Hiya my name is ~Overon, and I just wanted to let you know that I am a Wiccan Blogger and I wanted to share my blog with everyone http://ping.fm/7Dbav please take a look at it and give me your imput.
Thanks and Blessed Be!
Read more!

Fiji freemasons held for sorcery

Fiji freemasons held for sorcery



Masonic symbol of square and compass
Fijian villagers are not the first to puzzle over Freemasonry’s rituals

A group of freemasons have had to spend a night in jail in Fiji, after local villagers complained they were practicing witchcraft.

The 14 men, including eight Australians and a New Zealander, had been holding a night-time meeting on Denerau island.

The New Zealand man told reporters he had spent a “wretched” time in jail, and blamed the mix-up on the actions of “dopey village people”.

Police also seized wands, compasses and a skull from the freemasons’ lodge.

Freemasonry is a centuries-old club that practices secret rituals and has more than five million members worldwide.

‘Nothing sinister’

The New Zealander, who did not want to give his name, told the New Zealand Herald that Tuesday night’s meeting was “interrupted by a banging on the door, and there were these village people and the police demanding to be let in”.

Nothing sinister was going on, he claimed, but “such is the nature of life in Fiji” they were taken to a nearby police station.

The freemasons insist they had a permit for the meeting and were released after spending an uncomfortable night there.

Police director of operations Waisea Tabakau told Legend FM News in Fiji that the group was being investigated for “allegedly practicing sorcery”, the Fiji Village website reported.

The New Zealand man said that when they were freed the following morning, they were told their release was on the orders of the prime minister’s office.

Emergency regulations imposed by Fiji’s military regime allow police to detain people for up to 48 hours without charge.
Read more!

The Real Witch of The Scarlet Letter

The theme of witchcraft is woven into the fabric of The Scarlet Letter. The introductory “Custom-House” chapter includes an appeal by the author to remove any witches’ curses on his family. Once he takes us back to the Boston of the 1640’s, he frequently hints about the cohorts of the “Black Man” who meet in the woods beyond the town. But if the reader understands the classical meaning of the word witchcraft such as used in the Bible and other classical works, then we understand that Hawthorne had something more in mind than the sad cultists like Mistress Hibbins. The real witch of The Scarlet Letter was a far more sinister character, a personality who makes a significant statement about the nature of man.

The Greek New Testament and Septuagint on Witchcraft
Witchcraft occurs only once in the King James New Testament and sorcery twice–Galatians 5:20, Revelation 9:21 and 18:23. The word in the Greek New Testament in all three cases is pharmakeia, derived from the word pharmakon (”drug”), the source of the English word pharmacy and its cognates. The standard koiné Greek-English Lexicon translates the word as “sorcery” or “magic,” but its cognate “sorcerer” (pharmakous) used in Revelation 21:8 and 22:15 is translated “mixer of poisons” as well as “magician.” The root of both words, pharmakon, literally means “poison” or “drug.”1

A few key Old Testament passages about witches which are often associated with the puritans such as Exodus 22:18 (”Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”–KJV) use pharmakous in the Septuagint–the word translated sorcerer in Revelation 21:8 and 22:15.2 The Greek New Testament and the Septuagint version of the Hebrew Scriptures use different words such as mageia (”magic”) when other types of occult practices like calling on spirits or using curses are meant. In English such words are usually translated “wizard,” “necromancer,” or some other appropriate word or phrase. Because of the Greek word chosen in each case, it appears that the New Testament authors and Septuagint translators understood the idea of witchcraft in terms of the use of drugs or poisons.

Finding the Witch according to this Definition
Now there is a character in The Scarlet Letter who would be convicted of witchcraft, Mistress Hibbins. She characterizes the witch of New England folklore such as we see in “Young Goodman Brown.” Typically, Hawthorne treats her ambiguously. She may be a mildly tolerated eccentric, an insane busybody, or an anti-Christian cultist. She functions in the novel as the kategor or accuser. She emulates her Black Man friend, the devil, who is called “the accuser” in Revelation 12:10. The Greek word used here is normally used in a legal sense, assigned to the person bringing charges such as the way Satan appears in the Book of Job “before God’s tribunal.”3 Mistress Hibbins talks about the Black Man’s book, chortles over Hester’s sin and Pearl’s illegitimacy, but, unlike a pharmakous, we know of no associations with potions or poisons.

