Pagan Magazine : Pentacle Magazine

How rainforest shamans treat disease

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:56:12 +0100

Ethnobotanists, people who study the relationship between plants and people, have long documented the extensive use of medicinal plants by indigenous shamans in places around the world, including the Amazon. But few have reported on the actual process by which traditional healers diagnose and treat disease.

La Paz celebrates Day of the Skulls

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:56:27 +0100

In Bolivia, the Day of the Skulls is a colourful collision of ancient ritual with Catholic belief. The BBC's Andres Schipani went to a central La Paz cemetery to find out more.

Halloran Wins Race, Queens Elects America's First Heathen

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:36:37 +0100

Holy Tyr! Queens voters made American history tonight, when they chose Dan Halloran as the nation's first openly heathen elected official.

"Too controversial for Controversial TV"

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:43:46 +0100

Producer and presenter Carrie Kirkpatrick has just been told by Controversial TV that her documentary 'Mystical Legends - Girona, A City Of Secrets' has been banned from national television. In this film, she reveals some shocking secrets that link Girona to the Rennes Le Chateau mystery. She is now launching a competiton for the best conspiracy theory as to why this is. Watch this video clip for more information http://vimeo.com/7392864 You can watch the documentary here http://vimeo.com/7180485

Witch School Leaves Rossville For Salem, Mass

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:43:31 +0100

The past two years that the Witch School has operated in the city of Rossville, about 125 miles south of Chicago near the Indiana border, haven't been without constant protests from nearby Christian groups, going so far as to sprinkle the wheels of their cars with holy water and drive around town to ward off witches. This weekend, the Christian groups demands will finally be met as the Witch School is moving to a more occult-friendly city: Salem, Mass, the site of the notorious witchcraft trials over three centuries ago.

Logging 'caused Nazca collapse'

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:42:15 +0100

The ancient Nazca people of Peru are famous for the lines they drew in the desert depicting strange animal forms. A further mystery is what happened to this once great civilisation, which suddenly vanished 1,500 years ago. Now a team of archaeologists have found the demise of the Nazca society was linked in part to the fate of a tree.

Bolivian Catholics asked to forgo human skulls

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:22:14 +0100

Bolivia's Catholic church has called on the faithful to stop using human skulls at special Mass celebrations, a practice some link to occult powers.

'Demonic Candy' Warnings from Pat Robertson�s Christian Broadcasting Network

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:01:31 +0100

Put aside your fears of swine flu. TV preacher Pat Robertson�s Web site has just issued a bulletin warning Americans of the real threat we face this season: Demons may be lurking in our Halloween candy.

Pentacle Media Misinformation Award

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:41:19 +0100

Pentacle Magazine launches an annual award for the most misguided piece of misinformation presented as facts about Paganism. Halloween is traditionally a time when all sorts of news articles are published about Pagans, Witches and Occultists. Most of them are OK on the whole, but some of the more "fanciful" can border on the hilarious. With mention of "Sam Hain" the king of Halloween, and Ritual Sacrifice in "Wicca Cages" some writers should have their crayons taken away for their own safety and credibility! So, please submit all these style of stories (you know the ones - usually written by a Christian minister with no real knowledge) under this new News Category, and comment on those submitted by others in the comments forum.

Pagan Irish American Attorney running for City Council in Queens

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:40:57 +0100

An Irish American "pagan attorney" is running on the Republican ticket in Tuesday's election for New York City Council. Dan Halloran, also known as "First Atheling," or King of Normandy, was outed by the Queens Tribune last week after they discovered Halloran was actually a member of a pre-Christian Heathen religion.

At Ur, Ritual Deaths That Were Anything but Serene

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:40:41 +0100

A new examination of skulls from the royal cemetery at Ur, discovered in Iraq almost a century ago, appears to support a more grisly interpretation than before of human sacrifices associated with elite burials in ancient Mesopotamia, archaeologists say.

