Non Fluffy Wicca

From The Age

The councillor, the witch, and the tribunal
December 27, 2003

Olivia Watts, a self-confessed witch, is placing Rob Wilson, top, before a modern-day inquisition.

One man's campaign against a representative of the 'forces of Satan' has boiled into a tornado, dragging in fringe participants, writes Geoff Strong.

On a hot, dusty summer's day, two ravens peck for scraps outside the home of Olivia Watts, who watches warily from behind a locked screen door. It has not been an easy year for the naturopath and witch.

In the past six months, Ms Watts says, her business on the city's outer suburban fringe has collapsed; she has been physically attacked; and her home and car vandalised.

Now she is at the centre of a religious war due to be played out before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. On one side is a committed Christian Labor councillor fighting what he has portrayed as the forces of Satan. On the other are Ms Watts and her supporters, who claim that what is going on is, quite literally, a witch-hunt.

But this time it is the witch who has taken the Christian to the inquisitors. Ms Watts alleges religious vilification, and her case has been accepted for a March hearing before VCAT. Such is the acrimony that an attempt last Friday to mediate before the hearing was unsuccessful.

The opening salvo came in early June from the City of Casey's Rob Wilson who issued a press release claiming that a satanic cult was about to take over the city. He named Ms Watts, who was an unsuccessful candidate for the ward of Balla Balla in the council elections earlier this year. Ms Watts is also a transsexual who practises the Wicca religion. In other words, she is a witch.

Cr Wilson called on Casey's church leaders to consider calling a day of prayer to hold back the occult forces he believed were on the march. Ms Watts responded by taking the matter to the Equal Opportunity Commission, which later referred it to VCAT. Ms Watts at one stage sought to include in her action the city's Mayor, Brian Oates, and the council, but she has since dropped her claims against these two parties, leaving the council to seek compensation from her for the alleged cost of preparing its defence. The Sydney-based Pagan Awareness Network, which is supporting Ms Watts, has also taken Cr Wilson and Cr Oates to the Equal Opportunity Commission.

The City of Casey, Victoria's fastest-growing municipality, is one of its most religious, with 42 different houses of worship including many new independent Pentecostal churches. Cr Wilson's original claims led to stories, letters and comment in the local media.

Cr Wilson says he is making no further comment on the public record and that his position was explained in his submission to VCAT. At the time of Cr Wilson's press release about her, Ms Watts had just set up a business as a naturopath working from her home in the small community of Junction Village, south of Cranbourne.

Since the claims became public, Ms Watts says she has been subject to attack. "On August 16 a gentleman came to my door and asked me if I was the naturopath Cr Wilson was talking about. When I admitted I was, he grabbed me and started hitting me on the forehead saying he was driving the demons out of Casey. He just kept screaming 'Out you demon, out you demon'."

These days Ms Watts keeps her curtains closed and has changed her phone numbers.

She said she originally decided to stand for council over local issues and concerns about corruption, not to spread her religion. She took the action against Cr Wilson because she wanted an apology.

Cr Wilson has since been quoted in a newspaper as saying he stood by his claims "absolutely". In his submission to VCAT, he said he was concerned that Ms Watts had said in an earlier newspaper interview that many young people were being attracted to witchcraft as a symbol of rebellion against mainstream faiths.

He claimed he issued his press release in the public interest not to incite hatred, contempt, revulsion or ridicule of Ms Watts. "As a member of the community, I was concerned about the spread of witchcraft onto the council."

In his submission he relies on a number of sources to link witchcraft and Satanism, including an evangelical Christian website called The Watchman and the Collins paperback dictionary: "Witchcraft: noun, the use of magic especially for evil purposes".

Ms Watts said her family originated on the Scottish West Coast islands of Barra and North Uist and had a long history of practising Wicca, which has similarities to other early-European, nature-based religions - such as Druidism.

"We are a bit like the Jews. No matter how hard people have tried to suppress us, the faith has survived. Both faiths have aspects to them that Christians don't appreciate," she said. "I am a witch; I am quite proud of it. I don't do evil against people. We have nothing to do with Satanism."

