Children Tortured, Killed After False Witchcraft Accusations

The video below is at the very least shocking [at an aggressively disturbing level].  I warn you, it is difficult to watch.  I lasted only three minutes before breaking into sobs. 

Rampant in many areas of Africa are the false accusations of witchcraft against children and even infants.  These accusations are unfounded and they are coming from the mouths of their own family members and from local pastors, posing as witch doctors and working in the name of Jesus Christ.  It is certainly a warped and twisted abuse of religion if ever there was one.  The Burning Times and Salem almost pale in comparison [all due respect to the victims of past witch hunt frenzies]. 

These children, accused of being possessed or almost infected by witchcraft face violent "treatments" that often leave scarred and in horrific pain, if they're even able to survive.  Watch the video and you'll see the shock and fear in their faces -- they are traumatized, terrified.  Nothing aches my heart greater than looking into the eyes of innocence disturbed and distressed.

As Pagans promoting the truth whenever we can about positive, benevolent spellcraft, we need to stand together to protect the accused.  You'll find links along with the provided video that will bring you to sites offering options to donate, spread the word and submit letters of protest. 

Donate via Mrs. B's JustGiving Page to Stepping Stones Nigeria

International Letter of Protest

Pagan Rights Alliance

My TSA Complaint

After hammering away on my keyboard quite a number of times, followed by my deleting the less-than-professional choice words, I finalized and submitted the following complaint to TSA regarding the firing of a Wiccan agent [refer to yesterday's blog post for details].

_______________________________________________________________________________

COMPLAINT To The Transportation Security Administration

RE: Albany Intl Airport

RE: The Termination of Carole Smith

How ghastly that in such an age of political correctness, growing tolerance and respectful acceptance someone would find themselves terminated because of the unfounded fears and lies of another.

What intelligent, professional manager would deem a complaint of "she hexed my car" as valid and noteworthy?  It was a grasping at straws when such a claim was investigated as workplace violence!  This woman's religious views were used against her -- to label her as different, to make her feel alienated and to ultimately terminate her as an employee of TSA.

People are born with certain god-given rights, most especially in this Land of The Free.  The name you use when referring to that god shouldn't matter-- the rights given are the same.  And in this blasphemous situation, Carole Smith's rights all but vanished under a veil of intolerance and injustice.

_______________________________________________________________________________

    


Wiccan Fired Because of Lies About Hexes

Uproar is ripping through the Pagan community as news of this story circulates [refer to MSNBC and the linked Article by Investigative Reporter Bill Dedman] -- Carole was a TSA agent at an airport in Albany New York.  She is also a Wiccan.  And I'm quite certain she never imagined that in today's age of political correctness she'd be fired because of that faith.  But she was.

MSNBC's article goes on to explain in-depth the harassment and bullying that Carole faced at the hands [and condescending mouths] of her coworkers.  She reached out to directors and to members of staff dedicated to helping resolve struggles between employees.  She seemed to do everything right and yet during the days leading up to her termination, she found herself confronted by unfounded fears about spell casting, requests for her to sit with a mediator to explain her religious views, off-colored remarks about her "witchiness" and a feeling of being ostricized so oppressive it affected her ability to give her best on the job.

Carole has lawyered up and is fighting to appeal a ruling by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that claimed there was not enough evidence to show that she lost her job because of her religious beliefs.  Interested in giving her your support?  Submit your [professional and respectful] complaints to TSA:

CONTACT THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION



Be Ever So Careful-- If you Celebrate Earth Day, YOU Might Be a Pagan

... at least, according to Ken Blinco [in an article published by the Sturgis Journal, Mar 24 2011].  Per the grotequesly skewed opinion of Mr. (My-Way-or-the-Highway) Blinco, any celebration of Earth Day [to be recognized this year on Apr 22] may be an attempt to sway you to the side of Eco-Evil.  After all, this is a holiday rapant with hidden agenda, proving to be "a gateway to paganism and New Age mysticism." 

Is he FOR REAL?!

I must have read and re-read this article three to five times, trying to figure out if I should take his very warped account of a positive celebration seriously or just chalk it up to a really perverse attempt at explaining away the author's laziness and lack of responsibility in caring for our planet.  I've decided that the truth lies in the latter -- there is just NO WAY that an educated, rational adult would come to the conclusion that planting seeds, recycling cans and picking up trash would in any way cause you to stray from one religion to another.  WHAT?!

Clearly Mr. Blinco is dolling out some very obnoxios excuses for his unwillingness to help take care of this earth.  It is evident he cares not for his God's creation and worse still, has no qualms about spreading these excuses at the expense of another faith.  I wonder what his Creator and Personal Savior think of such slothful neglegance.

