Stand Up Against SOPA - PIPA Legislation

כ״ג בטבת תשע"ב
Grael 26



In the U.S., click here and type in your zip code to find your representatives to let them know that you oppose SOPA, PIPA and other similar types of legislation.

Bath & Body Works Boycott

כ"א ברמחשון תש"ע
Phasma Priscus 22

Every year for the past six years of her eight years of employment with Bath & Body Works, Wiccan Gina Uberti would take her vacation the week of Samhain and head for holiday celebrations in Salem, Massachusetts - a vacation already approved for nearly a year prior to the incident where she was fired for being Wiccan. In 2008, a new manager fired her, allegedly stating that she "will be damned if I have a devil-worshipper on my team."

Read the full article here.

A Jewish Reverend Muthee

י"ב טבת תשס"ט
Grael 13

Like Reverend Thomas Muthee, who anointed Sarah Palin in an effort to "protect her from the spirit of witchcraft", a similar malefic magic has been conducted by the ringmasters of the Jewish Webring at webring.

Tamari, the ringmistress of webring's Jewish Webring has denied and deleted my Torah commentary site - Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - telling me with feigned sweetness regarding my site and it's Torah commentary:

Hi. I looked over your site and though I find it interesting, I am sorry, but, I don't think it's appropriate to this ring. The Torah speaks of hope and light, not darkness.

And more ...

I am sorry, but I had to delete your site from the Jewish Webring due the fact that the subject matter is not appropriate for this ring.

Thank you for understanding,

And more (when calling her on her ignorance of Torah, as her belief as written as the excuse for excluding Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee is that Torah excludes the essential holiness of darkness) ...

The "Jewitch" is obviously very ignorant about being Jewish.

Ah, witches are the last group who can still be hated, abused and burnt to death (yes, even now) without any social repercussions at all by the mainstream. Even DovBear has begun moderating my comments, although he claims to be moderating everybody's comments.

So, all my witchy friends, do we understand?

Tamari, I think we do not understand. the way you would like us to understand. We do understand you to be a bigot and completely ignorant of both witchcraft and Torah.

Saudi Woman To Be Executed For Witchcraft

י'א באדר א' תשס"ח
Keolwulf 12

May they be cursed by the Divine Feminine force should this despicable miscarriage of justice result in this woman's death. May Abdullah be worthy of his country's crown and extend mercy to this woman.

Pleas for condemned Saudi 'witch'
By Heba Saleh
BBC News

Human Rights Watch has appealed to Saudi Arabia to halt the execution of a woman convicted of witchcraft.

In a letter to King Abdullah, the rights group described the trial and conviction of Fawza Falih as a miscarriage of justice.

The illiterate woman was detained by religious police in 2005 and allegedly beaten and forced to fingerprint a confession that she could not read.

Among her accusers was a man who alleged she made him impotent.

The US-based group is asking the Saudi ruler to void Ms Falih's conviction and to bring charges against the religious police who detained her and are alleged to have mistreated her.

Its letter to King Abdullah says the woman was tried for the undefined crime of witchcraft and that her conviction was on the basis of the written statements of witnesses who said that she had bewitched them.

Human Rights Watch said that Ms Falih had exhausted all her chances of appealing against her death sentence and she could only now be saved if King Abdullah intervened.

Read the entire article at link above.

Local Witches Should Convert Or Get Out Of Town

י'ו בחשון תשס"ח

From The Chicago Tribune:

Community on edge after Wiccans arrive
By Megan Twohey Tribune staff reporter
11:49 PM CDT, October 27, 2007

ROSSVILLE, Ill. — Things were already going downhill in this small farming community when the witches arrived.

Area factories had shut down. So had the local high school. A suspicious fire had gutted much of the downtown. The use of methamphetamine was destroying families.

So when a group of Wiccans from out of town moved into a storefront this summer and erected a sign advertising "Witch School," it was only a matter of time before alarm bells sounded and tempers started to boil in this village of 1,200, about 125 miles south of Chicago near the Indiana border.

"Remember the Salem witch trials?" resident Adam Marganski said. "That's what is happening here."

After percolating behind the scenes, anger erupted into public action last weekend when several churches canvassed the community with literature blasting the witches and organized a meeting to plan further steps.

In a town that sometimes feels closer to the Bible Belt than to the city, churches had been holding weekly prayer sessions for months in hopes of driving the outsiders away. They also had erected a billboard denouncing Wiccan beliefs, proclaiming, "Worship the Creator not Creation."

Fueling their sense of urgency was a ball held by the Wiccans last weekend to celebrate Samhain, their new year's festival, which falls on Halloween.

