{"id":8126,"date":"2016-07-05T17:35:06","date_gmt":"2016-07-05T23:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8126"},"modified":"2016-07-05T17:35:06","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T23:35:06","slug":"demons-swastikas-witches-in-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8126","title":{"rendered":"Demons! Swastikas!! Witches in Ireland!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00b6 The Washington Post<\/em> runs a non-snarky article about a psychiatrist who thinks that demons are real. <\/a><\/p>\n

So began an unlikely partnership. For the past\u00a0two-and-a-half\u00a0<\/sub>decades and over several hundred consultations, I\u2019ve helped clergy from multiple denominations and faiths to filter episodes of mental illness \u2014 which represent the overwhelming majority of cases \u2014 from, literally, the devil\u2019s work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bonus: a satanic witch priestess.<\/p>\n

\u00b6 How did the swastika go from worldwide good luck symbol to a symbol of evil. Richard Smoley explains<\/a>:<\/p>\n

And yet not so long ago it was a symbol of blessings and good fortune. Even its name is derived from Sanskrit roots meaning \u201cit is good.\u201d (Other names given to it include the cross patte<\/em>\u00e9<\/em>, the gammadion<\/em>, the hakenkreuz<\/em> or hooked cross, and the fylfot<\/em>.) Today, in a somewhat truncated form, it still occupies a place in the official symbol of the Theosophical Society.<\/p>\n

The peculiar fate of the swastika has a great deal to teach about the nature and meaning of symbols \u2014 and about the uses to which they can be put.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00b6 A lightweight article from Ireland on Witchcraft.<\/a> Something to read before you apply more sunscreen. “Janet” is, of course, Janet Farrar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00b6 The Washington Post runs a non-snarky article about a psychiatrist who thinks that demons are real. So began an unlikely partnership. For the past\u00a0two-and-a-half\u00a0decades and over several hundred consultations, I\u2019ve helped clergy from multiple denominations and faiths to filter episodes of mental illness \u2014 which represent the overwhelming majority of cases \u2014 from, literally, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[50,39,135,29],"class_list":["post-8126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ireland","tag-occultism","tag-satanism","tag-witchcraft"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-274","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10584,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10584","url_meta":{"origin":8126,"position":0},"title":"“In Ireland, fairies and demons are almost interchangeable”","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This video is worth ten minutes of your time. Again we're in Jeff Kripal territory here. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In \"fairies\"","block_context":{"text":"fairies","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=fairies"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=85","url_meta":{"origin":8126,"position":1},"title":"Does This Symbol Make You Horny?","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 15, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Does this symbol make you horny? Two links on alleged aphrodisiacal properties of a design found in a Neolithic Scottish village, here and here.","rel":"","context":"In \"archaeology\"","block_context":{"text":"archaeology","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=archaeology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5276,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5276","url_meta":{"origin":8126,"position":2},"title":"The Green Man: A Symbol of Ethnic Resistance?","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Green man masks are a staple seller on Merchants' Row at any Pagan festival. I found a weather-resistant example at Beltania a couple of years ago, and now it hangs by the front door. As Paul Kingsnorth writes in Aeon: There are plenty of hypotheses [about his origin], and it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"England\"","block_context":{"text":"England","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=england"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn-imgs.aeonmagazine.com\/images\/2012\/10\/The-Green-Man-Norwich.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13495,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=13495","url_meta":{"origin":8126,"position":3},"title":"Lifting up Love & Light in North Carolina","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A mug with the Pagan triple goddess symbol is pictured at Quantum Soul in Carrboro on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. The student newspaper at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, does the annual Pagans-and-witches story but reaches out a little farther to interview a graduate student working in that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4522,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=4522","url_meta":{"origin":8126,"position":4},"title":"Cultic Objects from the Cult of Fire","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I always chuckle at how when archaeologists cannot immediately ascertain the purpose of an ancient object, they describe it as \"cultic,\" in this case as a phallic symbol. This tendency was parodied in the steampunk-ish graphic novel Motel of the Mysteries by David Macaulay, who also created City, Cathedral, Ship,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"archaeology\"","block_context":{"text":"archaeology","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=archaeology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1124,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1124","url_meta":{"origin":8126,"position":5},"title":"Gallimaufry with Ink","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00b6 Kitty Burns Florey advocates teaching handwriting in schools: \"Educators I talked to claim that kids master reading more easily when they write a word as they learn it: the writing process keeps their attention focused as they match symbol to sound.\"\u00b6 In my former home of Manitou Springs, Colo.,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"animism\"","block_context":{"text":"animism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=animism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8126"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8128,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8126\/revisions\/8128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}