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The Morning News

What are we to make of the fact that one of history’s most successful (and brutal) empires, which held much of the globe in its control for four hundred years, and is responsible for the modern world, was masterminded by an alchemist who spoke to angels in a crystal ball?

Come for the story of how the real-life Gandalf masterminded the British empire, stay for the story of his ill-fated wife swap.
↩︎ Boing Boing
Sep 11, 2016
Witches, 1508. Credit: Hans Baldung.

Our childhood was…weird, in a word. Even as a kid I found myself thinking, “Why are we selling flowers at the side of highways?” “Why are we going door-to-door making strangers drink juice?” “Why are we sprinkling salt over our groceries?”

Old but interesting look into the world of cults, almost worth it for the headline alone: "I accidentally joined a cult after leaving another cult."
↩︎ Jane
Sep 26, 2016

When Domination Isn't the Greatest Conduit to God

At first glance, BDSM and religion don't seem to go together. This article is a look into how people reconcile the practice of Christian Domestic Discipline, a form of erotic religious submission that has been called "spanking of Jesus," and the many misconceptions that frustrate those from practice, chief among them the idea that women who agree are "just brainwashed."

Sep 11, 2016

Politicians Like Playing Ouija, Too

We clutch to "being rational" as a requirement for our politicians, but it wasn't always so. Many early activists and feminists including Victoria Woodhull (who ran for president in 1872) were drawn in by the occult and spirits.

It seems unbelievable now, but they felt no strong contradiction between their progressive platforms, their qualifications to be president, and their interest in spiritualism.

Sep 11, 2016

Unlike the rare and much-sought-after occult tools of yesteryear, this scrying device is a near-ubiquitous piece of equipment that lives in most people’s pockets or handbags.

Pokémon Go may have been the big gaming trend of the summer, but its design and popularity hearken to more esoteric themes: magic, the occult, seeing what's not there, and the nature of reality itself.
↩︎ The Daily Grail
Sep 11, 2016
More Headlines
A room wallpapered in (presumably unread) New Yorkers. Credit: lars_o_matic.
A very stupid thing begins again. Credit: TMN.
The other White House, Moscow's Kremlin. Credit: Andrey Korzun.
Al Wadj Bank, Saudi Arabia. Credit: NASA.