Clipmarks | wiccantexan's 'wicca' clips

Is Nature your spiritual home?

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 01:01:10 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Is Nature your spiritual home?

    Do you feel a deep sense of peace and belonging and wonder in the midst of nature, in a forest, by the ocean, or on a mountain top? Are you speechless with awe when you look up at the sky on a clear moonless night and see the Milky Way strewn with stars as thick as sand on a beach?
     When you see breakers crashing on a rocky shore, or hear wind rustling in a poplar's leaves, are you uplifted by the energy and creativity of existence?
     Do you find it impossible to believe in supernatural beings, and difficult to conceive of anything more worthy of reverence than the beauty of nature or the power of the universe?
     If you answered yes to these questions, then you will feel thoroughly at home in the World Pantheist Movement. Our caring and celebratory approach focuses on nature rather than the supernatural, on what we can see and do and live out rather than on invisible entities that we can only imagine.

Towards a naturalistic spirituality

Terminology is the downfall of religions: the core of what we stand for is our beliefs (see the belief statement), not our name. For convenience, we use the name pantheism because it has a long and venerable history. But almost all of what we say applies to all the spiritual orientations that find shelter in the WPM. They go under the names of scientific pantheism, religious humanism, religious naturalism, religious atheism, deep ecology, nature-worship. They also include philosophical Taoism, modern Stoicism, Gaian religion, as well as to those forms of wicca and paganism that see magic and the gods as symbols rather than realities, also Western forms of Buddhism that celebrate nature and everyday life, and to those in Unitarian Universalism who do not believe in supernatural beings.

Why do we need a spirituality of nature?

Our aims

Tags: pantheism, nature, beauty

Wicca veterans seek grave symbols

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 01:26:00 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Wiccans in the US are taking the government to court over its refusal to allow their symbol on gravestones in military cemeteries.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Wicca veterans seek grave symbols

The pentacle is an important Wicca spiritual symbol

Wiccans in the US are taking the government to court over its refusal to allow their symbol on gravestones in military cemeteries.

Relatives of dead soldiers, including one killed in Iraq, are demanding that Wicca symbols be permitted.

Some 38 other religious symbols, including the Jewish star of David and the Buddhist wheel, are allowed.

The Pentacle, a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle, is one of the most important symbols in Wicca.

Tags: religion, pagan, wicca, religious symbols

Witchcraft not wicked

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:51:06 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks:

"The overall finding was that teenage witches are engaging in witchcraft for positive life affirming reasons. (It) helps them make sense of the issues they are experiencing," Professor Ezzy said.

"They are not fighting demons, as is sometimes displayed in popular media. Really there is nothing to be afraid of. The amount of witches is now roughly the same size as Mormons."

Clip Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

Two researchers have interviewed 90 teenage witches in Australia, England and the US to find out whether they have a broom in the cupboard, a cloak upstairs or any spells on the boil.

They found that teenage witches, including both girls and boys, use witchcraft positively to help deal with issues that young people face every day while growing up.

Professor Ezzy said witchcraft was a form of paganism, which worships nature and celebrated the harvest festivals.

He said that there was a huge increase in witchcraft in the late 1990s when Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed hit television screens. Professor Ezzy said the shows tapped into a need expressed by teenagers to find something more spiritual in life.

He said that he and his co-author Helen Berger found that witchcraft was not seductive but instead empowering and offered personal development for teenagers.

Tags: witchcraft, wicca, paganism, religion, faith

Wiccan Pentacle Added to Emblems Allowed on Headstones

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 04:05:06 GMT

clipped by: k9riley99
clipper's remarks: The pentacle has been added to 38 symbols the VA already permits on gravestones. They include commonly recognized symbols for Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, as well as those for smaller religions such as Sufism Reoriented, Eckiankar and the Japanese faith Seicho-No-Ie.

VA-issued headstones, markers and plaques can be used in any cemetery, whether it is a national one such as Arlington or a private burial ground like that on Circle Sanctuary's property.

Wicca is a nature-based religion based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons. Variations of the pentacle not accepted by Wiccans have been used in horror movies as a sign of the devil.

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

MADISON, Wis. — The Wiccan pentacle has been added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on goverment-issued headstones of fallen soldiers, according to a settlement announced Monday.

A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans adds the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief" allowed on VA grave markers.

Eleven families nationwide are waiting for grave markers with the pentacle, said Selena Fox, a Wiccan high priestess with Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis., a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The settlement calls for the pentacle, whose five points represent earth, air, fire, water and spirit, to be placed on grave markers within 14 days for those who have pending requests with the VA.

"This settlement has forced the Bush Administration into acknowledging that there are no second class religions in America, including among our nation's veterans,"

Tags: religion, wicca, nature based, earth, nature, seasons, the bush administration, five-pointed pentacle, cemetery, headstone

The Portrayal Of Paganism In The Media

Sun, 25 May 2008 04:43:18 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.informativepost.com

Hi. I'm a Pagan. Yes, you heard me right. What image jumps into your head right now? Is it a person dressed all in black, with large pentacles, dragons and ankhs hanging around their necks? Did you picture me as a hippie who can't seem to escape the Swinging 60s?

