Dissecting Wicca
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In the latest episode of The Infinite and the Beyond, we dissect and learn about the contemporary pagan religion known of as Wicca. We speculate about some of its primary roots and influences and go into more depth than most books on subject ever seem to go. Find out what makes Wicca what it is and what makes a Wiccan a Wiccan in this break down of the religion of Wicca.
We learn about Doreen Valiente in this episode’s edition of A Corner in the Occult. The famed Mother of Modern Witchcraft played a crucial role in the existence and development of Wicca throughout the entirety of the twentieth century. Doreen was one of Gerald Gardners early High Priestesses and later authored of several well respected texts on witchcraft and became the Patron of the Center for Pagan Studies in 1995.
In the Essence of Magick we look into the idea, practice, and significance of ritual initiation and the role it plays in groups and in religions such as Wicca. We even discuss the idea behind the popular modern Wiccan practice of self-initiation and…
Air Force Academy Finally Accepting Spell-Casters
Noah Shachtman writes on the always interesting WIRED’s Danger Room:
Just a few years ago, the Air Force Academy was considered such an evangelical hothouse that the place got sued for its alleged discrimination against non-Christians. Today, the Academy is boasting of its thriving pagan community — and its friendliness towards spell-casters.
In a press release issued [on Oct. 21st], the Academy features Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier, “the lay leader for the Academy’s Earth-Centered Spirituality community, which includes Wiccans and Pagans from various traditions.” (It’s part of a larger effort by the school to promote an image of tolerance.)
During an inter-faith discussion group, the release notes, one cadet asked Longcrier “whether Wiccans or Pagans practiced ‘black magic.’”
Sergeant Longcrier responded by citing the Wiccan credo, or Rede: “An it harm none, do what ye will.” That would seem to preclude harmful spellcraft.
The Story of Delaware Senate Hopeful Christine O’Donnell (Animated)
Thank you, thank you, thank you Next Media Animation popularized here in the U.S. by Apple Daily. As described:
A Tea Party insurgency has left rancor and discord within the GOP’s big tent. Led by Sarah Palin, Tea Party candidates have scored several primary upsets against establishment candidates. The latest victor is Christine O’Donnell.
The anti-masturbation candidate has won the Republican senate nomination in Delaware, causing strategist Karl Rove to self-immolate on national television.
The Democrats, believing the Tea Party cannot win in a general election, are predictably happy with Tea Party’s primary success. But are the Democrat’s underestimating the strength of this populist movement?
Ergo, the Ego
The Infinite and the Beyond — Podcast: Episode #015 — Ergo, the Ego
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In the latest episode we discuss the Ego, ergo the name of this episode, and we explore some of the issues surrounding it with prominent occult author and musician Lon Milo DuQuette as well as talk about his new book titled Low Magick: It’s All In Your Head … You Just Have No Idea How Big Your Head Is.
Not only is Lon Milo DuQuette the author of over a dozen books on western esotericisim, but he is also the United States Deputy Grand Master of the O:.T:.O:., an expert on the life of and work of Aleister Crowley, and a Brother Freemason as well. In my interview with Lon he shares some his personal insights and tales in regards to the ego and we even address the role that the ego plays in groups and fraternal…
Alex Sanders, “King of the Witches”
Taken from the 1985 documentary “The Occult Experience,” this interview with Alex Sanders is fantastic—a real gut-buster. An attentive viewer should come away with an appreciation for flame-retardant loincloths and a demented curiosity about Sanders’ “second degree, which involved a third.” Warlocks beware the blue-haired Id.
Witch Side is Right? Woman: Bath & Body Works Fired Me Over Pagan Holiday.
From The Boston Herald:
A Connecticut Bath & Body Works staffer who practices witchcraft claims her boss put a hex on her career for using vacation time to attend Salem’s annual Halloween celebration.
Gina Uberti charges in a federal lawsuit that Bath & Body Works fired her after she took a week off around Halloween 2008 to mark the Wiccan holiday of Samhain.
“Any and all excuses offered by (Bath & Body Works) for the plaintiff’s termination are a pretext for the true reason – religious discrimination,” the East Haven, Conn., woman’s lawyer wrote in court papers.
Neither Uberti, her attorney or Bath & Body Works returned calls seeking comment on the case.
But in court filings, Uberti alleged that the chain canned her after eight years because she took time off for the holiday, also called “Witches’ New Year.”
Uberti, a Bath & Body Works district sales manager, claims she’d taken vacation around Samhain for years,…
Pagan Pride Day
The Infinite and the Beyond — Podcast: Episode #009 — Pagan Pride Day
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In the latest episode of The Infinite and the Beyond, we show our south Jersey pride by revisiting South Jersey Pagan Pride Day, which occurred back on October 11th, 2009. Despite what you’ve heard, we learn that Pagan Pride has nothing to do with joining a biker gang! As here on the east coast some people may not be so sure of that fact and we become exposed to the Pagan Pride Project which is an international organization and phenomena.
We speak with Henry Buchy about the Feri Tradition. Henry is a Feri Initiate, teacher and member of The Covenant of Rhiannon, which is a coven based down in the historic town of Cape May New Jersey and is proclaimed as being the oldest etsablished coven in South Jersey Area. He was also one of the presenters at Pagan Pride Day this year!
In A Corner in the Occult, we learn about Gerald Gardner, the Father of Wicca, who was a British civil servant in Malayasia during the early years of the 20th century. He had a great appreciation for native cultures and ritual and was an amatuer anthropologist, author, and world traveler. Strangely enough, he didn’t get involved with the British witchcraft tradition until he retired to the New Forest area of England in the 1930s.
We speak with South Jersey Pagan Pride secretary Janet Mays. I read listener letters. And to close I sit back down to recap the day with Amie Tolomeo who we spoke with in Episode #007 – Paganism and Being Pagan. All this and more!
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