SCw/WPA/N-MGC/AWC
Witchy Wizdom
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Please send Healing to Deborah Ann Light that she be well.
Deborah Ann Light, who lives in Florida, is a beloved Pagan Elder, author, Goddess scholar, and longtime member of Circle Sanctuary.
Deborah has been hospitalized since Saturday, September 15, 2012.
Send healing so that she has comfort, regains strength and vitality, experiences loving support, and is well.
Send support to her doctors and other medical staff that they be successful in understanding the cause of her illness and that they find effective treatments.
Send support to her partner Jeri Baldwin and other loved ones caring for her.
EXPRESS well-wishes at her Healing page:
Well wishes can also be posted at the Circle Healing Circle Page on Facebook.
NETWORK: share this call for healing widely - post the link, forward this email, tell others.
Many Thanks!
Selena Fox
Circle Sanctuary
Circle Sanctuary
Healing Circle: Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Tuesday, September 18: Celebrating Fall Equinox, 8-9pm Central Time. Learn lore, rites, and traditions with Selena Fox on her weekly show on Internet radio.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/witchschool/2012/09/19/circle-craft-study-with-selena-fox-and-pagan-priest
Saturday, September 22: Welcome Fall Festival, 9am – 7pm Central Time, Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, near Barneveld, Wisconsin. Cider Pressing, Mead Making, Mullein Magic & More! To view the schedule and register online visit, www.circlesanctuary.org/welcomefall.
Friday, September 28: Harvest Home Full Moon Circle, 7-9pm, Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve. Open to women and men, free. Plan to come? Email events@circlesanctuary.org.
Saturday, September 29: Madison Area Pagan Pride Day, 10am – 8pm, Winnequah Park, 1041 Nichols Road, Monona, Wisconsin, 53716. Come visit the Circle Sanctuary Booth and find out more about our Mission and Services. Circle Sanctuary Ministers, Selena Fox, Bob Paxton and Mari Powers will be present throughout the day and will be presenting workshops. For more information visit mappd.webs.com
Saturday, October 13-14: Autumn Sanctuary Weekend, Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve. Join us for a weekend of projects, camping and fellowship. Includes Julie Wichman memorial marker & cremains interment at Circle Cemetery at 2 pm on Saturday. Plan to come? Emailevents@circlesanctuary.org
Weekend of October 26-28: Samhain Festival, Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve. Witches Ball, Pumpkin Hunt, Youth Program, Community Ritual, Workshops & More! For more information and to register online visit www.circlesanctuary.org/samhain. Register by September 24th for Early Bird Rates.
Sunday, October 28: Samhain Ancestors Full Moon Circle, 7-9pm, Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve. Open to women and men, free. Plan to come? Email events@circlesanctuary.org.
Circle Times & Community Circle: Monday, September 17, 2012
South African Police Service - Religious Crimes Unit Mandate - August 21, 2012 http://www.paganrightsalliance.org/documents/SAPS%20religious%20crimes%20unit%20Mandate.pdf http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/SCIA/SCIA-Unsorted/SAPSReligiousCrimesUnitMandate-08.21.12.pdf South African Pagan Rights Alliance - Official Objections To SAPS - September 10, 2012 http://www.paganrightsalliance.org/documents/SAPRA%20objection%20to%20SAPS%20Religious%20Crimes%20Unit.pdf http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/SCIA/SCIA-Unsorted/SAPRAObjectionsToSAPSReligiousCrimesUnit-09.10.12.pdf (Pages 8-10 pertain to the "Vampire Community") Human Tissues Act - South Africa: Removal of tissue, blood, blood products or gametes from living persons 55. A person may not remove tissue, blood, a blood product or gametes from the body of another living person for the purpose referred to in section 56 unless it is done- (a) with the written consent of the person from whom the tissue, blood, blood product or gametes are removed granted in the prescribed manner; and (b) in accordance with prescribed conditions. Use of tissue, blood, blood products or gametes removed or withdrawn from living persons 56. (1) A person may use tissue or gametes removed or blood or a blood product withdrawn from a living person only for such medical or dental purposes as may be prescribed. (2) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), the following tissue, blood, blood products or gametes may not be removed or withdrawn from a living person for any purpose contemplated in subsection (1): (i) Tissue, blood, a blood product or a gamete from a person who is mentally ill within the meaning of the Mental Health Care Act, 2002 (Act No. 17 of 2002); (ii) tissue which is not replaceable by natural processes from a person younger than 18 years; (iii) a gamete from a person younger than 18 years; or (iv) placenta, embryonic or fetal tissue, stem cells and umbilical cord, excluding umbilical cord progenitor cells. (b) The Minister may authorise the removal or withdrawal of tissue, blood, a blood product or gametes contemplated in paragraph (a) and may impose any condition which may be necessary in respect of such removal or withdrawal. http://dailysun.mobi/indexnew_headline1.rbml?rssItemId=http%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.integrat.co.za%2Fdailysun%2F%3Fp%3D34117 http://wordpress.integrat.co.za/dailysun/index_headlinecontent1/cops-to-hunt-tokoloshebrnew-unit-to-look-into-vampires-zombies-and-harmful-curses COPS TO HUNT TOKOLOSHE! New unit to look into vampires, zombies and harmful curses. By SIMONE