There is another character more in line with the New Testament understanding of witch. He was associated with Simon Forman, a “philtre-vendor” who poisoned a nobleman in a notorious English scandal.4 He was seen with savage Indian priests, “powerful enchanters, often performing seemingly miraculous cures by their skill in the black art.”5 One of the authorities he refers to is Kenelm Digby, British occultist and botanist.6 He is a gatherer and mixer of herbs. He uses “European pharmacopoeia” not just for medicine, but to control another man emotionally and avenge himself.7 He is seen gathering nightshade, dogwood, and other plants associated with magic and witchcraft.8 That character is, of course, Roger Chillingworth.

The Nature of Roger Chillingworth
According to Galatians 5:20, pharmakeia is a “work of the flesh.” So we see how Chillingworth has turned from the spiritual to the carnal. Though of Puritan background, he confesses to Hester that he has “long forgotten” Christianity. He refuses to forgive, thereby denying the working of grace. He questions, if not denies, the existence of the soul, thereby denying the eternal nature of man. Chillingworth’s fleshly nature, separated from the spiritual, transforms him. He is first seen by the people of Boston as a blessing, but as time goes on they notice how his eyes flash red, and they consider him a fiend. Indeed, he loses all reason for living after Dimmesdale’s confession. The cleansing virtue of Dimmesdale’s repentance triumphs over Chillingworth’s drive for revenge and control. The herbalist has become a pharmakous who, according to Scripture and Hawthorne, has no place in the Kingdom of God.

In the Book of Acts, the apostles encounter several sorcerers or magicians–but the Greek uses different words for them. However, one sorcerer may be of some interest to the reader of The Scarlet Letter. Acts 8:5-25 tells of Simon the Magician who is rebuked by the Apostle Peter for thinking he can buy the free gift of the Holy Spirit. The Scripture here gives a clue to what motivated Simon to delve into magic. In Acts 8:23 Peter describes as being “in the gall of bitterness.” Similarly, Chillingworth seems to be motivated by bitterness– bitterness at Dimmesdale for having his wife, bitterness at Hester for being unfaithful, and at himself for thinking he could win the love of a young woman like Hester. While Mistress Hibbins is also described at one point as “bitter-tempered,” when Chillingworth first comes out of the forest into Boston he is said to speak with “a bitter smile.”9

Literary Allusions and the Classical Understanding of Witchcraft
Hawthorne’s allusive style may make us think of related figures in literature. Hawthorne compares himself to another customs agent, Geoffrey Chaucer,10 whose ruthless physician in The Canterbury Tales cites pagan authorities and denies the existence of the soul. Others have pointed out the similarities between Hawthorne’s “eminent doctor of physic, from a German university” and Faust.11 Indeed, Marlowe describes his Dr. Faustus as a skilled pharmacist

“Whereby whole cities have escaped the plague,
And thousand desperate maladies been erased.”12

The New Testament and Septuagint were written in Greek. It is worth noting that the classical idea of witchcraft contemporary to these writings also emphasizes the mixing of drugs or poisons. Ovid’s Metamorphoses tells us of two witches, Medea and Circe. Medea uses drugs to help Jason overcome the bulls and dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece and to rejuvenate Jason’s elderly father, Aeson. She tries to poison her stepson, Theseus. She prays to Hecate, the same goddess acknowledged by Macbeth’s witches, and she mixes a potion at least as grotesque as theirs. She flies through most of the known world in search of herbs for her potions. Circe is seen gathering herbs in the woods, just like Chillingworth.

Just as Chillingworth is motivated by a purposeless revenge, both of Ovid’s witches viciously torment those who love men that they love or once loved. Medea left Jason to marry someone else. Nevertheless, when she hears that Jason is remarrying, she returns to wreck the wedding. She murders her two sons by Jason and poisons the bride-to-be and her father. Similarly, Circe becomes infatuated with Glaucus, a minor sea god who loves the maid Scylla. In jealousy Circe puts some herbs in Scylla’s bath and turns her into a monster with six heads.13

Missing, presumed dead, and never claiming to have had any of Hester’s affection, Chillingworth likewise makes life miserable for Dimmesdale. Like Medea and Circe, he is motivated by jealousy and revenge. His conversations with the minister torment him. His medicines seem to aggravate his patient’s symptoms. In fact, Dimmesdale is perfectly healthy until Chillingworth moves in with him.

Chillingworth the Trust-Breaker
Chillingworth is sinister in a manner similar to these mythological witches because of the element of betrayal. Chillingworth acted like a trusted friend and confidant to Dimmesdale. So one of Medea’s potions was supposed to rejuvenate the elderly uncle of Jason but she deliberately killed him instead. So Circe appeared to be hospitably welcoming Odysseus’ men by offering them wine. In reality she was turning them into swine.

