Leicester Pagan Alliance

From: the National Ledger

Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have set up house in New Orleans, but is there another reason the super-start couple have settled in the ‘Big Easy’? The National Enquirer is reporting that Angelina has a new hobby to help fill those precious empty seconds between saving the world, raising three children (soon to be four) and keeping hunky boyfriend, Pitt, happy. According to a report from Mike Walker she is studying Voodoo.

The magazine reports that Jolie is taking instruction from a Voodoo priestess several times a week. She has also purchased several books on witchcraft spells and is touring the infamous New Orleans cemeteries, according to the report.

Full article here

From: The China Post

A state of emergency has been declared in the capital of the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu after clashes between islanders over claims of witchcraft killed two men and wounded 10 people, police said on Monday.
Some 200 people from Tanna and Ambrym islands clashed in Port Vila on Saturday after the recent death of a woman, married to a Tanna man, was blamed on witchcraft, police Superintendent Willie Ben told Reuters by telephone from Port Vila.

One man was stabbed to death in the initial fighting on the outskirts of Port Villa and another was killed and houses razed in retaliation later on Saturday night.

“A woman was killed a few weeks ago and some people blamed it on witchcraft,” said Ben. “Ethnic fighting broke out on Saturday … and two people died and another 10 were injured.”

Police said Port Vila had been quiet since the fighting on Saturday and 140 people had been arrested.

Full article here

From: uktv.co.uk

Calls from pagans and druids in Britain are growing for ancient remains to be taken out of museum displays.

Pagans in Britain are calling for the return of human remains and artefacts excavated from pre-Christian graves in the UK.

Treasures from a number of countries, such as the Parthenon marbles at the British Museum, are under dispute and the Natural History Museum and Manchester Museum recently agreed to return the remains of Australian Aborigines to their place of origin.

A number of pagan groups have called for their ancestors to be given proper burials and the bones to be removed from museum displays and exhibitions, the Guardian reports.

Full article here

From: bridgwater mercury

An exciting scheme to establish a new nature reserve on the Somerset Levels has received a £50,000 boost from an environmental trust.

Viridor Credits Somerset is giving the money to the Hawk and Owl Trust towards the purchase of 55 hectares of arable land on Shapwick Moor – part of which is an established Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The overall aim is to transform the land into a haven for birds of prey and a wide variety of other wildlife.

Full article here

From: newswales.co.uk

A campaign and petition were launched today to save an outstanding Welsh nature site.

One of the early signatories of the petition writes: “Here is a golden opportunity for AMs to stop the rape of our beautiful country for the benefit of big buisness.Will they have the courage to do so? I pray they will.”

The Safe Haven Network today announced the on-line petition to save a protected habitat at Cefn Drum, outside Pontardulais which they say stands on the brink of destruction at the hands of energy giant National Grid.

Jim Dunckley, a local spokesman for the Network, said today: “Cefn Drum, outside Pontardulais, is a huge tract of common land and also a protected natural habitat which lies directly in the path of Phase 2 of the pipeline route.

“The Welsh Assembly has designated it as a habitat of principal importance for the conservation of biological diversity, and as such it is key link in the fragile chain which forms our ecological and cultural inheritance.

Full article here

From: the scotsman

Restoring the natural rhythms of a river is a highly effective and cheap way to prevent floods in towns and cities downstream, according to a new study in Scotland.

The report, by the environment campaign group WWF Scotland, was described as “a turning point for flood management” in Europe by a hydrologist who worked on the project.

A four-year study found that taking measures such as recreating wetlands and flood plains in country areas could help store flood-water that would otherwise cause millions of pounds of damage in urban areas and reduce the need to build expensive flood-defence walls.

The report claims natural flood-management could cost 10 per cent or less of the price of flood walls and points to other benefits such as creating better habitats for wildlife. And while hard engineering schemes would still be needed in some cases, the height of the walls could be reduced.

full article here

People learn the hard way, that working with nature is easier and more beneficial to people, wildlife and the land, than imposing upon her.

When Jennifer Rodriguez started planning her dream wedding last year, choosing a date was easy.

The Kendall woman wanted to walk down the aisle on July 7 — the anniversary of her first date with her future husband, Amador Cabrera.

It just so happened that the date also landed on a Saturday this year. And it had an unusual, yet lucky, sound to it: 07/07/07.

”It’s the perfect date,” said Rodriguez, 21, a spa supervisor at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa. “We’ll never be able to forget it with all those sevens.”

From coast to coast, engaged couples have made the seventh day of the week, of the seventh month of the year, of the year 2007, one of the most desirable wedding dates on the calendar.

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and basketball superstar Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs will be among thousands of couples who choose to tie the knot on that day.

Some couples are incorporating the number seven into their wedding themes, also, said Kathleen Murray, deputy editor of The Knot, a popular wedding magazine whose members register their matrimonial plans on the company’s website.

Instead of giving guests traditional favors, such as Jordan almonds, pens and picture frames, 07/07/07 brides and grooms are handing out lottery tickets in glassine envelopes or personalized playing cards.

”A lot of people who are choosing that date are seeing it as a lucky day,” Murray said. “They’re trying to conjure up the Vegas spirit.”

full article here