News

Graduate student teaches and studies Western Paganism in Japan

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KOBE, Japan —  Eriko Kawanishi first came to Glastonbury as a graduate student, working on Western paganism for her thesis. Impressing the locals with her understanding, her courage in coming alone to a small English town on the other side of the planet, and her good humour, Eriko soon became an integral part of the Glastonbury community and has taken her knowledge of the UK Pagan scene back to her home country of Japan. Eriko is a researcher at Kyoto University and will be teaching at Konan Women’s University in Kobe as a part-time lecturer beginning September 2017. She said that Western Paganism isn’t studied widely in Asia, and although Shinto, for instance, shares some common themes with Pagan paths such as Druidry, there is currently little formal exchange between the two. As the work of academics like Eriko expands, however, a more in-depth understanding of the spiritual analogies between the cultures is likely to develop.

News

President Trump attracts magical ire; binding spells planned

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UNITED STATES — President Donald Trump continues to raise hackles among progressives — as well as some conservatives — during these first hundred days of his term in office. Some of his opponents in the Pagan and polytheist communities are working magic against the 45th president, and in the tradition of hexing Brock Turner, some of that work is being done very publicly. Gala Darling broadcast a “bind Trump” ritual on President’s Day, capitalizing on the holiday to focus energy on the effort. Based on the participant locations she rattled off, the effort was an international one. Binding is a form of magic that is less ethically problematic for practitioners who subscribe to the threefold law or similar injunctions against manipulative magic.

Living

Going viral on Samhain #WhatWitchesLookLike

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TWH — As the sun rose on Oct. 31 and the Halloween frenzy crested, a viral social media campaign appeared, generating hundreds of responses on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr ,and Twitter. Using hashtag #whatwitcheslooklike, people from around the world posted photographs of themselves wearing no religious ritual wear, costumes, or other atypical clothing for their personal lifestyle. The goal was to combat popular fictional witch stereotypes by demonstrating what real, modern Witches actually look like. As is typical of the Samhain season, the popular use of words, such as witch and witchcraft, find their way into and onto everything.

Editorial

Editorial: Season of the Witch (Article)

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TWH – We have reached the end of October. Halloween is fast approaching.

News

Maginnis alleges Witches advise US senior leadership

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WASHINGTON D.C. — In late September, Televangelist Jim Bakker hosted Robert Maginnis, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Family Research Council senior fellow, on his show. They started off discussing how Maginnis felt about President Obama’s nomination of a Muslim-American attorney to be a federal judge. While Bakker saw the nomination as an attack on Christianity and an example of persecution against Christians, Maginnis went a bit further in his answer. He alleged there is a secret cabal of Witches advising the senior leadership of the United States. Maginnis says:
I know that there’s demonic forces in that city.