Posted by mikki at 10:15 AM | Permalink

From Independent.co.uk

Three centuries before Christ's birth, people celebrated 25 December, archaeologists claim

By David Keys Archaelology Correspondent

24 December 2003

Archeologists say they have traced the origins of the first Christmas to be celebrated on 25 December, 300 years before the birth of Christ. The original event marked the consecration of the ancient world's largest sun god statue, the 34m tall, 200 ton Colossus of Rhodes.

It has long been known that 25 December was not the real date of Christ's birth and that the decision to turn it into Jesus's birthday was made by Constantine, the Roman Emperor, in the early 4th century AD. But experts believe the origins of that decision go back to 283 BC, when, in Rhodes, the winter solstice occurred at about sunrise on 25 December.

The event was preserved by academics on Rhodes or in Alexandria, and seems to have been passed to Caesar by the Hellenistic Egyptian scientists, who advised him on his calendrical reforms.

The date was chosen because the emperor seems to have believed that the Roman sun god and Christ were virtually one and the same, and the sun's birthday had been decreed as 25 December some 50 years earlier by one of Constantine's predecessors, the Emperor Aurelian. He, in turn, seems to have chosen 25 December because, ever since Julius Caesar's calendar reforms of 46 BC, that date had been fixed as the official winter solstice, even though the real date for the solstice in Caesar's time was 23 December.

Dr Alaric Watson, one of the British historians involved in the current research and author of the major book on the period, Aurelian and the Third Century, said: "Constantine's choice of 25 December as the day on which to celebrate the birth of his divine patron, Christ, must be viewed in terms of the tradition on which Aurelian had drawn and which may well have originated in the celebration of the winter solstice at Rhodes some six centuries earlier.

"Constantine clearly saw his divine patron, initially Sol Invictus but later Christ, in much the same way as Aurelian had done. The imagery of Christ, like that of the ruler cults of the Hellenistic and Roman worlds, owed much to solar theology."

Jesus's real date of birth is not known, although various different pre-4th century traditions and computations put it either in the January to March period or in November.

Posted by mikki at 05:48 PM | Permalink

Whatever you celebrate, Solstice, Saturnalia, Yule, Xmas, Chaunnika, Ubizmas, or just a day out of work, have a good one.

Posted by mikki at 03:13 PM | Permalink

Discrimination against agnostic and atheist prisoners? I wonder if they have any Wiccans. Anyone else see the slippery slope?

LAWTEY, Fla., Dec. 24 -- Gov. Jeb Bush told nearly 800 prisoners Wednesday that religion can help lead them to a better life as he dedicated the nation's first faith-based prison -- an institution officials hope will lead to fewer repeat offenders. [Washington Post: Nation and Politics]

Posted by mikki at 10:36 AM | Permalink

I wonder how many places actually do things like this, and how many people do nothing about it and just move on?

From Knox News .com

Religion can be trouble in workplace

By PAMELA REEVES, Anderson, Reeves & Cooper P.A.
December 21, 2003

A case filed in federal court in Nashville two weeks ago illustrates why employers need to make sure their employees' religious beliefs remain outside the workplace.

The case was filed by a woman who adheres to the Baha'i faith, a sect that believes several religious figures are equally authentic messengers of God.

The lawsuit alleges that when she was fired, she was told that she was being fired before the Christmas season because her mere presence in the workplace would ruin her co-worker's holidays.

The plaintiff also alleged that other co-workers told her that they were praying for her soul and that the office manager gave her a framed picture of Jesus. She claims that her termination notice contained a letter from her supervisor that said, "Realize why Jesus Came. Recognize his Holy Name. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart. Rely on Jesus everyday."

While it is too early to predict the outcome of this lawsuit, it is safe to say that the actions of the co-workers have, at a minimum, created a potential for liability.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in the terms and conditions of employment based on religion in companies with 15 or more employees. The Tennessee Human Rights Act prohibits religious discrimination for employers with eight or more employees.