Archeology Magazine Focusses on Halloween

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:40:21 +0100

Uncanny archaeology springs from many roots. Today, Halloween--once All Hallows Eve, now All Saints Day--is a time for children to trick-or-treat costumed as super heroes, the latest characters invented by corporate marketing departments, or more traditionally as witches or ghosts. But some Halloween traditions are related to an ancient Celtic harvest festival, Samhain, and Celtic rituals, not all of them pleasant.

Mercurius Press

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:28:33 +0200

Just to let folks know that the Mercurius Press www.mercuriuspress.com have recently released a new work on how to work with the talismans in the Key of Solomon. It also promotes the art work of Frances Mary Nottingham, which some may find of interest. There is an on going programme of pubishing works to help the occult student with their studies and practice of the arte. it is also the home of Liber Noctis and the alchemical work Ars Spagyrica which is a must for the early alchemcal student.

Anglo-Saxon gold hoard discovered

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:33:00 +0200

A 55-year-old metal detectorist has unearthed the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found, archaeologists said.

Kirkleatham Museum to display jewels from Cleveland grave of Anglo-Saxon princes

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:32:30 +0200

Jewels from the grave of an Anglo-Saxon Princess will form a focal point for a new gallery, touring exhibition and education programme after the Heritage Lottery Fund granted Redcar and Cleveland Council almost �275,000 in funding.

The Oldest Lunar Calendar on Earth

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:31:49 +0200

The Oldest Lunar Calendars and Earliest Constellations have been identified in cave art found in France and Germany. The astronomer-priests of these late Upper Paleolithic Cultures understood mathematical sets, and the interplay between the moon annual cycle, ecliptic, solstice and seasonal changes on earth.

Women Abandoning Church for Witchcraft because of Buffy

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:19:20 +0200

Christian churches in England have lost at least 50,000 women from their congregations every year since 1989, says a sociologist. Dr Kristin Aune, from the University of Derby, said many young women are put off going to church because they link it with traditional values. She also said television icons such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who promote female empowerment, discourage women from attending services. Dr Aune added: 'In short, women are abandoning the church. Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 'Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church.' Dr Aune believes many women find it difficult to attend church as they juggle their working lives with their families. She also thinks senior clergy remaining silent about sex is driving women away because they feel the church requires them to deny their sexual desires. Dr Aune said the numbers of women lost to the church come from the English Church Census, which she used in her research for a new book entitled Women and Religion in the West, of which she is a co-author. Source: Daily Mail.

The Pagan Census - Revisited

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:54:36 +0200

Survey Questions Here We are conducting an international survey of contemporary Pagans. If you are a Pagan we would appreciate your taking the time to complete this survey.

Dig begins at buried Roman town

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:14:57 +0200

A new archaeological dig has begun at a Roman town in Norfolk to establish whether there was a much older settlement on the site.

The World of Long Distance Trade of the Ancient Humans

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:14:13 +0200

Recent digs show long-distance trade and complex social structures were around for longer than archaeologists thought.

Maltese dockyard with a wondrous ancient past

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:13:50 +0200

Part of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World may now form part of a Maltese dockyard. Masonry blocks from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, built in western Anatolia in about 360BC, are thought to have been used by the British authorities 150 years ago when they were en route to the British Museum.

Unearthing bronze-age Dartmoor

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:13:25 +0200

A dig in Devon reveals how life was lived 3,500 years ago: from cookery to DIY.

'Creationist' zoo causes dismay

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:33:44 +0200

Tourism boards have been urged to stop promoting a North Somerset zoo which presents creationist ideas. The British Humanist Association (BHA) says Noah's Ark Zoo Farm undermines the teaching of science.

World's oldest map: Spanish cave has landscape from 14,000 years ago

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:33:13 +0200

A stone tablet found in a cave in Abauntz in the Navarra region of northern Spain is believed to contain the earliest known representation of a landscape. Engravings on the stone, which measures less than seven inches by five inches, and is less than an inch thick, appear to depict mountains, meandering rivers and areas of good foraging and hunting.

Dismembered skeletons' Saxon link

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:32:53 +0200

Fifty-one dismembered skeletons found in a burial pit on the site of a planned �87m relief road in Dorset are from the Saxon period, tests show.