As more than 150 people filed into the shuttered high school Wednesday night for the meeting, Andy Thomas, youth minister at the Rossville Church of Christ, said residents had a spiritual responsibility to drive the witches out. If they didn't, he said, young people were in danger of being pulled off the Christian path.

At first, Rossville offered a warmer reception. The mayor said publicly they were welcome to do business downtown.

But some churches and residents were upset to see their village portrayed as witch-friendly. They feared the school could corrupt their children.

"We don't want them to go in there and get potions to put hexes on their friends," said Deb Robling, co-owner of a beauty salon on Chicago Street. Robling, also one of Rossville Church of Christ's 230 members, helped organize Wednesday night's meeting.

The high school brimmed with excitement as night fell and old and young filed into the gym.

But when Robert Kurka, the featured speaker, stepped to the lectern, an unexpected thing happened. Instead of leading a pep rally against the witches, the professor at Lincoln Christian College and Seminary delivered an academic lecture comparing Wicca and Christianity.

Kurka encouraged the crowd to try to convert the Wiccans rather than drive them away.

In other words, there are only two options the way the town sees it - the witches must be converted or be forced out of town.

Aren't there supposed to be laws against this kind of harrassment? Apparently, the laws of this country and the will of it's legal system are impotent to protect witches. First, Hoopeston. Now Rossville. A witch is just not safe around these parts from the hexes of the zealots.

read the full article at link above

Hate Crime

(Pictured) The Halloween display in question.

ב' בחשון תשס"ח

Jason of The Wild Hunt Blog asks the question about a case in Massachusetts, home to the infamous Salem witch trials:

Hate Crime?

Is displaying a gallows-hung witch in Massachusetts a religious hate crime? That is the accusation by Kelly Lynch towards a home-owner in Chicopee. According to Lynch, the display is a personal offense to religious Witchcraft and not an innocent Halloween display.

The Chicopee witch explains:

To many, it's an innocent Halloween decoration, but for Kelly Lynch it's offensive.

That's why when she saw the life-like witch hanging in someones front yard she went straight to the home owner's door.

"He told me to lighten up, it was a Halloween decoration, I know it's his constitutional right, but I want it down. To make that your only decoration...it's kind of odd, " stresses Lynch.

But the owner will do no such thing. His neighbor says he has every intention of keeping it up.

It's offensive to me as well. More importantly, the homeowner is engaging in a hate crime.

Leaving the witch hanging, now that it has been directly and unequivocably brought to the homeowner's attention that it is hateful and intimidating to witches, brings to light the maliciousness hidden in the original intent.

I think the homeowner would like to string you up Kelly, in the place of his Halloween decoration.

Students Teaching Tolerance

ג' בתשרי תשס"ח

Florida Today reports and teaches us about sanctifying the Divine Name:

Students challenge ban on Gothic
School board policy prohibits such clothing
BY MEGAN DOWNS
FLORIDA TODAY, September 14, 2007

Fifteen-year-old Amaris Mulhauser prepared for school Thursday morning using a thick-black eyeliner to draw tear streaks dripping down her cheeks.

A few hours later, she was pulled out of her Rockledge High English class and told to go home -- the second time this week -- for wearing the Gothic makeup that administrators had warned her to remove.

Amaris is one of about 30 students trying to change the district's dress code policy, which they believe is outdated and curtails their freedom of expression. The students went before the school board this week to argue their case.

Federal courts have been debating student speech and expression rights for years as school officials around the country struggle to balance the expectation of a safe learning environment with students' rights.

Brevard Public Schools' dress code policy specifically prohibits Gothic-style clothing or accessories, citing that such gear is tied to "violent or death oriented themes."

Read full article at link above.

ל This article excerpt is posted in support of the "30" students challenging the ban and is dedicated in honor of Tempest Kayne Smith. May her memory be a blessing. ל

Over 8 Million Strong In America

י"ג באב תשס"ז

From The Wild Hunt, on voters in America as Jason wonders which presidential candidates will denounce the protestors who called the first Hindu to give an opening prayer in the U.S. Senate an abomination:

There are over eight million "others" in America now, including a million modern Pagans, approximately two million Hindus, close to four million Buddhists, hundreds of thousands of Native American practitioners, 60,000 Taoists, and close to a million Santerians.

Perspectives On Jewish Witchcraft

י"ח באייר תשס"ז

Dov comments on Real Witchcraft:

I think that Jewish perspectives on witchcraft are more complex than any one commentary's opinion, since Rambam and Ramban give very different explanations that reflect very different understandings of the spiritual universe.

