Day: July 12, 2016

English Witchcraft Laws

High Priestess Raven Spirit Walker's avatarEnchanted Circle of Witches®

Until 1951, England had laws strictly prohibiting the practice of witchcraft. When the last act was repealed, Gerald Gardnerbegan to publish his work, and brought witchcraft back into the public eye without threat of prosecution. Put into effect on June 1, 1653, the Witchcraft Laws mandated the outlawing of any kind of witchcraft-related activities. The 1951 repeal made it easier for modern Wiccans — Gardner was able to go public just a few years later, when he published Witchcraft Today in 1954.

It’s important to note that the 1653 Witchcraft Laws were not the first to appear in the English judicial system. In 1541, King Henry VIII passed a piece of legislation that made witchcraft a felony, punishable by death. In 1562, Henry’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, passed a new law that said witchcraft would only be punished with death if harm had been caused – if no…

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The Pendle Witches

High Priestess Raven Spirit Walker's avatarEnchanted Circle of Witches®

n 1612, a dozen people were accused of using witchcraft to murder ten of their neighbors. Two men and nine women, from the Pendle Hill area of Lancashire, eventually went to trial, and of these eleven, ten were eventually found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Although there were certainly other witchcraft trials taking place in Englandduring the fifteenth to eighteenth century, it was rare for so many people to be accused and tried at once, and even more unusual for so many people to be sentenced to execution.

Of the five hundred or so people executed for witchcraft in England over three hundred years, ten were the Pendle witches. Although one of the accused, Elizabeth Southerns, or Demdike, had been known in the area as a witch for a long time, it’s entirely possible that the accusations which led up to formal charges and the trial…

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Witch Trials in Europe and North America

High Priestess Raven Spirit Walker's avatarEnchanted Circle of Witches®

I’m a big fan of history, as many Pagans are, so this week we’re going to look at a few key incidents in “witchy history.” Let’s take a moment to look at the “burning times,” which is the name applied to the European witch hunts – and which may not have involved as many victims as once thought. We’ll also talk about the Pendle witch trials in England, and the Hartford trial that was a precursor to the hysteria of Salem in 1692.

5 Things You Might Not Know About the Salem Witch Trials  
The Salem witch trials of 1692 are pretty well-known – but many people get the facts wrong. Let’s look at five things you may not know about Salem.

There are more parts to this article by Patti Wigington on About.com. If you click on the link above it will take you to them.

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The 1662 Hartford Witch Trials

High Priestess Raven Spirit Walker's avatarEnchanted Circle of Witches®

Mention witchcraft in America, and people immediately think of Salem. After all, the famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) trial of 1692 went down in history as a perfect storm of fear, religious fanaticism, and mass hysteria. What most people don’t realize, however, is that three decades before Salem, there was another witchcraft trial in nearby Connecticut, in which four people were executed.

In Salem, twenty people were put to death – nineteen by hanging, and one pressed with heavy stones – for the crime of witchcraft. It is, by far, one of the best-known legal debacles in American history, in part because of the sheer number of people involved. Hartford, on the other hand, was a much smaller trial and tends to get overlooked. However, it’s important to talk about Hartford, because it did set a bit of a legal precedent for witchcraft trials…

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A Little Humor for Your Day – Ineffective Daily Affirmations

Ineffective Daily Affirmations

 

As I let go of my feelings of guilt, I can get in touch with my Inner Sociopath.

I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.

I assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones that are someone else’s fault.

I no longer need to punish, deceive or compromise myself. Unless, of course, I want to stay employed.

In some cultures, what I do would be considered normal.

Having control over myself is nearly as good as having control over others.

My intuition nearly makes up for my lack of good judgment.

I can change any thought that hurts into a reality that hurts even more.

I honor my personality flaws, for without them I would have no personality at all.

Joan of Arc heard voices, too.

I am grateful that I am not as judgmental as all those censorious, self-righteous people around me.

