Curses!

It appears though that Wicca has made it into the Big Leagues in America. As in Major League Baseball. Not so strange since most sports types are superstitious and after all witchcraft and magick is commonly used in Soccer.

Garner can’t find right voodoo doll

Looking for a way to slow down Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano, Houston Astros manager Phil Garner decided to try voodoo.

“I’m confused,” Garner told Chicago’s Daily Southtown. “I went online and looked for my voodoo guy and I’m going to have to pick one and try to get it. Most of these curses are against lovers … I’ve got to find one that puts a curse on a baseball player.”

Of course there are other ways to curse a ball player.

“It wasn’t voodoo. I stayed away from the voodoo. I can’t go into the details. I’ll just have to tell you Wicca (a form of witchcraft),” Garner said to the Houston Chronicle, explaining his latest plan.

But Voodoo ain't Wicca. The former does claim on occasion to use curse magick the latter says it doesn't.


Voodoo is Black Magick, as in originating in Africa, while Wicca claims to be White Magick, as in Eurocentric.

A Witchcraft suppression bill, currently being drafted by the Mpumalanga legislature, has struck fear into the hearts of South Africa's witches, who fear the dark days of medieval witch-hunts may soon return.

The bill, leaked in June to the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (Sapara), threatens to undermine the freedoms and rights of a religious minority by criminalising and prohibiting their right to exist and practise their religion, says Sapra convener Damon Leff.

The draft, titled the Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill 2007, states in its introduction that it is "to provide for the suppression of witchcraft in the province".

In Chapter 6 it states any person who "professes a knowledge of witchcraft or the use of charms" or "for gain pretends to exercise or use any supernatural powers, witchcraft, sorcery or enchantment" shall be guilty of an offence.
One of the major causes of the Western pagans' upset, according to Leff, is the failure of the bill to recognise the doctrinal and ethical gap between Western pagan and some forms of traditional African witchcraft.

And according to Vos, by lumping the two religions together the bill has overlooked how differently they approach the issue of ethical responsibility.

"While in rare cases (some in Mpumalanga) murder has been committed to get hold of human tissues, such as hearts and genitals for muti practices, the furthest a Western pagan would go is to collect human hair and nail clippings," he claimed.

Another serious criticism Western pagans in the country harbour is the bill's stereotyping of witches and witchcraft as being harmful and dangerous to their community.

The bill defines witchcraft as "the secret use of muti, zombies, spells, spirits, magic powers, water, mixtures, etc, by any person with the purpose of causing harm, damage, sickness to others or their property".

Leff has asked the Mpumalanga advocates to replace it with the definition: "a religio-magical occupation that employs the use of sympathetic magic, ritual, herbalism and divination".

AIDS, Witchcraft, and the Problem of Power in Post-Apartheid South Africa

As an epidemic of AIDS sweeps through this part of Africa, isidliso is the name that
springs to mind amongst many in the epidemic’s path. To the extent that this occurs, the epidemic of HIV/AIDS becomes also an epidemic of witchcraft. But the implications for a witchcraft epidemic are quite different from those of a public health crisis, at least as such things are conventionally conceived in western discourses of social and political management.

In this paper I will examine some of the implications of interpreting HIV/AIDS
infection as witchcraft and ask what they might mean for the legitimacy of public power in post-apartheid South Africa. For when suspicions of witchcraft are in play in a community, problems of illness and death can transform matters of public health into questions of public power, questions relating to the identification and punishment of persons deemed responsible for bringing misfortune to the community, that is: witches.

So instead of using pins in dolls to curse his opponent perhaps Garner should have found a witch who was good at casting Lucky Mojo Spells.

Like this guy.

Wiccan Wins Lottery

Wiccan instructor Elwood "Bunky" Bartlett says a New Age book store made it possible for him to become an overnight multi-millionaire.

The Maryland accountant, who claims to hold one of four winning tickets sold for Friday night's estimated 330 million dollar Mega Millions jackpot, says he made a bargain with the multiple gods associated with his Wiccan beliefs: "You let me win the lottery and I'll teach."

