Part 2 of the great introduction to Hinduism.

We all hear about horrible things being done to people for no reason other than they’re different from other people. Vandalism, threats, and most horribly violence. It’s a terrible truth of human nature, people tend to fear what they don’t understand, and fear can cause people to uncharacteristically terrible things. I read the news online, I watch national and international news shows; these stories are not new to me. What’s new to me is when it happens in my own backyard.

Summer “Wiccan festival” in Floyd County a hoax WDBJ7 proclaims. The article they ran was so small I can actually type it all in here. So here is the story:

On Friday April 27, 2007 news sources started reporting that Philadelphia police were alerted to a 30 year old law banning fortune-for “gain or lucre”. The exact damning phrase is “A person who pretends for gain or lucre to tell fortunes or predict future events by cards, tokens, the inspection of the head or hands of any person.”

Learn about the Ghost Research Society.

I have thumbed through my share of books on religions and occult practices. I have seen easily hundreds, if not thousands, of different symbols. Some are simple in design, but profound in meaning and depth, like the swastika that we discussed last month. Others are ornate and filled with detail helping mortal man comprehend larger ideas, like the Wheel of Life. Nothing prepared me for the first time I saw a veve. My husband was helping me do an Internet search one day, and peering over his shoulder I stopped in my tracks, What is that?I asked him. He scrolled down the page and said, A veve.

Take a moment to learn about Vitaminds!

My whole problem can be blamed on two things. One, The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creaturesby John and Caitlin Matthews, and two, those aardvarks are cute little devils. Care for me to expand on this? Here we go.

Sure their cuisine is tasty, and their language is incredibly pleasant to the ears (that may just be to me, but oh well), but deity wise what does Italy have to offer us? They have a feisty mystical meatball of healing magic named Angitia! I promise, that’s the only Italian food thing I will use!

10 questions with musician Paul Avgerinos.