David Thompson grew up in a small town, went to a private school and earned his degree from a Baptist college, where he considered becoming a preacher.

It’s not exactly the background one might expect from the owner of two stores that sell, among other things, supplies for witches, voodoo practitioners and root doctors. (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…)

The Tyra Banks Show, a popular daytime talk show hosted by the former supermodel, aired an episode on Monday about “The Lives of Witches,” which included as a guest a Christian author who previously left her life of witchcraft.

Sarah Anne Sumpolec was invited to be on the show after a last minute cancellation, and was an attempt by the producers to bring balance to the show.

The topic of the Monday’s episode is controversial to many Christians who see witchcraft as a dark art. Yet, the involvement of Sumpolec brought a Christian voice to the arena.

“When I was in high school, I was a practicing witch. It wasn’t until college that I became a Christian and came out of that dark world,” Sumpolec said in a statement. “The Tyra producers thought my story of coming out of witchcraft, how it led me to attempt suicide, and my current beliefs about it, was the right balance for their program.”

The fact that Sumpolec was on the show came as a large surprise. She found out about the opportunity from a sudden email, and flew out of an airport only hours later for the Los Angeles taping.

Among the hectic schedule that ensued, the Christian author wanted to be on the show, so that she could show Tyra’s viewers, which number around 2 million per day, that the world of witchcraft can be a very dangerous choice.

“It’s always a blessing when we get to share the truth,” shared Sumpolec in a statement. “Even though I was one lone voice, at least those watching will hear about witchcraft from a different angle.”

The ex-witch has her own ministry back at home which focuses on young adults. She speaks and writes books to warn them about the hazards of witchcraft, because teenagers and twenty-somethings are the most susceptible to the black art.

In addition to Sumpolec, the talk show featured six witches and two Satanists.

Source: Christian Post

It seems Monroe Clinic treated a witch in early December. No, she didn’t fly in on her broom and, no, she didn’t have spiders and bats in her hair.

According to the Wisconsin Pagan Trader Newsletter on the Web, “Mama Cat” came to Monroe Clinic Dec. 5 for the second part of a total knee replacement surgery.

Mama Cat’s daughter, “Daughter of the Moon,” posted the blog entry in the newsletter.

Daughter of the Moon has studied Wicca for around 20 years. Mama Cat is the high priestess of Four Winds Sanctuary in northwest Illinois, according to the sanctuary’s Web site.

The site describes Four Winds as “comprised of solitaries of many paths, we came together as a community to share stories, drum dreams and teach each other the lessons we have learned on our path.”

Mama Cat’s husband is “DragonSeeker.” The sanctuary consists of herb beds with small shrines tucked away in almost every one, hidden behind the large three-and-a-half staff garage “which in turn hides the sanctuary from prying eyes,” the site says.

Four Winds also includes an outdoor altar and a bench for meditating. A small pond in the lower deck of the house bubbles from the waterfall in the center.

Butterflies, whitetail deer, wild turkey, opossums, raccoons and other wildlife can be seen every day.

The sanctuary consists of only two acres, of which part is the house and garage of Mama Cat and DragonSeeker.

“We like it that way,” the site says, “since we all know each other, trust each other and know how each other feels.”

Ironies
On a recent phone call to Lafayette County University of Wisconsin-Extension to talk to new Dairy and Livestock Agent Dave Wachter, a receptionist said he was out of the office because he had to put cattle, which had broken free, back onto his property.

A recent visit to a restaurant in Monroe yielded an unusual outcome. On trying to open the handicapped accessible door, it was locked.

Source: TimesPlus

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

Rest assured: Naomi Campbell has no intention of casting a spell on those who provoke her.

Naomi has recently denied her involvement with witchcraft. The supermodel has rejected claims she is interested in Brazil’s African-based Candomblй religion, which has rituals some have likened to witchcraft, after claims were made she was seeing a witch doctor to curb her temper.

She told the New York Daily News newspaper, “I’m Church of England, Protestant. I was christened that. I went to a birthday party for Tuca Franchini, who is a Candomblй priest. I don’t discriminate against what religion people have. That’s what he does, but it doesn’t mean I have to be involved in it.”

The 36-year-old did admit she uses prayer to try and calm her famous fiery temper.

