Apothecary of the week

 
via Cosmic Dust

Witchdoctors in Africa murdering albinos

I've read a lot of wiccan texts that state - almost every time at the beginning that we do not worship satan and why on earth would anyone think that?  There are plenty of reasons that we become confused for other kinds of worship because of the unfortunate associations which can easily be mistaken.

Take a satanic 'witch' for example - if they go around saying they're witches it's no wonder that non-Wiccans are confused!  Also taking into account the strange history of witchcraft and the accusations of all of the nasty hexing we're apparently constantly doing - which is not true.  The threefold law serves every Wiccan, and if they choose to send out negativity they know that they will get it back threefold.  The Wiccan Rede also states 'do as ye will but harm ye none' so that we are constantly sending out positivity and constructive energy.

I feel terribly sorry for those in Africa whose friends and family members have been taken away from witchdoctors.  Witchdoctors are in no way associated with Wicca... not that I'd need to tell you, but this is another area of confusion.  You may have read recently that a sickening amount of African albinos are being killed by witchdoctors - and by their own hands!  Their body parts are used for black magick, and are reduced to specimens piece by piece.  The truth is that some people choose to take black magick into their own hands.  I personally call myself a White Witch because I am proud to only be producing positive energies and sending out only love and light into the world without working against anyone's will.  As we've discussed before, some people don't want to give themselves a label apart from Witch because that may indicate that every thought and action is completely pure and untainted... though I get angry and cuss people in my head - not without always considering their side and trying to gain the most peaceful, mature and graceful approach that is available: we are always learning and evolving.

I honestly don't know how this could be changed if the government does not do a thing - would human rights organisations be able to jump in - surely if it's so sporadic it would be so hard to control. 

Let us send out our love to those families who are suffering and pray that this will soon end - somehow.

Blessed Be

)O( Elspeth 

Belief in Witchcraft Leads to Murders in Africa

By Benjamin Radford, LiveScience's Bad Science Columnist
posted: 09 December 2009 09:42 am ET

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While many Westerners think of witches and witchcraft as being relics of the Middle Ages (or relegated to modern tourist traps in Salem, Massachusetts), in many countries belief in witches is common, and black magic is considered part of everyday life.

In Africa, witch doctors are consulted not only for healing diseases, but also for placing curses on rivals (or removing curses placed by rivals). Magic (or at least the belief in magic) is used for personal, political and financial gain.

America, of course, has its own version of witch doctors: the thousands of independent fortunetellers and psychic soothsayers with hole-in-the-wall shops occasionally arrested for scamming desperate or gullible customers. (Their victims are often led to believe that a curse has been placed upon them and that it can be removed with a generous "donation.") While fortunetellers usually do only financial and emotional harm, belief in black magic has led to dozens of murders.

In Tanzania, East Africa, at least 50 albinos (people with a rare genetic disorder that leaves the skin, hair, and eyes without pigment) were murdered for their body parts last year, according to the Red Cross. An albino's arms, fingers, genitals, ears, and blood are highly prized on the black market, believed to contain magical powers. People with albinism anywhere often stand out because of their distinctive features; in a continent of dark-skinned Africans, albinos are often the subject of fear, hatred, and ridicule.

The belief and practice of using body parts for magical ritual or benefit is called muti. (Science fiction fans may recall that muti was featured in the hit South African film "District 9," in which the hero's body parts were sought after by a local warlord who believed that the limbs would give him magical powers. That horrific scene was based in fact, not the screenwriter's imagination.)

The muti murders are particularly brutal, with knives and machetes used to cut and hack off limbs, breasts, and other body parts from their screaming victims—including children. Many of the albinos were beheaded, their heads carefully collected and preserved as gruesome good luck charms or for use in rituals.
While many suspects have been arrested for carrying out the albino murders, so far the persons who commissioned the killings (or offered huge sums for human body parts) have not been arrested. Some believe that because belief in witchcraft and muti is so accepted and widespread in East Africa, police, politicians, and judges are hesitant to pursue the criminals too vigorously. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of African albinos live in fear of their lives, shunned and hated because of the color of their skin. To those who believe in science, albinism is merely a rare medical condition; to those who believe in witchcraft and magic, it is a reason to murder and mutilate the innocent.

From LiveScience

Image I've considered putting above my altar

As a huge fan of Frida Kahlo and because the image speaks so well to Wiccans, I may consider hanging this, amongst other things such as my familiar - the moth - above my altar, however it's also nice to keep a simple altar... what am I talking about, I love drama!

Frida was taught about the solar system in kindergarten and was so alarmed by the enormity of the solar system and its power that she pissed herself! An obliging girl in her class offered to give Frida her something to put over herself, and so keen to befriend Kahlo, she followed Frida home which only made her angrier over the situation. The girl annoyed Kahlo so much that Kahlo started strangling the girl until the girl's tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth and was only saved thanks to a postman walking by... and so started our mad artist!

Frida Kahlo

The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Diego, Me, and Senor Xolotl.

1949

Oil on canvas

69.8 x 60.6 cm

Private collection.

via ABC Gallery

The sound of planets singing

I'm technically challenged and can't get this particular kind of video up!