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Wicca Bashing

Harry Potter is a NOVEL representing a traditional fantasy world of magic versus a materialistic rationalistic scientific world. In other words its a world where magic works outside of science.There is no particular spirituality or religion professed or discussed. Just the good old morality of good versus evil, which is the basis of all religions.

However in North Carolina the Christians use it to Wicca Bash.

BRUNSWICK COUNTY

Religion arises in book policy talks

The Brunswick County Board of Education is considering setting a procedure for students' parents to use if challenging books available at school libraries.

That revived an old issue at the board's Curriculum Committee meeting Tuesday.

Board member Shirley Babson said parents have told her the Harry Potter series might represent a particular religion. That remark led board member Jimmy Hobbs to refer to a controversy that took place last year, when the board voted to allow Bible distribution at local high schools and then backed down. One of the groups that led the opposition was the Wiccans, Hobbs said.

Wiccans believe in rituals and charms. Some religious groups have said they fear the wildly popular Harry Potter, with its fictional accounts of witchcraft, can encourage children to practice Wicca.

"When distributing materials, we should be careful with not being biased," Hobbs said. "Is Wicca being allowed, in other ways, to the exclusion of Christian literature?"

Director of Student Services Reeda Hargrove, who presented the policy at the meeting, said Harry Potter "wasn't even in my thought process."

The new procedure will be considered by the schools' Policy Committee when it meets at 9 a.m. Sept. 5.

- Ana Ribeiro

Wicca bashing using Harry Potter is not confined to the U.S.

A Pentecostal teaching assistant who quit her job at a foundation primary school after she was disciplined for refusing to hear a child read a Harry Potter book is seeking compensation for religious discrimination. She claimed that the book glorified witchcraft.

Sariya Allen, whose case is expected to end today at the south London employment tribunal in Croydon, claims Durand primary school in Stockwell discriminated against her as a born-again Christian and put her at a disadvantage compared with teaching assistants who were not of her faith. After three years in the job, she quit in July and is now jobless.

The difference here is that lots of novels deal with magical reality, in fact that is the nature of a novel. It is a magical reality, another world to step into and experience.

While the Bible is a religious text, a holy work, a philosophical text dealing with cosmology and morality. Which is taken literally by some folks as the word of their G*D. Now if what these folks are saying is that it is a novel, and should be included with other novels in school libraries well that's a different story.

This is just another example of the dominant religious meme/ideology creating fear over perceived challenges to it's cultural hegemony.

Christian Censorship of Harry Potter: Schools, Libraries, and Free Speech .

Laura Mallory v. Harry Potter 3 - Offbeat

Is Harry Potter Evil?

Not all Christians consider Harry Potter a dangerous icon of witchcraft.

As the old textbooks of rhetoric stated, the "intentio auctoris", the intention of the author, may in the end be different from the "intentio operis", the objective intention or direction of the work. Giacomo Cardinal Biffi wrote a fascinating book about finding Christian values in "Pinocchio", whose author was a non religious secular humanist. Rowling writes in a recognizable British tradition including such Christian storytellers as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and the influence is apparent, no matter what Rowling's personal position. Until some years ago, it was perhaps even too easy to find a "Christian hero" almost everywhere in the non-Christian world. Literature, however, is full of such heroes, whose values are so human that they may be regarded as at least pre-Christian. Christian parents are certainly well advised, in a world of confusion, to discuss with their children the books they read (not to mention TV shows). But, should I cast a vote in a poll similar to the one taken in Georgia, I would vote for Harry Potter, and would do so as a parent and a Christian, not only as a scholar of religion. He is the last scion of a more than respectable British literary tradition, and a healthy reading for children of all ages.

SEE:

Bush Apologizes to Witches

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Bush Apologizes to Witches

Good news Wicca has been officially recognized by the U.S. Military as a religion.
In this BBC report an update on the recent recognition of Wicca as a religion by the U.S. military.

Pagan branch gains strength

31 Aug 2007

Followers of Wicca, a branch of paganism, have stepped up efforts for recognition of the religion.

