The Witches Digest

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is suing a company that sells voodoo dolls in his image along with pins to stick in them and a satirical biography, court officials said Thursday.

The same company also sells a similar kit with a doll resembling Socialist standard-bearer Segolene Royal, whom Sarkozy beat in last year’s presidential election. The Sarkozy and Royal dolls have slogans and quotes from the politicians printed on various parts of their bodies. They have been on sale since the start of the month and at 13 euros (17 dollars) apiece. Sarkozy’s lawyer, arguing that the president had the exclusive right to his image, had earlier called on the makers to withdraw the dolls from sale, but the company refused to do so.

Technorati Tags: sarkozy, voodoo

Hong Kong may be known as the Pearl of the Orient for its bright-light, big-city allure, but the ubiquitous practice of keeping neon signs and buildings blazing all night has come under growing fire from green groups.

One of the world’s most densely built-up and populated metropolises, Hong Kong is also one of the most brightly lit.

From bustling streets bathed in an array of neon signs to gargantuan spotlight-strewn advertising hoardings to massed light-specked skyscrapers twinkling off the waters of Victoria harbor at night, the glow over the sleepless city makes it difficult to glimpse stars in the night sky.

In an era of growing green consciousness and global warming fears, environmentalists are increasingly critical of this ostentatious display, calling it as unnecessary and wasteful.

“The trend is getting worse and worse,” said Hahn Chu, the environmental affairs manager for Friends of the Earth: “Hong Kong always thinks the brighter things are, the more prosperous we seem, but people often forget that we’re wasting energy.”

While Hong Kong doesn’t have compulsory measures for lights out, a recent public opinion poll on energy conservation by the Council for Sustainable Development found 71 percent of over 80,000 people backed turning off neon lights in the small hours.

In 2008, the city’s environmental protection department received some 50 complaints about light pollution, up from the 40 cases received in 2007, with neon signs posing a growing nuisance for the public.

“FLAMBOYANT WASTAGE”

A massive neon sign advertising luxury brand Prada was found to be one of the worst offenders in an online poll, spilling intense white light onto a near-deserted Central street until till 5 a.m. every day.

“This is flamboyant wastage and creates light pollution,” one respondent was quoted as saying.

A spokesperson for Prada in Hong Kong said it had noted the concern, was “actively seeking a solution and we will reduce the lighting,” she added without giving specifics.

In an initiative named “Dim It Please,” Friends of the Earth called on retailers and building owners to set a lights-off time after business hours to conserve energy and reduce emissions.

The group says Hong Kong’s electricity consumption grew 18 percent between 1997-2006, outpacing local population growth of 5.9 percent in the same period.

Light pollution however, is by no means unique to Hong Kong.

NASA photographs of global “artificial night sky brightness” display a conspicuous “luminous fog” around much of Western Europe and North America as well much of Japan, Taiwan, while Hong Kong shows up as a bright spot in the southern China region.

Global experts say light pollution has become so pronounced that two thirds of the U.S. population and about half the EU are no longer able to see the Milky Way with the naked eye.

Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang seems to be seeing the light.

In his annual policy address last week he said the government would “assess the problem of energy wastage of external lighting and study the feasibility of tackling the problem through legislation.”

Technorati Tags: global warming, green consciousness, light pollution

Two U.S. fighter planes were scrambled and ordered to shoot down an unidentified flying object (UFO) over the English countryside during the Cold War, according to secret files made public on Monday.

One pilot said he was seconds away from firing 24 rockets at the object, which moved erratically and gave a radar reading like “a flying aircraft carrier.”

The pilot, Milton Torres, now 77 and living in Miami, said it spent periods motionless in the sky before reaching estimated speeds of more than 7,600 mph (12,000 kph).

After the alert, a shadowy figure told Torres he must never talk about the incident and he duly kept silent for more than 30 years.

His story was among dozens of UFO sightings in defence ministry files released at the National Archives in London.

In a written account, Torres described how he scrambled his F-86 D Sabre jet in calm weather from the Royal Air Force base at Manston, Kent in May 1957.

“I was only a lieutenant and very much aware of the gravity of the situation. I felt very much like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest,” he said.

“The order came to fire a salvo of rockets at the UFO. The authentication was valid and I selected 24 rockets.