HERADIEN, BASA MUSHI and TEBOGO THAMAGE 18 September 2012 THE state can’t ignore the tokoloshe, zombies, vampires, Satanists and people who practise black magic any longer . . . Very soon there will be a special SAPS unit to investigate dead chickens buried in the garden, muthi over the doorposts and people ordered to do evil deeds by evil spirits! RAPES BY TOKOLOSHE WILL ALSO FORM PART OF THEIR INVESTIGATIONS. Animal sacrifice and muthi murders, or human mutilation for muthi purposes, top their list of priorities. A police memo dated 21 August, which was leaked to the People’s Paper, states that “two detectives per province have been trained in the investigation of vampires, zombie intimidation and curses intended to do harm, as well as other such occurrences”. The detectives will work for the Occult Related Crime Unit. The detailed memorandum was sent to divisional, provincial and deputy national commissioners, as well as heads of offices and commanders of SAPS training institutions. The SAPS said it recognises the freedom of religious expression that relates to witchcraft and Satanism but pointed out that crimes related to these beliefs need to be punished. The memo also tells the cops to stay neutral during investigations. Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies told Daily Sun the unit is a good idea. “Regular detectives can’t deal with such crimes,” he said. “The investigation of these kinds of crimes needs specific training and specific skills.” The police’s Colonel Tummi Shai said the SAPS has always had detectives specialising in such crimes. “The crimes were just not classified as occult crimes,” Shai said. Damon Leff of the South African Pagan Rights Alliance said his organisation isn’t sure about the unit. “The supernatural should not be investigated by the SAPS as there’s no scientific evidence to prove it,” he said. Phephesile Maseko of the Traditional Healers Organisation said traditional healers who kill for ritual purposes are not inyangas. “They are just murderers,” she said. A previous unit that investigated occult-related crime was disbanded years ago after being found to be “out of touch” with the country’s new Constitution. Led by Kobus Jonker from 1991 to 2001, it reportedly investigated 300 cases of muthi-related crimes alone. Its strong focus on Satanism led to the unit being accused of pushing a strictly Christian agenda. http://www.citizen.co.za/citizen/content/en/citizen/local-news?oid=319659&sn=Detail&pid=146826&Pagans-challenge-occult-related-crime-training- Pagans challenge occult-related crime training South African pagans have expressed concern after it was revealed the SA Police Service (SAPS) is training detectives to be specialists in “occult-related crimes”. 18 September 2012 | YADHANA JADOO JOHANNESBURG - A leaked internal police memo entitled “Investigation of Harmful Occult-Related Crimes: Investigation Support Capacity” is being circulated on the Internet. The police document mentions that two detectives per province must be experts in dealing with occult crimes. The memo says these include muti murders, curses intended to cause harm, vampirism, spiritual intimidation including “astral coercion”, rape by “tokoloshe spirits”, poltergeist phenomena, voodoo, black magic and traditional healers involved in criminal activities. “This newly envisioned scope of investigation must be viewed with suspicion and be of concern to anyone engaged in the practice of witchcraft, traditional African religion, and other occult spiritualities, including satanism,” the SA Pagan Rights Alliance (Sapra) said. The specialists will help other detectives in cases that involve crimes “rooted in the supernatural”. The memo addresses all divisional and provincial commissioners, heads of office, all commanders at SAPS colleges and all deputy national commissioners. It indicated that two detectives per province recently received specialised training in the investigation of “harmful occult-related crimes”. “The investigation of harmful occult-related crimes demands a great deal of spiritual and emotional balance... It is important for members of the SAPS to remain neutral during investigations and their focus must remain unbiased regarding the occult-related criminal discourse,” the memo states. Questions to the SAPS yesterday about the extent of the “specialised training” and how such crimes would be investigated were unanswered. Sapra said it believed the new police mandate potentially threatened religious minorities who may be used as scapegoats on the basis of belief. http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2012/09/19/the-insider-something-interesting-to-sink-your-teeth-into THE INSIDER: Something Interesting To Sink Your Teeth Into By The Insider - 19 September 2012, 06:04 THE Insider is in receipt of a rather strange missive with a disconcerting preamble: "This is a story you will want to research and report on before international attention is brought to bear..." It continues, "The South African Police Service may now be targeting Wiccans, Pagans, Healers, Occultists, Satanists, and Vampires as part of a secret new initiative (lumping them all together as … ‘Satanic’ or ‘Occult’ crimes). The sweeping generalisations, oblique, and intentionally vague references outlined in this document may potentially be used to violate the rights and religious protections of law-abiding South Africans by purposefully inciting a ‘Satanic Panic’ — much like the one that swept the US in the 1980s and was later proven unfounded by the FBI ... "There are dangerous individuals out there who should be brought to justice but law-abiding practitioners of alternative religions and consensual ritual