The 9th anniversary issue will have the traditional third cover, the “Photo Cover”. It’s usually Holly dress or should I say in a state of “undressed”, as Tarot in a magickal setting. It also begins a new storyline that will extend over 4 issues. Several friends and readers will be drawn into the book and I am very pleased to announce that Tonya Kay, Actress, dancer and one of the stars on Stan Lee’s “Who wants to be a Superhero.” will make her first appearance in the Tarot comic. At the end of the series, Award winning author and teacher of Witchcraft, Raven Grimassi, will appear in issue #58.

This isn’t the first time that real-life Pagans have made appearances in Tarot’s chest-obsessed universe, Pagan author and television star Fiona Horne also appeared in an issue not too long ago. As for Raven’s appearance, one wonders how much input he got into his action’s there, and if he’ll get to fight evil human-hating demonic forces with his Witch-powers? Oh please, let there be an epic battle involving Raven’s Witch-powers! Later on in the interview Jim Balent explains why he likes including real-life Pagans in Tarot.

I like having Craft superstars, like Fiona, Raven Grimassi and Tonya Kay, involved in the books because they bring a lot of personal knowledge about their own path in the Craft. I’ve always said that my goal in creating Tarot was to educate and entertain. And they are a big part of both.

So there you go, a Craft education, supernatural entertainment, and acres of (NSFW) flesh! How could you go wrong? Let’s hope that more Craft elders and teachers make appearances. Maybe Raymond Buckland? Or Laurie Cabot? Imagine the possibilities! Also, be sure you don’t miss out on Broadsword’s line of magic candles!

GenQ Music interviews author, Witch, and reality television star Fiona Horne about her latest album “Witch Web”.

“I wrote the album with Paul Searles initially with the only intention being to record the songs that I personally sing in my witchy rituals. Often when doing public rituals I would sing acapella and people would ask if it was possible to buy a recording of it – now it is! But when Paul and I got in the studio we also realised we were starting to write songs that had a commercial feel and classic song arrangement, so we are happy that the album crosses over and can be enjoyed by people interested in the spiritual side as well as people who just want a chilled listening experience.”

Horne started her musical career as a singer for the dance-rock band Def FX. To listen to samples from “Witch Web” check out her MySpace page.

Ohio State University’s student paper, The Lantern, takes a look at interest in the occult on campus and discovers that OSU is the academic capital for magic in the United States.

“‘Ohio State has more scholars on the history of magic than any educational institution I’m aware of,’ said Sarah Iles Johnston, professor of Greek and Latin and director for the Center for the Study of Religion. There are six experts on the history of magic at OSU. They study the history of magic from a variety of perspectives such as its role in ancient Greek and Roman religions as well as in modern American culture.”

OSU recently hosted a lecture series to capitalize on their expertise entitled: “Through a Glass, Darkly: Public Interest in the Occult”. So for you Pagan high-school seniors trying to decide where to go for college, Ohio might be just the place for you (if your interested in studying magic that is).

Treadwells and Lastal both report that experimental media artist Raymond Salvatore Harmon will present seven films in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the union of Leila Waddell and Aleister Crowley.

“Experimental media artist Raymond Salvatore Harmon will present a live improvised set of 7 films. Each based on the individual rituals in British occultist Aleister Crowley’s Rites of Eleusis, first presented in Caxton Hall, London in 1910. Crowley based the rituals of Rites of Eleusis on each of the seven classical planets of antiquity – “Saturn”, “Jupiter”, “Mars”, “Sol” (the Sun), “Venus”, “Mercury” and “Luna”. Utilizing the entire text of Crowley’s rites as subliminal content Harmon will improvise the abstract layers of imagery to a prepared score. Presented in a 3 channel video environment Rites of Eleusis promises to be an updated public occult ritual for the 21st century.”

The performance will take place on Friday March 7th at The Horse Hospital (an arts venue) in London.

Classics professor Mary Beard bemoans the proposed removal of Britannia (the personification of the United Kingdom) from British coins.