“This music was recorded by Voyager I and II as they crossed paths with Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. They weren’t captured with a microphone: Audible sound can’t travel through space, so Voyager was listening to the electromagnetic waves around the planets and moons. Waves produced by space phenomena, like the planet’s magnetospheres interacting with the Sun’s radiation.”

It makes for the most beautiful meditation music I've ever heard.

Listen to it by clicking here

Via Witch Child

The Goddess Sophia - 'Lady Wisdom' and Goddess of the occult

A bit of education for a change, considering how slack I've been!

I'll also have more on visualisation once I have my book of shadows back from my old house as I'm halfway from one place to the other to the other again.

Funnily enough, Sophia is not mentioned very often and sits on the fence between Christian and Pagan religions. Originally as a Gnostic goddess, the 'Lady of Divine Wisdom' takes her name from the Hebrew 'Hochma' or 'Wisdom.' In Greek, Sophia literally translates to 'Wisdom.' She appeared in 'The Wisdom of Solomon' by an Alexandrian Jew in approx 30BC, was present at creation and was God's bride... certainly not something which is well known as she is seen in the image below from the Sistine Chapel holding up God's arm and supporting his work. The Seal of Solomon itself is said to go back to the Bronze Age which is a part of Kabbalistic magickal tradition and has been used in Hermetics (alchemy), containing the Star of David.

The Seal of Solomon which contains a great deal of astrological and Hermetic symbols, including Ourobouros

She is venerated as the goddess of truth, wisdom and the occult mysteries... or apparently the occult mysteries according to Fiona Horne. She is depicted with a book in her left arm and a dove coming out of her heart. So how at the end of this can we connect her to the 'occult mysteries'? Is it because of her links to the book of Solomon which leads us to the Kabbalah and Hermetic traditions, or because she is so relatively unknown except for in Eastern Europe?

Another source leads us to some interesting information (via Northernway):

First, Sophia is developed from the context of modern life and real people, but in conversation with the historical and mythological. Second, the dark side is confronted through analysis of Sophia's "Other" faces, Lilith and Hecate, locating it as the source of individual power and knowledge. Third, it provides modern women with an image of female power that is not based solely on reproduction and mothering but on another aspect of the feminine archetype rarely discussed--the intelligence and cosmic power of the life force. Finally, it introduces the "path of crumbs" which encourages women to direct their own life through recognition of the guidance present in circumstances.

So perhaps she was another Goddess to be omitted from the majority of Western Christian tradition like Lillith? How and why she is linked to Hecate is unclear but certainly interesting.

Sophia and her three daughters: Faith, Hope and Love (other sources say they are 'Faith, Hope and Charity')

via Crystalinks

Mark Ryden's contemporary depiction in 'Sophia's Mercurial Waters'

The woman under God's arm is said to be Sophia (from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel)

via Ron's World

Alex Grey's interpreration of Sophia

Literary sources:

Crystalinks

The Encyclopedia of Spirits by Judika Illes

The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Witchy outfit of the day

From Victoria's Secret, 23rd of November 2009



Via The Age

Ye olde moon

via Bewitching

Flying witch seen in Mexico, February 2009 - Christian hoax?

Well, THIS is strange!

They even have members of the police talking about the 'humanoid creatures' as they got a close look at them... just wish they had the ability to draw or draw out a camera as quickly as they would do a gun!

It's certainly interesting. I expect that everyone will be sceptical, and of course we have to be, but with police eye witness accounts it does make you wonder what on earth they could have been...

A forum on the matter indicates that the cops were lying and that the 'flying object' was a remote helicopter with some cloth over it... but why would they lie? What kind of propaganda would that be? Mexico is a very Christian and Catholic country so perhaps this was a setup - but what for? To defame paganism? To make people fear witches?

Yes, I do feel gullible! I think a part of me actually wanted to believe that there were ancient, preternatural creatures flying around which were their own species to compare against the New Age Witch... two worlds colliding! What a thought!

I'm sick to death of paranormal videos which are blurry as hell - you can't see anything! How is it that with such good technology of late, so many people can't get it right? And they're not even making any money out of it because all of this stuff ends up on youtube or sites dedicated to the paranormal... why am I so gullible?!

Click here to see the video - I couldn't get it on here.

Green renters

Aah finally something for someone like me wanting to do something from a rental property:

http://greenrenters.org/

Connect with the environment

Okay, so we need to have something which is actually educational on here. Whilst the woman in the previous article I blasted was not necessarily the worst, most pitiful ambassador for the practice of Wicca she did bring up one very important issue: the environment.

If you're wanting to make a difference, please do some further reading and become proactive about climate change.

One million women
This website is aimed towards Australian women, however why not still join? It aims to help calculate the amount of carbon emissions you make per year so that you can reduce it by one tonne - the aim is to get 1 million women involved to bring down 1 million tonnes of carbon emissions. So far the campaign has 11,083 women behind it and we need more!

Green magazine - free pdf files
The Australian Greens Party releases their own publication, keeping readers informed about climate change and policy implementation to tackle carbon emissions head on.

One million women - Climate Change FAQs
This provides you with the background on the history of climate change and why we need to proactively contribute to cutting it back NOW