Hawthorne’s Biblical and Classical Background
There is little question that Hawthorne would have been aware of the Biblical and classical view of witchcraft. He researched both the Puritans and witchcraft and would have known of the Bible’s use of the term. The prescribed course at Bowdoin College in Hawthorne’s day “included a heavy concentration in Greek and Latin.”14 In 1821, the year Hawthorne entered college, admission required knowledge of the Greek New Testament. Greek and Latin writings made up half the curriculum until the senior year.15 Stories such as his Tanglewood Tales and Wonder-Book for Boys and Girls show that Hawthorne knew the Metamorphoses.16 The Scarlet Letter itself contains at least one allusion to a story from the Metamorphoses when it mentions Cadmus and the dragon’s teeth.17 Hawthorne noted the connection between heartless evil and herb-medicine a number of times in his work including “Rappacini’s Daughter,” “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” “The Birthmark,” and his unfinished Elixir of Life or Dolliver Romance. It appears to be one of the most common motifs in his work.

The Author’s Purpose in This
Using Chillingworth, Hawthorne may well have been making a point about science and technology–if people exalt the material realm and deny the spirit, they become like the classical witches, heartless and manipulating. Hawthorne wrote in his notebooks:

The Unpardonable Sin might consist in a want of love and reverence for the Human Soul; in consequence of which, the investigator pried into its dark depths, not with a hope or purpose of making it better, but from a cold philosophical curiosity,–content that it should be wicked in whatever kind or degree, and only desiring to study it out. Would not this, in other words, be the separation of the intellect from the heart?18

He may have also been making a point about the colonial witch trials–that the real witches according to the Biblical and classical understanding of the term were people like Roger Chillingworth. It may even heighten the feminist aspect of Hester Prynne’s persona since the worst sinner neither was she nor, unlike most of the convicted Massachusetts witches, was he a woman at all.

Most important, though, Hawthorne is interested in the human heart. We see a detached and heartless experimental horror in “Ethan Brand” or “Rappacini’s Daughter.” Hawthorne’s notebook in 1842 contemplated a story with the unpardonable sin as “separation of intellect from the heart.”19 So Chillingworth betrays the physician-patient confidence and becomes a study in malevolence. He is not only no longer a Christian, but no longer a man.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn expressed concern that the people who made a living by torturing the prisoners in the Gulag were “departing downward from humanity.”20 Likewise the author of The Scarlet Letter notes: “Old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into a devil, if he will only for a reasonable space of time, undertake the devil’s office.”21 The herb-gathering and drug-mixing amplify this inhuman quality:

[Hester] wondered what sort of herbs they were, which the old man was so sedulous to gather. Would not the earth, quickened to an evil purpose by the sympathy of his eyes, greet him with poisonous shrubs?…Did the sun, which shone so brightly everywhere else, really fall on him? Or was there, as it rather seemed, a circle or ominous shadow moving along with his deformity, whichever way he turned himself? And whither was he now going? Would he not suddenly sink into the earth, leaving a barren and blasted spot, where, in due course of time, would be seen deadly nightshade, dogwood, henbane, and whatever else of vegetable wickedness the climate could produce, all flourishing with hideous luxuriance? Or would he spread bat’s wings and flee away, looking so much the uglier, the higher he rose towards heaven?22

Roger Chillingworth had become a witch, a pharmakous like Medea, suggesting the devil himself. The Biblical and classical understanding of witchcraft as an evil, carnal practice involving the mixing of herbal drugs to gain power over others should make us think of the actions of Roger Chillingworth. Both in practice and in spirit, he is the real witch of The Scarlet Letter.
Read more!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer slaying church attendance among women, study claims”

London, UK – The report claims more than 50,000 women a year have deserted their congregations over the past two decades because they feel the church is not relevant to their lives.

It says that instead young women are becoming attracted to the pagan religion Wicca, where females play a central role, which has grown in popularity after being featured positively in films, TV shows and books.

The study comes amid ongoing controversy over the role of women in all Christian denominations. Last month its governing body voted to allow women to become bishops for the first time, having admitted them to the priesthood in 1994, but traditionalist bishops have warned that hundreds of clergy and parishes will leave if the move goes ahead as planned.

The report’s author, Dr Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby, said: “In short, women are abandoning the church.

“Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

“Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church.

