This week in Pagan News:
*Exorcism is Back and 'The old rite is getting some respect'-
Most religions acknowledge that humans can be possessed by what exorcism chronicler Malachi Martin called "personal and intelligent evil," and most prescribe measures to win back the victim. Jesus cast out demons on six occasions; a transdenominational echo of the rite is found in Christian godparents' promise that their godchild will renounce the devil and all his works and ways . . . *snip*
Time Magazine, Oct. 2 edition:
http://www.time.com:80/time/magazine/articles/0,3266,55722,00.html
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*These witches make reading cool (Spokane.net)
What scares you more? Illiteracy? Or the fact that kids enjoy reading Harry Potter books? Book-banners, says Leonard Pitts , are fighting the wrong foe. *snip*
Leonard Pitts, Jr. - Knight-Ridder
http://www.spokane.net:80/news-story-body.asp?Date=092100&ID=s854875&cat=
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*Pagans find fellow believers online (CNN Interactive)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Amid the swirling cigarette smoke in a downtown coffeehouse, the ancient pantheon of pagan deities comes alive, conjured up over coffee in the conversation at two adjoining tables. ...
http://cnn.com:80/2000/TECH/computing/09/25/cyber.pagans.ap/index.html
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*The way of the shaman:
Exploring Intangibles
Science and an Open Mind Can Examine Ancient Religions
by Brian Fagan
The desert night is pitch black, the dark sky dotted with stars dancing high overhead. Great boulders loom over the hardscrabble countryside. And atop the highest of them sits a solitary figure. Surrounded by scattered pieces of white quartz, the shaman sways in silence, deep in a trance that has taken him to the outer limits of the supernatural world.
http://www.discoveringarchaeology.com:80/1000toc/10focus1-exploring.shtml
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*Traces of the Queen of Sheba under Antiquities Dust:
Mike Theodoulou
Special to The Christian Science Monitor
NICOSIA, CYPRUS
Her name was Makeda, better known as Queen of Sheba. In Arabic folklore, she was called Bilqis. For the Greeks, she was simply Black Minerva. The Bible and the Koran make conflicting references to the wise, beautiful African queen. But did she really exist?
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/09/20/fp7s2-csm.shtml
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*Police campaign against witchcraft: (The Hindu):
By Our Staff Reporter
NIZAMABAD, SEPT. 21. The Major Irrigation Minister, Mr. M. Venkateswara Rao, has advised the people not to kill innocents branding them sorcerers and wanted them to make efforts to wipe out the evil system.
The Minister was speaking after inaugurating a health camp in Amrad village of Makloor mandal, about 15 km from here last evening, where the villagers had made a vain bid to kill 10 persons last week accusing them of practicing sorcery and causing health problems to the villagers. The health camp was organised at the initiative of the district police who visited the village and saved the victims from possible death. *snip*
http://www.indiaserver.com:80/thehindu/2000/09/22/stories/0422201b.htm
(Morgan's note: Witchcraft hysteria is common in third world nations. All unexplained misfortune is blamed upon witchcraft - and the word is never associated with positive workings whatsoever. This is how witchcraft is typified in anthropological studies as well. The notion of 'white light' and any form of wiccan rede is absolutely unknown to the majority of the world's people and would mean nothing to them even if you tried valiantly to explain it. These cultures depend upon this notion of 'evil' to keep from losing their grip on sanity. Although unfortunate, killings and so forth are not uncommon.)
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Archaeology Magazine Sept/Oct has been released. Top stories are online at this hotlink.
(One mentions a Cretan shrine and goddesses!)
http://www.archaeology.org:80/curiss/newsbriefs/index.html
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Stories From: 9-17-00:
*The Man Behind the 'Burning Man' festival:
New from Time Magazine this week - the sponsor and the story behind
the 'Burning Man.' Lots of links.
READ
ME
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REMINDERS:
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*REMEMBER WORLD CAR-FREE DAY IS SEPT. 21ST! CELEBRATE THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX BY LEAVING YOUR CAR IN THE GARGAGE. WALK A MILE IN GAIA'S SHOES! BLESSED BE!
LATE BREAKING:
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*Bush and Gore Agree on Debates:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Campaign aides for Al Gore and George W. Bush agreed Saturday to a series of three debates moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS that both sides said will provide more flexibility and more of a ``free-flowing style'' than previous debates. *snip*
[Nader will not be able to debate, ostensibly due to his 'single digit' ratings in the polls. The debate commision requires at least 15%. Sigh.]
READ
ME
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*Refugee Chief Heads to Afghanistan:
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) -- The top U.N. refugee official helped send more
than 800 Afghan refugees back to their homeland Sunday, then traveled to
Afghanistan for talks with the ruling Taliban on their poor human rights
record.
