"Witch Craze" Seminar in Australia

Here's an event that makes me wish I lived a little closer to Queensland, Australia than, you know, halfway around the world. Next week the University of Queensland will be hosting an academic seminar at its St. Lucia campus on the "witch craze" that went on in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The seminar will feature Professor Philip Almond from the Centre for the History of European Discourses, who has published several recent books on the subject.

During the period there were many demonic acts reported. On one occasion, a Lancashire Assizes court was told by one young female witness of the involvement of her grandmother and aunt in a sordid tale of murder, cannibalism and sexual misdemeanour.

During the lecture, Professor Almond will provide answers to many of the questions most commonly asked about the period.

Discussion points include Satanic cults, the persecutions of witches, witchcraft and the role and actions of demonologists during the period.

His most recent books in witchcraft and demonology include Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early modern England (2007), The Witches of Warboys (2008), and England's First Demonologist: Reginald Scot and the Discovery of Witchcraft (2011).

His latest book The Lancashire Witches: Politics, Persecution and Murder in Early Modern England will be published in 2012 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Lancashire witch trials.

So far I haven't had a chance to read up on Almond's work, but from the titles listed it sounds like they cover a lot of interesting material. Most academics who study these persecutions focus on the social forces that led community outsiders to be accused of witchcraft, and there are many countries in the world today where similar forces are still at work and causing a lot of harm. As a magician, I'm also interested in whether or not the accused may have been engaged in esoteric practices that met with disapproval from community and religious leaders - and how well those practices really worked.

Taking the "Wizard" Out Of "Triwizard"

Back in April I commented on the inexplicable phenomenon of Muggle Quidditch, in which players run around a field with brooms that can't actually fly clutched tightly between their legs. At the time, it seemed to me that this was a case of Harry Potter mania gone too far. The whole idea is ridiculous. I mean, what's the point of trying to fly on a non-flying broom? Recently a similar idea showed up at Valdosta State University in Georgia - a "Triwizard Tournament" that involved no wizardry whatsoever.

Reade Hall is divided into four sub-hallways, two for each gender. This year, the Resident Assistants of Reade have adopted a Harry Potter theme for the entire residence hall. Each smaller hallway within Reade is decorated to reflect one of the four Hogwarts Houses: Gryffindor for the upstairs girls’ hall, Ravenclaw for the upstairs boys, Hufflepuff for the downstairs boys, and Slytherin for the downstairs girls.

As an icebreaker activity to start the school year, the Reade RA’s put together a competitive event this past Sunday which they nicknamed the “Triwizard Tournament.” Though the name is not necessarily accurate, the residents of Reade undertook a series of field-day style events, competing for points toward their respective Houses. These events included a broomstick race, an orange-passing relay, and a game of Dragon Tag among other games.

“My favorite game was ‘Gorilla, Man, Gun’,” said sophomore Engineering major Sarah McGrew, “-because I won serious House Points for Slytherin!”

Wow, that all sounds so magical - NOT. It sounds more like elementary school physical education. Now I do know that real magical contests, like trying to see who can produce the best evocation manifestation, or shift a quantum diode the most, or most effectively divine some unknown piece of information using the Tarot probably seem pretty boring to kids used to fantasy-novel spellcasting. Nonetheless, I keep holding out hope that one of these days a Harry Potter-inspired event will come along that involves something other than silliness.

So far that's turned out to be a real recipe for disappointment.

Another Thwarted Necromancer

More from the Magick Using Dead Things file! German customs officials in Potsdam have confiscated a collection of ape body parts from an African-born man returning from the Congo. Officals believe that the body parts were destined for use in magical rituals, since in traditional African folk magick body parts from apes are believed to strengthen the effects of many ritual methods. And despite the man's claims, none of the parts seized sound particularly appetizing.

The haul - which included chimp heads, hands, internal organs and several penises - were discovered in the suitcase of African-born David Bueno, 41, who claimed he planned to eat them.

But contraband expert believe the parts were to be used in witchcraft and voodoo rituals where animal body parts are said to bring strength and power to believers.

A customs spokesman said: "This is increasingly common, sadly. These body parts are used in religious rites or medicine."

Bueno - who was on his way back from the Congo - is facing charges of trafficking endangered species.

It's interesting to see how deep the urge to deny involvement in magical practices goes with cases like this. The trafficking of endangered species is just as illegal whether you plan to eat them or cast spells with them, but Bueno nonetheless insists that his motive was the former. Of course, the fact that in Africa magical practitioners often wind up being killed by angry mobs is a pretty strong incentive not to identify yourself as a sorcerer or necromancer if you ever plan on returning to the continent.

Some African witch doctors go so far as to use body parts from human albinos in their rituals, so it's at least somewhat reassuring that Bueno appears to limit himself to apes. Still, with how close to extinction some of these ape species are African magicians should probably be busy researching alternatives if they want their school of magick to survive in the long term.

Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy Update

Back in April I announced that my manuscript Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy had been accepted for publication by Pendraig Publishing. Since then we've completed the editing process and the manuscript has now moved on to layout. I still don't have a publication date, but the book is coming along nicely and I hope to see it available for purchase within the next couple of months.

