The Brujo Mayor – Supreme Sorcerer, Witch-in-Chief, or Grand Wizard as the BBC likes to call him – of Catemac in southern Mexico has made public his New Year predictions. Top of the list: Obama will lose the 2012 elections. Speaking at a press conference in Mexico City, Brujo Mayor Antonio Vazquez revealled that Obama…
Author: Leo Ruickbie
Christmas or Yule? Pagan secrets of the festive season
It’s that time of year again. Behind display windows sprayed with fake snow, stores play all our Christmas favorites, endlessly, and bearded men in red suits loiter in grottoes. But as you order your tree and hang up mistletoe, have you ever wondered what any of this has got to do with Christmas? Read my…
Monsters Need Your Help
Call for Papers for Preternature 2.2: Monstrophy: The Academic Study of Monsters ”Monstrophy” is a term referring to the academic study of monsters as representational and conceptual categories, which has gained recent currency in several related fields of study (literary and cultural history, sociological theories of identity and difference, et al.), as well as in…
11-11-11 Fears Close Great Pyramid
“Egypt has closed the Great Pyramid outside Cairo after rumours that groups would try to hold special rituals on 11 November at 11:11”, claimed the BBC earlier today. The Great Pyramid was indeed closed, but Egyptian authorities said it was for routine maintenance only. The Associated Press noted an increased police and armed military presence…
Vampire Conference Great Success
‘Vampires: Myths of the Past and the Future’ at London University’s Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies took us from the eastern European vampire epidemic of the 18th century right through to the monster’s modern incarnations in Twilight, True Blood, and all the rest. Co-ordinator Simon Bacon brought together a diverse group of scholars from…
Vampire Conference in The Herald
From The Herald newspaper: Why we’ve fallen in love with 21st-century vampires IT’S a topic most people would assume has too little bite for the attention of high-minded academics. But several of Edinburgh University’s brightest social scientists will speak in London this week at a conference set up to discuss how vampires are portrayed in…
Hallowe’en in the Sierra Sun
Read my article on Hallowe’en in the Sierra Sun: Faith Factor: Hallowe’en then and now.
Vampire Conference Programme
Vampires: Myths of the Past and the Future An International Conference at the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, University of London Wednesday, 2 November – Friday, 4 November 2011 Co-Ordinator: Simon Bacon (London) ProgrammeWednesday, 2 November 2011 9.15 Registration 10.00 Simon Bacon (London): Welcome and Introduction 10.15 Plenary Session:Ken Gelder (Melbourne): ‘Our Vampires, Our…
Contemporary Esotericism Conference
Call for Papers: International Conference: Contemporary Esotericism Department of History of Religions, Stockholm University, Sweden. August 27-29, 2012 Keynote speakers: – Wouter J. Hanegraaff (Center for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, University of Amsterdam) – Christopher Partridge (Religious Studies, Lancaster University) – Kocku von Stuckrad (Study of Religion, Groningen University) Conference organizers: –…
Edges of Freemasonry Conference
Call for Papers: *EDGES OF FREEMASONRY — WESTERN ESOTERICISM AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT* 7–8 September, 2012, University of Tampere, Finland — www.edges.fi The School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Tampere is organizing an international conference on Freemasonry, Western Esotericism and the development of the Enlightenment ideas. The conference is organized in association…
Harry Potter and Witchcraft
Satanist to some, saint to others, why have the religious reactions to Harry Potter been so contradictory? Plus, just how do you make a Horcrux? New pages on the website exploring my recent work on Harry Potter from fundamentalism to the concept of the external soul. Read it all here http://www.witchology.com/contents/harrypotter/articles.php
Magic, Witches and Parapsychology
Books received for review: Butler, Alison, Victorian Occultism and the Making of Modern Magic: Invoking Tradition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) Description In the midst of increasing secularization and the birth of scientific naturalism, a curious group emerged in Victorian Britain. From 1888-1900, hundreds of men and women were initiated into the Hermetic Order of the Golden…
Call to End Ghana ‘Witch Camps’
George Asekere of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation has issued an emotional plea to abolish the so-called ‘witch camps’ and bring the persecution of alleged witches to an end. Many Ghanaians believe witchcraft is real and can be destructive. This non-empirical and intuitive mentality with no justification in today’s scientific world, is unfortunately the bane behind…
Paranormal is now Supernatural
My forthcoming book The Paranormal has now been renamed The Supernatural following negotiations for a US deal. Part of Constable & Robinson’s Brief Histories/Guides series, the book is scheduled for publication on 19 April 2012, although that change. Already there’s been a lot of interest and I’ll be posting some advance reviews in the coming…
‘Magic is Might 2012’: Call for Papers
Harry Potter conference in Ireland. Call for papers just announced: 'Magic is Might 2012': Call for Papers: “The Harry Potter series has become a publishing phenomenon that has captured the imagination of children and adults all over the world. The …” This two-day event will feature twenty 15-20 minute presentations on papers relating to popular…
Reinventing the Renaissance Occult
Review of ‘Reinventing the Renaissance Occult in Modern and Postmodern Culture’ now available at http://jwmt.org/v2n20/reinventing.html Five hundred years ago the occult – what we think of as ‘the occult’ – was taught in university and practised by many of the foremost personalities of the age. Still it was persecuted. Dangerous. Between the Church and the…
Reinventing the Renaissance Occult
Review of the ‘Reinventing the Renaissance Occult in Modern and Postmodern Culture’ conference accepted by the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition (JWMT) for the forthcoming edition, vol. 2, no. 20. Will post link when the journal is published.
“How to cure a witch…”
A guide on how to convert witches to Christianity has been published by the Roman Catholic Church in Britain. The move comes in response to fears that growing numbers of teenagers are being lured into Wicca, occult practices and paganism by the heroic depiction of witches in entertainment including the Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s…