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Pagan Community Notes: Week of June 13, 2022

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SALEM, Mass. – The Satanic Temple (TST) headquarters late on Friday evening suffered an arson attack by a 45-year-old man, Daniel Damien Lucey, who is from Boston. Police arrested Lucey and charged him with arson, interfering with civil rights, and vandalism to a place of worship according to Salem police Lieutenant Dennis Gaudet, as reported by The Boston Globe.

Lucien Greaves, co-founder of TST tweeted pictures of the assailant and the resulting damage on Saturday. Greaves was in the Temple when the fire was started.

According to both news reports and statements made by Greaves on social media, Lucey was wearing a t-shirt with the word “GOD” printed on the front, poured accelerant on the porch of TST’s Victorian house, and then lit it. Video via TST’s doorbell camera captured footage of the crime.

TST said in a Facebook post, “People were inside at the time, but fortunately, no one was hurt. Throughout this ordeal, our neighbors and the City of Salem have been incredibly supportive and we are very appreciative of their goodwill. The front entrance of the building suffered extensive damage, and we have begun repair work.”

Greaves, speaking to the Boston Herald said, “I do not feel that this man is representative of Christians or anything.”  He continued, “It would be nice if people took this as a reminder to take a moment to lay off the outrage a bit and take a moment to speak to people they might disagree with.”

As reported by Boston 25 News WFXT, “Lucey told officers he traveled to Salem for the express purpose of setting fire to the Temple and called his [own] actions a ‘hate crime,’ according to a statement from the Salem Police Department.”

Lucey is scheduled to be arraigned in court in Salem today.

♣          ♣          ♣


SALEM, Mass. – Early last week, The Witch City was also in the news for an act of vandalism that targeted the statue of Samantha from the TV series, “Bewitched.”

Pictures and reports of the vandalism popped up all over social media within a short time of it being defaced.

 

According to news reports, several witnesses identified the man who they saw spray painting the torso and head of the 9-foot bronze statue that sits on the corner of Essex and Washington Streets in Lappin Park.

Police took the suspect into custody and charged him with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and vandalism.

John Burke, a captain in the Salem Police Department, said, “There’s nothing to indicate a motive” for the vandalism.

Crossings of the Veil

Poppy Palin – March 19, 1966 – May 28, 2022

Poppy Palin’s post via Twitter.

Noted artist and author Poppy Palin took her own life late last month. Palin’s works as an author and illustrator included the Wild Spirit Tarot, the Everyday Enchantment Tarot, and The Craft of the Wild Witch.

Palin left multiple posts on social media as a farewell and a homemade memorial service on video stating how she preferred to be remembered. We caution that the video is difficult to watch as she discusses her death by suicide.

 

What is remembered, lives!

~         ~          ~

Palin’s death is a reminder suicide is a significant public health issue and that our community can help and support those in pain. If you or someone you know needs help, the  National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day and can be reached at 1-800-273-8255 or via their website: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/. In Canada, the number is 1-833-456-4566.  In the UK, The NHS lists a series of resources.   A list of other international suicide prevention resources is available. 

In other news:

    • The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft has been teasing an upcoming exhibit set to open in July and featuring the occult-themed art of Brazil’s Luciana Lupe Vasconcelos.

    • In an official ceremony that took place in the capital city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), King Philippe of Belgium returned a ceremonial mask that was stolen during Belgium’s violent rule of the former colony. The Kakungu mask was used in ceremonies conducted by the Suku people in the southwest part of the Congo. The mask is just one of some 84,000 cultural pieces that were taken out of Congo and are currently on display as the majority of the Royal Museum for Central Africa’s collection. The Belgium government handed over a list of all of the cultural items the museum curators had complied earlier this year in February. While on the surface the act of returning the Kakungu mask to Congo would seem to be an act of repatriation, the Belgium government and King Philippe have instead identified it as being on “indefinite loan.” Currently, it is illegal for any objects seen to be owned by the Belgium federal government to be transferred or permanently removed from any collections. A law that would lay the groundwork for new restitution policies on a case-by-case basis is currently being reviewed by Belgium’s legislature.

    • The search for a British journalist, Dom Phillips, and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira continues, though searchers found a backpack, clothing, and other items including two pairs of boots that have been identified as belonging to the men. The items were recovered tied to a half-sunken tree and near where the two men were last seen a week ago Sunday. Elizeu Mayaruna, who works for the indigenous agency Funai, and two other members of an indigenous search team who were familiar with Pereira, also a former Funai official, all told Reuters they recognized a shirt and pants that belonged to him. The region the two men were traveling through, the Javari Valley, is near the Peru and Colombia border and consists of remote jungle. Pereira had previously clashed with local fishermen over the illegal poaching of fish, and in 2019, Maxciel Pereira who was working with Funai to stop illegal fishing was shot and killed in Tabatinga. Pereira is also reported to have received a threatening letter from a local fisherman who has since been taken into custody.


      Positively Noteworthy

      Under the heading “how could it get much weirder” there is this odd picture from the Amarillo Zoo that was captured by their video surveillance system at 1:25 am on May 21.

      The city of Amarillo went public with the shot requesting that people chime in with what they think it might be. And as might be expected, they have received quite a variety of responses that range from the ordinary: a teenager dressed as a furry; drunk guy in a headdress carrying a beer bottle; or a coyote or bobcat that was either trying to scale the fence or was startled and jumped up and captured at a weird angle.

      Then there were the predictably extraordinary and mythical responses which included: either a Chupacabra, werewolf, Wendigo, or a skinwalker, and of course, Wile E. Coyote and Sonic the Hedgehog.

      Whether a trick of the camera and exposure or something else, the UAO or Unidentified Amarillo Object has caused a sensation across social media.


      Tarot of the week by Star Bustamonte

      Deck: Simplicity Tarot, by Emilie Muñiz, illustrations by 18/1 Graphic Studio, published by U.S. Games Systems, inc.

      Card: Four (4) of Wands

      This week holds the possibility of good news and may offer a reason to celebrate. There is also an emphasis on the creation of foundations that offer stability, especially those that involve the joining of two or more powers.

      Conversely, structures either physical or ideological that are constructed on faulty ground have the potential to fail.

      Decks generously provided by Asheville Pagan Supply.

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