It is difficult for employees to realize that their desire to share their religious beliefs with co-workers can be a form of religious discrimination. Many have strong religious convictions that they should share their faith with others. Unfortunately, this type of behavior in the workplace can create concerns.

Companies should make sure that their supervisors are aware that attempts to impose religious beliefs can be a violation of law. In particular, supervisors should be trained to avoid this type of behavior personally and to take affirmative action to make sure that co-workers are not harassing other employees.

This is not to say that one can never discuss religion in the workplace. It is fine to invite someone to attend church or to answer questions about religious beliefs. The problems occur when an employee begins to harass a co-worker about religious beliefs or makes religion such a focus that it begins to affect the terms and conditions of employment.

While the Christmas season is definitely a time for many of us to take stock of our religious beliefs, it is also a time to remember that those beliefs are personal. The workplace is simply not a pulpit.

It may be difficult in this part of the country to accept this fact, but the New Year will be a lot happier if the company and its employees are not having to spend their time defending a religious discrimination lawsuit.

Pamela Reeves is a partner in the Knoxville law firm Anderson, Reeves & Cooper P.A. Because factual situations vary, competent legal counsel should be consulted for individual advice.

Posted by mikki at 04:14 PM | Permalink

Leave it to my pal Geoffle Weffle Pie to find this gem. Would that more people make these complaints :-)

Endless Christmas Carols Irk Czech Clerks

Labor unions in the Czech Republic demanded Monday that stores stop playing Christmas carols incessantly or pay compensation for causing emotional trauma to sales clerks.

Some stores here play the same songs all day -- and play them loudly. Employees say shifts have become unbearable.

"To listen to it for eight hours a day is not healthy, that's for sure," said Alexandr Leiner, a union leader. "And for the customers, it's almost unbearable as well."

Leiner said unions have written to major chains, such as Tesco, and demanded that employees be compensated. He said the unions want 500 koruna (US$19) or two days off as a possible compensation. They've received no response. ... (AP)

Posted by mikki at 07:17 PM | Permalink

I just love Pagan Prattle

According to Peter (alt.conspiracy, 10th December 2003) Freemasons are, in fact, aliens:

The Freemasons are an organization of extraterrestrial beings, closely
linked to Zionism, who cross-bred with earth humans long ago. Not all of
them actually join the lodge nor make public their association with this
organization. They are the descendants of the fallen angels of Biblical
lore who cross-bred with the daughters of men creating giants (seemingly
human beings with advanced abilities compared to earth humans.)

Posted by mikki at 11:39 AM | Permalink

While perusing the list of self-published tarot decks, I saw a magnificent deck that I absolutely loved. Unfortunately for me, the deck I wanted was only available in its "special edition" version, which was quite expensive, but I thought it would be worth it, so ordered one because the deck was so beautiful.

Well, it arrived today. The Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti is one of the most impressive I have seen. It arrived in a beautiful box, wrapped in gold paper with pretty purple bows :-). And it included my very own custom card, that says "'Oh, bother,' said Pooh, as he slapped a fresh clip into the Uzi."

I am VERY happy. It reads great. It feels great. It looks great. YAY!

Posted by mikki at 05:48 PM | Permalink

Greater international attention, with stronger laws and enforcement, is needed to help protect African elephants. [Christian Science Monitor: All Stories]

Posted by mikki at 09:08 AM | Permalink

Nigeria: Ashi Terfa, a traditional doctor in central Nigeria, has been shot dead by a patient, Umaa Akor, who was testing the potency of an anti-bullet charm the herbalist had prepared for him.

To confirm its efficacy, the herbalist tied the charm around his neck and insisted that Akor should fire a gun at him. The experiment proved fatal for the herbalist and his skull was shattered, he [police spokesman Bode Fakeye] added. He died immediately.

'Bullet-proof' man shot dead - News24, 17th December 2003.
[The Pagan Prattle Online]

Posted by mikki at 08:44 AM | Permalink

United States: Fine, upstanding Christians, the American Family Association, have admitted doctoring the results of their poll on same-sex marriage.