Guess what? I'm a normal person. I wear jeans and t-shirts, I have a 9-5 job, and I'm studying to achieve my high school diploma at a mature-age level.

The media has done a fantastic job at portraying Pagans (including Wiccans and Witches) as these ugly women with long fingernails, warts and green skin, tall pointy hats and all dressed in black. Look at the popular film, 'The Craft' - it's portrayal of young witches, all in black, with supernatural powers. What about 'The Wicker Man'? Makes us all out to be lovers of sacrifice, huh?

In all actuality, we're normal people, and my personal mission (as I've come to discover) is to break down this stereotype of modern Pagans. So let's start with the basics...

Tags: pagan, faith, religion, media, wicca, witchcraft, witch

Pagan Weddings on the Rise

Sun, 04 May 2008 14:00:36 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: www.modbee.com

Pagan weddings attract more than a cult following

A 2001 survey by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York found that the number of followers of Wicca, one of the many religions that fall beneath the pagan umbrella, increased from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001, making it the fastest-growing religion in America in terms of percentage increase.

Marty Laubach, a sociology professor at Marshall University, says the number of followers of pagan religions is even higher now, citing a 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey that put the estimate at 1.2 million.

My suspicion is that the first number was way too low due to people not responding," Laubach said. "The 1990 study was conducted at the height of the 'satanic panic,' which kept many neopagans in the closet."

While some subsets don't believe in gods, others, like Wiccans, worship many gods and goddesses. Women, in fact, are revered as the bearers of life in Wicca.

People misunderstand what paganism is about

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:35:58 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.canada.com

It takes a lot to surprise me when it comes to human nature, but last night I met a woman in her 60s at a coffee shop who warned the people at our table about a 'devil' that was going to be at Departure Bay today.

At first I thought she was joking but she said no, she was serious there was going to be a group of devil worshippers gathering there today. She said groups from all the churches were gathering to protest. I asked her if it was the Pagan Pride festival and when she said yes' I said, 'well, my daughter is Wicca and I'm proud of her."

She had nothing to say to that. I really thought that self-righteous people like her had disappeared in the era when witches were being burned.

It's religious fanatics like her who cause destruction in this world because of the fervour of the their beliefs.

I had one daughter become a Catholic and one daughter become Wicca and I'm proud of both of them for making choices that were right for them (I'm Anglican).

Tags: pagan, witch, witchcraft, church, wicca, religion, belief

India seeking Wiccan help to save girls

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:43:14 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

India has enlisted the follower of a global pagan witchcraft movement to help curb the country's high female infanticide rate and end the neglect of the girl child, officials said yesterday.

Ipsita Roy Chakraverti, a Wiccan and social activist, has been nominated by the government's National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) to head a panel tasked with improving the status of young girls, they said

Around 10 million girls have been killed by their parents over the last 20 years, the government says, as female infanticide and foeticide, although illegal, are still prevalent with boys preferred to girls as breadwinners

The Wiccan campaign has made inroads into several rural pockets across India and has helped raise awareness against victimising young women and girls as witches.

Authorities expect that this influence could be expanded to promote the overall well-being of young girls

Tags: india, wicca, girls, female, well being, improvement, culture, religion

'Earth worship' on the rise among evangelical youth

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:42:48 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.onenewsnow.com

Janice Crouse, a senior fellow with Concerned Women for America, says it's disturbing that many young people in evangelical churches are experimenting with the Wiccan religion. Church leaders and Christian parents, she warns, must be ready to counter that growing interest among their youth.

Crouse cites an article in Religion Journal which said youth pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention were worried about large numbers of evangelicals taking part in Wicca, a religion that involves nature worship, stresses moral autonomy, and includes remedies and spells -- beliefs that Crouse points out are distinctly different from orthodox Christianity, not to mention incompatible with the Bible.

According to Crouse, "earth worship" -- as she describes Wicca -- appeals to people who do not want to be bound by any book of authority or have imposed on them any requirements to be "believers."

Tags: religion, wicca, nature, evangelical, youth, christian, earth

No-no to Atheists

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:40:49 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Our friends across the pond seem to suffer the same sort of religious bigotry that we have here in the States. Of course, I suppose the question could be asked why employees are surfing the net instead of working but that's for another clip.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Council ban on atheist websites

A city council has blocked its staff from looking at websites about atheism.

Lawyers at the National Secular Society said the move by Birmingham City Council was "discriminatory" and they would consider legal action.

The rules also ban sites that promote witchcraft, the paranormal, sexual deviancy and criminal activity.

The city council declined to comment on the possible legal action, but said the new system helped make it easier for managers to monitor staff web access.