She said, “I work on myself daily. I work on my program of meditation and prayer and try to stick to it. It’s important to me. I’m remorseful and regretful. I’m trying to live my life and do some things for charity. I’m taking my punishment, and I accept that. I’ve accepted my responsibility and that’s that. I have no idea what community service I’ll do. Whatever they tell me to do, I’ll do with my integrity, and that’s it.”

Naomi was recently sentenced to five days community service for assaulting her maid.

Source: All Headline News

Police used a warrant at the Portales Public Library to seize magic and witchcraft books that had been checked out by a woman who is charged in the Jan. 4 death of her 6-year-old son.

Teresa Gilman, 24, told police “the devil was in my son,” according to arrest affidavits.

Gilman’s 8-year-old daughter told police that on the morning her brother, Lorenzo Cabral, died, her mother poured salt in a circle around the boy’s body. Police found writing describing a “ritualistic type ceremony” in Gilman’s residence, an affidavit says.

“We were looking for material consistent with the writings we found in the home,” Portales Police Capt. Lonnie Berry said.

The Office of the Medical Investigator determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the boy’s head, with drowning a possible contributing factor.

Gilman is being held without bail at the Roosevelt County Detention Center. She has been charged with first-degree murder or, in the alternative, child abuse resulting in death, and four counts of child abuse related to her three other children.

The books collected by police on Thursday, were: “The Magic Power of White Witchcraft” by Gavin and Yvonne Frost; “Making the Gods Work for You: The Astrological Language of the Psyche,” by Caroline Casey; and “The Witch’s Book of Magical Ritual: Use the Forces of Wicca to Direct Your Psychic Powers,” by Gavin Frost.

Police also collected a book about Scientology.

“We believe the way some of the child abuse resulting in death happened can be related to stuff that’s in those books,” said District Attorney Matt Chandler.

The district attorney said that all of the books seized were books Gilman had checked out in the past.

Gilman’s grand jury appearance was postponed earlier this week while a mental competency evaluation on Gilman is performed. That process could take 60-90 days, Chandler said.

If Gilman is found mentally competent, the case will proceed to trial.

If she is found incompetent to stand trial, a judge could commit her to state mental health authorities if there is a finding through clear and convincing evidence that she committed the alleged crime, Chandler said.

Gilman’s three other children — an 11-month-old boy, a 3-year-old boy and the 8-year-old girl — are in the custody of Child Protective Services, Chandler said.

Source: Portales News-Tribune

A 100-YEAR-OLD woman celebrated reaching the landmark birthday and said her long life could be linked to a distant relation - Pendle witch Alice Nutter.

Una Gartside, who still goes out to play bingo every week, celebrated her centenary with friends and family at the Andrew Smith residential home, Nelson, yesterday.

Born in Fence to a farming family, Mrs Gartside has lived in Nelson since the age of seven, and stayed at her own home in Bispham Road until just last year. Her husband Bob, who she married in 1932, died at the age of 64.

She puts her long life down to her witch blood - her mother always told her she was distantly related to Alice Nutter, from Roughlee, who was hanged in Lancaster Jail in 1612, accused of conspiring in witchcraft with Demdyke and the Device family.

Mrs Gartside said: “I think I must have some kind of special power passed on because I’ve been very lucky!

“Also, I’ve got very good instincts - if that little voice in my head tells me to do something or take a particular choice, I always end up sorry if I don’t.

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“I haven’t been so lucky with the bingo, though - I haven’t won anything for a year.”

Mrs Gartside found fame 20 years ago when she became the oldest person ever to be fully baptised at Brierfield Baptist Church, and now she says she owes her life to her friends there.

She said: “I was the only one out of my brothers and sisters not to be baptised.

“I think my mum and dad just didn’t have the time with the farm.

“I asked the vicar there about it, and he said he’d fit me in.

“Then, last year, I had a fall in the back garden of my house and I had to crawl back into the living room and onto a chair.

“I could have been there for days and died because I could barely move, but one of the young men from the church came round and found me when I hadn’t been to the service.

“I don’t think I’d have been here today if he hadn’t.

“People have always looked after me.”

Mrs Gartside, who has no children, was joined by relatives from Cardiff at her party, and mayor of Pendle, Coun George Adam, also joined in the fun.

Source: This Is Lancashire

If the past is a foreign country, then ancient religion may be its most exotic locale. The HBO series “Rome,” which returns for its second season on Sunday, is hardly “Fodor’s Guide to Paganism,” but by venturing off some well-worn cinematic paths, the show has given the worship of the gods a generous treatment in a genre dominated by stories of gladiators and the advent of Christ.