“Britannia fits the bill rather nicely. An appropriately antique goddess, invented by the Romans, as a symbol of their new province, and used on British coins since the seventeenth century. If she goes, I don’t hold out much hope, long term, for that nice bit of Virgil (decus et tutamen — from Aeneid Book V) around the pound coin. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr Brown isn’t much of a fan of Latin.”

Will it be bad luck to remove Britain’s goddess from their coinage? Will she eventually join America’s Columbia as a half-forgotten relic from a grander time?

The Boston Globe publishes a visitors guide to Salem, Massachusetts that illustrates just how tied to witchcraft their tourism is.

“Witches put Salem on the Colonial map, and this historic North Shore city has its share of creepy and comical tributes to the practice of witchcraft. Magic supplies, herbal potions, tarot cards, “spell baskets,” custom-made capes – you’ll find them all here … Salem is loaded with museums, many of them funny-spooky places that document the city’s witchcraft history. Among them are the Witch History Museum, the Witch Dungeon Museum, the Salem Witch Museum, the Salem Wax Museum, the Spellbound Museum, Salem’s Museum of Myths & Monsters, the New England Pirate Museum, and Salem’s 13 Ghosts…”

So despite those who wish to de-emphasize Salem’s “witchy” appeal, the town remains the “Witch City” of the east coast.

In a final note, a proposal has come forth on the Non-Fluffy Pagans community concerning a new “law” involving discussion about Witchcraft and society. An adage that some are calling the Witches’ equivalent to Godwin’s Law.

“In any discussion of the interaction of modern witches with the rest of society, as the length of the discussion increases, the probability of the mention of The Burning Times approaches unity.”

With the new law comes a proposed corollary:

“In any argument related to modern witchcraft, the first person to mention The Burning Times automatically loses the argument.”

The new law has been dubbed “Brock’s Law” after the author.

That is all I have for now, have a great day!
]]> http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/01/pagan-news-of-note_5576.html/feed 1 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/03/time-for-new-witch-hunt.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/03/time-for-new-witch-hunt.html#comments Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:20:00 +0000 Jason http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/03/time-for-a-new-witch-hunt.html The Daily Telegraph in Australia has run an “editorial” by Brendan Shanahan concerning Wiccans and other Pagans. To say his opinion isn’t favorable would be fair.

“I really can’t abide anyone who claims to be a pagan. This goes double for “witches”, “wiccans” or anyone who spells “magic” with a “k”. Mostly this is because I grew up in Canberra which, along with public servants and lesbians, has a disproportionately high number of smug hippies who seem to regard recycling as an act of religious piety (come to think of it, the three things frequently overlap)… I have come to the conclusion that pagans are evil – not because they get in touch with the devil or warp the minds of the young or are responsible for more bad heavy metal art than anyone else, but because they have such appalling taste. I mean, sure, get in touch with the Great Spirit, run through the woods and kill a goat. But do you have to do it while wearing crushed velvet harem pants, Robin Hood shoes, pentagram jewelery and a purple satin cape?”

The personification of all that he dislikes about modern Paganism seems to be Australian (now relocated to LA) reality television star and author Fiona Horne.

“When not reliving the glory days of Def FX or selling spells enabling women to find a husband, Horne is updating her website with pouty, Vaseline-smeared photos of herself decked out in animal print dresses, purple nail polish, matching lipstick and Celtic arm band tattoos. Clearly there is no spell for helping you better cope with the fact that it’s no longer the early 1990s…I wonder how the term “witch hunt” ever got a bad name.”

Sounds like someone has a big crush on Fiona Horne! Did she turn him down at a party or something? It is interesting that he brought up “witch hunts”, since I’m sure that plenty of accusations of “witchcraft” in Europe and America were fueled by private grudges and an urge to get rid of “undesirable” people (in fact we just passed the anniversary of the start of the Salem witch trials). Luckily, it seems that the time of hangings or being burnt at the stake have passed us by, leaving disgruntled and frustrated men like Brendan Shanahan no choice but to write childishly negative editorial columns.
]]> http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/03/time-for-new-witch-hunt.html/feed 1 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/01/tyras-witchcraft-adventure.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/01/tyras-witchcraft-adventure.html#comments Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:30:00 +0000 Jason http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/01/tyras-witchcraft-adventure.html You would think that with all the Wiccans on reality programs nowadays that it would be passe’ for a morning talk-show host to feature them (as was somewhat common in the eighties). But yesterday Tyra Banks, apparently low on women who can’t choose which guy to marry and frumpy housewives who need a fashion makeover, decided to trot out some Pagans for the studio audience.