Under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, it is unlawful to discriminate against workers because of their religion or belief, which includes atheism.

National Secular Society president Terry Sanderson said the city council's rules also discriminated against people who practise witchcraft, which is also classed as a legitimate belief.

He said the society would initially contact the council and ask for the policy to be changed, and otherwise pursue legal action.

Tags: atheist, religion, wicca, web, ban

First Wiccan Chaplain in History To Meet With U.S. Commission On Civil Rights

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:22:35 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: bbsnews.net

A Wiccan Chaplain and Statewide California Department of Corrections, Patrick McCollum will speak at a briefing on prisoners' religious rights at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in Washington, DC on Friday, February 8, 2007. This marks the first time that a Wiccan expert has spoken on religious freedom issues at a Commission briefing.

"It is an honor to be invited to participate in the dialogue and to share a Wiccan's point of view," said McCollum. "Those in minority faiths are seldom given the opportunity to be heard, even when the issue concerns their rights. I am hopeful this invitation is indicative of what we can expect going forward and that there truly is a desire on the part of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to ensure that inmates receive equal treatment, and a willingness to better serve minority religions."

Tags: wicca, religion, civil rights, prison, government, freedom

Presidential Snub Of Wiccan War Widow

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 03:53:40 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: ----- Forwarded Message
From: Circle Times

At midday today, President George W. Bush met by phone with Roberta
Stewart, a Wiccan from Nevada and member of Circle Sanctuary. The
president apologized to Roberta for her not being invited to the meeting he
held in Reno, Nevada on Tuesday with families of Nevada soldiers killed in
action.

Clip Source: www.lvrj.com

CARSON CITY -- When President Bush took time Tuesday to meet family members of some of the fallen soldiers from Northern Nevada, a woman whose husband made the ultimate sacrifice was notably absent.

Roberta Stewart of Fernley, who lost her husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart, when the helicopter he was in was shot down in Afghanistan in September 2005, said she was not invited to the meeting that followed Bush's speech to the American Legion's national convention in Reno.

Roberta Stewart said she believes she knows why no invitation was extended to her by the White House.

Roberta Stewart, like her late husband, is a practitioner of the Wiccan faith, and she fought with the Department of Veterans Affairs for more than a year to win the right to display the pentacle, the emblem of their faith, on his memorial marker in the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley.

Tags: wicca, war, bush, religion, military, president, memorial, grave, soldier

The Top Dozen Religions of the World

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 07:21:05 GMT

clipped by: delete101
clipper's remarks: I'm amazed that a large portion of the world is Islam. Obviously, there may be drastic implications of a global, Islamic Jihad, which is why peace must be fostered among ALL religions. Unfortunately, Islamic extremists believe our occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is a threat/war against Islam. America, on the other hand, can't even agree on what the fuck the meaning behind our occupation is.

Clip Source: www.godweb.org

The Top Dozen Religions of the World

What are the largest religions of the world? What are their membership statistics, relative size, locations, rankings? Find out now simply by looking at the table and map below:

Religion:	Members:
Christianity	2 Billion
Islam	1.2 Billion
Hinduism	785 Million
Buddhism	360 Million
Judaism	17 Million
Sikhism	16 Million
Baha'i	5 Million
Confucianism	5 Million
Jainism	4 Million
Shintoism	3 Million
Wicca	.7 Million
Zoroastrianism	.2 Million

Tags: religion

Bush Apologizes For Snubbing War Widow

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 19:14:29 GMT

clipped by: DizzyDezzi
clipper's remarks: Kudos to the president for doing the right thing.

(This is a follow-up to yesterday's clip)

Clip Source: www.upi.com

Bush apologizes to Wiccan widow

U.S. President George Bush apologized to a Nevada Wiccan who was left out of a presidential meeting with relatives of soldiers killed in combat.

Rebecca Stewart, who sued to have the Wiccan symbol placed on her husband’s grave marker in a military cemetery, told The Washington Post the president called her to apologize. She said she explained to Bush the faith she and her husband shared.

Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.

Stewart said she heard about the private meeting from her mother-in-law, who was invited. The president visited Nevada to speak at the American Legion convention.

Tags: current events, military, religion, war, wicca, widow, george bush

Wiccan Lottery Winner!

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 02:46:30 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: ap.google.com

Wicca Teacher Claims 1 Mega Ticket

NOTTINGHAM, Md. (AP) — Elwood "Bunky" Bartlett says a New Age book store made it possible for him to become an overnight multimillionaire.

He and his wife, Denise, were on their way to the shop where he occasionally teaches Wicca and Reiki (RAY'kee) healing when they stopped at a liquor store and bought two $5 Mega Millions tickets for Friday night's estimated $330 million jackpot. On Sunday, he said one ticket was a winner.

"If it wasn't for this place I wouldn't have won the lottery," Bartlett said Sunday at Mystickal Voyage, the New Age shop.

Tags: wicca, wiccan, lottery, mega, winner