“I had a lock-on that had the proportions of a flying aircraft carrier,” he added. “The larger the airplane, the easier the lock-on. This blip almost locked itself.”

At the last moment, the object disappeared from the radar screen and the high-speed chase was called off.

He returned to base and was debriefed the next day by an unnamed man who “looked like a well-dressed IBM salesman.”

“He threatened me with a national security breach if I breathed a word about it to anyone,” he said.

The documents contain no official explanation for the incident, which came at a time of heightened tension between the West and the Soviet Union. Planes were on constant stand-by at British bases for a possible Soviet attack.

The files blame other UFO sightings on weather balloons, clouds or normal aircraft. Torres said he had been waiting 50 years for an explanation.

“I shall never forget it,” he told the Times. “On that night I was ordered to open fire even before I had taken off. That had never happened before.”

UFO expert David Clarke said the sighting may have been part of a secret U.S. project to create phantom aircraft on radar screens to test Soviet air defences.

“Perhaps what this pilot had seen was some kind of experiment in electronic warfare or maybe it was a UFO,” he said. “Something very unusual happened.”

The files are online at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos

Technorati Tags: classified files, national archive, secret project, top secret, ufo, ufo expert

Sitting in the coffee shop with her friends, Diana found herself
distracted by a low humming.
It seemed to be coming from
everywhere at once, and tugged at her senses so strongly it almost felt physical.
“We ready to go then?”
She was jolted away from her
contemplations by an elbow in her side, and hurried to follow the other girls to the till with their bill.

As they left the mall and its artificially cooled aisles behind, the noise  louder - beckoning her down a small shadowed street.

“Guys, let’s go this way,” she smiled at her companions and started
walking, sure they’d follow her if she didn’t stop to explain.

The side street was less crowded than the main walkway, and she found herself looking curiously at dozens of small shops she’d never even realised existed.

“Where are we going?” one of her friend’s caught her elbow and tugged, “There’s nothing down here - just a creepy little hippy shop.”

“Just… hold on,” freeing her arm, Diana approached the ‘creepy little hippy shop’ - a tingle of something like electric and excitement joining the hum in the back of her mind,
“I want to see what’s in here.”

With mutters and rolled eyes, her friends agreed and they all trooped inside the small building.

The air was rich with blended scents of incense, curls of white smoke
whispering out of the nose of a haughty clay dragon on the tall counter at the rear of the shop.

The humming grew louder as she approached a tall basket, filled to the brim with shimmering crystals and shining gems. Digging her hand down, she gasped as her fingertips grazed a delicate purple stone, her head filling with warmth and song.

“Looks like that one called to you.” a kindly looking woman appeared at her shoulder.

“Diana,” her friends were looking vaguely irritable, “Are you going to be long?”

“Just let me get this,” she handed her prize to the woman and dug in her shoulder bag for her wallet, ignoring the sceptical comments and moans from the group.

Happy with her purchase, she allowed herself to be pulled out of the shop - turning a deaf ear to the insults and ignorant remarks made about the shop and its owner.

Later that evening, she returned home and sat with the crystal in front of her - studying it under the light as she turned it this way and that.

The colours seemed to intensify and she found herself drawn inside, a whole world of colours and sounds opening out before her - space and time flaring out to show her the stone’s birth and formation deep in the heart of the planet.

She sat for hours, entranced by the knowledge flowing into her, and fell asleep with the crystal clutched firmly in her hand.

Her dreams were peaceful and calm that evening, and when she awoke she felt a level of peace that she couldn’t remember feeling before.

Booting up her computer, she typed in the properties of her stone and found its name - Amethyst, a stone of a Goddess whose name she shared.

Feeling a little awed by the
connection she felt, she smiled and set the stone aside on her dresser - determined to find other calling
crystals with it, her own secret little world away from everyone and their expectations - a welcome relief and refuge just for herself.

© Marie Flitton 2008

  From the Witches Digest Litha 2008 
 

Technorati Tags: pagan stories, pagan story, short story

The wreath was originally worn during religious rites in ancient Persia. The Greeks called them a ‘diadem’, meaning bound around. Wreath comes from the old English ‘writhen’, meaning to twist or writhe. Wreathes were first made by twisting evergreen branches into a circlets, and the Greeks and Romans placed laurel leaf wreathes on the heads of Olympic athletes, and olive branches on brave warriors.