An astute observer noticed that unlike votes in places other than Florida and where Diebold machines are used, the number of votes for the answer, I favor legalization of homosexual marriage went down rather than up as the AFA cooked the books. In the first screen shot at 10:57 AM, the percentage is 16.10 (21075 votes); in the second taken at 11:22, it is 14.05 (17985 votes). One person commented in the comments area of the posting at 11:33 that it was down to 13%.

The AFA claims that they were simply removing multiple votes, even though their polling system should prevent that anyway. AFA Marriage Poll Rigged, Results Doctored - morons.org, 17th December 2003.
[The Pagan Prattle Online]

Posted by mikki at 08:43 AM | Permalink

Like a perverse venereal disease, Roy Moore just keeps coming back. Just when most of us thought it was all over, and this exclusionary hate monger would just retreat back into his fantasy land of non christian bashing, the story continues.

What can be more clear than the concept that a judge defying a federal court order will be removed from judgeship? Seems that concept makes sense to everyone except Roy Moore and his "legal" team. The man who basically said that if HE decides a court order is not to his liking, he gets to defy it in a public spectacle drawing well meaning but highly ignorant people.

So he appeals, causing an interesting legal debacle with the eight Alabama Supreme Court justices recusing themselves and replacements having to be picked.

What a waste of taxpayer money. And what a waste of brain cells.

Posted by mikki at 12:11 PM | Permalink

Only you can decide. Take a look at this link and make your decision on what the hidden meaning of this manifestation could possibly be.

Posted by mikki at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, they're finally acknowledging the divine feminine. Sure took them long enough, eh?

In religion, it's the year, or at least the yuletide, of the woman. Last week, the Mary Baker Eddy Library was the host for a panel to discuss women in spirituality, an event planned for some time that happened to coincide with the heightened media attention to the topic of women in spirituality. (By Rich Barlow) [Boston Globe: Local]

Posted by mikki at 09:09 AM | Permalink

If you'd like to get into the swing of the spirit of those who celebrate the season with Santa and that kind of thing, you can CLICK HERE for your very own Santa's Little Helper Name Generator.

Have at it :-)

Posted by mikki at 12:47 PM | Permalink

Stolen from the Washington Post. Not everyone cares to input their private information in order to read these stories. I will gladly cease and desist if the Post takes offense

White House Aide Angers Pagans
Towey Suggests Groups Lack Concern for the Poor

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 8, 2003; Page A23

H. James Towey, director of the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, has stirred up a pot of trouble by suggesting that pagans don't care about the poor.
Wiccans, Druids and other pagans across the country, along with the Washington-based advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, are demanding an apology from Towey for his remarks in a White House-sponsored online chat Nov. 26.

According to the official transcript, Towey was asked by someone in Centralia, Mo., whether pagan groups "should be given the same considerations as any other group" that applies for government funds.

"I haven't run into a pagan faith-based group yet, much less a pagan group that cares for the poor!" Towey wrote.

"Once you make it clear to any applicant that public money must go to public purposes and can't be used to promote ideology," he wrote, "the fringe groups lose interest. Helping the poor is tough work, and only those with loving hearts seem drawn to it."

Outraged pagans have since bombarded the White House and Internet chat rooms with scores of examples of their charitable activity. Particularly common, they say, are food drives in conjunction with Pagan Pride Day celebrations from New York to Wyoming, Arkansas and Nebraska.

In the past three years, Pagan Pride groups have collected 74,000 pounds of food and donated $51,000 to homeless shelters, interfaith food banks, the American Red Cross and other charities, according to the Indianapolis-based International Pagan Pride Project.

In Chicago, pagans support a battered women's shelter. In Massachusetts, they have given $20,000 for children with AIDS. Towey "obviously doesn't have his finger on the pulse of the pagan community," said Fritz Waltjen, 42, of North Hollywood, Calif. "I don't think the man was being malicious. I think he was just ignorant."

As retail manager of Raven's Flight -- "the only pagan book and tchotchke shop within a 20-mile radius" -- Waltjen is at the center of a West Los Angeles pagan community of about 1,000 people that collects food and personal-care items for the homeless on every one of its eight annual "sabbats," or holidays.