When you bless this beautiful earth on the 22nd next month, be sure to overpower such negativity as this with your love, devotion and willingness to do your part.  BLESSED BE MOTHER EARTH!

My Guest Blog: Honor the Sun God

The following appeared on the Confessions of a Country Witch blog yesterday.  My first attempt as a guest blogger!  Thank you Willow for the opportunity. 

I wonder how many other nature-loving pagans have, like me, adopted the Sun and Moon as their personal deities.  This divine relationship is sincere, effortless and almost parental-- containing the warm respect, casual cadence and nurturing essence of a bond shared between parent and child. 

Daily I look skyward, finding comfort in and seeking guidance from their reliable presence.  My Lady Mother calms my often impatient spirit.  She blesses and protects my home, my family as she blankets the nighttime lands with her ever-shifting light. 

But since the focus of this blog party is the god and not goddess, I nod to her respectfully and move to think upon my Lord, the Sun.  I greet him as I rise from bed each morning, drawing in his brilliant energy and asking that he watch over my day as he journeys across the sprawling skies.

Throughout the ages there have been a great many cultures and groups who worshiped  the sun as central deity and I’m quite convinced that early Christians also adopted this solar devotion, exchanging the actual planetary body for a relevant human form, a “son” named Jesus Christ. 

I think this is why there are so many beliefs surrounding The Savior that coincide with ancient pagan practices linked to the Sun--Though the man Jesus Christ was known to have been born sometime in the spring with the animals of herd, it is celebrated in December near the Winter Solstice, a holiday in the pagan Wheel of the Year when we see the rebirth of the Sun god after his death at Samhain.  I don’t believe this to be unintentional and at the same time, I’m not offended or bitter-- I take it to be the normal resulting merge of ideas and celebrations as the segregated peoples of the world began to mingle.  I just wish more Christians would come to accept this as well.  But, I suppose that’s a topic for an entirely different post.

While I know the Sun and Moon are not themselves great gods, they are my constant connection to a source of ethereal divinity buried within us all.

Calling Pagans to Rally Against Witch-Hunts -- yes, It is still happening!

Witch-Hunts Endangering Africa

It is repulsive that in an age of advancement and enlightenment -- a time when we carry around technologies providing us instant access to communication, a time when we continue to crack and understand the intricate codes of physics, chemistry and biology, a time when great nations of the globe have come together in grand alliances -- we would still find such intolerance and unfounded fears over a belief or an idea that is different from what we may believe or know.  Intolerance and unfounded fear so manic and intense that it would drive entire populations to massacre neighbors.

These people may be pagan.  Or they may not.  They may practice witchcraft.  Or they may not.  Either way, they are dying.  Stoned.  Or burned.  Grandmothers.  Children. 

Hatred and death.  And for what?!  The way someone chooses to live their life is individual and private and is something that should be respected, even if we disagree with their choices and values.  None can prove their religion more honest and accurate than another and so all should be valid.  We should celebrate free will; instead we allow bitterness to spread rampantly like some loathsome, infectious disease.     

Nebraska Prison Officials Recognize the Theodish Beliefs of Inmates

It's so very sad that freedom of religion continues to be controversial and newsworthy in a country founded due to a desire for that very thing.  More than two centuries have passed since the United States of America set forth its groundwork of human liberties.  Was it merely ideal thinking on the parts of our founders?  If you state a belief in the concept of free will, how can you then follow such a limitless definition with limitations?  It is nothing shy of hypocritical and its something I've observed in many facets of both historical and modern society.  I've come to notice that people in general create enough excuses to allow for the justification of their own actions -- right or wrong, whilst all the while reacting with matter-of-fact intolerance when it comes to the differing values and ideals of another.

LIVE AND LET LIVE!  

Emerging from Winter's Stale: Ostara 2011

Happy Equinox! 

I'm sure, like me, most of you are pleased to see the signs of spring sneaking their way into the landscape.  The tulips are pushing through the softening ground, the robins are fluttering along the grasses [listening with cocked heads for the worms beneath the dirt], and today marks the time when the day and night have found balance once again. 

It is a new beginning; a rebirth.  Ostara is a time to celebrate fertility and new life.  Start your seeds for the garden that awaits you after the frost, paint your eggs and light your candles to chase away the last of the wintery darkness. 

"Strength of Sun begins to grow

Seeds in dirt we set to sow

Welcome signs of Spring's rebirth

New life emerges on the Earth"

Sharing a beautiful Post for this SUPERMOON Saturday

Full Moon Blessing

Thank you Pagan by Design!!

Donate to Japan, Pagan-Style

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/Pagan-Community/doctors-without-borders?utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=share&utm_source=at-facebook&utm_content=eua&sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d7cc0835e7f8ca5%2C0


Pagans Everywhere,

It's time to come together [as if we need an excuse] to aid those affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.  Sometimes it can be overwhelming to find an organization that you are comfortable working with -- after all, your money is hard-earned and with the cost of gas and fresh produce on the rise, we have to be stingy. 