Gather a bundle of long grass. If the grass is too dry to shape into a circle wet it down before shaping it and binding it with fishing line, twine or floral wire.

Bind small bunches of flowers together using floral wire. Leave some of the larger  flowers separate.

Randomly secure the bunches of flowers and the single ones to the grass wreath.

Complete the wreath by winding ribbon in soft curls throughout the flowers.

Choose from the following Summer Flowers:

Bay Laurel
Daisies
Dogwood
Ferns
Hydrangea

Ivy
Larkspur
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Lemon Leaves
Mint
Poppies
Roses—Pink
Roses—Yellow
Straw
Sunflowers
Valerian
Vines
Willow
Yarrow
Zinnia

 From the WItches Digest Litha 2008

Technorati Tags: craft ideas, diadem, floral wreath

I truly believe that I chose somewhere in the Ether to be born into an Episcopalian family.  So, I grew up practicing Christian ways like the rest of my dogmatic family.  Maybe I signed up for that tour of duty to understand contrast and what I really didn’t want out of life in this dimension.  For
whatever reason, I was submitted to servitude in the church every Sunday with the rest of my family as I heard snooze-inducing sermons from the
pulpit reigning down in sheets of hypocrisy. 
Needless to say, without grousing about too much more on the subject, the male-dominated bent wasn’t to my taste.  I got nauseated hearing about the Father/Son relationship all the time…where was the Mother/Daughter pray tell?  My Mother and Father weren’t concerned as much at the time with the religious aspects, however, as they were about whom they were impressing in their societal circle in the Reception Hall after the church service had ended.  It was only later they had personal
spiritual revelations and assumed they all had to be Christian because theirs had been.  But that’s another story. 

When I moved out on my own years later, I realized I was free to practice whatever my heart truly desired.  For me, it was HedgeCraft.  I love being solitary most of the time and I love living at the edge of a spinney; this wonderful lifestyle has suited my needs quite well.  However, I am aware that my Path can very well change, and I’m open to new adventures, too! 
Hedgewitchery is thought by many to be a
Neo-Pagan path of sorts at this point, so I jokingly referred to myself as an “EpiscoPagan” at one time.  Practicing HedgeCraft I feel is very spiritual because I can feel the interconnectedness of all things through astral projection, etc. 
Since everything is energy, it’s interesting to be able to tap into other forms vibrating at different frequencies.  Later on, I realized that I was able to manipulate some types of energy.  In the Giver arena, I’m certified in Reiki (Usui).  In the Taker arena, I could be called a Solitary Psychic
Vampyre.  They are both energy workers on both sides of the spectrum, so to speak.   

When the debate began about whether it was best to be spiritual or religious, I’ll admit I was
decidedly on the Spiritual Bandwagon, forsaking my former Religious Roots.  I liked calling myself Nonsectarian.  Yet, I was kind of deluding myself because I realized that I was still calling on my own modified HedgeCraft ritual when I really wanted something to manifest in this physical dimension. 

Eventually, it occurred to me that that kind of “Either Religion Or Spirituality” kind of thinking was really fallacious.  It was illogical and seemed to be a kind of One-Way-Mentality upon further examination.  Why couldn’t I have both in my life?  The answer is:  I could and I have!!  Just like I’m free to follow any Paths I feel like
following.  What serves me today may or may not serve me tomorrow, so I hope I’m always flexible enough to honor that and not remain stuck
because of fear, etc.  Like Ralph Waldo Emerson said well over a century ago, “People do not grow old.  When they cease to grow, they become old.”

G L Giles is an ‘Indie Author’ success story.

She also writes a Book Review column for the Psychic Times called the G L Giles Files.

Her books can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Booksamillion.com

From Witches Digest Litha 2008 

Technorati Tags: pagan, religious, spiritual, spirituality, wicca

The number of tiger attacks on people is growing in India’s Sundarban islands as habitat loss and dwindling prey caused by climate change drives them to prowl into villages for food, experts said Monday.