According to one major study, Wiccans -- one of several subgroups of pagans -- made up the fastest-growing religion in the continental United States in the 1990s. The American Religious Identification Survey, based on a randomly dialed telephone survey of 50,281 households by the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, estimated that the number of Wiccans rose 17-fold, from 8,000 to 134,000, between 1990 and 2001.

The survey also estimated that there are 33,000 Druids and 140,000 other pagans in 48 states. That adds up to about 300,000 people in what pagans call their "family of religious and magical paths."

Contrary to stereotypes, pagans say, they do not worship Satan or cast evil spells. Although Wiccans practice witchcraft with exotic herbs, chanting and dancing, most of their rituals and beliefs -- which a federal court recognized as a religion in 1986 -- revolve around the cycles of nature, such as equinoxes and phases of the moon. Aside from a belief in magic, the witch next door is likely to hold a pretty mainstream set of concerns -- environmentalism, gender equality and compassion for the poor, said Shea Thomas, a Hyattsville lawyer who is the chairman of Open Hearth Foundation, a nonprofit group raising funds to build a pagan community center in the Washington area.

Before heading President Bush's initiative to allow religious groups to compete with secular ones for government grants, Towey founded Aging With Dignity, a nonprofit organization that helps families plan for the care they want during times of serious illness. He also ran Florida's health and social services agency under then-Gov. Lawton Chiles (D) and served as counsel to Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Calls to his office for comment were returned by Claire Buchan, deputy White House press secretary. "The president believes that the faith-based initiative is an important initiative that is not about religion but is about results," she said. "Mr. Towey did not intend to convey any ill will toward anyone."

Although pagans across the country have sent letters and e-mails to the White House calling Towey's remarks hateful and discriminatory, Cather Steincamp, a pagan author and activist in Richmond, said the furor has also led to "some self-criticism within our community about what we should be doing."

Steincamp said he was not aware of any pagan groups that receive government funding to supply social services. "We're not eligible for that money because, in short, we haven't applied for it," he said.

Thomas, of the Open Hearth Foundation, said Towey was half-right.

"You will not find any pagan hospitals or universities or shelters for the homeless. Capital intensive things like that do not exist yet, partly because of our size and because we're still getting organized," he said.

"But [Towey] kind of implied that we don't have a charitable heart or a charitable focus or purpose, and that's where it got insulting and inaccurate."

Posted by mikki at 12:00 PM | Permalink

Germany: Frithjof Schwesig, vicar in the southwestern town of Lampoldshausen, ordered 300 copies of a video film portraying the life of Christ as told by the gospel according to Luke.

Unfortunately there was a wee bit of a mix up at the Munich video copying plant when they accidentally sent through the wrong movie. At a marathon viewing session that night, the good vicar and his staff established that 200 of the videos were pornographic.
[The Pagan Prattle Online]

Posted by mikki at 11:40 PM | Permalink

Why is this such a surprise, and couched in terms of "oh, it was a tradition for so long and those horrible non christians are oppressing us?" Once again, we are dealing with the ages old argument - should everyone's tax dollars pay for the promotion of ONE religion? And the answer is always NO!

The nativity scene on the lawn of the Balch Elementary School in South Norwood has been a Christmastime tradition for more than 75 years. (By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff) [Boston Globe: Local]

Posted by mikki at 11:12 AM | Permalink

While the "jesus-nazis" are squawking about removal of christian icons from public places, it seems that they are making inroads to forcing only their view of the word through the public schools. Disheartening indeed.

Please note, I do not consider all xtians as somehow evil, or putting conspiracies together to shut out others. This is obviously the work of a fringe group, but it certainly does cast a taint on anyone calling herself xtian.

From the Press Herald

A seventh-grade social studies teacher in Presque Isle who said he was barred from teaching about non-Christian civilizations has sued his school district, claiming it violated his First Amendment right of free expression.