I need not suffer in silence while I can still moan, whimper and complain.

As I learn the innermost secrets of the people around me, they reward me in many ways to keep me quiet.

When someone hurts me, forgiveness is cheaper than a lawsuit. But not nearly as gratifying.

The first step is to say nice things about myself. The second, to do nice things for myself. The third, to find someone to buy me nice things.

I am at one with my duality.

Blessed are the flexible, for they can tie themselves into knots.

Rather than curse the darkness, I could light a candle… with a little luck, I could torch the place.

I will strive to live each day as if it were my 30th birthday.

Only a lack of imagination saves me from immobilizing myself with imaginary fears.

Does my quiet self-pity get to me? Yes? Or should I move up to incessant nagging?

I honor and express all facets of my being, regardless of state and local laws.

Today I will gladly share my experience and advice, for there are no sweeter words than “I told you so.”

False hope is nicer than no hope at all.

A good scapegoat is nearly as welcome as a solution to the problem.

Just for today, I will not sit in my living room all day watching TV. Instead I will move my TV into the bedroom.

Who can I blame for my own problems? Give me just a minute…I’ll find someone.

Why should I waste my time reliving the past when I can spend it worrying about the future?

The complete lack of evidence is the surest sign that the conspiracy is working.

I am learning that criticism is not nearly as effective as sabotage.

Becoming aware of my character defects leads me to the next step– blaming my parents.

To understand all is to fear all.

I will be accepting and kind, and learn to love televangelists.

 

Reference

Turok’s Cabana

Astronomy Picture of the Day – Chasing Juno

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2016 July 12

Chasing Juno
Image Credit & Copyright: Melissa Christine Kendall

 

Explanation: Wait for me! In 2011, NASA’s robotic mission Juno launched for Jupiter from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. Last week, Juno reached Jupiter and fired internal rockets to become only the second spacecraft to orbit our Solar System’s largest planet. Juno, tasked with studying the jovian giant over the next two years, is in a highly elliptical orbit that will next bringing it near Jupiter’s cloud tops in late August. Of course, the three-year-old pictured was not able to catch up to the launching rocket. Today, however, five years later, he is eight-years-old and still chasing rockets — in that now he wants to be an astronaut.

Earth Sky News for July 12: Moon still near Spica

Moon still near Spica on July 12

Tonight – July 12, 2016 – as the setting sun closes the curtains on the day, and the darkening skies bring out a myriad of far-off suns, let the moon introduce you to a very special star. The nearby bright star to tonight’s moon is none other than Spica, brightest light in theconstellation Virgo the Maiden.

Did you see the moon and Spica yesterday, on the evening of July 11? Note the moon’s change of position relative to Spica as darkness falls tonight, on July 12. The moon continually moves eastward in front of the backdrop stars of the Zodiac at the rate of about one-half degree per hour or about 13o per day. For a convenient measuring stick, the moon’s diameter approximates one-half degree of sky, and your fist at an arm’s length about 10o on the sky’s dome.

In a few to several more days, in fact, the moon will be farther from Spica on the sky’s dome, and closer to the planets Mars and Saturn. When that happens, you might find it helpful to “star-hop” to Spica instead, as shown on the sky chart below.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, and you’re familiar with the Big Dipper, you can count on this famous pattern of stars to guide you to Spica. Simply extend the Big Dipper handle to arc to the brilliant yellow-orange star Arcturus and then to spike Spica, a blue-white gem of a star. (If you have difficulty discerning stellar color with the eye alone, try your luck with binoculars.)

Bottom line: Let the moon guide you to Spica on July 12, 2016, and then use the Big Dipper to locate Virgo’s brightest star, after the moon’s flirtation with Spica ends.

Author

BRUCE MCCLURE

Bruce McClure has served as lead writer for EarthSky’s popular Tonight pages since 2004. He’s a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also writes and hosts public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York.
Article published on EarthSky

The Wisdom of Buddha

The Wisdom of Buddha

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.