“Women’s ordination, as priests and now bishops, has dominated debate and headlines – but while looking at women in the pulpit we have taken our eyes off the pews, where a shift with more consequences for the church’s survival is underway.”

Her research, published in a new book called Women and Religion in the West, cites an English Church Census which found more than a million women worshippers have left churches since 1989.

Over the past decade, it claims, women have been leaving churches at twice the rate of men.

In addition, the census is said to show that teenage boys now outnumber girls in the pews for the first time.

Dr Aune says the church must adapt to the needs of modern women if it is to stop them leaving in their droves.

She believes many women have been put off going to church in recent years because of the influence of feminism, which challenged the traditional Christian view of women’s roles and raised their aspirations.

Her report claims they feel forced out of the church because of its “silence” about sexual desire and activity, and because of its hostility to single-parent families and unmarried couples which are now a reality for many women.

But it also says changes in women’s working lives, with many more now pursuing careers as well as raising children, mean they have less time to attend church.

Dr Aune believes churches must now introduce services and activities that fit in better with modern’s women’s schedules, such as Saturday morning breakfast clubs.

She said: “Gone are the days when the mother was at home during the day and had time to visit the church’s coffee mornings and mother and toddler groups.

“With the pressures women face, churches must adapt to make themselves more accessible.”

Christina Rees, chairman of the pro-women bishop campaign group Watch, said the report highlighted the damaging effect that traditionalist attitudes within the Church of England are having on women.

She added that the introduction of female bishops will lead to a renewed interest in the church among young people and women in particular, despite the opposition to the historic step from Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals who believe scripture and tradition teach that bishops must be male.

Ms Rees told The Daily Telegraph: “What this research reveals is that a lot of people are put off by traditional stances and attitudes. We still have a long way to go before women, particularly young women, feel as included in the church as men do.

“I’m absolutely convinced that when we have women as bishops that it will send out a very clear message that women are as valued as much as men.”

The Church of England declined to comment.
Read more!

The Changeling

The Changeling by Henry Fuseli

Changelings are rather popular ones, they often appear within various works of fiction to reference an impish or mischievous child, or sometimes to just indicate a child who seems to have something otherwordly about them.

Changelings are a type of fae, but I can assure you, they are no Tinker Bell, and they are not the popularized modern conception of what a fairy is, as we have already discussed various different fairy types from Irish myth particular, but other cultures as well, that shed a darker light on just what fairies are all about.

Changelings come out of Britannia myth. Many may be familiar with the story of the changeling. It is a common trait among the traditional myth of the fairy for fae to be portrayed as thieves of children. Even in the old beloved tale of Peter Pan (the original by J.M. Barrie not the Disney version) we see instances of fairies stealing children away. In the myth of the changeling in order for a fairy to steal a child they must leave in its place either a carved wooden substitute, or an elderly, feeble fairy that is to play the role of a human infant.

As they age Changelings become notorious pranksters, hence why mischievous children are so oft linked to them. While it is difficult to determine if ones child is a changeling, in some culture such as England, Hungary, and parts of Africa, it was thought that children who were born with teeth were sure to be changelings. If one suspects their children is a changeling the parent might try and trick them into revealing their true identity.
Read more!

"Enfant Dit Sorcier" ("Child Accused of Being a Witch")

Film Addresses Children's Rights in the Congo
"Enfant Dit Sorcier" ("Child Accused of Being a Witch")
In 2003, Internews produced a video to raise awareness of the plight of Congolese children accused of witchcraft. The video was part of a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development that trained journalists from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to report on peace talks (The Inter-Congolese Dialogue) and social issues. A music video was also produced, featuring the musicians of L'Orchestre Lachytoura, co-funded by Search for Common Ground.

There are an estimated 20,000 street children in Kinshasa, the capital of DRC. Many were forced from their homes by parents accusing them of sorcery, usually because of a family misfortune such as unemployment, an accident or death. Many such children are beaten and tortured during violent "exorcisms." Local sources suggest some have been killed. Legal redress is infrequent.

A widespread belief in witchcraft, the harsh economic conditions and strong evangelical influences in DRC all combine to create a social climate where children accused of demonic possession are often swiftly disowned, meaning one less mouth to feed at home.

"Enfant Dit Sorcier" ("Child Accused of Being a Witch") is a documentary featuring interviews with children accused of witchcraft, an evangelical pastor who accuses them, adult ex-street children and other relevant sources. It was presented at a Kinshasa workshop for 150 local media professionals, to encourage them to address the problem objectively.