beliefs and practices that don’t result in the loss of life … shouldn’t be the focus of clandestine SAPS investigations. Especially when the underlying aim is to further the private agendas of elected officials and mainstream religious groups. This is very embarrassing for a country that is supposedly striving to be more progressive towards embracing 21st century human rights ideals." The Insider has no quibble with any of this and, indeed, many of his friends and their friends are pagans. The letter was "signed off", however, by various groups, most of which the Insider had no idea existed, to wit the South African Pagan Rights Alliance, the South African Vampire Community and the South African Vampire Alliance. Let’s hope you’re not reading this at twilight.... http://www.citizen.co.za/citizen/content/en/citizen/opinion-columnists?oid=320077&sn=Detail&pid=40&Pulling-Lucifer%E2%80%99s-tail Pulling Lucifer’s Tail South African pagans and members of other minority religions were understandably upset this week when a leaked memo revealed that the police are training two detectives per province to deal with “occult-related crimes”. 20 September 2012 | MICHAEL COETZEE For many it undoubtedly brought back memories of the now-defunct SAPS Occult-Related Crime Unit. It used to be headed by a man who still uses every opportunity he can to pursue his campaign of misinformation about witchcraft, paganism, satanism and occult practices, Kobus Jonker (he likes to be called “Dr”, but his PhDs seem to originate from diploma mills). With the dawning of a new South Africa and the adoption of a constitution that guarantees freedom of religious belief and practice, Jonker and his fellow fundamentalist Christian crusaders suddenly found themselves unable to use the organs of state to pursue their agenda. Some former members formed religious ministries to continue their work, and like Jonker they are sometimes contacted by poorly informed journalists who fall for the “expert” tag they like to hang around their necks. Now, with the leaking of the memo, it seems that the masters of misinformation have somehow got their foot in the door again. The memo reveals that police detectives will receive special training to deal with “categories of crime” that include the “practice of voodoo in order to cause harm”, “vampirism”, “astral coercion” and “poltergeist phenomena”. A reasonable person may well ask whether our police officers shouldn't rather receive more training in catching corporeal criminals before they go after invisible and intangible ones, but that is a topic for another day. One of the many things that are wrong with this police plan is how a whole bunch of unrelated or scarcely related things are grouped together under the umbrella of “occult-related crimes”, and held up as deserving special police scrutiny and expertise. The reality is that astral coercion doesn’t exist, that occultists and religious satanists don’t go around killing people (at least not more than the general population), and that witchcraft as a religion and as a cultural practice is distinct from the practice of satanism and sometimes paganism as a religion. But those who sell themselves as experts on occult-related crimes either don’t know this, which would mean they are not experts at all, or they do know it but wilfully mislead people. They have a religious agenda which they pursue by being the “go-to people” for information on the occult, witchcraft etc, and instead of providing real information, they spread lies and propaganda. In public relations terms they certainly realise the importance of “controlling the message” and have been quite successful at doing so, notwithstanding substantial gains by groups such as the South African Pagan Rights Alliance in setting the record straight. Police management needs to remember that the SAPS is there to protect all South Africans, of whatever religious persuasion and of none at all. Minority religions especially are often the target of discrimination and even violence from “mainstream” quarters, so their practitioners are often in need of even greater protection. The last thing we need is for President Jacob Zuma’s “minorities have fewer rights” approach to be applied in the world of law enforcement and religious freedom. http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2012/09/20/police-on-a-witch-hunt Police On A Witch Hunt Nashira Davids and Philani Nombembe 20 September, 2012 00:06 Witches in South Africa believe police are out to get them. The SA Pagan Rights Alliance has claimed that it has heard that the SA Police Service has trained two detectives in each province to investigate "harmful occult-related" crimes. The alliance represents witches "who identify witchcraft as their religion". The crimes police were trained specially for include: Witchcraft-related offences, including black magic, witch-finding and witch-purging; The practice of voodoo intended to cause harm; Vampirism and joint infringement of the Human Tissue Act; Murder or human sacrifice leaving evidence of occult involvement; and, Allegations of rape by a tokoloshe spirit. The alliance has objected to what it calls the "launch of regional occult-related crime units". But national police spokesman Colonel Vish Naidoo said police were not targeting religious groups and that investigating such crimes was not new. To unsubscribe from these announcements, login to the forum and uncheck "Receive forum announcements and important notifications by email." in your profile. You can view the full announcement by following this link: http://www.atlantavampirealliance.com/forum/index.php?topic=2627.0 Regards, The Atlanta Vampire Alliance [AVA] Team.
