Before playing Tituba, the alleged conjurer and caster of spells from Barbados, one year in the class play at Parkview High, the most mileage I’d logged was a summer road trip’s distance between Little Rock and Baton Rouge. This was during a time when an authentic Caribbean clip was hard to hear in my Arkansas hometown.

Ignorant, I affected an accent I’m certain was astonishingly off kilter, though the drama teacher seemed hardly to have noticed. She gave me wide berth. Down on my knees onstage, I begged for mercy in some dreamt-up voice of a black woman who, in real life and in Arthur Miller’s border-shattering play “The Crucible,” was enslaved on a Barbadian sugar plantation, then carted by the plantation owner, a London-born Harvard grad and self-appointed preacher, into servitude in his Puritan household in Salem, Mass. Based on accusations by the owner’s young daughters, Tituba was the first woman tried in the famous Salem witch trials of four centuries ago. (more…)

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…)

Siem Reap , Cambodia — Built by a mighty ninth -century Khmer king, the soaring temple of Phnom Bakheng stands atop the highest peak of ancient Angkor. With a sweeping view that takes in Angkor Wat — the world’s largest religious structure — the monks stationed here were probably among the first to glimpse the approaching Siamese troops who snuffed out this city’s centuries-long domination of much of Southeast Asia.

So perhaps it is not surprising that more than 500 years later, Phnom Bakheng has become the ideal perch from which to watch another assault on Angkor — by marauding armies of tourists. (more…)

Angkor, Cambodia - Built by a mighty 9th-century Khmer king, the soaring temple of Phnom Bakheng stands atop the highest peak of ancient Angkor. With a sweeping view that takes in Angkor Wat — the world’s largest religious structure — the monks stationed here were probably among the first to glimpse the approaching Siamese troops that snuffed out this city’s centuries-long domination of much of Southeast Asia.

So perhaps it is not surprising that more than 500 years later, Phnom Bakheng has become the ideal perch from which to watch another assault on Angkor — by marauding armies of tourists. (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…)

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…)

MBABANE, Swaziland: King Mswati III had invisibility spells cast upon him and took part in ritual bathing while standing on top of a sacred bull Saturday at the height of annual, folklore-filled festivities to celebrate harvest.

The so-called Incwala ceremony, which also involves the king’s having sexual intercourse with one of his 12 wives and jumping over flames, illustrates the strength of traditional values in Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy, which has withstood pressure for democratic change.

Mswati remains popular even though he has refused to allow political parties and has built luxurious palaces for all his wives — chosen every year at the annual “Reed Dance” — while one-quarter of the 1 million people is dependent on food aid.

But the ceremony, which is the highlight of Swaziland’s calendar, is also shrouded in controversy, reportedly causing a split between two of the kingdom’s most powerful families and being described by some church leaders as demonic.

In the run-up to this year’s ceremony, pastors of the Pentecostal church said the Incwala celebrations were based on principles of witchcraft.

This was denied by Swazi leaders, who described the ceremony as the Swazi nation’s “prayer.” Prime Minister Themba Dlamini, who claims to be a devout Christian, said the event promoted national unity and defined the Swazi culture.

“Incwala is an important tradition, where every Swazi is expected to take part and pray for the year ahead. This is our culture; you modernized people have demonized it,” said Jahe’dzala Dlamini, another follower.

Much of Saturday’s ceremony was held in secret, although its contents are common knowledge and were confirmed to The Associated Press by a number of sources. It culminated in public singing and dancing attended by some 15,000 people, including tourists. But traditional authorities banned the use of mobile phones and electronic broadcasting equipment during the dance.

At the crack of dawn, in a private ceremony, an assembly of powerful traditional leaders or “juju-men,” some from neighboring Mozambique, cast a spell on Mswati to make him “invisible” for ordinary people and to allow them to invigorate his powers in accordance with tradition.

As part of the cleansing ceremony, the monarch had intercourse with one of his wives inside an enclosure constructed out of shrubs — cut by men who have never fathered a child — inside a cattle kraal at the queen mother’s royal residence, just outside the capital, Mbabane.

During the ritual, Mswati also had to jump seven times over flames and inhale incense made of various herbs as part of his rejuvenation for the year ahead.

The monarch then had to bathe with a concoction of herbs while standing on top of a sacred black bull (Incwamba), during a closely guarded ritual witnessed only by his brothers and close members of the royal family. The ceremony is meant to rejuvenate the powers of the king, who is symbolized as the lion.

The collection of the bathing waters from the Indian Ocean is an elaborate ritual, which also entails collection of soil, cow dung and plants from all the chiefdoms, according to members of the Mkhatshwa clan responsible for the task.

However, one royal source, who asked for anonymity, said there was a rift between the Mkhatshwa clan and queen mother’s family clan over the traditional privilege of preparing the cleansing concoctions of the monarch.

The queen mother’s clan wanted to take over responsibility for preparing the concoctions, whilst the Mkhatshwa clan insisted the potions are based on ancient knowledge inherited from their forefathers, the source said.

Even before the latest tensions, problems accompanied recent ceremonies. Several years ago, the sacred bull was stolen on the eve of the ceremony, and last year the king’s special regalia was stolen and sold.

Source: International Herald Tribune