Wildlife experts say endangered tigers in the world’s largest reserve are turning on humans because rising sea levels and coastal erosion are steadily shrinking the tigers’ natural habitat.

The Sundarbans, a 26,000 sq km (10,000 sq mile) area of low-lying swamps on India’s border with Bangladesh, is dotted with hundreds of small islands criss-crossed by water channels.

“In the past six months, seven fishermen were killed in an area called Netidhopani,” Pranabes Sanyal of the World Conservation Union said.

“Owing to global warming, the fragile Sundarbans lost 28 percent of its habitat in the last 40 years. A part of it is the core tiger reserve area from where their prey migrated.”

But as sea levels rise, two islands have already disappeared and others are vulnerable. Wildlife experts say the destruction of the mangroves means the tigers’ most common prey, such as crocodiles, fish and big crabs, is dwindling.

Sundarban villagers pass through tiger territory on boats to fish in the sea, or to collect honey in forest areas.

“Villagers are not supposed to enter a number of islands earmarked as tiger territories, but they seldom follow the rules, get attacked and claim compensation,” Pradip Shukla, a senior forest department official, told Reuters.

Villager Ashutosh Dhali became a local celebrity after television cameras captured him being attacked in February.

“We were trying to catch the tiger perched on a tree of our village with tranquilizer shots,” said the 47-year-old villager.

“But it flung on me after falling on a net and bit my loins.”

Once home to 500 tigers in the late 1960s, the Sundarbans may only shelter between 250 and 270 tigers now, wildlife officials say. The Indian Statistical Institute said the number is as low as 75.

Most tigers have been wiped out due to poaching and habitat loss. Authorities said a tiger was killed by poachers in the Sundarbans earlier this month, the latest such killing in India.

The area is the world’s largest mangrove reserve and one of the most unique ecosystems in South Asia, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ullas Karanth, of the Wildlife Conservation Society India, says that the Sundarbans are a poor quality tiger habitat because of low prey densities.

“The tendency to seek alternate prey in the form of livestock — and sometimes humans — might be higher in these tigers,” Karanth said.

As sea levels rise, mangroves have been overexposed to salt water. Many plants have lost their red and green colors and are more like bare twigs, exposing tigers to poachers who hunt them for their skin and bones.

There were about 40,000 tigers in India a century ago. A government census report published this year says the tiger population has fallen to 1,411, down from 3,642 in 2002, largely due to dwindling habitat and poaching.

Technorati Tags: global warming, tiger attacks

In the past two and a half thousand years, the temples of the Acropolis have suffered fire, bombing and earthquake. Now, scientists are trying to save them from a new modern enemy: pollution.

Standing on a hilltop at the centre of Athens, a city of 4 million people, the Acropolis’ elaborately sculptured stones have fallen prey to a film of black crust from car exhaust fumes, industrial pollution, acid rain and fires.

A team of Greek engineers and restorers are using an innovative laser technology system to clean the surface of the ancient monuments, uncovering colours and ornamentation hidden for decades.

“It is very serious,” said Maria Ioannidou, director of the Acropolis Restoration Service, of the pollution. “It destroys sculptural, structural and painting details. One of our aims is to regain these cultural details using new technology.”

For years the team tested 40 different methods, including mechanical and chemical processes, to find the safest solutions to restore the white of the marbles without losing detail.

The winner was the brainchild of Crete’s Foundation for Research and Technology, which created a system that uses two laser beams of infrared and ultraviolet rays simultaneously.

These rays have been used separately to clean ancient marble, but it was found that one left a yellow tint while the other left a grey one. The new system blasts off layers of black film leaving the marble details intact, without discoloration.

But it is a risky process.

“If you remove something you cannot put it back in place, so we must be quite sure that we remove unwanted pollutants and leave … all the information on the original surface,” said Evi Papaconstantinou, the chemical engineer in charge of the team.

The system was first used on the sculptures of the west frieze of the Parthenon temple in 2004. Now the team has begun a second operation on the porch of the Caryatids, where besides pollution they must erase soot from fires and the mistakes of past restorers who tried to mend the roof with cement.

Scientists first scan the marbles with ultrasound and an infrared imaging and spectroscopy system to reveal what lies beneath the black crust. To their astonishment, they found colours, ornamentation and script that had been hidden for years.

