Pagan Culture

A total lunar eclipse early Tuesday morning was a "special event" for Nanaimo's Wiccan community.Daniel Van Koughnett, a minister in the city's Temple of the Green Cauldron, said eclipses are not routine cosmic occurrences like full moons and solar solstices, events regularly celebrated at communal temple festivities.He said for many Wiccans, eclipses, like last night's full lunar eclipse (visible in western Canada) represents a convergence of solar and lunar events in which followers of theancient nature-based belief system celebrate the nature of the relationship between gods and goddesses. "For most Wiccans, the moon is a goddess and the sun is a god and eclipses bring them together in a very special union," Van Koughnett said. "It's considered a very magical time and many witches will save certain spells and learning rituals for these powerful and special events.

While eclipses are important to us, we don't usually celebrate them as part of our regular temple routine, like the temple's eight annual Sabbats held on Saturdays following full moons." Van Koughnett said temple members celebrate eclipses on an individual basis and he held a personalcelebration of the event as the Earth's shadow darkened the full moon in the early hours of the morning. He said it's been three years since a full lunar eclipse was visible from Nanaimo and despite the possibility of overcast skies, the eclipse could still be observed by the tell-tale darkening of the moon's light through the clouds. "The colour of the moon, which is usually pretty red during eclipses, would also be visible through overcast skies," Van Koughnett said. "It's nice to see an eclipse here again."

Copyright: canada.com

Paganism, witchcraft and druidism are being included in some school lessons in southern England.Cornwall has a long history of druidic and pagan beliefs, so much so that the advistory group for religious studies in schools has opted to include lessons on modern paganism as part of its syllabus. Pupils will learn about the significance of prehistoric sites such as Stonehenge and the difficulties apracticising pagan may face in the present day.

Not everyone agrees with the change however, Christian Institute spokesman Mike Judge wasn"t impressed. "Introducing paganism is just faddish and has more to do with the political correctness of teachers than the educational needs of children," he said. Cornwall Council has told its schools that pagan beliefs, which include witchcraft, druidism and the worship of ancient gods such as Thor, should betaught alongside Christianity, Islam and Judaism.  

View: Full article |  Source: Daily Mail  

Druidry has been recognised as an official religion in the UK for the first time in history.Druids have been a part of Britain"s history for thousands of years but its taken until now for it to be officially recognised as a religion. "It was a long and at times frustrating process," said Phil Ryder,Chair of Trustees for The Druid Network.

The Druid Network has been given charitable status by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the quango that decides what counts as a genuine faith as well as regulating fundraising bodies.  

View: Full article |  Source: Telegraph  

Austrian motorway bosses have hired druids to drain the negative energy from infamous accident black spots.An initial trial conducted to see if the concept had merrit produced impressive results, now officials are rolling out the scheme nationwide in an attempt to reduce traffic accidents. Motorowaybosses in Austria secretly hired a full-time team of druids to drain "negative energy" from accident blackspots.

The team is said to have reduced fatal accidents at one notorious crash site to zero after restoring its "terrestrial radiation".

View: Full article | Source: Orange.co.uk