1.30.2008
(Pagan) News of Note
My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.
GenQ Music interviews author, Witch, and reality television star Fiona Horne about her latest album "Witch Web".
"I wrote the album with Paul Searles initially with the only intention being to record the songs that I personally sing in my witchy rituals. Often when doing public rituals I would sing acapella and people would ask if it was possible to buy a recording of it - now it is! But when Paul and I got in the studio we also realised we were starting to write songs that had a commercial feel and classic song arrangement, so we are happy that the album crosses over and can be enjoyed by people interested in the spiritual side as well as people who just want a chilled listening experience."
Horne started her musical career as a singer for the dance-rock band Def FX. To listen to samples from "Witch Web" check out her MySpace page.
Ohio State University's student paper, The Lantern, takes a look at interest in the occult on campus and discovers that OSU is the academic capital for magic in the United States.
"'Ohio State has more scholars on the history of magic than any educational institution I'm aware of,' said Sarah Iles Johnston, professor of Greek and Latin and director for the Center for the Study of Religion. There are six experts on the history of magic at OSU. They study the history of magic from a variety of perspectives such as its role in ancient Greek and Roman religions as well as in modern American culture."
OSU recently hosted a lecture series to capitalize on their expertise entitled: "Through a Glass, Darkly: Public Interest in the Occult". So for you Pagan high-school seniors trying to decide where to go for college, Ohio might be just the place for you (if your interested in studying magic that is).
Treadwells and Lastal both report that experimental media artist Raymond Salvatore Harmon will present seven films in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the union of Leila Waddell and Aleister Crowley.
"Experimental media artist Raymond Salvatore Harmon will present a live improvised set of 7 films. Each based on the individual rituals in British occultist Aleister Crowley's Rites of Eleusis, first presented in Caxton Hall, London in 1910. Crowley based the rituals of Rites of Eleusis on each of the seven classical planets of antiquity - "Saturn", "Jupiter", "Mars", "Sol" (the Sun), "Venus", "Mercury" and "Luna". Utilizing the entire text of Crowley's rites as subliminal content Harmon will improvise the abstract layers of imagery to a prepared score. Presented in a 3 channel video environment Rites of Eleusis promises to be an updated public occult ritual for the 21st century."
The performance will take place on Friday March 7th at The Horse Hospital (an arts venue) in London.
Classics professor Mary Beard bemoans the proposed removal of Britannia (the personification of the United Kingdom) from British coins.
"Britannia fits the bill rather nicely. An appropriately antique goddess, invented by the Romans, as a symbol of their new province, and used on British coins since the seventeenth century. If she goes, I don't hold out much hope, long term, for that nice bit of Virgil (decus et tutamen -- from Aeneid Book V) around the pound coin. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr Brown isn't much of a fan of Latin."
Will it be bad luck to remove Britain's goddess from their coinage? Will she eventually join America's Columbia as a half-forgotten relic from a grander time?
The Boston Globe publishes a visitors guide to Salem, Massachusetts that illustrates just how tied to witchcraft their tourism is.
"Witches put Salem on the Colonial map, and this historic North Shore city has its share of creepy and comical tributes to the practice of witchcraft. Magic supplies, herbal potions, tarot cards, "spell baskets," custom-made capes - you'll find them all here ... Salem is loaded with museums, many of them funny-spooky places that document the city's witchcraft history. Among them are the Witch History Museum, the Witch Dungeon Museum, the Salem Witch Museum, the Salem Wax Museum, the Spellbound Museum, Salem's Museum of Myths & Monsters, the New England Pirate Museum, and Salem's 13 Ghosts..."
So despite those who wish to de-emphasize Salem's "witchy" appeal, the town remains the "Witch City" of the east coast.
In a final note, a proposal has come forth on the Non-Fluffy Pagans community concerning a new "law" involving discussion about Witchcraft and society. An adage that some are calling the Witches' equivalent to Godwin's Law.
"In any discussion of the interaction of modern witches with the rest of society, as the length of the discussion increases, the probability of the mention of The Burning Times approaches unity."
With the new law comes a proposed corollary:
"In any argument related to modern witchcraft, the first person to mention The Burning Times automatically loses the argument."
The new law has been dubbed "Brock's Law" after the author.
That is all I have for now, have a great day!
Labels: academia, Aleister Crowley, art, Britannia, Brock's Law, Fiona Horne, Magic, Mary Beard, Pagan News of Note, Paganism, Salem, The Burning Times, UK, Witchcraft
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