10 Questions with Gary Lachman, author of Politics and the Occult.

“The skin of snakes is often a point of curiosity among those who observe them. Unlike many other animals, snakes shed their skin on a periodic basis. While other creatures may simply shed skin cells or hair, a snake actually rids itself of its skin in one continuous piece, a procedure that can be likened to removing a sock. This shedding is not without purpose. Snakes shed their skin to allow for growth, as well as to remove parasites along with their old skin.

Snakes shed when they grow too big for their skin, comparable to the way humans outgrow clothing.” wiseGEEK.com

What about humans? If they shed their skin, do they become Gods? According to the Aztecs, the answer is yes, under the right circumstances. And with that, I give you Toci….

As the New Year was approaching, I of course turned my eye towards what kind of content The Magical Buffet could offer its readers in the New Year. I knew I wanted to find a new and interesting way to talk about Wiccans and Witchcraft practioners. I wanted to have a real discussion about the nature of belief and the differences of perspective of its adherents. When discussing other faiths often times publishers, interviewers, etc. compare differing interpretations of religious texts. Of course, as many of you know, there is no one definitive religious text for Wiccans. The faith is so eclectic and adaptable that you can ask 10 Wiccans what is the defining text for their faith and you will get about 20 different answers. Ask me how I know. Then it hit me, there is the Rede.

How much information can you pack into 40 pages? A lot. Yeah, but can it be useful and make you think? Yep. How do I know? I just read “The Little Book of Sanctuary” by Alison Marks.

Trish Donroe Barker talks jigsaw puzzles. Click in to learn more!

It was going to be, but I realized I could sum it up easily. This album takes everything that was good about music from the 80’s, smooshes it together and sprinkles it in glitter. Just go buy the darn thing, it’s awesome, and let me move onto The Airborne Toxic Event.

Many of you know that here in the northeastern United States we had a vicious little ice storm that resulted in prolonged power outages. Fortunately I was only without power for under 48 hours, which I never thought under 48 hours was good until I talked to people who went 72 hours or more! Anyway, I’ve been busy catching up, and that means hitting all my favorite celebrity gossip blogs. It was during this that I came across the headline “Dancing Midget Zombies” on Perez Hilton’s website. That title was enough to get me to check it out, and I assume it’s enough to get you to click in for my article.

It’s always tough to work with creatures of myth that are not from your native culture. You find yourself wondering, what do the people of the country of origin think of this? Alternatively, am I even getting the right information? This is the predicament I find myself in when discussing the Bungisngis. Click in to see why.

I thought with the end of 2008 rapidly approaching that it might be time to give you all a little update. Normally only The Magical Buffet’s My Space friends get these awkwardly written and poorly edited updates, but I thought it was time to give every Buffet reader a little info on what’s been happening over here. So for those who are curious, click on in.

10 Questions with Thuri Calafia. Need we say more?