New post on GetFanged Blog
Hunter and Prey
by getfangThe interests and practices of those who self-identify as vampires are wide and varied. While it is understood and accepted that the source of vampirism itself is innate, and not merely a lifestyle preference, there are several common threads which tie various segments of the community together; deeper concepts and ideals which serve to strengthen these common ties.The following is a contribution by Silver Mage on the subject of the vampire as a hunter.Hunter and PreyWhile I’m well aware that the following statement will no doubt upset many who read this, it does have a direct bearing on a topic dear to many people’s hearts. I’m a hunter. Yes, I’ve seen the Elmer Fudd cartoons and heard all the jokes and knocks about the perversion of shooting “poor defenseless” animals. For those that haven’t been properly introduced to this old man, I grew up in a time when hunting was a necessity and not a “sport”. I hunted for food, not for bragging rights and when I get the chance, I still do. Game animals have less fat, less cholesterol and more taste per ounce than all but the most expensive cuts of meat on the menu today.Now, you’re asking yourself, “Just what the heck (or any word you choose to put here) has hunting got to do with a Vampire site?” Basically Vampires are hunters. While modern Vampires use bars, dances and other gathering spots to locate potential prey, in the old days (pre-nineteen hundred) a Vampire needed to use all the skills hunters use today. Stalking had an entirely different meaning back then. To be an effective hunter the classic Vampire would search the local village/town/city for suitable victims (never liked that term as applied to hunting, so I’ll stick to the term prey for the rest of this article). Once the appropriate prey had been located the hunter needed to select a place to procure the prey and then wait patiently while the selected subject passed by unaware that they are about to become the hunter’s next meal.I’ve always found it odd that the majority of Vampires portrayed in modern literature and movies are male as the female is almost always the most successful hunter of prey. I guess human males are more susceptible to the wiles of a delightfully beautiful woman than women are to the handsome ruggedness of a male Vampire. In almost all predatory animals the female is the one more likely to provide sustenance for her offspring. So, the female has learned over the eons to provided protection and provender for her young. (Yes, there are a lot of predator species that are pair bonded; there are also a lot that are not.)Back to Vampires and their hunting abilities.Having procured his or her meal, the typical Vampire of older ages would rush the prey off to their secluded domicile and feed. Here’s where things get a little dicey. By killing their prey the Vampire reduces the number of humans available to procreate and thus reduces the number of prey to feed on. Typically a predator will feed on a herd of animals until the “easy ones” are eliminated and then move on to greener pastures, thus allowing the former feeding grounds to repopulate. It’s a wise stratagem for predators but not so much for their prey.If a hunter of intelligent species takes too many of the herd then the locals will raise the alarm and set out to “eliminate” the predator, be it wolf, lion or Vampire. If, again like modern hunters, the Vampire limits it’s feeding to the “fringes” of society then there’s less chance of upsetting the locals and creating a climate of fear and hate. (The modern hunter has limits set every year determined by numbers harvested the previous years and the annual count of the current year.)In today’s societies, well at least the more modern ones, Vampires no longer need to prowl the night and select suitable prey. As I understand it there are gathering places where hunter and prey can be introduced to their mutual satisfaction. I’m not sure if the idea of selecting a fancy meal from a menu is more desirable to me than actually hunting down that meal for myself or not. There is a certain satisfaction in knowing that I’ve provide for my family with my own abilities. In any case, as one hunter to another, “bon appetite”.The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and/or contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies, positions or recommendations of the owners, agents or subsidiaries of GetFanged.com. Anything derived from the content of this article is at the reader’s own discretion. Please refer to our Terms of Use for further information.
New post on GetFanged Blog |  |
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| Connect with Hay House |     |
What does it mean to lead a Real Vampire Community? To find out, GetFanged recently talked with Belfazaar Ashantison, (founder of NOVA and active member of the vampire community) about everything from leadership to voodoo to donor rights, and where he sees himself in ten years.
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