*snip*
READ
ME
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*Arizona's Steve May Fights Army on Gay 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy:
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. (AP) -- The Army started making its case Saturday to dismiss reserve Lt. Steve May, the Arizona legislator accused of violating the military's ``don't ask, don't tell'' by running for office as an openly gay candidate. *snip* [Until May ran for public office as an openly gay candidate, he had never revealed his sexual preferences. According to Nytimes, May has only 7 months to go in Army service with an 'unblemished record.']
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ME
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*Marijuana Rally Pushes Legalization:
On Saturday, Boston hosted the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition's 11th Annual Freedom rally. The annual 'pot party on the Commons' was attended by 40,000 people (!) with 67 arrests for possession of cannabis. Authorities claim too many attendees were underage and therefore unable to cast a vote for cannabis reform.
READ
ME
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RELIGION:
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*Keeping Friends and the Faith: How to respond to religious pluralism
According to a report in the New York Times, the United Nation's Millennium Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, produced a document signed by several hundred religious leaders pledging them to work for world peace, against poverty and for the protection of the environment. Additionally, the group has agreed to work toward 'common ground' in understanding the religious and spiritual goals of others. However, is this possible within the framework of evangelism (*Catholics say the end result of missionary work is conversion; protestants believe that they are compelled to 'spread the word')?
Related issues:
*Representing Diverse Beliefs:
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POLITICS:
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*Ralph Nader - In His Own Words
Adbusters culture jammer network does it again! Read it and love it.
ANIMALS AND THE ENVIRONMENT:
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*Say Good-bye. African Monkey is pronounced extinct.
Scientists have pronounced a type of large West African monkey, Miss Waldron's Red Colobus, extinct, making it the first primate to vanish in the 20th century.
READ
ME
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For additional perspectives on extinction:
*Geology: Mass extinctions altered planet:
by Dale Gnidovec For The Columbus Dispatch
Most organisms that have ever lived are extinct. Our best fossil record is for ocean-dwellers, among which a species lasts an average of 4 million years. Over geologic time, an average of two or three species become extinct every year. *snip*
READ
ME
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*Coke Gets Greener!
Adbusters talks about Coca-cola's agreement to stop using HFC products by 2004.
Refer to: http://cokespotlight.org
READ
ME
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CULTURE:
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*Behind the Wheel and Driving the Nation's Culture: Teens!
"There are two easy explanations for society's current glorification of youth: money and sex." (NYTimes).
According to the NyTimes, the Federal Trade Commission found that entertainment companies regularly market violent movies and video games to people too young to buy them legally. However, teens account for roughly $160 billion dollars of the retail market. Companies want a share of those teen bucks! So who's zooming who? Further, is the present youth culture any different from their predecessors, if taken in the context of society at large? Remember James Dean? Juvenile Delinquency? 60's anti-war protesting? The Berkley Free Speech movement (which forever changed college life)? Are parents (and the government) overly concerned with how culture drives the morality of teens considering it is their OWN values that intrinsically influence American culture?
IDEAS AND TRENDS:
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*And Now, a Few More Words about Breasts:
It seems that breast sizes have now normalized (whatever that means) to a 36 C. Yes, friends, 36C is the new ideal set for Stepford women's breasts. Some attribute the size increase (formerly 34B) to rising obesity in American women (?). Others insist that it is Hollywood icons like Demi Moore and Pamela Lee who influence women to get breast implants. Others contend that the economy supports cosmetic surgery. Whatever the reason, American women are popping out of their blouses, according to this NyTimes article. So why should this matter to you? Read it and see.
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT:
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*Phantom Heresies: On the Trail of the Unseen Force:
George Lucas and Martin Heidegger are both notorious for inventing words. The German philosopher would change nouns into verbs and rearrange syllables in an effort to avoid the cultural baggage of traditional language, and the creator of Star Wars did much the same thing when he invented "the Force." *snip*
WEB DESIGN:
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*Using color and design for webpages. Archived article from 'Web Techniques.'
OBITUARIES:
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*TV Personality Paula Yates Dies:
LONDON (AP) -- TV personality Paula Yates, girlfriend of the late INXS singer Michael Hutchence, was found dead Sunday at her London home, her lawyer said. She was 40. [Yates was also the former wife of Bob Geldorf. Her death is 'under investigation' according to Scotland Yard.]
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
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"Even the most primitive society has an innate respect for the insane."
- S.E. Hinton, Rumblefish
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That's All Folks!
Moonsites Monitor News © Moonsites44 2000
All rights reserved.
Morgan Wolf, Editor/Writer/Compiler
17 Sept 2000.
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