The Pagan Community has established a donation link via First Giving with proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders, one of the most recognizable names in charity across the globe. 

Feel confident in representing the collective Pagan heart.

Ignorance was once Bliss, Today it is Hatred

It's saddening to see that even in our evolved age of human advancement a country of greatness, of pluralism, of honor still will single out and persecute one ethnic community, one religious following, one race due to fear of the threats from a perverted few.

Muslims are not Extremists just as Conservatives are not Jared Loughner, just as Baptists are not Fred Phelps, just as Pagans are not Christian Day.  I learned myself recently that we cannot begin to define a whole by the degeneracy of a scattered fragment.

Cutting Off My Nose to Spite My Face: My Bitterness Towards the Catholic Faith

Shortly after posting this afternoon's blog, I was contacted by my very best of besties.  She was concerned -- first, that she may have inadverdently offended me with her bouts of curiosity [to which I replied "not ever, ever, ever"].

Secondly, was to compassionately alert me to the fact that my blogs seem laced with harsh attacks aimed at the Catholic religion [and possibly the Christian faith as a whole].  Just as I opened my mouth to defend my pagan honor and the honor of my witchy brethren everywhere, it hit me...

She is absolutely right. 

Before the shell-shocked gasps and outcries filter through the pagan crowd [Mwah!  Love & Light to each of you], allow me to explain...

I harbor a great Bitterness [notice that I have granted this 'uppercase noun' status] toward the Catholic faith because of my personal backstory-- growing up Roman Catholic and ultimately being betrayed and let down. 

I have very fresh memories of Sisters and Fathers who fed me lies.  These people of holiness, I came to learn later at a most impressionable age, were stealing from the pockets of the very followers to whom they preached of Honesty... of Righteousness.... of Loving Thy Neighbor. 

Even before this, I had so many concerns about the contradictions in the teachings of this religion, and when I finally found the courage to voice them, I was told not to question but to have faith.  It seemed so easy for others [beautiful people, like both of my grandmothers -- they just believed without explanation], so why then did I instead feel resentment begin to take seed?

And why is it that even now -- all these years later, feeling secure, content and proud in the path that I have chosen -- WHY do I still hold on to the Bitterness?  I have to make an effort to purge this from my heart.  If I wish to promote my pagan beliefs as a core that is welcoming to all and judgemental to none, I have to strive to act in exactly such a way.  

It's easy when being judged to turn back and lash out with judgements of your own -- to nit-pick at short comings and display them as some trophy of war.  But in doing so, what have I accomplished?  Does my example of the pagan world seem open-minded and open-hearted after this?  Not in the least.  

Thank you to my best of besties.  You are a breath of fresh air in my life.  And you keep me humble.  I love you beyond any barrier that the differences in beliefs can tend to create.  After this evening's chat with you, the following article found its way to my eyes.  The message was loud and clear.

http://blog.syracuse.com/voices/2011/03/civility_salem_witch_trials_jo.html

So, What IS Paganism Anyway?

I took my first step down a pagan path when I was 17.  Not to age myself, but that was 14 years ago and still I find, [once the deadly topic of religion has dipped its dangerous toe into casual conversation], that the general public has no real definition of what it is to be pagan.  Not REALLY.  They have the misconstrued and grossly [not to mention inaccurately] warped version of paganism presented by the ever-inconsiderate entertainment industry and the rantings of bitterly ignorant church heads fearful that their power over the masses may come to an end in this new era of questioning-thought and reason.   

Even close friends of mine, [innocently Outing me as a pagan to any other conscious mind interested in listening], find themselves unable to answer the typical retort "so, what IS paganism anyway?".  That's usually the point in the conversation when all eyes turn to me for some all-mighty clarification.

"There is probably not a single thing on which all pagans agree."

And after I make such a statement, without fail, I am met with the blank stares of those needing further exploration.  So, I draw in the deep inhale of someone who is about to repeat something that has been said countless times -- knowing all too well [thanks to a consistent tally of personal experiences] that this is to lead to much-too-heavy a debate for whatever relaxed setting I find myself in currently -- be it a friend's get-together, a coffee shop or [most recently] the outer deck of a local brewery.

For a long while, I actually wasn't quite certain how best to define paganism to the sets of waiting audiences.  It was only after completing my Book of Shadows that I came to a profound realization about this faith that I love-- it is precisely "The Undefinable" that mows a pagan path.

