Britain’s image as the home of sensible and practical types takes a knock today, with the publication of data showing just how many of us think we are wizards, time-travellers or able to divine water. Norse and Celtic influences moving down the centuries have led almost 10% of people in some areas to believe they can teleport their neighbours as well as read minds, crystal balls and tarot cards.

The scale of a return to an island of ley lines and Merlin comes to light in a survey of psychic organisations backed by polling and research into cases of supposed witches, enchanters and close encounters of the third kind that have made the media, scientific and alternative journals in the past 100 years. Published by the SciFi TV channel to mark a drama series on the subject, the project was supervised by the Rev Lionel Fanthorpe, an Anglican priest who chairs numerous bodies concerned with unidentified flying objects and “anomalous phenomena”. (more…)

A model and student with a penchant for Kentucky Fried Chicken and paganism is a contender in a top lads’ mag competition.

Jaedyn Taylor, 22, of Huntington, York, has made it into Maxim’s Little Black Book for the second year running. (more…)

First companies were encouraged to be family-friendly; today they are lauded for being gay-friendly. Now there are some advocating to break down that final office taboo: religion.

Encouraging faith-friendly companies is a natural step, some say, in a time when workers are feeling more comfortable about bringing their entire selves into the office. And it follows naturally from a general resurgence of interest in religion. (more…)

Years ago my search for meaning ended with the frightening yet liberating conclusion that all efforts of the Human to find meaning in the universe will ultimately fail because no such meaning exists. The Human has therefore the freedom and responsibility to give his life a meaning which is harmonious with his being, other beings and nature. 

I found this meaning in posthumanism, a secular philosophy which transcends the ideas and images of the world of classical Renaissance humanism to correspond more closely to the 21st century’s concepts of technoscientific knowledge. (more…)

Imagine living in a small town and having a secret life, and then being called on to reveal a secret life to thousands of people. One Woman in Hoopeston, Illinois faced this and confessed her love of all things Wiccan and Magickal in her conservative American town.

Hoopeston, IL - In small town America it is very difficult to be different from your family and neighbors. In the town of Hoopeston, Virginia Powell faces this everyday as a practicing Witch and Pastor of Selu Temple, a Wiccan Church. She is a lifelong resident, and as she has come out of the closet, she has discovered a lot of acceptance and some resistance. Rev. Powell has confessed to practicing Wicca for a long time, and now is a teacher of Wicca as well. (more…)

Switching a Pagan witch with a local motocross racing mom not only makes excellent television, it teaches families what they’re made of.

Stephanie Starling of DeLand was sent to live in Seattle while “fairy goddess” Laura Sweany-Ernst stayed at the Starling house for ABC’s “Wife Swap,” which airs tonight at 8. (more…)

The former burlesque dancer who founded what may be the nation’s most public house of witchcraft 32 years ago in Atlanta is nearing age 70, seriously ailing and living quietly out of state.

But as Lady Sintana, Candace Huntsman Lehrman, who started the Ravenwood Church and Seminary of Wicca at her home near Little Five Points in 1975, remains a revered figure in her Atlanta witches’ coven. The church and seminary was the first tax-exempt pagan religious institution in Georgia. (more…)

G.K. Chesterton said that, “when people stop believing in God, it’s not that they believe in nothing, but that they start believing in everything.” The pioneers of the Enlightenment thought that when educated in the new sciences and subjected to the new models of the universe that needed no god to keep the mechanism going, the vast majority of people in the developed world would renounce belief in the supernatural within a century. As we all know, religious faith has proven a tad more resilient than that.

The need to believe seems hard wired into most of us. And it is a need that political ideologies and other secular belief systems are ill equipped to fulfil. So it should come as no surprise that, as the Christian churches have lost their monopoly on faith in the Western world, even the old pagan gods are staging a comeback. (more…)

Television viewers, prepare to be shocked when you see what one Wiccan family on the South Shore does virtually undetected.

They go out for ice cream.