That said, it's not necessarily prohibited to read books about people doing things that Jews are prohibited from doing. We can enjoy the books and learn lessons from them even if it would be prohibited for us to engage in the same magic ourselves.

As Dov writes, Jewish perspectives on witchcraft are complex and not unitarily understood. Witchcraft itself is complex and not a homogenous method of practice. There are many ways to be a witch and to practice witchcraft. While some of those ways may be prohibited to Jews, I don't accept that all of them are necessarily prohibited to Jews.

From what Dov writes, I gather that he accepts as prohibited whatever his rabbi tells him is prohibited. I don't. While advice I may consider, the final decision on what I do and how I practice is mine and mine alone.

I am a Jewish witch and I intend to remain one. Importantly, my witchcraft practice is neither prohibited by Torah nor idolatrous. I reject the designations of closed minds against me.

Technorati tags: Torah Talmud Torah Judaism Kabbalah jewish mysticism mysticism jewish meditation meditation shamanism kabbalah iyunit kabbalah maasit witchcraft jewitchery jewitch witch sacred feminine divine feminine shechinah lilith spiritual development spirituality kosher spirituality

Islamic Jihad Uses "Jerusalem" To Make War

י"ח באייר תשס"ז

Clearly, this not a sacred use of Jerusalem. Is making war how Islamic Jihad envisions a future use of Jerusalem? To make war and to cause death and destruction? This is indeed the message the marked missile sends to me. JPost reports today:

A 24-year-old Israeli was moderately wounded by shrapnel and a number of other people were reportedly in shock after a Kassam rocket landed near Sapir College outside Sderot on Sunday afternoon.

The rocket, marked in Hebrew "Quds" ("Jerusalem" in Arabic), struck a gas station in Sha'ar Hanegev, and caused damage. The wounded youth was evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

A total of five Kassams have been fired at Israel since Sunday morning.

Read full article at link above.

Shlomo Wollins of IsraelReporter (via Mystical Paths) reports 9 kassams fired into Sderot since Friday.

Technorati tags: terrorism Islamic Jihad Jerusalem Israel social justice Sderot news

Justice, Goodness, Modesty

י"ח באייר תשס"ז

Nava at Dreaming Of Moshiach, The Secret Symbols Of The Dollar Bill, writes:

Take a moment, pull out a one-dollar bill and look at the back. Is it possible that the secret symbols of the American ONE dollar bill is about the Jews, from Egypt till Redemption?

It's about oppression and redemption from oppression, a universally applicable prototypical and archetypal story present within the ancient Hebrew story of the Exodus.

Do justice, love goodness and walk modestly (Micah 6:8).

Technorati tags: Torah exodus redemption geulah social justice dollar bill unity

The Superintendent Speaks

More follow-up to previous entries (here and here and here).

Hanover student sent home again
Thursday, May 3, 2007 12:45 AM CDT

BY CARMEN McCOLLUM
cmccollum@nwitimes.com

CEDAR LAKE For the second day in a row, a Hanover Central High School freshman came to school with pagan symbols sketched on her face and was sent home by school officials.

Hanover Superintendent Michael Livovich said the symbols on the girl's face are disruptive to the educational process, and she will be sent home each day if she refuses to wash them off.

(The teen's father said) they told us she could come to school not wearing it tomorrow or not return to school until after the holiday is over," he said. "Education is very important. We asked if she could wear a necklace. (The superintendent, et al) they said that was OK as long as no one complained about it."

Does this mean that if the harrassed pagan teen complains (barring any fear of being beaten to a pulp by the bullies the school wouldn't protect her from in the past), that all the Christians at the school must likewise remove their crosses?

Technorati tags: druids witches discrimination injustice intolerance hanover crusaders witch hunt

Necessary Limits

י"ז באייר תשס"ז

More follow-up to previous entries (here and here) regarding the pagan Hanover Central High School girl in Cedar Lake, Indiana who was sent home Tuesday for wearing a pentagram in celebration of Beltane - the father discusses here why his daughter was wearing a pentagram on her face instead of *just wearing* a pentagram necklace:

I do need to explain my daughters action on painting the pentagram on her face. She has had necklaces taken from her by faculty, she has had other students rip them right off her neck. She said if it's painted on my skin, they can not take it away from me. Logical I think.

Last year she was being abused by a male student who was snapping her with industral rubber bands, this student also jumped on her back and in frustration she yelled at him to get the F off of her, she was suspended while the other student who had caused harm to her was not, we submitted a video tape of the welts and bruises cause by the other student and still no action was taken. Even though pagans are a peaceful and quiet people, we do have our limits on how much we are gonna take.