Once it's in print Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy will be one of the few available titles on working practical magick with the Heptarchia Mystica, John Dee's grimoire that contains the conjurations and powers for the Kings and Princes attributed to the seven days of the week. This is the grimoire that may have helped to defeat the Spanish Armada in an epic battle that shaped the course of the British Empire for centuries, and the only portion of the Enochian magical system that Dee himself assembled into a grimoire structure. Based on the workings my magical group has done with the Heptarchia, it contains an extremely powerful and relatively unexplored system of magick.

Some of the information that will appear in the book consists of updated versions of material that was first posted here on Augoeides:

• My thoughts on Angelic pronunciation based on Dee's original phonetic notations.
• An overview of my Operant Field method of working with pentagram and hexagram rituals.
• The AOEVEAE Enochian pentagram ritual and the MADRIAX Enochian hexagram ritual.
• Creating magical fields with these two Enochian rituals.
• The NAZ OLPIRT Enochian energy work exercise.
• A completely updated version of my Heptarchial Ritual Template that has been reworked along technical writing lines to accomodate both modern and traditional grimoire practitioners.

In many ways this new version of the template is the section that I'm most excited about. Rather writing the book exclusively for either modern or traditional grimoire magicians, I have indicated where all the modern forms go if you want to use them, but also have included Dee's opening prayers for those who would rather use the grimoire as written and skip the pentagram rituals and so forth. Along with the template I include my own hand-drawn talisman designs that I use for the Kings and Princes, Dee's conjurations, modified versions of the original Christian prayers that are appropriate for Thelemic practitioners, and a number of other tweaks to the system that I have found to be very effective over the years.

I'm looking forward to the release of the book and I hope that many of you will be interested in checking it out. I'll post another update with a link as soon as it becomes available.

Inflatable Sacred Space

Anyone who's been a member of a magical group knows that finding temple space can represent a serious challenge. Often you wind up stuck meeting in somebody's basement or garage, which leads to the problem of your group becoming too dependent on the one member who owns the space. That situation hardly ever ends well, and can produce some pretty serious douchebaggery. But Polish missionary priest Krzysztof Kowal has found a unique solution to the problem of providing a space for his Russian congregation to meet - an inflatable church!

Father Krzysztof, a Roman Catholic missionary from Poland, has had trouble gaining permission - and cash - to build a permanent place of worship in the Kamchatka peninsula - a 1,250-kilometre stretch located in far eastern Russia.

But long-time friend Robert Wojcik, who builds inflatable toys for children in Kolobrzeg, Poland, stepped in to help by offering to build a temporary church for the isolated congregation.

Money-raising efforts helped to pay for the alternative structure, which will remain open even in extreme conditions. During winter time, temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees in the Kamchatka region.

There's no reason that an inflatable magical lodge couldn't be constructed along the same lines. You could build something custom with a bunch of Egyptian-looking features, or just go with one of the standard designs.

Now, there's still that whole issue of bouncing around during the circumambulations, but hey, that's what self-discipline is for - to keep everyone from laughing uncontrollably.

Real Witches Versus True Blood

Why is it that whenever a fictional portrayal of magick becomes popular real practitioners seem to come out of the woodwork complaining that said portrayal is unrealistic? To my way of thinking people who get upset that fiction is fictional have way too much free time. While I will explain to beginning students that real magick is not like what you see in Harry Potter, that's mostly so they won't obsess about things like pronouncing words exactly correctly. I certainly have no problem with J. K. Rowling's books or their popularity - they're fantasy novels, and there are very few such novels that present magick with anything resembling realism.

The latest incarnation of this phenomenon surrounds the HBO television series True Blood, which this season features a coven of Wiccans opposing the vampires. Naturally, real witches are complaining about how unrealistically the witches on the show are portrayed - as opposed to, I suppose, the other denizens of the True Blood universe such as vampires, shapeshifters, fairies, werewolves, werepanthers, maenads, and so forth. As fan of campy horror films I do enjoy the show, but part of me keeps waiting for Djinni or Wendigos or who knows what else to show up that has nothing whatsoever to do with vampire folklore.

The series' fourth season has focused on Marnie Stonebrook (Fiona Shaw), a seemingly harmless medium and leader of a Wiccan group who becomes the physical conduit for Antonia, a long dead witch who is hellbent on vengeance against vampires who persecuted and burned her at the stake.

Marnie winds up as the mouthpiece for Antonia's spell to drive the bloodsuckers of fictional "True Blood" town Bon Temps into the daylight. And that sort of deadly revenge, say some modern-day witches, is what gives witchcraft a bad name.

"I'm absolutely disappointed with the portrayal of Marnie," said one witch -- and professor of biology at a college in New England -- who goes by the magickal name Taarna RavenHawk.

"When Marnie gives up her 'power within,' which is a witch's ability to practice the craft without harming others, it allows possession by Antonia who becomes the controlling entity. Marnie lets it happen. It's unconscionable a witch would act this way."

