release in March, he was struck by a single sentence. For a believer like Mohler—a starched, unflinchingly conservative Christian, steeped in the theology of his particular province of the faith, devoted to producing ministers who will preach the inerrancy of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only means to eternal life—the central news of the survey was troubling enough: the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent. Then came the point he could not get out of his mind: while the unaffiliated have historically been concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, the report said, ‘this pattern has now changed, and the Northeast emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified.’ As Mohler saw it, the historic foundation of America’s religious culture was cracking.”
(Via Newsweek.)
100,000 Atheist Britons Seek ‘De-Baptism’ from Christianity
100,000 Atheist Britons Seek ‘De-Baptism’ from Christianity: “Some of these atheists argue that they were baptized when they were too young to make the decision, and now that they’re able to make a choice, they want to renounce their Christian baptism.
‘We now produce a certificate on parchment and we have sold 1,500 units at three pounds ($4.35) a pop,’ said National Secular Society (NSS) president Terry Sanderson to Agence France-Presse.
NSS’ de-baptism initiative follows closely behind the British Humanist Association’s ‘There’s probably no God,’ bus ads. Dozens of buses across England carried the atheist ad that encouraged people to stop worrying and enjoy their life since there is probably no God.”
(Via Christianpost.com.)
Witches’ school plans convention
Salem, MA: “A group claiming to be the world’s largest online school for witchcraft will hold its annual international conference here next month.
The three-day conference, titled ‘Pagans Taking Global Action,’ is scheduled for April 17-19 at the Hawthorne Hotel. It will include a discussion of the Pagan economy, a handfastings (Pagan wedding) demonstration and a keynote address by Christian Day, a Salem witch.
‘Salem isn’t just a Wiccan city, it’s the Wiccan capital of the world,’ said Ed Hubbard, the CEO of the Rossville, Ill., Witch School International, which reports a membership of 200,000 people in 74 countries studying online.
The group also plans to vote on whether to relocate its headquarters to downtown Salem. The move would include the relocation of Magick TV, an Internet television station broadcast on YouTube. Hubbard said he envisions a downtown TV studio that could broadcast such programs as the Pagan Nightly News.”
(Via SalemNews.com.)
Living Paganism and Witchcraft: Meaning, Purpose, Identity and Integration
Llewellyn Journal - Living Paganism and Witchcraft: Meaning, Purpose, Identity and Integration: “I was 12 years old when I first discovered the world of Paganism and Witchcraft. I had been raised in a household that cherished and honored the mysterious and the spiritual, and though I lived an ocean away from my father, his mystical, animistic Balinese spirituality was ever-present in my life. I was that child who found solace in the tangled roots of trees and spoke to invisible beings in the garden. I knew, if not consciously, who and what I was and still am; this was crystallized for me in my adolescence when I dove head first into the Craft. I embraced its teachings and traditions; after all, they have been mine for as long as I can remember.”
(Via Llewellyn Journal.)
Cenk Uygur: The Silent Minority
Cenk Uygur: The Silent Minority: “A new comprehensive study by The Program on Public Values at Trinity College shows that this group is now a whopping 15% of the country. Mormons by comparison are a puny 1.4% of the population, and people can’t shut up about the Mormons. The Senate Majority Leader is a Mormon, one of the top Republican presidential candidates was Mormon and even HBO has a whole show devoted to them.
Even though the non-religious are more than ten times larger, other than Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), not one member of Congress would even admit to being in the dreaded minority of non-believers. They are almost never accounted for in any political discussion of religion in the country. The devout view them as amoral at best and destined for eternal damnation at worst. Yet, this kind of abuse and scorn is widely accepted and expected.”
(Via The Huffington Post.)
Swan Feathers linked to Cornish Witches’ Fertility Rituals
SF Restaurant Examiner: “Jacqui Wood, a British archaeologist has been digging at the site at Saveock Water, where remains of what appears to be witchcraft rituals have just been discovered. Swan feathers, human hair, the remains of 57 unhatched eggs and nail clippings are among some of the offerings found in a 17th century stone-lined pit that could have been a ‘holy well.’ There was additional evidence that the well had been filled to hide what went on there.
Pagan rituals had been all but wiped out in 17th Century Britain, but not in Cornwall. There such pagan ‘bird rituals’ appear to have continued and many were thought to be linked to fertility spells. It is possible that these offerings, such as the unhatched bird eggs were left and then nine months later, if there was a conception, the person would return to empty the pit.”
(Via Examiner.)