A Pagan's Life (For Me)

Just because I can.... Christian Bale as Batman!

2012-03-07T18:22:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah!!!

Doctor Who News - On Set

2012-03-07T06:28:00.002-05:00

Doctor Who News

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were spotted on their way to Spain in the morning on the 6th March, as various members of the public tweeted their journey to Heathrow: firstly by Vicky Cole at Paddington Station, "Just saw the girl from Doctor Who!« Now I've seen Doctor Who!«"; then Erin Sykes at Heathrow itself, "Just seen Doctor Who in the airport, just a casual thing for me to do on a Tuesday.« Yes, actually Matt Smith! We followed him;) but then he got on his plane!«". Arthur Darvill was then spotted in Madrid-Barajas airport itself by Javier Alonso Fontaneda, confirming the trio would be filming there, with a return to the UK expected on the 16th March.

The Spanish shoot has also been confirmed by Doctor Who Magazine on the front cover for the next issue, due out Thursday.

Meanwhile, domestic filming without the two stars is planned at Cardiff Business School.

Pat Robertson: Tornadoes Could Have Been Stopped If People Had Prayed

2012-03-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

West Memphis 3 Defendant Jason Baldwin to Executive Produce 'Devil's Knot' (Exclusive)

2012-03-05T20:11:00.000-05:00

The Wrap

Jason Baldwin, one of the West Memphis Three -- young men convicted of killing three boys in West Memphis, Ark. in 1993 -- has signed on as executive producer of "Devil's Knot," a movie about the case starring Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon, TheWrap has learned.

Baldwin's longtime supporter and now girlfriend, Holly Ballard, also is executive producing.

"Devil's Knot" tells the story of Ron Lax, a successful private detective who worked for the defense for no pay. He found DNA evidence linking the stepfather of one of the murdered boys to material that was used to bind one of the victims. That evidence helped convince a judge to release Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley, Jr., in 2011.

Also read: Out of Prison, West Memphis 3 Ex-Con Seeks Justice

Baldwin spent 18 years of a life sentence in prison. Early in the case, when he was 16, he turned down a plea deal that prosecutors offered because it would have required him to testify against Echols, whom he maintained was innocent.

Echols ultimately was sentenced to death, and Misskelley was sentenced to life plus 20 years.

Eighteen years later, with questions about the mens' guilt being raised, the state approached all three with another plea deal, called an Alford Plea, which allowed them to plead guilty in exchange for release from prison for time served.

Baldwin initially resisted accepting the deal because he wanted a new trial and complete exoneration. But he ultimately accepted the plea because it guaranteed that Echols would get off death row.

"We are extremely honored that Jason and Holly are working with us," Elizabeth Fowler, one of the movie's producers, told TheWrap Sunday. "Their experience and insight are invaluable to Devil's Knot."

She said Baldwin has read the script and will consult throughout the filmmaking.

The movie is based on the book "Devil's Knot," by journalist Mara Leveritt. Atom Egoyan is directing the movie, which begins shooting this summer.

Fowler, Clark Peterson, Richard Saperstein and Paul Harris Boardman are producing the movie, which Boardman and Scott Derrickson are writing.

Echols, who had been sentenced to death, is one of the producers of "West of Memphis," a documentary about the case. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Lorri Davis produced that documentary, which Sony Pictures Classics is distributing that movie.

First Look - ParaNorman

2012-03-05T20:08:00.000-05:00

A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead, takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.

Thoughts???

New Doctor Who Toys Listed!!!

2012-03-05T19:59:00.001-05:00

Did Beyonce just simultaneously change public perspective on natural birth, baby yoga and nursing-in-public debate?

2012-03-05T19:57:00.000-05:00

YogaDork

Beyonce Brings Baby Blue Ivy to Yoga Class, Plans Yoga Holiday with Gwyneth Paltrow

New mama Beyonce has been enjoying time at home with her new baby girl Blue Ivy, born (vaginally, not by scheduled c-section, thankfully) Jan 7th, but a yoga trip to Italy with the Coldplay couple might be just what she needs to rejuvenate herself before getting back to work.

We’ve sure learned a lot this year so far, but perhaps the most important lesson? Become a celebriyogi before having a child. Even Snooki knows what’s up! Here’s what we’ve learned from Beyonce’s motherhood thus far.

Things you can do as celebrity mom Beyonce:

block off an entire wing of a hospital to deliver your baby.
name the baby Blue Ivy and still people will tell you what a beautiful name that is.
hire a personal trainer to live with you to teach you yoga and pilates twice a day for two hours to get your pre-baby bod back.
plan a luxurious ‘yoga holiday’ in Tuscany, Italy with hubs Jay-Z and your pals Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin and their brood.