Among the reasons people willingly partake in reality TV shows, promoting religious tolerance isn’t high on the list. But for the Rev. Kendra Vaughan Hovey, elder high priestess of Duxbury’s First Church of Wicca, and her husband, Tim, it’s the sole reason they agreed to star in an episode of a new series on The Learning Channel called ‘‘My Unique Family.’’

For the entire month of October, the Hoveys and their children Alec, 11, and Alana, 8, were filmed, followed and interviewed - at home, at church, going to work and, yes, even going out for ice cream.

More than 200 hours of footage was compressed into the one-hour program scheduled to air at 10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19.

The cameras captured aspects of the family’s faith - Alana meditating at her altar, the congregation celebrating Samhain (Halloween) rituals - but fellow Wiccans didn’t warm to the idea of being on TV right away.

‘‘At first some of them were so scared,’’ Kendra Vaughan Hovey said. ‘‘But I said, ‘We’re trying to spread religious tolerance, don’t stand behind me, stand next to me.’’’

Wicca, also known as The Craft, is a neo-pagan religion that practitioners call ‘‘earth-based.’’ Wiccans believe the divine exists in everyone and everything, and pray to the god and goddess, the masculine and feminine aspects of the divine.

Since many Wiccans prefer to be referred to as witches, there are a lot of misconceptions about the religion. The most persistent is that Wiccans are devil-worshippers. They aren’t, Hovey said, and don’t even believe in the devil’s existence.

The Hoveys were hesitant about trying to bust some of those myths by allowing cameras into their lives. Concerned about the children and the light their religion might be cast in, they tried to call things off the day before the TV crew arrived.

While somewhat surreal and slightly disheartening at times - on a few outings with the crew they were met with scorn - they agreed the experience proved to be quite fun.

They haven’t yet decided if they’ll do anything special when the show airs. One member of the congregation suggested watching together on a big-screen TV, but, the Hoveys said they’re still a little worried about whether they’ll be left smiling or doing damage control that night.

Either way, they’ll get through it as a family.

‘‘This was put in our lap for a reason, the god and goddess have a plan,’’ Hovey said. ‘‘If this is part of the plan, so be it.’’

A ‘Unique’ opportunity

The Rev. Kendra Vaughan Hovey, elder high priestess of Duxbury’s First Church of Wicca, and her family will be featured on The Learning Channel’s reality show “My Unique Family” on Feb. 19 at 10 p.m.

Source: The Patriot Ledger

In a matter of months, Witch School in Hoopeston hopes to graduate from the world of magic to the ranks of reality TV.

The SCI FI Channel this month revealed its plans to create a reality series about the school at the Television Critics Associa-tion’s winter press tour in Pasadena, Calif.

The news comes just six months after the Hoopeston establishment announced it would offer on-site courses at its home at 112 W. Main St.

The lid remains tight on program details.

Witch School chancellor, the Rev. Don Lewis, confirmed the program “is happening,” but couldn’t comment further at the re-quest of NBC executives.

Despite the tight-lipped situation, he couldn’t hide his excitement for the school.

“There are lots of interesting things forthcoming in the future,” Lewis said.

The SCI FI Channel calls the program a “docu-soap” about a school for aspiring conjurers. It is being assembled in cooperation with New York-based Stick Figure Productions, which handled the HBO documentary series “Family Bonds” and the UPN reality series “Amish in the City.”

Adrienne D’amato, spokeswoman for NBC Universal and the SCI FI Channel, said via e-mail the show is in active develop-ment but not in production. More information regarding the program is expected when production commences in the coming months.

A press release from NBC Universal, which owns the SCI FI Channel, said the show depicts the real-life witch school “resem-bling your typical classroom experience … some elements of this education are less traditional.”

Witch School came to Hoopeston in September 2003, after using its Internet site for about 2½ years as an online school dedi-cated to Wiccan, Pagan and magical thought.

The school faced division from Hoopeston residents, with some being less than accepting of the new institution.

Those who want to learn more can visit the school, see the merchandise and library and take classes. The school, which con-tinues its Internet courses, offers lectures twice a day, if enough people show up.

Source: Commercial-News