Technorati tags: druids witches discrimination injustice intolerance hanover crusaders witch hunt

Entirely Different

י"ז באייר תשס"ז

In follow-up to a previous entry regarding the pagan Hanover Central High School girl in Cedar Lake, Indiana who was sent home Tuesday for wearing a pentagram in celebration of Beltane:

The pentagram in question was only approximately the size of a quarter and was worn on the teen's upper cheek below her eye. So what was the reason for sending the teen home for wearing such a faithful display of her religion? "They told her it was too distracting," (her father) Pencenke said. But, "they don't send kids home on Ash Wednesday," Pencenke pointed out.

As to why the school allows students to attend school with ash on their foreheads for Ash Wednesday, (School Superintendent Michael) Livovich (Jr.) claimed that the situation was entirely different.

Read full article Religious Discrimination In Schools? by Miss Faith.

UPDATE: The father discusses here why his daughter was wearing a pentagram on her face instead of *just wearing* a pentagram necklace:

I do need to explain my daughters action on painting the pentagram on her face. She has had necklaces taken from her by facaulty, she has had other students rip them right off her neck. She said if its painted on my skin they can not take it away from me. Logical I think.

Last year she was being abused by a male student who was snapping her with industral rubber bands, this student also jumped on her back and in frustration she yelled at him to get the F off of her, she was suspended while the other student that had caused harm to her was not, we submited a video tape of the welts and bruises cause by the other student and still no action was taken. Even though pagans are a peaceful and quiet people, we do have our limits on how much we are gonna take.

Technorati tags: druids witches discrimination injustice intolerance hanover crusaders witch hunt

Witches' Purim - Old Story, New Spin

י"ג באייר תשס"ז

A new spin to an old story. Esther 4:13-14 on modern day witch hunts. It is a Jewish issue.

Then Esther bade them to return answer unto Mordechai: 'Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the witches.

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the witches from another place, but thou and thy father's house will perish; and who knoweth whether thou art not come to royal estate for such a time as this?'

Technorati tags: psychics discrimination injustice intolerance philadelphia crusaders witch hunt purim

Crusaders Shut Down Psychics In Philadelphia

The days of the witch hunts have returned.

Jason @ The Wild Hunt reports:

An obscure and unused law against professional fortune-telling in Philadelphia has been revived, and as a result several businesses have already been shut down.

It seems the Department of Licenses and Inspections was alerted to the law by the local police department, but it remains to be known why this law was suddenly enforced now and not in the past thirty years. Quotas? Disgruntled customer(s) who looked up the law and complained to the police? Christian crusaders on and off the police force? What is clear is that the Deputy L&I Commissioner Dominic E. Verdi has a very clear idea of who he is shutting down.

"Inspectors are not imposing fines, and police are not making arrests, Verdi said, "but they will if these people try to return to work."

Battles over psychic bans are very much a part of our history, from Z. Budapest's historic arrest in California, to the recent victory in overturning North Carolina's fortune-telling laws. Such laws against fortune-telling are often a warning sign that the "moral" local government is wanting to crack down on the "occult element" (and have been fought for just that reason). Anti-psychic laws, while popular with moral crusaders in some areas blatantly violate our Constitutional rights.

Read the full article here.

Technorati tags: psychics discrimination injustice intolerance philadelphia crusaders witch hunt

Active Policy Of Discrimination Covered Up

ז' באייר תשס"ז

Documents demonstrating an active policy of bias and discrimination against witches may have been covered up by the settlement which will allow the pentacle to be placed on Wiccan veteran memorials. The Wildhunt reports, Dan Pulliam discusses the case for Get Religion:

...unfortunately, the story has been swept up by politics when it is not clear that it was directly related to politics ... There seems to be good second-hand evidence that the VA's decision [to stall approval of the pentacle for over nine years despite the approvals of at least 6 other religious symbols within that same time] was indeed influenced by statements made by President Bush. But the terms of the settlement with the VA kept those documents from coming out. Call me a skeptic (because I am about most things), but as a reporter I would not be satisfied with that (as) an answer.

As a layperson, I am not satified that evidence for an active policy of bias and discrimination has been covered up either.

Technorati tags: discrimination religious discrimination intolerance religious intolerance bigotry VA pentacle lawsuit social justice conspiracy of coverup

Shameless Discrimination Drives Witches From Town

ז' באייר תשס"ז

An observation in follow up to my previous post, Local Churches Rallied Against Witch School - what is striking about the entire matter is just how shamelessly the opposition to Witch School drives witches out of town. Reading statements reported in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, where the statements are no doubt the tip of an iceberg, it is clear that the Witch School opposition itself has no significant opposition to check its active discriminatory bias against witches and by extension, against those it deems religiously unworthy by a particular Christian definition to exist or flourish within the community. As one resident, Kendra Smiley (author, speaker and member of the East Lynn United Methodist Church) puts it so bluntly:

"It's not the kind of influence we want in our community."

