Anthony North: The French court of the Sun King, Louis XIV, was a flamboyant, extravagant place. But underneath the facade was a cauldron of hatred, deceit and social climbing. And underpinning the more unsavoury factors of the court was a conspiracy of murder and supposed witchcraft. After the suspicious deaths of several of the French nobility, Louis ordered the Commissioner of Police, Nicholas de la Reynie, to investigate. Opening the Chambre Ardente, or Burning Court (a black draped room with candles), in 1677, over the following three years, 320 people were arrested and 36 were executed. La voison: Reynie"s investigation began with the arrest and torture of fortuneteller Marie Bosse, who had boasted that she could be hired to kill husbands.
Under torture she began a series of confessions and namings of others. Reaching right up to the heart of the French court, a Coven was unearthed. Practices described included using naked females as altars, and cutting the throats of babies to drink their blood. At the centre of the Coven was Catherine Deshayes, a short, plump, but not unattractive ‘witch" better known as La Voisin. Controlling her Coven from a Paris villa, she indulged in astrology and seances, and police found various poisonous potions, wax images and other paraphernalia. But her speciality was alleged to be poisoning the husbands of those who wanted to climb socially, and give love potions to others. Towards the end of the affair, the King"smistress, Madame de Montespan, was implicated in the Coven, though she escaped with her life. La Voisin was not so lucky. She was burned alive in February 1680, popularly being associated with the Devil, but proclaiming her innocence to the end. But was La Voisin associated with the Devil? Devil worshippers?: Medieval theologian St Thomas Aquinas did much to associate witchcraft with the Devil, arguing that demons formed an evil army of lesser angels in league with Satan; demons who could lure humans to his service.
Necromancy has had a long and very disparate
history between cultures and generations. The definition seems to slide in
every way at once thus seemingly muddling its clarity. Many cultures and
societies and sub-cultures have adopted the term "necromancy" as the title of
their practice, which is not necessarily wrong, but it has caused confusion
for the etymologically-minded who tend to be quick to point a finger at things
which do not fit the strict definition of ...Forgotten WICCAN Satanic roots?
by
Greywolf
Druidry
5000 - 800 BCE: In the popular
imagination, links have always been made between Druids and megalithic monuments
such as the Avebury henge in Wiltshire and the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire.
This was also the accepted academic orthodoxy until the 1930's, when it was
decided that Celtic civilisation did not reach Britain until 500 BCE, that
Druids were a purely Celtic priesthood, and that they could not, therefore, have
had any connection with megalithic st...US town escapes 666 phone prefix
A town in the US state of Louisiana is to be allowed to change its telephone prefix so that residents can avoid a number many associate with the Devil. Christians in Reeves have been unhappy since the early 1960s about being given the prefix, 666 - traditionally known as the Biblical "number of the beast". For the next three months, households will be able to change the first three digits of their phone numbers to 749. Mayor Scott Walker said CenturyTel"s decision was "divine intervention". Howe...'Witches' face fine in Tajikistan
The lower house of parliament in Tajikistan has endorsed a bill to try to tackle what it describes as fortune-telling and witchcraft. Those found engaging in superstitious activities could be fined $200 (£98). Belief in the occult is widespread in many former Soviet societies. The Tajik authorities say those claiming occult powersare charlatans. The bill still needs the upper house of parliament and the president to approve it, but this is considered a formality. Earlier this year President Emom...At witch school, spelling has new meaning
When witch school came to town, Mayor Terry Prillaman stopped in to welcome the owners, as he does whenever a new business opens. "If you don"t like them, don"t patronize them," he says. "It"s like a tattoo parlor: You don"t have to go in." Youth pastor Andy Thomas, though, believes the arrival of witches in this town of 1,200 created a "spiritual battle" pitting "the forces of darkness against the forces of light." Rosella Ray, who runs the Village Art & Culture Center, a shop near the school, ...Judge rules in favour of Harry Potter
The adventures of boy wizard Harry Potter can stay in Gwinnett County school libraries, despite a mother's objections, a judge ruled Tuesday. Laura Mallory, who argued the popular fiction series is an attempt to indoctrinate children in witchcraft, said she still wants the best-selling books removed and may take her case to federal court."I maybe need a whole new case from the ground up," Mallory said. The woman, who said two of her four children attend public schools in thecounty,...Campaigners bid to clear the 'witch'
When the battleship Barham was torpedoed by the Germans in November 1941, with the loss of over 800 lives, the Admiralty delayed announcing the news to maintain morale. But the secrecy was ended within a few days when medium Helen Duncan told a couple during a seance that their son, a sailor on the ship, had appeared from the spirit world to tell them it had sunk. In one of the most bizarre acts of the Second World War, Mrs Duncan was accused of leaking military secrets - and became the last wom...Dawn of the witch
Anthony north: We"ve all heard of the witch, but do witches have a real existence? Yes, they have existed since the dawn of history, and most likely for millenia before. In the Bible, Saul, afraid of the might of the Philistine army, took himself off to be counsellefd by the Witch of Endor. In Classical literature we have Homer’s Circe who bewitched men and turned them into swine. Ovid tells us of the Strigae; erotic beings who flew through the air to carry out their murderous deeds. But with su...Influence of the occult
Anthony North: The Occult. The term sends a chill down the spine -for some. This is the world of evil and mystery, where sinister magicians prowl the borders between the physical and ethereal. Where the subject causes real fear, it is sanitised for western feeling, and images of Harry Potter fill our heads. Yet in reality the Occult has been essential to the life we live today. Its birth: The Occult was actually born following the life of Christ. Up until this time, most religions had been pagan...
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Anthony North: The French court of the Sun King, Louis XIV, was a flamboyant, extravagant place. But underneath the facade was a cauldron of hatred, deceit and social climbing. And underpinning the more unsavoury factors of the court was a conspiracy of murder and supposed witchcraft. After the suspicious deaths of several of the French nobility, Louis ordered the Commissioner of Police, Nicholas de la Reynie, to investigate. Opening the Chambre Ardente, or Burning Court (a black draped room with candles), in 1677, over the following three years, 320 people were arrested and 36 were executed. La voison: Reynie"s investigation began with the arrest and torture of fortuneteller Marie Bosse, who had boasted that she could be hired to kill husbands. 
View: Full Article | Source: Beyond the Blog 
A Brief History of the Methods of Necromancy
Forgotten WICCAN Satanic roots?
History of the Druids
US town escapes 666 phone prefix
'Witches' face fine in Tajikistan
Judge rules in favour of Harry Potter
Campaigners bid to clear the 'witch'
