(Pagan) News of Note
My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.
A planned Pagan-run rave (in honor of Lammas) in the Pendle Borough of England is running into some resistance from the locals concerned about noise and litter.
“Plans for a pagan music festival – dubbed a ‘mini-Glastonbury’ – have been lashed by residents who fear it will wreck the countryside and encourage drug use. Organisers of the three-day Shamania festival between Burnley and Colne have not yet been licensed .. Residents near the Pendle site have objected to the licence application … ‘We are deeply concerned about the amount of noise created by this event, as well as people camping at the venue, causing disturbance to the wildlife, and to people who pay high rates to live in this area.’”
The organizer insists that the event will be held responsibly, while commenters on the article seem to think objections are more related to the “people who pay high rates” than the concerns for wildlife. A decision is to be made on Monday concerning the license.
Police in San Jose are on the lookout for a Santerian scam-artist who has been bilking money from credulous clients.
“Police are searching for one of two brothers who allegedly used spirituality to scam hundreds of victims out of thousands of dollars in the South Bay, San Jose police announced Tuesday. Since November 2006, police have been investigating a faith healer named John Alexander Manrique Salazar, 23, of San Jose, who called himself “Master Alexander,” and advertised that he could solve personal and relationship problems … An investigation revealed a second suspect, Carlos Manrique Salazar, 34, of San Jose, and hundreds of additional victims who paid thousands of dollars for various treatments. The brothers allegedly preyed on people throughout the Bay Area using Santeria, a mix of Afro-Caribbean and Catholic beliefs.”
Police believe he may now be in the Bay Area posing as a faith healer. Investigators are encouraging anyone with information on this case or suspect John Salazar’s whereabouts to contact Jurado at (408) 277-4521.
Blogger Ed Brayton picks apart the biased reporting in WorldNetDaily so you don’t have to.
“It is absolutely incredible the lengths to which some religious right folks will go to create the fake appearance of persecution, and no one is more dishonest about it than the Worldnutdaily. They’re up in arms about the University of Edinburgh in Scotland allowing a pagan group to hold a conference at the university after, the Worldnutdaily claims, they previously instituting a “ban on Bibles” at the university … The part about banning Bibles is an absurd lie … Those who actually bothered to read down past the headline found out that this was a “ban on bibles” at all; the university had only decided not to allow the Gideons to place a Bible in every dorm room before students moved in.”
Its like shooting fish in a barrel really, but no matter how often rational folks pull that trigger the “news” site keeps re-filling it anyway.
The Toledo Blade profiles Wiccan rock-star Sully Erna of Godsmack, including excerpts from his recent memoir “The Paths We Choose”.
“Erna was 16 and on the verge of killing someone. He was the stereotypical drummer: violent and wild. Sully Erna, the lead singer of the hard rock band Godsmack, which will be in Toledo tonight at the SeaGate Convention Centre, is a different guy. Much different. He’s in his late 30s, drug and alcohol free, passing on his hard-earned wisdom to troubled youth, doing his best to be a good father to his 5-year-old daughter, and staying away from situations in which his only option is to punch someone out.”
So watch out for those “stereotypical drummers”, the next time you’re at a rock show.
In a final note, for those who didn’t get enough looney ravings from Laura Mallory from my last entry, please allow me to correct that error.
“These books have unprecedented amounts of witchcraft and occult practices, they are marketed to our children because sorcery sells … In these books, it’s cool to cast spells and it’s cool to do wrong and if you’re not a witch, you’re not cool … We don’t want our children to grow up to be murderers, but we can’t teach them that in our schools anymore. ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ was thrown out… I have a dream that God would be welcomed back in our schools again. I think we need Him.”
No need to thank me.
That is all I have for now, have a pleasant day!
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