Clearly, not only does the community not want witches in its community, it also feels clearly no shame in telling us that.

None of this is new to me as a resident of this rural area who has also been actively discriminated against for over a decade. As a poor Jewish woman on the fringes of the community without community support, I was allowed to work every Sunday taking care of the area's poor elderly at the county nursing facility. This is the only job I was able to get despite having 7 years of college education (with both a professional nursing license and a science degree from the University of Illinois) and award-winning research work in my employment history (testifying to my intellectual abilities and critical thinking skills). Two weeks after I publically "came out" as a Jewitch and wore a small pentacle necklace to work in support of community witches, since I am a Jewitch after all, like the Christian nurses wore their crosses and crucifixes, I was no longer allowed to do even this and was fired from my job.

The shameless discriminatory practices of this area are scary. What is even scarier is that there is absolutely no significant opposition to the discriminatory practices endemic to this area. Not even from local Jews - except for the pentacle I wore and the marginalized words I write as a Jewitch - there is no other local Jewish voice protesting this that I can hear. I've been listening for over a decade too.

I shudder at the silence.

Technorati tags: discrimination religious discrimination intolerance religious intolerance bigotry east central illinois witch school social justice

Local Churches Rallied Against Witch School

Opponents glad Wiccan school leaving Hoopeston
By Tracy Moss
The News-Gazette
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 6:44 AM CDT

HOOPESTON – Some in the Hoopeston area are glad to see the Witch School leave town, while some don't have a strong opinion either way.

According to Ed Hubbard, who helped bring the Witch School to Hoopeston about four years ago, he has sold the school to new owners, and they will be headquartering the mostly online entity elsewhere.

The school, which specializes in peer-to-peer training in Wicca and magick, according to Hubbard, generated controversy when it first chose Hoopeston as its new home in 2003. Some of the strongest opponents were local churches.

"To me, it's an answer to the prayers given," said Kendra Smiley, an author and speaker, who is a member of the East Lynn United Methodist Church, which had led some gatherings to specifically pray about the witch school. "It's not the kind of influence we want in our community."

The First Baptist Church at 323 E. Seminary St. in Hoopeston also came out against the witch school from the beginning.

Pastor Steven Nelson said the church's stand has not changed, and if the school truly is leaving Hoopeston, the church is pleased.

The school's leaving, but Hubbard wants to stay in Hoopeston. He has already launched a new business, Illiana Web, which provides wireless Internet access to rural areas, in a different downtown Hoopeston building. He's invested about $20,000 in the venture, but he said he's not sure the community realizes that this business has nothing to do with his Wiccan beliefs or the Witch School.

Hubbard said he thinks Hoopeston, with its industrial base, affordable business climate and rural location, is great place for his wireless business to grow, spreading affordable wireless Internet service to other rural areas in East Central Illinois.

"There's a desperate need for it," said Hubbard, who added that Illiana Web employs a Lutheran and a Baptist and has a Jewish investor, too.

Read full article at link above.

Thought experiment: Now, within the text of the article, substitute "yeshivah" for every mention of "witch school".

When they came for the witches I did nothing, because I was not a witch ...

Technorati tags: discrimination religious discrimination intolerance religious intolerance bigotry east central illinois witch school social justice

Pentacle To Be Approved By VA

After a nine year struggle, a victory for justice and witches of all kinds.

Bush Administration Agrees To Approve Wiccan Pentacle For Veteran Memorials
Monday, April 23, 2007

Settlement In Americans United Lawsuit Comes After Discovery Of A Pattern Of Bias Against Minority Faith

The Bush administration has conceded that Wiccans are entitled to have the pentacle, the symbol of their faith, inscribed on government-issued memorial markers for deceased veterans, Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced today.

The settlement agreement, filed today with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, brings to a successful conclusion a lawsuit Americans United brought against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in November.

The litigation charged that denying a pentacle to deceased Wiccan service personnel, while granting religious symbols to those of other traditions, violated the U.S. Constitution.

“This settlement has forced the Bush Administration into acknowledging that there are no second class religions in America, including among our nation’s veterans,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “It is a proud day for religious freedom in the United States.”

Read full article at link above.

Hat-tip to Witchvox for article.

Technorati tags: pentacle social justice justice VA religious tolerance witchcraft social issues americans united lawsuit veteran memorials