Litha 2008

This work contains an example of only one ritual performed by the Hearth of the Turning Wheel, an independent Pagan celebratory group based in Derbyshire. It is an example of our evolving liturgy and we offer the content as a torch and as an inspiration to our fellow seekers.

Contemporary western Paganism is now a global religious phenomenon with Pagans in many parts of the world sharing much in common - from a nature-revering worldview and lifestyle to a host of chants, invocations, ritual tools and magical practices. But there are also locally-specific differences. Local religious contexts, landscapes, histories, traditions, politics, values and norms all impact on local Paganisms. This is nowhere more evident than in a strongly Catholic society, where religion and culture are deeply entwined. Taking the Mediterranean society of Malta as a case study, this book invites readers inside the world of a small, hidden sub-culture. Showing what it is like being Pagan in a society where the vast majority of the population is Roman Catholic, and Catholicism permeates every sphere of public and domestic, social and political life, Rountree reveals that Paganism here is a unique brew of indigenous and global influences. Pagans employ both creativity and borrowing in constructing identities within a cultural context characterized by antagonism as well as continuity. This book explores the intersections of religious and cultural identity, the global and local, Paganism and Christianity, with insights grounded in rich ethnographic detail based on long-term fieldwork. Rountree makes invaluable comparisons with other studies of modern Pagans and their various worlds.

This is the most comprehensive guide ever published, covering all things Masters of the Universe and Princess of Power from 1982 through today! The universe of He-Man and She-Ra is full of mystery. And thanks to over four thousand individual entries covering characters, beasts, vehicles, locations, weapons and magic, you can learn the secrets of this entire universe!

An introductory guide to Irish folklore and spiritual practices to help you determine if this spiritual path is right for you. This book thoroughly explains the Irish pagan calendar, represented as the Celtic Tree Calendar and the Wheel of the Year. You’ll learn why there are two calendars and discover the key festivals of the year. The following chapter offers a list of tools commonly used in Irish pagan magical practices and describes how they’re used. This chapter guides you on how to incorporate magic into your spiritual practices as a beginner. Finally, you’ll gain insight into Beltane rituals and come across step-by-step instructions on how to conduct several spells for a multitude of purposes ranging from love to healing.

Aid Evaporation is a new Nortion. It is based on an academic study that comprehensively examined how ODA is governed from the source to the destination. Key ODA parameters emerged from the existing ODA governance frameworks namely; mechanism, ideology, development approach and processes. By unpacking elements contributing to aid ineffectiveness through these parameters, exploring the existence of the aid evaporation and examining the key enablers of ODA Evaporatoon, the study discovered supply side factors contributed significantly to Aid ineffectiveness. It exposed different AID Evaporation enablers which play different hidden functions such as ODA Door Openers, Appetixers, Softeners, Sponges, Convertors, Controllers, Distorters as well as Carrot and Stick among others. Key findings revealed that the prevailing perception that aid ineffectiveness was a demand side problem was only part of the story because supply side challenges were probably more responsible for billions of ODA that could not be accounted for. It has recommended the re-writing of the narrative that ODA ineffectiveness is predominantly premised on demand side by incorporating supply side factors. Findings demonstrated that while there were indeed demand side challenges such as bad governance, corruption and lack of strong institutions, there were also supply (donor) side challenges such as over-reliance of donor's own inefficient ODA governance frameworks as well as ODA delivery mechanisms, the entrenchment of bilateral interest in ODA processess and geo- political interests among other factors. In this regard, the study confirmed that the 62% of the ODA that could not be accounted for according to existing literature was either held up in the pipeline or evaporates mostly from the supply side. This finding brought clarity on the weak impact of ODA and corroborated with existing literature on the mystery of unaccounted ODA. While the notion of aid evaporation emerged as an attribution and part of a reflection on the problem of ODA dissipation at the preliminary stage of the literature review, it became the central issue of focus throughout the research investigation which involved substantive field work to bring clarity on the problem. The study has made theoretical and practical contributions to the existing concepts on ODA governance and proposed a new concept, namely the “Supply Baggage Concept”. The new concept should inform the Post Paris era in achieving Aid effectiveness by weding out Evaporation, using the Aid Evaporation Detection Framework proposed in this book.

This two-volume work presents a comprehensive survey of all the ways people celebrate religious life around the globe. Religious Celebrations is an alphabetically organized encyclopedia that covers more than 800 celebratory occasions from all of the world's major religious communities as well as many of the minor faith traditions. The encyclopedia provides a complete reference tool for examining the myriad ways people worldwide celebrate their religious lives across religious boundaries, providing information on numerous celebratory activities never before covered in a reference work. Offering the most comprehensive coverage of religious holidays ever assembled, this two-volume book covers festivals, commemorations, holidays, and annual religious gatherings all over the world, with special attention paid to the celebrations in larger countries. Entries written by distinguished researchers and specialists on different religious communities capture the unique intensity of each event, be it fasting or feasting, frenzied activity or the universal cessation of work, a huge gathering of the faithful en masse or a small family-centered event. The work spotlights celebrations that currently exist without overlooking now-abandoned celebrations that still impact the modern world.

Paganistan - a moniker adapted by the Twin Cities Contemporary Pagan community - is the title of a history and ethnography of a regionally unique, urban, and vibrant community in Minnesota. The story of the community traces the formation of some of the earliest organizations and churches in the US, the influence of publication houses and bookstores, the marketplace, and the local University, on the growth and sustenance of a distinct Pagan community identity, as well as discussions of the patterns of diversifying and cohesion that occur as a result of societal pressure, politics, and generational growth within it. As the first ever study of this long-lived community, this book sets out to document Paganistan as another aspect of the increasing prevalence of Paganism in the US and contributes to the discussion of the formation of new American religious communities. Revealing how canonical theories about community formation in anthropology do not always fit comfortably nor accurately describe how a vibrant Pagan community creates and sustains itself, this book will be of interest to scholars of religion and new religious movements worldwide, and offers a valuable contribution to discussions within both urban anthropology and sociology.

Schott's Almanac redefines the traditional almanac to present a record of the year just past and a guide to the year come. It is designed to be a practical and entertaining annual volume that tells the real stories of the year, from the opening of the New Wembley stadium to the announcement of the next prime minister, and from the release of the Iranian hostages to the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Section headings are- Chronicle; World; Society & Health; Sci, Tech, Net; Celebrity & Media; Music & Cinema; Books & Arts; Travel & Leisure; Money; Parliament & Politics; The Establishment; Sport; Ephemerides. In an age when information is plentiful but selection is rare, Schott's Almanac offers both the essential facts and the lucid analysis, combining the authority and accuracy of the Economist with the wit and vitality of Have I Got News for You.