image credit: Pixabay
ADELAIDE, Australia – The Adelaide University Occult Club, which was allowed to register provisionally in early 2021, has seen its approval delayed by the Adelaide University Union (AUU) earlier this month. The group was formed in late 2020 and includes a variety of Pagans, Witches, occultists, and Satanists.
Statements made by the president of the Adelaide University Occult Club, Ashley Towner indicate that this is not the normal practice when it comes to approving funding for clubs at the university.
Towner told ABC radio, “They tabled it on the basis that they are awaiting written complaints that don’t exist yet.”
A post to the club’s Facebook group reflected Towner’s comments in the media:
The reason given for this decision was to await feedback & complaints from other students who are not part of the club, about the nature of the club itself, as a welcoming & comfortable space for students of a variety of minority religions, and any students with interests relating to these religions.
This decision is deeply upsetting, as it does not follow the standard procedure of club approval and affiliation, demonstrating that the Clubs Committee is willing to apply the rules and regulations of the AUU differently for each club. This also leaves our club in a very precarious position, as we are unsure whether we are wasting our time while preparing for our events throughout the year, including our second set of halloween events this October.
AUU registration allows for funding, as well as the use of equipment and space for the various clubs that are approved.
According to news reports, AUU president, Oscar Ong, insisted the application had not been rejected, simply “tabled” for a later decision, which he said was “standard procedure.”
Towner has also written a letter to the AUU challenging the decision to delay approval of Adelaide University Occult Club and contends the decision is discriminatory, violates AUU policy, and is damaging to freedom of speech on campus. Further, Towner alleges that the current leadership of the AUU has a history of censorship when it comes to clubs they disagree with, and lists examples of past censoring.
The letter also cites the AUU’s own policies for clubs being denied approval: violating the law, violating university or AUU rules or policy, or being too similar to other established club(s). Over two dozen students from a variety of backgrounds signed the letter.
The Adelaide University Occult Club does not conduct rituals or any type of religious worship but is instead devoted to discussing ideas, theories, and books.
Out of the over 170 Clubs the AUU lists on its website, only nine of them are listed under the faith and religion category. Of the nine, seven are Christian-based, one is Muslim, with the Adelaide University Occult Club being the only other listing.
Last week, Towner also started a petition, “Save the Occult Club,” on the non-profit site, Megaphone. So far the petition has over 500 signatures.
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Ukraine country in colors of the Ukrainian flag.
KYIV, Ukraine – An article first published by Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN) last week outlined a ritual to be performed by a group of Witches in Ukraine to remove Putin from power. The article was subsequently picked up by Russia Today (RT) and has since been circulating on some foreign news sites online. The UNIAN news agency is owned by 1+1 Media Group which has connections to oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi.
While the Facebook and Instagram pages are real for the Witch’s Cauldron and it lists an address in Kyiv, it is hard to determine whether this is propaganda or not, since it was so quickly picked up by RT, a Russian state-controlled propagandist international television network funded by the tax budget of the Russian government.
According to the article, the Witches plan to perform a ritual in three parts. The first is claimed to be performed in the mountains of Ukraine. In messages alleged to be from the Witch’s Caldron and quoted in the UNIAN article, “On March 31, on the 29th lunar day, the day of corruption and curses, we, the witches of Ukraine, in collaboration with foreign colleagues, will perform a ritual of punishing the enemy of the Ukrainian people – Vladimir Putin.”
The second part is said to be scheduled in April “in a Slavic country” with practitioners from other countries participating, and designed to provide support for Ukrainian soldiers and others fighting against Russia’s invasion.
The third and final part of the magical work is focused on Putin and his “isolation, removal from power, loss of support from the inner circle.”
The spokesperson for the group performing the ritual told UNIAN that they would not divulge names or places for fear of interference, whether well-meaning or hostile.