Historic Headstone Dedication at Arlington National Cemetery for Wiccan Priestess on the 4th of July -

Of course considering the U.S. military operates from the Pentagon, itself a form of Pentagram, and uses the Star on as its symbol on its equipment, perhaps they realized how silly this was. Or perhaps their reluctance was that they were afraid of being outed as a Satanic conspiracy like poor old Procter and Gamble.

A Wiccan military family who got dissed last week by President Bush when he was meeting with military families who lost loved ones in Iraq, gains an apology from the Pres.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today commended President George W. Bush for his apology to a Wiccan war widow who was excluded from a private meeting with veterans and their deceased family members in Nevada earlier this week.

Roberta Stewart, whose husband Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in combat in Afghanistan, was not invited to meet with Bush and other family members of soldiers who have died in combat. Other members of Sgt. Stewart's family were invited to the meeting.

"He apologized for the exclusion and the error that was made and said that he admired me for my spirit and thanked me for accepting his apology and said that he hoped he would have the opportunity to someday meet me," Stewart continued. "I was very pleased with the way the conversation went, very pleased that he did call and put this right."

Lynn asked Stewart if the president touched upon her Wiccan faith. She replied that the president told her that "he would not discriminate against someone because of their religion."

Unlike other Born Again Christians who are still at war with the Old Religion.

The Return of the Old Gods: A Challenge to Green Evangelicals

Just as they are against secular society which allows Wicca and other alternative religions to flourish in spite of Christian Hegemony.



See:

Gone to Croatan

Whitman Wicker Man

The Wicker Man Review

Wicca

Pagan



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Quebec Fete Nationale is Pagan

How pagan rites are revised to fit political purposes.

The reporter assumes that the Roman Catholic establishment in Quebec was not being political when it changed this ancient rite of Summer Solstice to a celebration of John the Baptist. Ironically a major festival for Freemasons, the political opposition to the RC establishment in Quebec.

Fete nationale began as a religious holiday back in 1615 to mark the summer solstice and the birth of John the Baptist.

But in years since, particularly with the waning of the influence of the Roman Catholic church in Quebec, it became more political. In recent years, efforts have been made to make it more inclusive and less political.

Quebecers celebrate Fete nationale more enthusiastically than Canada Day but one of the main reasons for that is because July 1 is the province's annual moving day and people are busy hauling boxes and furniture to new homes.

How to make Canada irrelevant, millions of dollars spent by Sheila Copps to supply Quebecers with Canadian flags, they can wave as they move with all their belongings festooned with Canadian decals, stamps, bumberstickers, etc.

While Quebec and its Roman Catholic Aristocracy adopted St. Jean de Baptiste as their patron saint for their Nation State the Freemasons did the same but for the promotion of the brotherhood of man.

On June 24th, we observe the festival of summer sun and on December 27th, we observe the festival of the winter sun. The June festival commemorates John the Baptist and the December festival honors John the Evangelist.

These two festivals bear the names of Christian Saints, but ages ago, before the Christian era they bore other names. Masonry adopted these festivals and the Christian names, but has taken away Christian dogma, and made their observance universal for all men of all beliefs.

The Baptist is patron of tailors (because he made his own garments in the desert), of shepherds (because he spoke of the "Lamb of God"), and of masons. This patronage over masons is traced to his words:

Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight all his paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, And the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth. (Luke 3, 4-6.)

All over Europe, from Scandinavia to Spain, and from Ireland to Russia, Saint John's Day festivities are closely associated with the ancient nature lore of the great summer festival of pre-Christian times. Fires are lighted on mountains and hilltops on the eve of his feast. These "Saint John's fires" burn brightly and quietly along the fiords of Norway, on the peaks of the Alps, on the slopes of the Pyrenees, and on the mountains of Spain (where they are called Hogueras). They were an ancient symbol of the warmth and light of the sun which the forefathers greeted at the beginning of summer. In many places, great celebrations are held with dances, games, and outdoor meals.

Many of these same fire festivals are also practiced on Walpurgisnacht and Beltane; May Day. Another pagan festival of great social importance.


See:

Fete Accompli


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Summer Solstice Give Or Take A Day

Summer's official, astronomical start is at 2:06 p.m. today.

It's tough for pagans when Solstice falls on a work day like today.