The video was filmed, directed and produced by Angela Nicoara, former Internews Rwanda Country Director, and Mike Ormsby, former Internews DRC Project Director.

more about ""Enfant Dit Sorcier" ("Child Accused ...", posted with vodpod
Read more!

Close Encounters of the Giant Kind

How awesome. Tell me that the creatures of the deep aren't beautiful

more about "Close Encounters of the Giant Kind", posted with vodpod
Read more!

Witch Heal Thyself

With the over per-scribed medications that are available to us today, we have a pill for everything that could possibly be afflicting us. We have pills to enhance our sex life, to make us happy, to make us thin, to make our head not hurt, to keep us from pooping to much, ect.
We have walked away from our natural ability to heal ourselves. We take so much crap that is over the counter that we have forgotten how to use what the earth has provided us with to heal ourselves. We relay on the pharmaceuticals, instead of our own inner spirituality and the herbs that many of us have either in our backyard and within the neighborhood.

Read more!

Great site

Check this place out, they have great resources


Read more!

Witchcraft according to the bible

Witchcraft according to the bible:

1 Samuel 15:23 (KJV) "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft..."

Those Nasty Witches

With all the warnings in Scriptures about witchcraft, you would think it was a major problem in life. But "witchcraft", as we generally think about it, is hardly appealing to most people, so why the emphasis? Is God "out of touch" with what we are really tempted with? Or are we deceived about what witchcraft really is? Do our ideas come from Hollywood or Scripture?
Isaiah 1:2 (NIV) Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me."
Read more!

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy

Ever wonder what scents help you out with things like anger, depression, and even anxiety? Well below is a compiled list of what can and will help you with this.

Read more!

Conflicted

Conflicted

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="photo by www.redbubble.com"][/caption]

I know that we are always supose to do the right thing. But how do you do the right thing when someone has wronged you time and time again? I know that the Reed says "An Ye Harm None, Do As Ye Will" but does that include their feelings when you are tired of being talked down to, and walked on, and used?
Read more!

A Lesson For Us All

Read more!

Bill Schnoebelen Intreview: REALLY?

I watched this 2 hour long interview with a gentle man named Bill Schnoebelen who claimed to be an Ex-Vampire, and Reformed Occultist, now born again Christian.


Bill Schnoebelen
Read more!

The Power of Words

The Power of Words: The stress and emotions they create.

Anger, Stress, Ego, Dead Lines, Money, Religion, Bills.....

Stringed together these words invoke different reactions, and feelings within each of us. Some words cause our blood pressure to rise, and even make our blood boil. But why is this?

Read more!

The Wonderful Hat: Symbology and power of the Witch's Hat

The Wonderful Hat: Symbology and power of the Witch's Hat.

We all have at one time or another seen a witch's pointy black hat, which has invoked images of some old woman riding a broomstick across a full moon. Giving her that 'evil' look. But really it was an ingenious symbol of creativity.
Read more!

Magical House Work?

Magical House Work?

No I am not talking about waving your wand and the broom and vacum come alive and starts cleaning your house. That would be nice. No I am talking about making every sweep of the broom a magical working.
Read more!

Facing discrimination

In their nature
Facing discrimination, Wicca pagan followers learn to turn the other cheek.

Original Print from www.columbiatribune.com

By ANNIE NELSON of the Tribune’s staff

Published Saturday, November 3, 2007

That members of local Wicca and pagan groups made a point to introduce themselves as regular people during a discussion panel Sunday - "Which Witch is This?" - was noted and quickly brought up by the audience.

Nick King photo
Rose Wise, right, high priestess of Ozark Avalon Church of Nature near Boonville, talks about Wicca and paganism as Victoria Chance, who is also known as Taz, listens Sunday at the Columbia Public Library. They spoke to a group of about 20 people.

"I moved here from Eugene, Ore., where paganism is very accepted. When you introduced yourselves, you all said, ‘I’m a normal person,’ " a woman said, asking whether pagans experienced discrimination in the Midwest.

The five members from Ozark Avalon Church of Nature, Hearthfires and Mid-Missouri Pagan Pride took a collective breath before beginning to relate some prices pagans have paid for their beliefs in Missouri. They spoke before a crowd of about 20 people in the Friends Room of the Columbia Public Library.
Read more!

How do you proceed?

We all know of the Wiccan Rede which states:

Bide the Rede we must
in perfect love and perfect trust
eight words the Wiccan Rede forfill
"An Ye Harm None, Do As Ye Will"
least in thy self defense it be
ever mind the Rule of Three
Merry we meet, and Merry we Part

Read more!