“The event should not be treated as hostile or harmful to Ukraine. Our goal is to defeat the enemy of Ukraine, Putin, and support the Armed Forces,” they said.
In other news:
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- Indigenous leaders from Canada are set to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican next week, representing First Nations Métis and Inuit survivors of the residential schools. Close to 75% of the residential schools in Canada, which are now publicly known to have been rife with physical and sexual abuse, were run by the Catholic church. Last year revealed a number of mass burial sites at multiple locations where residential schools had operated before being closed in the 1970s. The number of unmarked graves number over 1,000 and it is unknown exactly whose remains the majority of them hold, though initial assessments using ground-penetrating radar suggest many are children. Nationally, the government recorded over 3,200 deaths in connection with the schools, though many were associated with common diseases of the times, like tuberculosis. Pope Francis is expected to visit Canada later this year and First Nations leaders want a meeting with him to occur on Indigenous land. Next week’s visit by First Nation representatives is seen as hopefully in the move to reconciliation and into the future. Pope Francis is also expected to offer a formal apology. So far the Catholic church has paid over $50 million in reparations and is expected to add another $30 million to that sum. That amount pales in comparison to the billions the Canadian government has already paid in reparations that resulted from a lawsuit and have gone to support the Indigenous communities who suffered at the hands of residential schools.
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- The battle over the Berkeley Shellmound in the Bay Area of California that TWH has reported on over the past few years is likely coming to a close. Last April, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco overturned a 2018 decision that prevented development on the site of the Shellmound. Governor Newcomb issued a statement that advocates for the removal of those living in the encampment on the Shellmound. A federal judge in the case Where Do We Go Berkeley v. Caltrans issued an injunction in April of last year preventing the clearing of the encampment. The group of homeless activists, “Where Do We Go Berkeley” (WDWGB) has asked for a judge to issue an extension to find appropriate housing for those who have been camped out on the site.
VALENCIA, Spain – Listed by UNESCO as a cultural heritage festival, Fallas of València (in Valencian) takes place each March from the 1st through to the 19th and culminates with “la cremà” or burning of many temporary art displays, known as fallas (in Spanish) or falles (in Valencian).
The exact origin of Las Fallas is unknown but the practice is likely connected to carpenters burning wood pieces that were no longer needed, as well as the wooden structures used to hold oil lamps during the winter since the Vernal Equinox heralded the arrival of Spring and more light.
The practice of lighting fires to burn away winter and welcome Spring goes back hundreds of years in many cultures. While Las Fallas did not become officially recognized by the Valencian government until some time during the latter half of the 18th century due to a need to control where fires could be safely set, the practice is likely far older than that.
There is also often a satirical element to the festivities seen with the incorporation of ninot (puppets or dolls) that are frequently caricatures of past and present historical persons or events.
Each day at 2:00 pm mascletà (loud firecrackers) are detonated for roughly ten minutes. Beginning on March 15, the ninots numbering as many as 700 are set up on display around the city for everyone to view, with nightly fireworks displays. Each year, one of the fallas is selected to be saved from burning and then placed in the Fallas Museum.
The fallas (monuments) are found all over the city but the main falla that is the embodiment of the year’s theme is set up in the center of the square. This year, artist Antonio Segura created the main falla which was over 23-metres tall and whose message was: “protect nature and protect what you love.”
ICYMI: Spain celebrated the annual Fallas festival in the city of Valencia pic.twitter.com/y4igXhqzZm
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 27, 2022
Tarot of the week by Star Bustamonte
Deck: Touchstone Tarot, by Kat Black, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.Card: Major arcana, XVI (16), The Tower
This week is likely to offer some abject lessons in chaos, upheaval, and unexpected changes. There is also the potential for an undercurrent of fate that no amount of power or wealth can provide protection against.
Conversely, structures and organizations constructed shoddily, as well as façades created out of illusion and fallacies, are all very likely to crumble and fall apart.
Decks generously provided by Asheville Pagan Supply.
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