The creators of the serial drama, which focuses on the power struggles during the last days of the Roman Republic in the first century B.C.E., wanted to portray Roman religion not as a doomed prologue to Christianity but as a vibrant and meaningful part of everyday life.

In an illustrative scene from the series’ first season, the rough-hewn soldier Titus Pullo, who is imprisoned for insubordination, makes a rather pathetic prayer.

“Forculus, if you be the right god for the business here, I call on you to help me,” Pullo says. “If you will open this door I will kill for you a fine white lamb, or failing that, if I couldn’t get a good one at a decent price then six pigeons.”

Packed into Pullo’s lines is more than comic relief. Given that several Roman deities preside over the different parts of the door–Limentinus is guardian of the threshold, the goddess Cardea over the hinge–Forculus, who presides over the door itself, seems like a safe bet, but Pullo hedges it a little, just in case.

Conversations with the Gods
As Rome expanded through conquest, so did its pantheon. Its religion was not a belief system so much as a series of cults dedicated to different gods who were expected to help people out in the here and now–if properly worshipped. Major gods who were believed to be essential to the success of the nation, like Mars or Jupiter, were the province of state-run priestly colleges but privately people worshipped their own gods. On all levels of society, Romans looked for signs of the gods’ intentions and sought their favor whether it be for a business venture or an act of legislation.

Pullo’s offering is not an act of ethics or repentance. A Roman god wants recognition and respect, so Pullo negotiates sacrifices rather than promising to reform his behavior and stay out of jail in the future. And the pigeons? Well, there’s historical evidence that reneging on a promise of sacrificial offerings is a serious affair. An inscribed stone from the third century C.E. in the Roman province of Asia, modern-day Turkey, records that a woman couldn’t afford to fulfill a promised sacrifice of a bull to a god, so she offers the stone instead.

“People were in constant conversation with the gods,” says Bruno Heller, the show’s co-creator, head writer and one of its executive producers. “Switching allegiances from one god to the other or trying to find out what god is applicable to the situation makes a difference to people’s behavior and morality when they don’t have that overarching superego telling them what’s right and wrong. It makes for, in many ways, a freer and more liberated society, but on the other hand a far more brutal and cruel one.”

The first season of the series told the story of the six years from Julius Caesar’s defeat of Gaul to the fall of the Roman Republic and Caesar’s rise to dictatorship and his assassination in 44 B.C.E. If that seems like a lot for 12 episodes, the second season compresses an even greater span of time–the following 14 years, during which Caesar’s adopted son Octavian eliminates his political opponents and becomes Augustus, Rome’s first emperor.

A key to Augustus’ consolidation of power was religion, and he framed his struggle with rivals Mark Antony and Cleopatra as a fight between the gods of Rome and the gods of Egypt.

Departing from traditional portrayals of the ancient superpower going back to Shakespeare, which tended to focus on the intrigues of the upper classes, “Rome” splits its narrative between the power brokers of the period and the daily lives of two lower-class soldiers, Pullo and Lucius Vorenus.

Daily life for Romans included a strong measure of religion, and Heller says it was clear early in his research for the show that its omnipresence meant that matters of faith had to play a major role in the series.

“You couldn’t really explain individual psychology and character without explaining something of their sense of religion and their cosmological sense,” Heller says. “If you think you’re going to disappear into nothingness when you die, you behave very different from someone who believes that they may be wafted up to the Elysian Fields if they please the gods.”

Violence, Cruelty, and Spiritual Transformation
Acts of violence and cruelty pave the way for the spiritual transformations in the series’ second season. Vorenus, a pious if guileless conservative, loses his family and embraces the gods of the underworld. In the first season the accidental knocking over of a statue of Janus, yet another god of doorways as well as the god of beginnings, at a party celebrating a new business venture is cause for despair and penance. In contrast, in the second season he deliberately smashes a statue of the goddess Concordia in a display of sacrilege.

Headed the opposite direction is the amoral Jewish horse trader and henchman Timon, who slowly embraces the ethical tenants of Judaism when his zealous brother pays him a visit from Judea. His brother’s influence comes to a head while Timon tortures a rival of his patron and discovers there is a limit to how much brutality he is willing to put another human being through.

Source: Beliefnet.com