Even wearing goggles, restorers can work only for two hours a day because of the flashing rays from the laser. They lie on a reclining doctor’s chair to carry out the time consuming process on the roof inch by inch.

Restoring the Caryatid porch is expected to take one year, but the cleaning will continue as long as pollution persists.

“The conservation team will remain on the rock because the marble is alive. It will remain exposed to the atmosphere,” said Papaconstantinou.

For years, archaeologists and scientists have debated how to protect the monuments from pollution, some even suggesting the temples be covered with domes. The creation of an Athens subway helped reduce pollution, but vehicles still cram the streets and the Greek capital remains blanketed in a thick smog.

Acid rain has eroded some fine details from the porous marble of the Acropolis sculptures, including the Caryatids, and have had to be moved to museums and replaced with replicas.

“We can’t stop the pollution, but we can lessen the effects,” said Ioannidou.

Technorati Tags: acropolis, pagan, wicca

A gnome has been caught on camera by a group of friends in South America, reports The Sun.

Experts have deemed the footage, showing a short creature sidestepping down a street in Santiago del Estero, Argentina as “credible”.

One witness said: “We were messing about - singing and dancing - when we heard a loud rustling noise from behind us. This tiny thing started running down Avenue San Martin at us. It had a pointy head and dark clothes.

“It was a person of incredibly low stature. We filmed it then got scared and ran off. This little thing was barking like a dog - but running sideways on two legs. It headed off towards the football stadium.”

Photographic expert Aldegonda Alvarz said: “This video footage seems credible. We could be looking at another ‘petido orejudo’ - small being.”

Hundreds of other sightings have been reported over the past 20 years, with local authorities confirming that they have known about the “creepy gnome” for several years.

Technorati Tags: gnome, mythology, pagan, wicca

Residents of a pollution-plagued Chinese city are mobilizing against a proposed chemical plant they fear will menace their health, with some urging marches against the scheme they say puts growth before the environment.

Now Taizhou residents, dismayed at the prospect of another chemical plant in an area already crowded with them, are threatening to re-enact those protests — and again bring into focus China’s struggle to balance growth with growing public anger over pollution and environmental threats.

“Resolutely oppose the PX project. As Taizhou residents, everyone must take some action,” “We want clear water and green hills, not toxic cash.”

China’s leaders have vowed to create a more “harmonious society” with cleaner air and water, even at the cost of slower economic growth. But this dispute threatens to become another battle pitting citizens against local officials whose priority often remains attracting fresh investment and revenue.

A website devoted to opposing the project urges residents to “surround Taizhou.”

“Let the people speak out. Give them full rights to know and express themselves,” said the latest posting, dated Sunday. “Environmental problems are the world’s problems, and every individual’s.”

Internet messages also urge residents to send around text messages organizing mass “strolls” against the project.

EAGER OFFICIALS

Coastal Taizhou is a hub of chemical production and the big plant would be a feather in the cap for local officials.

“This is a rare historic opportunity, and a big project to enrich the people of Taizhou,” stated an official news report in April that announced the plan.

“We must seize the initiative and go all out to win it.”

But residents and workers in Taizhou have long complained about water, air and fields putrid with pollution.

The proposed chemical production plant would make ethylene and paraxylene as part of a larger petroleum processing complex costing 60 billion yuan ($8.8 billion), according to reports in the official Taizhou Daily.

A Taizhou city environmental official told Reuters the project, led by China’s top oil and gas firm CNPC, was still in planning stages and had not been approved. He declined to answer more questions and gave only his surname, Wang.

China National Petroleum Corp and its listed PetroChina unit both declined to say which was managing the project and had no immediate comment on the growing opposition.

Residents opposing the plant have said it was about three times the size of the one proposed for Xiamen.

But that project in neighboring Fujian province petered out last year after a wave of mass “strolls” by residents, challenging the ruling Communist Party’s ban on public protest.

In May this year, about 200 people staged a rare protest in a southwest China against a big petrochemical complex, saying it would cause air and water pollution.

In these protests, environmental worries have stoked calls for expanded rights for citizens in the one-Party state. Taizhou appears to continue that trend.

“In a democratic society, the government’s decisions must represent public opinion,” said one internet essay questioning the project.