So now you too have the doe-eyed stare.  * inhales deeply *

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best when he wrote "God enters by a private door into every individual."  And this rings oh-so true in the hearts of pagans everywhere.  While one may be solely Goddess-oriented, another may find themselves duotheistic and yet another feels connected to an entire pantheon of gods.  Some practice spellcraft, others plant herbs or light incense and candles.  Some believe in reincarnation.  Others await a journey to the Summerlands after death.  We may return to Mother Earth or we may stay within this biological realm, existing as spirit beings, even guides to those we left behind. 

The differences pile up with every pagan that you encounter.  And that's what's so gloriously freeing about this faith.  A pagan respects that the way in which you connect with divinity is personal.  It's distinctive.  We would never interfere with the free will of another by labeling their beliefs as wrong. 

Pagans embrace their faith in a unique way that is very much all their own.  While we may share common laws [karma, the Wiccan Rede and the Law of Three to name a few], the practices that we develop to honor and connect with the Divine are as distinct as the voice with which each of us uses to sing. 

Not to throw quotes at you willy-nilly, but hey -- when they relate to my mutterings, I can't help myself!!  I leave you with the words of the great Dr. Seuss...

"Today you are you.  That is truer than true.  There is no one alive who is youer than you."

Blessed Be to my pagan friends, whatever your path.

High Court Rules Christian Views Infectious

http://catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=40535&page=1

The way in which the world views spirituality is shifting.  Ruling bodies are no longer cowering to the oppressive powers of mainstream religion.  The public is no longer permitting the intolerances of Dark Age thought and reason.  Go figure -- the Traditionalists aren't pleased.

They see this ruling -- a couple being denied future foster children because of their views against homosexuality -- as some ominous ban across the expanse of Christianity everywhere.  Truthfully, and rightfully, the judges were merely ensuring that a child is able grow and flourish in a supportive environment.

A young and impressionable mind needs to be raised with self esteem and confidence.  Children need to be nutured and accepted for who they are inside.  And to ultimately walk into society loving themselves and sharing their compassion via an avenue of mutual respect and tolerance for the merging diversity we are all confronted with when we walk outside our doors.

Child's Pagan Prayer To Say Goodnight

When sleep weighs heavy on my eyes
and light of moon pours from the skies
to find my bed in darkened room
that mama cleans with bless-ed broom,
under covers in wait of dream's to come
I lay in listen to heart's soft drum
and bowing my head to setting sun,
I smile to see his journey done.

May Goddess bless me through the night
as she follows God in starlit flight
round and round about the earth--
a dance of dawn to dusk rebirth
to energize the charge within
connecting me to what has been,
the herein now and what awaits--
tied together by string of fates.

In simple ways I touch Divine,
grateful for each passing sign
and in giving thanks I know I must
send out my love with perfect trust
with never a frown at someone's flaw
but seeking to live by karma's law,
ensuring that within I'll find
a quiet peace and joy of mind.

Watch over those that I hold dear--
those souls who offer love sincere,
who inspire what I am inside
to always sing; to never hide
so that when I look inside my heart,
I close each day, content, with "merry part"
and when I wake, sunrise to greet,
whisper to morning, "merry meet".

- Blessed Be

Storms-y: Whether he Did or Did Not

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/01/grant-storms-arrested-masturbating_n_830000.html?fbwall

I truly have sympathy for Christians for having to deal with this repulsive man being in their ranks while still trying to promote the wholesomeness and morality of their faith without feeling hypocritical. 

Combat the Crude with Stats

I once found myself irritated when happening across a grossly inaccurate comment -- most especially when it related to my personal beliefs and faith-- but now such factless, tactless opinions get me feeling almost giddy.  A chance for me to wipe away any lingering credibility with clean and clear data!  Present example:  Rick Vaught of Bozeman Montana.  

Rick, while speaking vehemently at a Bozeman City Commission meeting, stated that the city "needs a reality check." He claimed homosexuality to be an "epidemic that breeds sexually transmitted disease, drug addiction and paganism" [http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_5845235e-cab7-11df-a75a-001cc4c002e0.html].

Well Rick... According to STD statistics posted by safelabcentre.com, 90% of worldwide HIV transmission occurs in heterosexual people.  Ninety percent!  In addition, The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Social/Module10GSexualOrientation/Module10G.html] provided insight into the comparison patterns of heavy drinking & drug addiction and found few differences in use between the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender community and heterosexual groups of similar age and social class.  As far as the facts are concerned, I'm at more risk of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases through your sub-culture, Mr. Vaught, than I am with a bisexual or lesbian woman.  Curious. 

Concerning  the "epidemic" spread of paganism, I had difficulty finding any statistical data on the number of homosexual pagans.  I can however say with certainty that just being gay or bisexual does not turn you toward a pagan path anymore than being from Montana turns you toward ignorance.  Though, in your case Rick Vaught, I see a clear exception.