Because witches don't cast spells for revenge? Really? Based on the e-mail correspondence I receive from this site I would guess that money spells and love spells are probably more popular, but curses are up there too. Anybody who's lived in a town that's endured a "witch war" will tell you that witches most certainly do cast curses.

Careful What You Pray For...

As I've mentioned on numerous occasions, the difference between prayer and magick is mostly one of terminology. While there are some technical distinctions as well, such as the more complex forms employed by ritual magicians versus the intuitive approach that most systems of prayer tend to take, the basic idea is the same - the mobilization of spiritual forces to produce change in the world. Prayer does generally call upon a deity, but any school of magick that incorporates theurgy into its rites does the same thing, just in a more systematic way.

Back in April, Texas Governor Rick Perry declared a "weekend of prayer" for rain that would ease the ongoing drought in his state. The results of that weekend were not encouraging, though to be fair as a decent weather worker I can say with some confidence that the situation in Texas has been pretty dire all summer in terms of weather patterns for precipitation. If there's no moisture in the air you can't conjure rain, even if you can manage to slide atmospheric fronts around with impunity.

The thing is, that when all the elements are present it's important to be careful. It's all too easy to start something way more powerful and potentially destructive than you intend, and once a big storm gets going it's usually hard to stop until it runs its course. This last weekend at the Roman Catholic Church's world youth festival in Madrid, Spain stifling heat led the event organizers to pray for rain. The results were a lot more impressive than those in Texas - a freak thunderstorm forced the Pope to cut short his speech amidst the rain and lightning.

During the day, firefighters atop fire trucks had sprayed the crowds with water from hoses as pilgrims sought shade from umbrellas, trees, tarps and tents in a bid to stave off the near 40°C heat.

As night fell, a flash downpour drenched the crowd: With lightning in the night sky, the 84-year-old Pope was forced to skip the bulk of his speech and merely deliver brief greetings in a half-dozen languages.

Organisers told the crowd that they had asked for more water during the day when it was so hot and their prayers were answered. "With this rain, the Lord sends us many blessings," Pope Benedict quipped when he resumed his truncated remarks.

However, the storm proved much intense than the organizers likely intended, causing some damage to the venue along with a few injuries in addition to driving the Pope off the stage.

Six people were slightly injured when a tent collapsed. Some makeshift chapels set up on the field's perimeter were also damaged, forcing organisers to announce over loudspeakers that not everyone would be able to receive Communion during the main World Youth Day Mass.

Clearly there's still some magick in the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, but in the future it sounds like they need to be a little more careful how they wield it. Either that, or God's just less than happy with the current leadership and wanted to send them a message.

West Memphis Three Released

Not all occultists remember the case of the West Memphis Three, but we should. When three young boys were found murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 police investigators became caught up in what turned out to be one the last gasps of the "Satanic Ritual Abuse" panic. They identified three teenagers who had previously been in trouble with the law based on a rumor that one of the three had an interest in the occult, then obtained a confession from another after twelve hours of interrogation. The teen who gave the confession immediately recanted, claiming that he was coerced and threatened. Out of the twelve hours of questioning only the 46 incriminating minutes were recorded.

Prosecutors went to trial with what any reasonable person would consider a very weak case. They had no physical evidence linking the three teens to the murders, no murder weapon, and the only motive they proposed was "Satanic ritual," even though no evidence of anything occult was found at the scene. They managed to find a woman who claimed one of the teens had admitted killing the boys at a Wiccan meeting, but she could not remember anyone else who had been present or even where the meeting had taken place. Years later she would allege that police had threatened to have her child taken away unless she told them what they wanted to hear, and admit that she had made up the whole story. Despite all this, the teens were convicted of the murders.

After years of fruitless appeals and legal challenges the three were finally able to work out a deal with prosecutors that resulted in their release from prison after more than eighteen years. They changed their original pleas from "not guilty" to "no contest" in return for a sentence reduction to the eighteen years they had already served. Prosecutors likely took the deal because a new trial would require them to deal with more recent evidence, such as their witness recanting her testimony and new testing that shows none of the DNA evidence gathered at the scene match any of the three defendants, and the three likely took it because it meant getting out of prison right away instead of spending another year or more that a new trial could take.

The prosecuting attorney, Scott Ellington, said in an interview that the state still considered the men guilty and that, new DNA findings notwithstanding, he knew of no current suspects.

“We don’t think that there is anybody else,” Mr. Ellington said, declaring the case closed.

Asked how he could free murderers if he believed they were guilty, he acknowledged that the three would likely be acquitted if a new trial were held, given the prominent lawyers now representing them, the fact that evidence has decayed or disappeared over time and the death or change of heart of several witnesses. He also expressed concern that if the men were exonerated at trial, they could sue the state, possibly for millions.

So is this finally the end of the "Satanic panic?" Let's all hope so, especially those of us who study occultism and are open to the public about it. These days one would like to think that a case like the one prosecutors brought in the West Memphis Three murders would never result in a conviction, but the fact is that many people still see the occult as something scary and criminal even if all you are interested in doing is reading books on esoteric subjects. And some of those same people can wind up on juries.