Gary Cole of Washburn, a teacher at Skyway Middle School, sued School Administrative District 1 in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

Cole alleged that complaints by "a small group of fundamentalist Christian individuals" led to the creation of a curriculum "which never mentions religions other than Christianity and never teaches the history of civilizations other than Christian civilizations."

"He can't even teach the history of anti-Semitism (or the) history of ancient Greece," said Cole's lawyer, A.J. Greif of Bangor.

"How can you explain the evolution of democracy in the Western world without talking about ancient Greece? He can't talk about all the influences of the Indian, Japanese or Chinese cultures."

Superintendent Gehrig Johnson said on Tuesday that he had not seen the lawsuit, but he noted that the curriculum has been "developed by teachers across the district and adopted by the SAD 1 School Committee."

"Teachers are expected to follow the curriculum," he added.

Cole's lawsuit alleges that the curriculum infringes on "his students' First Amendment rights to the free flow of information within the classroom" and that it "constitutes an illegal establishment of religion in violation of the First Amendment."

Greif said that when Cole has gone outside the prescribed curriculum he has been reprimanded and given warnings that he could lose his job.

He said the district is imposing curricular choices upon the students that are framed by one particular religion in the community.

Cole had been teaching a broader curriculum at one point, but during the past several years members of a church group "had been complaining and attempting to get the curriculum confined to a history of Christian civilization, not the civilization of the Eastern Hemisphere," the lawyer said.

Greif said Cole wasn't trying to teach anything unusual or anything that wasn't being taught in most seventh grades across the state. His lawsuit seeks injunctive relief to allow him to teach "the history of the entire Eastern Hemisphere, as appropriate."

Patrick Phillips, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Education, declined to comment on the specifics of the case but said school boards set the curriculum for each district and Maine's Learning Results "allow districts some degree of flexibility."

They "give local districts the latitude to make choices and decisions about the content of instruction and curriculum that meet local needs," he said.

The state's academic standards stipulate that the history curriculum for grades 5 through 8 has pupils "identify the sequence of major events and people in the history of Maine, the United States, and selected world civilizations."

Posted by mikki at 01:33 PM | Permalink

When my friend Brent told me that the North Carolina Constitution was this lame, I could hardly believe him. So I took a look for myself. Right here in the North Carolina State Constitution is this abjectly discriminatory line that some North Carolina citizen should take immediately to the Supreme Court.

It seems that you are automatically disqualified to hold office in the State of North Carolina if you "deny the being of Almighty God."

Now just what is "the being of Almighty God?" I would imagine that even dyed in the wool xtians would be hard pressed to show the "being" rather than the spirit. And if you don't know what the phrase means, how can you NOT deny it?

Time for a recall of all elected officials in North Carolina pending a Supreme Court ruling prohibiting this clearly contradictory clause to the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

Or maybe only Roy Moore is qualified to hold office in NC. You decide.

Posted by mikki at 12:13 PM | Permalink

So I've been doing pretty well collecting really nice tarot decks and posting all about them on this website. I've been getting decks from tarot vendors like The Mystic Eye and Tarot Garden and Ebay. For the most part, I have received my decks without a problem.

Today, however, a deck I had been waiting for arrived, and as soon as I opened the box, I was knocked over by the stench of stale cigarette smoke. Being highly allergic to cigarette smoke, it gave me an immediate headache. And even though the deck and book were shrink wrapped, the smoke got THROUGH it. *ARGH*

They really ought to put a disclaimer on ebay "From Smoking Household." I've noticed that smokers don't seem to understand just how stinky it truly is, and how badly it affects some people.

Posted by mikki at 02:52 PM | Permalink

A geophysical survey of Avebury has revelaed the locations of at least 15 meagliths which had previously thought to have been destroyed. There are no plans to re-erect the stones, but the ground penetrating radar data will be used to make a virtual reconstruction. Discovery of buried megaliths completes Avebury circle - The Independent, 3rd December 2003; COMPLETING THE CIRCLE OF HISTORY - National Trust press release, 2nd December 2003.

Posted by mikki at 08:37 AM | Permalink