Although the solstice is technically today, the druid ritual will be Saturday afternoon because druids have jobs, too.

Unless of course they are unionized pagans and have a clause in the collective agreement saying that employees are entitled to holy days off of their choice.

In Canada Wiccan and pagan holy days such as solstice are considered official religious holidays by the Ontario Supreme Court.

Which is why solstice, winter or summer, falls between the 21 and 23, to give time for the weekend to catch up.

Thousands of modern-day druids, pagans and partygoers converged on Stonehenge late Wednesday as people across the Northern Hemisphere prepared to welcome the summer solstice -- the longest day of the year.

Solstice celebrations were a highlight of the pre-Christian calendar. People in many countries still celebrate with bonfires, maypole dances, and courtship rituals.

Solstice celebrations also take place in other countries, although most are deferred until the last weekend in June. Swedes will gather to sip spiced schnapps, Danes will light bonfires, and Balts and Finns will flock to the countryside to dance, sing and make merry under the midnight sun.

The largest crowd in recent years gathered at Stone Henge overnight to celebrate the Summer Solstice this morning as a further 1,000 congregated at Avebury.

Visitor numbers at the 5,000-year-old English Heritage Site on the Salisbury Plain totalled 24,094, up from 18,700 last year, to watch the longest day of the year dawn.

A spokesman said numbers swelled above a predicted 20,000 because extra people, on their way to Glastonbury music festival, stopped off to join the party.

Police were pleased to see that those attending had also heeded their warning to use public transport to get to the area as vehicle numbers at the gathering were also down on last year's total, dropping from 4,536 to 3,577.

As the sun rose at 4.58am a cheer went up from those gathered overnight at the stone circle on Salisbury Plain.

Revellers clad in antlers, black cloaks and oak leaves gathered at the Heel stone - a twisted, pockmarked pillar at the edge of the prehistoric monument - to welcome the rising sun.

BBC online pictures of summer solstice sunrise.

Summer solstice

Are you in touch with your inner Druid?

SEE

Damn Accurate

Pagans Party

Here Comes The Sun

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Gone to Croatan

I will not be blogging for the next few days as I am off to present a paper on; The Book of Vles and Ukrainian Neo-Paganism at the Gaia Gathering; The Canadian National Pagan Conference in Winnipeg over the long weekend. This is the third year this conference has happened.

Abstract

Discovered in a Ukrainian bombed out home at the end of WWI a set of wooden boards inscribed in runes was translated in the 1950’s and transcribed into English in the 1970’s. Known as the Book of Vles (or Veles[1]) the translator purports it to be the oldest known written account of pagan pre-Christian beliefs in the Ukraine.

The pagan traditions of the Ukraine being largely undocumented meant The Book of Vles was mired in controversy. Its discovery by a White Russian officer associated with the counter-revolutionary forces of Denikens[2] White army has led critics to devalue its authenticity. More modern writers use this dubious origin in an effort to associate it with modern racialist nationalists and Anti-Semites.

With modern research being conducted in the fields of ethnography, anthropology, archaeology, religious studies, and the opening up of the Ukraine to Europe as a democratic regime, the pagan lore in the Book of Vles is being validated by new discoveries.

This paper looks at the Book of Vles in light of the information we have on pagan traditions in the Ukraine, and in light of the work of Maria Gimbutas who herself was no stranger to controversy.

---

[1] Vles or Veles refers to a particular Ukrainian pagan diety.

[2] Deniken led the White Army a counter revolutionary force against the Ukrainian Anarchist Army of Nestor Makhno and the Bolsheviks Red Army under Trotsky, another Ukrainian, in the Russian Civil War 1918-1921.

See ya next week.


Oh yeah about Croatan;

TAZ: "Gone to Croatan"

The Search For Croatan

Gone to Croatan: Origins of North American Dropout Culture

Preface to Gone to Croatan

Gone to Croatan: Origins of American Dropout Culture. - book reviews

COMIN' HOME
Defining Anarcho-Primitivism with John Moore

Interview--John Zerzan

THE TEMPORARY AUTONOMOUS ZONE

Gone to Croatan


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