Gwynnie and Chris and Jay-Z have already made yoga part of their ‘style, so it only makes sense Bee joins in. According to a source, G.Pal has encouraged Beyonce to bring Blue Ivy to yoga class as well. It sounds like everyone’s bonding beautifully, and Bey has even been spotted breastfeeding freely in public.

Wait, did Beyonce just single-handedly and simultaneously change the public’s perspective on natural birth, mommy and baby yoga and nursing-in-public debate?

[ContactMusic; NYP]

Witchcraft: Nigerian Born British MP Speaks Against Branding Of Children

2012-03-05T19:07:00.000-05:00

Times of Nigeria

Mr Chuka Umunna, Nigerian born Member of the British Parliament on Monday kicked against the branding of children as witches in the UK, describing it as an ``awful act punishable under the law.’’

Umunna represents Streatham, one of the three constituencies representing Brixton, an area with one of the largest African Diaspora populations in the UK.

He is also the only black member of the Shadow Cabinet and is the most senior elected UK politician of African origin.

Umunna made the remarks in reaction to recent reports which he said was ``happening in small number of cases under the radar in this country.’’

``There can be no excuse whatsoever for treating children in this way; branding them as witches or as possessed by evil spirits.

If you carry out these awful acts, the strong arm of the law will be brought to bear on you,’’ Umunna said.

He explained further that such cases highlight the vital responsibility of the black communities towards the protection of children within the ethnic communities.

Umunna noted that investigations revealed that children branded as witches or accused of being possessed by evil spirits, face worstabuses and neglect including torture and death.

He disclosed that the House of Commons in collaboration with a UK-based a non governmental organisation, Africans Unite against Child Abuse (AFRUCA) would be holding a summit on the subject.

He said: ``we will do everything in our power to work to prevent the tragic loss of life and maltreatment of young people of African origin.''

Also, Ms Debbie Ariyo, Executive Director of AFRUCA who called for the criminalisation of branding children as witches, saying the act infringes on the rights of children.

``The branding of children as witches leads to other forms of abuses including serious physical abuse and torture, even sexual abuse and definitely child neglect.

``There is nowhere in UK law where the link between witchcraft branding and emotional abuse is explicitly made, despite the level of harm and devastation that can occur,’’ she said.

Ariyo who described this as an ``anomaly’’ called for urgent revisit of the law in order to safeguard vulnerable children from becoming victims.

Witchcraft-Related Violence Rampant Wordlwide

2012-03-05T19:02:00.002-05:00

Huffington - The Blog

British headlines buzzed last week with the conviction of a London couple for the death of a 15-year-old boy whom they violently abused because they believed him to be a witch. However, as shocking as it may sound, this is not a secluded incident. Violence against people accused of being witches is a growing problem in the U.K., spilling over from a major, ongoing problem in other parts of the world, especially India and Africa.

Mid-day on Christmas 2010 authorities in London responded to a call about a child who had drowned in a bathtub. What they found indicated foul play. The child, Kristy Bamu, had lacerations, bruises, and was missing teeth. He was under the care of his older sister, Magalie Bamu, and her boyfriend, Eric Bikubi. In testimony given in court by family members, the victim had wet himself, causing a fight with his older sister. She and her boyfriend Bikubi assumed he had been possessed by demons and began an exorcism ritual.

Bukubi was familiar with exorcism, a practice popular in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he and the Bamus were from. Bukubi had previously accused a roommate of being possessed by demons. The ritual calls on fasting, praying, and the beating of the "possessed witch" in order to drive out the evil. After days of torture and fasting, Kristy was put into a bathtub, where authorities say he was too weak to raise his head above water, causing him to drown.

Magalie and Bikubi's convictions for the murder of Kristy brought the issue of growing violence against alleged witches in the U.K. to the forefront. Scotland yard told the BBC that they have investigated over 80 faith-based child-abuse cases in the last decade.

African studies expert Dr. Richard Hoskins says the subject of faith-based abuse has been regarded as taboo because "when it comes to fundamentalist religious belief affecting child protection, we don't seem to want to talk about it." John Azah, chairman of the British Federation of Race Equality Councils, agrees, telling the BBC, "[Politicians] are too scared of being accused of racism."

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the problem is much worse. UNICEF reported that in 2010, 20,000 children accused of witchcraft were living on the streets in the capital city of Kinshasa.

However, the problem persists throughout Africa. Just last week a couple accused of witchcraft was lynched by a mob in Kenya. By the time the police were made aware of the situation, it was too late. The brother of one of the victims told the Nairobi Star he believed a rival in a land dispute accused the couple of witchcraft, inciting local villagers.

Witchcraft is also said to be responsible for the maiming and deaths of albinos in Africa. In this case it is the witch doctors who seek the limbs of albino people. They sell for thousands of dollars on the black market. According to a recent ABC News story, 64 albinos have been murdered in Tanzania alone for their body parts.

