Jennifer's Alternative Religions Blog January 2008 Archive

Dorje: Diamond scepter
Dorje in Tibetan means 'indestructible.' The Dorje is the Tibetan Buddhist equivalent of the double terminated Hindu ritual tool known as the Vajre, or thunderbolt. It represents masculine force, sudden ... Read More

Tuesday January 29, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Wiccan? No Thanks, Then...
A former Canadian beauty queen has been rejected as a pageant judge over her "occult activities." Miss Canada Plus Stephanie Conover, a Wiccan, was asked to participate as a ... Read More

Tuesday January 29, 2008 | permalink | comments (15)

Dosojin Festival
The Romuvans of Lithuania showed that they know how to honor the gods in style- but dancing around the bonfire sounds a bit tame compared to the Shinto Dosojin Festival ... Read More

Friday January 25, 2008 | permalink | comments (2)

The Grimoire
A Grimoire, strictly speaking, is a collection of magickal formulas or symbols, with instructions for their use to achieve certain ends. The word "Grimoire" is actually an archaic spelling of ... Read More

Friday January 25, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

I Ching- divining with the Book of changes
The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is one of the oldest and most respected works of Chinese philosophy, and influenced Eastern philosophy for millenia. The I Ching was composed ... Read More

Tuesday January 22, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Gerald Gardner's Tzotchkes
It appears Ripley's Museum isn't getting the milage it had hoped for from their collection of knick-knacks from Wiccan founder Gerald Gardner's estate, even when he's billed as the slighly ... Read More

Monday January 21, 2008 | permalink | comments (2)

Feast of Ogoun
Today is the feast day of Ogun. Ogun (Ogoun) is the chief of the WarriorOrishas in Santeria and an important Loa of Vodoun, the God of War, blood, and iron. ... Read More

Thursday January 17, 2008 | permalink | comments (1)

The Four Hallows
There are four traditional ceremonial tools associated with ritual magick, Wicca, and related traditions. They are believed to derive from the Four Hallows (four holies) of the Arthurian Romances, in ... Read More

Tuesday January 15, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Dead Goats For Saint Winebald
Nancy Nehring /Getty Images Those wacky Satanists have struck again, leaving a sacrificial goat casually left near a farmer's barn. They know ... Read More

Monday January 14, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Midvintersblot
Today is the traditional date of the ancient Norse Midvintersblot, celebrated today by followers of the Asatru faith, with hope for peace in the coming year and a mild end ... Read More

Sunday January 13, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

The Towers of Silence
In Zoroastrian belief, the human body at death is considered unclean, and to avoid pullution of the sacred elements of earth, water, or fire, Zoroastrian funerary practices require that bodies ... Read More

Friday January 11, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Voodoo Day
Today is "Voodoo Day" in Benin, the last daqy of a ten-day festival honoring the African country's official religion. Thousands of practitioners from all over the world gather annually in ... Read More

Thursday January 10, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

The Agonalia
The month of January was sacred to Janus, and the festival of the Agonalia was celebrated in his honor on this day with the sacrifice of a ram. Janus ... Read More

Wednesday January 9, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Macgregor Mathers
Today is the birthday of Samuel Liddel Macgregor Mathers, the driving force behind the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the influential magical group that revived Western esoteric traditions ... Read More

Tuesday January 8, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Guru Gobind Singh
Sikhs will celebrate the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last of the human gurus. Guru Gobind instituted the Khalsa Order, and declared the Guru Granth Sahib ... Read More

Saturday January 5, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Alchemy
Alchemy is the science, both physical and spiritual, of transforming base materials into superior forms. Chemical alchemy was based on the belief that naturally occuring gold and other precious substances ... Read More

Thursday January 3, 2008 | permalink | comments (2)

The Tao te Ching
As the story goes, the wise man Laotze was halted on his travels by a customs official, who demanded he declare his items of value. Laotze replied that he had ... Read More

Wednesday January 2, 2008 | permalink | comments (1)