Demeter's Kore

The re are 38 religious symbols approved for placement on government-issued grave markers and memorials for military veterans, but the pentacle isn't one of them. The five-pointed star within a circle that represents the Wiccan religion, a neo-pagan, earth-based belief system, is not on the list. As a result, the space reserved for Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart's memorial plaque at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nev., remains empty. Stewart, 34, was killed in September 2005 when his Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. He was a follower of the Wiccan tradition, and his wife is fighting to have the fact engraved in stone. "My husband's faith got him through the war in Desert Storm, through life's problems. It is our spirituality," Roberta Stewart, 36, said. "This is who we are as Americans." The effort to get the symbol of a tradition that for many conjures up thoughts of devil worship and steaming cauldrons has been

Arthur C. Clarke once said that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Perhaps that's why witches love the Web. Pagan priestess Lunaea Weatherstone says that many members of the "Old Religion" have wholeheartedly embraced new technology. "You can't swing a sacred temple cat without hitting a Pagan online," Weatherstone said. Guy Vestal, CEO of Pagan Internet Industries Inc., agrees that the Web has a significant Pagan population. His study of "pagan demographics" indicates there are roughly 3 million Pagan Internet users. And he suspects the actual total is much higher. Pagans typically define themselves as followers of an earth-based religion with roots in the ancient practices of traditional tribal cultures. Weatherstone suggests that many a Pagan's interest in technology is rooted in their fascination with science fiction. "Sci-Fi is a modern type of mythology, and mythology is central to Paga

A PAGAN meeting that will discuss whether Jesus Christ was "a witch or a showman" is taking place in Croydon tomorrow (Saturday). About 2,000 pagans are expected to attend the gathering at the Fairfield, with speakers arriving from the USA, Africa and Pakistan. Last year, 30 demonstrators gathered outside the venue to protest against the Pagan Federation's annual general meeting. Brian Botham, the organisation's convention manager, said: "Wherever we go, around 98 per cent of people are happy to have us. But there will always be a small number who will protest. "I can understand how some people, who have held a belief for a while, might say 'You're wrong' when it is challenged. "But if somebody challenged my beliefs and put up a strong enough argument, then I would sit down and listen to them. The Pagan Federation says it is a group of people who acknowledge God "but not in the Christian sense". The federation says it aims to be pr

Do what you will, does not mean do what ever you want as long as you don't hurt anyone. It ultimately means that one must find the true will of ones self and live by that, because living by the true will you can not possibly harm anyone, it is not of the true will to do so. Aleister Crowley explains it best in his book Magick in Theory and Practice. I believe his best analogy is that of the "criminal man" . "Men of "criminal nature" are simply at issue with their True Will. The murderer has the Will-to-Live; and his will to murder is a false will variance with his True Will, since he risks death at the hands of Society by obeying his murderous impulse." Our will to do things such as have sex with a person because he or she is attractive or because they make you feel attractive, is not actually the True Will, it is the will of the flesh. As well when one gets drunk after having a bad day or to be more social with friends, this is not because the True Wi

I did some studying on the words magic and magick, cause I got into a serious argument with a really good friend about the spelling. Anyway, I found some pretty interesting evidence that substantiates that the original spelling already meant what these users claim the new spelling means, and actually has even more weight toward what practitioners of the craft and other magical practices do, than the new spelling. Aleister Crowley used the letter “k” because it is the 11th letter of the alphabet; and in numerology the number 11 represents hidden energies and thereby magick. Therefore it is thought that to add a "k" to magic makes the word itself more "magickal". However, the letter “k” is not needed to make the word “magic” any more real than it already was considering the dividend of the word “magic” is already 11. If you add the numerical values of each letter, they equal 33, which in numerology is already a Master or a Power number, then divide that number by 3, y

An Italian court is tackling Jesus -- and whether the Roman Catholic Church may be breaking the law by teaching that he existed 2,000 years ago. The case pits against each other two men in their 70s, who are from the same central Italian town and even went to the same seminary school in their teenage years. The defendant, Enrico Righi, went on to become a priest writing for the parish newspaper. The plaintiff, Luigi Cascioli, became a vocal atheist who, after years of legal wrangling, is set to get his day in court later this month. "I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against the Church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression," Cascioli told Reuters. Cascioli says Righi, and by extension the whole Church, broke two Italian laws. The first is "Abuso di Credulita Popolare" (Abuse of Popular Belief) meant to protect people against being swindled or conned. The second crime, he says, is "Sostituzione di Persona," or imper