7.23.2007
Updates on Past Stories
Psychic Wars in Salem: The Boston Globe does a follow-up on the uproar over the licensing of psychics in the "Witch City" of Salem, Massachusetts. It looks like the compromise measure put forward by the city council has defused (for the most part) an escalating "psychic war" that pitted established store owners and local celebrities like Laurie Cabot against the organizers of psychic fairs that take advantage of the tourist boom around Halloween.
"While the question of who is a true psychic may never be answered, a new bylaw regulating fortune tellers in Salem is winning praise from some people on both sides of the licensing issue ... Although the ordinance puts a cap on the number of readers who participate in the psychic fairs held at Halloween, it lifts the ceiling on how many shop licenses the city issues, which has angered a group of longtime shop owners. Still, others in the psychic community embrace the ordinance, saying it legitimizes the practice."
But tempers could flare again since Cabot and other long-time shop owners are unhappy that the compromise measure allows for the continued existence of psychic fairs that they say steal business from their shops. We'll most likely have to wait until the Samhain/Halloween season to see if a lasting truce has been established or if these "psychic wars" will heat up once more.
Meeting the Living Goddess: It looks like Nepali Kumari (living goddess) Sajani Shakya will be reinstated to her position as a living goddess after voluntarily going through a series of cleaning rituals to remove the "sin" of leaving her native land.
"A 10-year-old girl who is worshipped as a living goddess in Nepal has had her title reinstated after defying tradition and visiting the US. Temple authorities at her home town in Bhaktapur said the visit had tainted her purity, and that they were beginning the search for a successor. But yesterday they said she would not be stripped of her title because she was willing to undergo a "cleansing" ceremony to remove any sins."
Shakya was in the US to help promote a documentary about the Kumari entitled "Living Goddesses". The filmmakers and Shakya's parents were shocked to hear she was being stripped of her title while in America, and some suspected that it was a political ploy. But whatever the reason, it looks like the status quo is being restored (no doubt a flurry of critical press helped in that matter), and Sajani Shakya will return to her role as the physical manifestation of the goddess Taleju Bhawani (until she reaches puberty, that is).
Muggle Mallory vs Harry Potter: There seems to be the possibility that Harry Potter fans won't have their favorite opponent to kick around anymore. Laura Mallory, that famous anti-Harry Potter crusader, is retiring from her particular brand of Christian "activism" to follow a new calling.
"The mother who fought to ban Harry Potter books from her children's suburban Atlanta school district said her work on the case has allowed her to find her calling - ministering to children and young adults. "I never understood why I was involved with Harry Potter in the first place," said Laura Mallory. "I never expected all of that to happen, but I'm called, and my husband is called to this generation. We want to see them delivered from drugs, alcohol, the occult and sexual perversion." J.K. Rowling's wildly popular Harry Potter books tell stories of children with magic powers. The first six books have sold more than 325 million copies and they are the most challenged texts of the 21st century, according to the American Library Association."
But lest we think all those defeats in court have worn her down, Mallory claims she is still deciding whether to take her attempt to ban Harry Potter from her children's school district to federal court. So keep your popcorn handy, and stay tuned.
Labels: Harry Potter, Kumari, Laura Mallory, Laurie Cabot, Living Goddess, Nepal, Paganism, psychics, Salem, Witchcraft
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