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Multiple reports of ritualistic torture in New England leave Voodoo practitioners cringing

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MASSACHUSETTS –Two apparently unrelated cases of child torture and murder in this state have been attributed to Voodoo by the perpetrators, which has led to precisely the sort of negative attention in the media that practitioners of African traditional religions seek to avoid. The word “voodoo” is often used in the mainstream to refer to spiritual practices of the African diaspora that emerged in the Caribbean, and have strong elements of animism and magic use. The practices are also sometimes syncretized with Christianity. That six-letter spelling is mostly associated with Louisiana or New Orleans Voodoo, while practitioners of the Haitian variant prefer to spell it “Vodou” instead. Regardless of the spelling, it is a tradition that has been sensationalized in film and on television for close to a century, which leads many adherents to avoid interviews about their practices even if it’s for a positive reason.

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Pagan shop owners fight for right to read tarot

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RICHLANDS, Va. –There are places when practicing openly as Pagan is not at all difficult, but there remain communities in which engaging in anything with a whiff of the esoteric or the unusual is met with stiff resistance. Richlands, Virginia appears to be one of the latter. 

Richlands is a town of less than 5,000 people in the southwestern part of the state and, at a glance, it seems to be the sort of place where Christian values are held in high regard at least when anything perceived as threatening their supremacy is proposed. What’s causing the recent ripples through this small community is the presence of Mountain Magic and Tarot Shop. which has become a gathering place for Pagans who previously practiced in solitude and in hiding. Proprietors Jerome VanDyke and Mark Mullins are open about being Witches as well as being happily married to each other.

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A flu season to remember

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UNITED STATES –A week ago, a Heathen woman by the name of Sarah Lyter, who lived in the northeastern part of this country, reportedly died of influenza. While no specific information about the circumstances of her death was able to be gathered directly, it appears that she was a healthy adult in the prime of her life. Such a death can send shock waves of fear and doubt through any community, and result in questions about the effectiveness of vaccines and other methods of treatment and prevention. Dr. Jennifer Hamilton is a board-certified family physician based in Philadelphia, as well as an initiate of the Blue Star tradition of Wicca. She confirmed that this has been a remarkably difficult year to come down with the flu.

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The limits of ministry: Pagan clergy and serious situations

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TWH — Paganism, together with the polytheistic and other religions with which it is often lumped, might be characterized as standing apart from conventional cultural and legal institutions. A not-entirely-undeserved stereotype is that of fierce independence from the over-culture, if not outright contrarianism, which can be witnessed in everything from an early acceptance of same-sex marriage to a rejection of the building of infrastructure that might result in hierarchy and rules. Even within Pagan and polytheist traditions wherein opposing cultural norms is not in vogue, it can be challenging to establish institutions and best practices for the sacred work of priest-craft and ministry simply because the faith traditions involved often don’t have enough in common for practitioners to overcome their small numbers by working together. We spoke with several Pagans and polytheists who have professional training related to the work often undertaken by members of the clergy, in order to better understand the challenges faced by those who are called to this service, particularly when it comes to providing any type of spiritual or emotional support which might be thought of as “counseling.” For the sake of simplicity, throughout this article the word “priest” refers as well to priestesses; this is not to suggest that one gender is preferred or superior over any other, but instead follows the deprecation of such words as “authoress” in acknowledgement that such roles can be filled by persons of any gender.

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Occult conference organized in Wales

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POWYS, Wales –The first Welsh Occult Conference is slated to be held June 2 of this year. Organized by author Gary St Michael Nottingham who previously ran the Ludlow Esoteric Conference, this new occult conference also represents his return to event organizing after taking time away for several years. “I had a break to get on with other stuff,” Nottingham explained. “Just not enough planetary hours in the day to do everything.” While the Ludlow conference was held in Shropshire, England, Nottingham has moved this one over the border and closer to home, as he explained.