Associated Press correspondent Alison Mutler reports:

There's more bad news in the cards for Romania's beleaguered witches.

A month after Romanian authorities began taxing them for their trade, the country's soothsayers and fortune tellers are cursing a new bill that threatens fines or even prison if their predictions don't come true.

Witches argue they shouldn't be blamed for the failure of their tools.

"They can't condemn witches, they should condemn the cards," Queen witch Bratara Buzea told The Associated Press by telephone.

Superstition is a serious matter in the land of Dracula, and officials have turned to witches to help the recession-hit country collect more money and crack down on tax evasion.

In January, officials changed labor laws to officially recognize the centuries-old practice as a taxable profession, prompting angry witches to dump poisonous mandrake into the Danube in an attempt to put a hex on the government.

The new draft bill passed in the Senate last week. It still must be approved by a financial and labor committee and by Romania's Chamber of Deputies, the other house of Romania's parliament.

Bratara called the proposed bill overblown. "I will fight until my last breath for this not to be passed," she said.

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Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)
        

Associated Press correspondent Alison Mutler reports

MOGOSOIA, Romania – Solace for world leaders trying to enforce painful austerity measures: At least you're not running Romania.

Angry witches are using cat excrement and dead dogs to cast spells on the president and government who are forcing them to pay taxes. Also in the eye of the taxman are fortune tellers, who should have seen it coming.

And President Traian Basescu isn't laughing it off. In a country where superstition is mainstream, the president and his aides wear purple on Thursdays, allegedly to ward off evil spirits.

Witches from Romania's eastern and western regions will descend to the southern plains and the Danube River Thursday to threaten the government with spells and spirits. Mauve has a high vibration, it makes the wearer superior and wards off evil attacks, according to the esoteric group Violet Flame — which practices on Thursdays.

A dozen witches will head to the Danube to put a hex on the government and hurl mandrake into the river "so evil will befall them," said a witch named Alisia. She identified herself with one name, as is customary among witches.

"This law is foolish. What is there to tax, when we hardly earn anything?" she said by telephone on Wednesday. "The lawmakers don't look at themselves, at how much they make, their tricks; they steal and they come to us asking us to put spells on their enemies."

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The Air Force Academy, the subject in recent years of complaints of religious proselytizing by Evangelical Christians, is planning to add a worship area for Wiccans, Druids and followers of other Earth-centered religions.

With plans for a dedication in March, the hilltop circle is to be the latest addition to a collection of worship areas that includes Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist sacred spaces, according to an academy release.

Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier, NCO in charge of the Academy's Astronautics laboratories, worked with the academy chapel to create the official worship area for both cadets and other servicemembers in the Colorado Springs area, according to the release.

"Feel free to check the site out, but treat it as you would any other religious structure," said Longcrier, who became a Pagan shortly after arriving at the academy. He says academy chaplains have backed the effort.

"There really haven't been any obstacles for the new circle," he said. "The chaplain's office has been 100-percent supportive."

"Every servicemember is charged with defending freedom for all Americans, and that includes freedom to practice our religion of choice or, for that matter, not to practice any faith at all," said Lt. Col. William Ziegler, Cadet Wing chaplain. "Being in the military isn't just a job -- it's a calling. We all take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and that means we've all sworn to protect one another's religious liberties. We all put on our uniforms the same way; we're all Airmen first."

Longcrier says the climate at the academy for practitioners of Earth-centered religions “has improved dramatically” since his arrival.

"When I first arrived here, Earth-centered cadets didn't have anywhere to call home," he said. "Now, they meet every Monday night, they get to go on retreats, and they have a stone circle. ... We have representation on the Cadet Interfaith Council, and I even meet with the Chaplains at Peterson Air Force Base once a year to discuss religious climate."

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Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

In the months since we started In Good Faith, we've attracted readers and commenters from all over the world. Ties to the Baltimore area will be helpful in spotting some familiar faces in the video above (the list appears at the end).

I wanted to take a moment to say a sincere thank you to all who have stopped by, and particularly to those who have joined in the spirited debate taking shape on these pages. During this holiday season, we wish the very best to everyone of every faith, and no faith at all.

I expect to be posting only lightly over the next few days as I take time off to spend with my family. As my father would say: Talk amongst yourselves.

Best,
Matt

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In England Tuesday morning, hundreds of pagans and others trekked out to Stonehenge to greet the first sunrise after the Winter Solstice. Several British news organizations have covered the event, which organizers say has grown in recent years with the understanding that the Druidic monument was more significant at the Winter Solstice than at the Summer Solstice.

"It is the most important day of the year for us because it welcomes in the new sun," pagan leader Arthur Pendragon tells The Daily Mail.

"We're here for an anti-religious reason, if any," Alison Marcetic tells The Guardian. "Pagans seem to have more fun so we'd thought we'd give it a go. We'll be celebrating Christmas but this is about showing the children that this season isn't just about getting presents. What goes on here is more basic, more tangible."

"It's one of those things you must do at least once in your life and for many of those that come they will come again and again," Stonehenge official Peter Carson tells the BBC. "It's a very special time for Stonehenge."

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

When I was living in London 20 years ago, I was touched one Halloween when a British friend surprised me with a card to mark the holiday.

It was the first and only Halloween card I've ever received. Obviously, I didn't tell her that. She thought she was helping me to feel at home in her country by remembering a tradition from mine; why tell her that it isn't really a holiday for exchanging cards?

Since then, however, Europeans have become more familiar with Halloween. Which is why the Vatican has grown more vocal in its condemnation of the annual observance.

In an article in L'Osservatore Romano, the Holy See says Halloween is a pagan celebration of "terror, fear and death." The official Vatican paper warns parents against allowing children to dress up as ghosts and ghouls.

(We're getting this from British newspapers, because we haven't been able to find the original story at the L'Osservatore Romano Web site.)

The article, headlined “The Dangerous Messages of Halloween,” quotes liturgical expert Joan Maria Canals as saying 'Halloween has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian” and urging parents “'to be aware of this and try to direct the meaning of the feast towards wholesomeness and beauty rather than terror, fear and death.'

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Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)
Categories: Catholicism, Culture, Holidays, International, Wicca
        

When we launched this blog a few months back, we assembled a list of categories we thought we might fill with posts. We have filled most of them, and over time, we've added new categories. But if you look at the list below and to the right, there remain four original categories that we haven't touched.

This is an invitation to anyone aware of interesting news, developments or trends involving the Baha'i, Mormon, Sikh or Wiccan faiths, particularly with links to Baltimore or Maryland, to let us know about it.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)