I was contacted a couple of months ago by family members of the two defendants in a Wicca-related murder case. It was big news in the American Craft network((I prefer that word to “community”—especially for that era.)) circa 1977–80. If you remember it, fine. If not, I am not going to summarize it now because …
One god, one or more recognized prophets, a preoccupation with female sexuality — are we talking about Islam? Not this time. Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys Into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East is a religion-nerd’s tour of “disappearing religions” such as those of the Iraqi Mandaeans or the Zorastrians of Iran. Some, it must …
Continue reading Minor Middle-Eastern Monotheists — And the Last Pagans in Pakistan
Pagan film critic Peg Aloi has interesting things to say about a new movie, The Sisterhood of Night. Not only does it have the traditional element of teenage girls, secrets, and occultism (see, not coincidentally, Salem, Mass., 1692) but there is a social-media element too: The film cleverly allows us to speculate for a bit …
It was the obligatory Halloween content over at Bones Don’t Lie, but I had too much else on my plate to link to it then. The question is, how can you tell if a buried ancient skeleton was that of a witch (in the anthropological sense)? Does the mouth full of iron nails mean something? …
If you liked The Da Vinci Code or The Historian or The Name of the Rose, you might enjoy The Aleppo Codex. The difference is that it is a factual story, and its context is modern Syria and Israel, not medieval Europe. From the dust jacket: “It’s a tale that involves grizzled secret agents, pious clergymen, …
Someone at the Daily Mail no doubt had a good time writing the headline “The drunken stripper from the Golden Banana, a coven of Salem witches and the ‘groping’ man horrifically impaled when she crashed into a flatbed truck.” Yes, it is link bait, and I bit. Wouldn’t you? But it made me think: One …
New research on the psychoactive properties of incense. Surprise, surprise. An international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new …
Imagine reading this article with the names changed. Let’s see… The Witches and Wizards Association of America (WITZAA), has deployed 500 witches to Washington and other parts of the East Coast to prevent any tragic occurrence and ensure peaceful inauguration on January 15. According to its national co-ordinator, Dr. Raven Moonstone, the decision was taken …
Last week was stressful. It felt good on Friday to drive with a friend into the mountains, meet some others, strap on skis, and head up a trail Away From It All. Then I come home to learn that actor Charlie Sheen is a “Vatican assassin warlock” and that some media witch in Salem, Mass., …
At the Washington Post’s “Under God” blog, a story about how the Seventh-Day Adventist church guards its trademark—even against other Adventists. This has got me thinking: will all religions end up trademarked? Do you need intellectual-property lawyers and copyright lawyers to be a “real religion”? Imagine trademarking “Witch.” Someone in Salem, Mass., is probably thinking …