“Tyra’s role as talk show host is to educate and enlighten people about topics that are either relevant to our lives, or just too noteworthy to ignore. But at the beginning of this episode, Tyra admitted she had some reluctance about covering this particular subject. The topic was witchcraft, and the occult, controversial practices are more common than you might think. Tyra revealed more than 400,000 people in the U.S. claimed to practice witchcraft, and she introduced us to proponents of various intriguing, yet forbidden, traditions who wanted to shatter misconceptions about their craft.”

Phew! Thats a relief. She is here to shatter misconceptions! To educate and enlighten us on these misunderstood faiths. Maybe she got Margot Adler to come on the show? Perhaps some elders in the Pagan community like Ray Buckland, Starhawk, or Isaac Bonewits?

“She welcomed Fiona Horne, an Australian singer/songwriter who practiced Wicca. Fiona had written eight books about the subject and was a star both inside and outside of the pagan world…”

Fionna “Mad Mad House” Horne? That was the expert? Ok, calm down, it can’t be that bad. Joining Fiona on stage was model Wrenna Monet, and “Brandy” (if that is her real name) an African-American Witch who has faced suspension at her job for bringing tarot cards to work.

Brandy, Wrenna Monet, and Fiona Horne

“But on the opposing side were “dark witches.” Jymie and Vicky were dark witches that owned America’s oldest occult shop. Jymie described dark witches as neutral, neither good nor bad. They had their own faith system and moral compass, but she warned that you should not cross them. Jymie explained that the main difference between dark witches and white witches was that white witches did not acknowledge the dark side and tended to live in a fantasy world.”

Oh no. Please tell me they aren’t going to do or say anything embarrassing.

“While Tyra’s cameras filmed one of their ceremonies, Richard described their ritual of blood letting as a way to cleanse oneself of fear and hatred. Jymie talked about some items from her curious collection of relics, such as the last breath from a murderer and the burnt remains of a rapist. She said owning them helped cleanse the world of their negative energy.”

Last. Breath. Of. A. Murderer. Why? Have I offended the gods that such torment is visited upon me? At least Tyra isn’t confusing Satanists with Wiccans and Witches.

“This brought us to Tyra’s next guests, Stanton and Szandora, two members of the Church of Satan. Stanton was literally born into Satanism, as the first child born in the church founded by his grandfather. Stanton revealed that Satanism was half anti-religion and half underground art, comprised of creative people such as musicians and artists. According to him, Satanists were not devil worshipers. Instead, they are people who embraced self-expression, individuality and indulgence. He noted that the best spokesperson for the practice was shock rocker Marilyn Manson.”

Keep in mind that the title for this program is “Mysterious Lives of Witches”, not “Mysterious Lives of Witches and Two Satanists”. Man, this is like a bad flashback to the eighties. All we need now is a born-again saved from the terrors of Paganism.

“We learned how some individuals turn to witchcraft, but has anyone switched back to Christianity? This was a path Sarah took when she realized that white witchcraft was not what it appeared to be…She became a solitary practitioner and felt she had more control over her life as a witch. She explained how she lost control when she believed her spirit guide started leading her to ruin. She talked about the day she attempted suicide and how she found Christianity at college. Through her religious roommates, Sarah got in touch with God. She ended up burning all of her Wicca paraphernalia and never looked back. Sarah now believes that all witchcraft leads to was a dangerous place.”

I believe that Tyra has achieved the hat-trick of bad talk shows about “the occult”. Witch, Satanist, Born-Again Christian! Please my brothers and sisters in modern Paganism. Unless its Oprah, do NOT go on a morning talk-show. Don’t! I know you’ll try to rationalize it by thinking that the show producers will get someone worse if you don’t go, but you are NO MATCH for them. You will only look stupid, and the show ALWAYS has the last word.
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