Africa is not alone when it comes to witchcraft-related violence. According to the National Crime Bureau in India, over 2500 women have been killed for being suspected of practicing witchcraft. In December 2010, the Jharkhand State Women's Commission in India held a daylong national conference titled "Atrocities faced by women labeling them as witches -- problems and solutions."

In the U.S., modern views on witches seem to be trending more positively. Television shows and movies often feature witches as young heroines, like Samantha in the popular television showBewitched. The popularity of the Wicca religion has also helped. Many people who practice Wicca identify themselves as witches. However, Wicca is largely focused on worshiping nature and caring for others.

The Salem witch trials are regarded as ancient history in the U.S. It is difficult to fathom that such atrocities continue to affect thousands of innocent men, women, and children throughout the world.

Follow Alejandro Rojas on Twitter: www.twitter.com/paranormalrptr

Heather Donahue (The Blair Witch Project) is ready to tell her story

2012-03-04T20:13:00.001-05:00

APP.com
Heather Donahue is ready to tell her story.

The 38-year-old former actress and native of Upper Darby, Pa., best known to film fans for her starring role in the 1999 box office smash “The Blair Witch Project,” is back in the public eye with a new memoir, “Growgirl: How My Life After ‘The Blair Witch Project’ Went to Pot.”

“For me, it was a wonderful chance to tell my own story from my own perspective,” Donahue, now living in San Francisco, said in a recent phone interview. “That’s one of the things I don’t miss about acting, interpreting someone else’s story all the time. There’s something to be said for that — I think it’s engendered empathy in a lot of ways — but for me, I was ready to share my own story.”

That story, as told compellingly in “Growgirl”: Around 2007, Donahue had left her acting career and moved to a northern California community she calls “Nuggettown,” where she spent a year growing medical marijuana as part of a group know as “the Community” before departing that world to write what would become “Growgirl.” Her memoir was published in January by Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin Group.

“I think a lot of people are really just curious about this world no matter who would be writing about it, and I think it’s time to see the medical marijuana community really become more mainstream, simply because people are in difficult economic circumstances right now, and they’re looking for options, and this is what I found,” she said. “It wouldn’t be for everybody, but it was for me.”

Reaction to her book has been diverse in the medical marijuana community, said Donahue, who entered that community after a chance meeting at a meditation retreat.

“People that I know in that world have been very supportive, actually, but people who I don’t know are a little bit more like: ‘Oh, who do you think you are to write about this? You’re going to get yourself in a heap of trouble,’ and I kind of understood that, and that’s fine,” she said. “I knew I was taking a risk by writing this. I knew I was taking a risk by growing.

'Lorax' cleans up at box office with $70.7M debut

2012-03-04T17:58:00.000-05:00

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" raked in all kinds of green, earning $70.7 million in its first weekend to score the biggest box-office debut of the year by far.

The 3-D animated family film from Universal Pictures, featuring the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron and Taylor Swift, is based on Seuss' cautionary fable about the importance of preserving the environment. Of its opening haul, $5.4 million, or 8 percent, came from IMAX screens, which is on the high side for a family film.

Coming in second place with a strong debut of its own was the R-rated "Project X," about a trio of high school misfits who throw a raging party in hopes of becoming popular. The Warner Bros.comedy made about $20.8 million, according to Sunday studio estimates.

"The Lorax" comes from the makers of "Despicable Me," — Illumination Entertainment, led by producer Christopher Meledandri — and director Chris Renaud. It actually had a bigger opening than that film, which debuted with $56.4 million in July 2010. It also scored the biggest opening for a Dr. Seuss adaptation, topping the $55.1 million that "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" made in 2000.

Before this, "The Vow" had the best debut of 2012 with $41.2 million.

"I was stunned from Friday," when "The Lorax" made $17.4 million, said Nikki Rocco, Universal's president of domestic distribution. It then made a huge leap on Saturday, earning $31.3 million. "Who would have expected a result like this?"

Rocco attributed the movie's success to "a combination of a) a great film, b) an incredible marketing campaign and b-plus) the need for another family film in the marketplace. I think that has a lot to do with it. ...

"People love Dr. Seuss," she added, "and audiences now know about Illumination and Chris Meledandri, what he delivers."

The strong showing for "The Lorax" continues a trend of movies overperforming so far this year, saidPaul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. Revenues are up 19 percent from this point in 2011.

"It's so different from what we were seeing last year and especially the end of last year. Now it's like a box-office bonanza," Dergarabedian said. "What a great turnaround from where we were last year with the down-trending week after week and the lowest attendance in 15 years. If we keep up this pace, we're going to be looking at a massive summer."

Some huge sequels are coming out this summer, Dergarabedian pointed out, including "The Avengers," ''The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Amazing Spider-Man."

Dergarabedian had expected "The Lorax" would open somewhere in the $45-to-$50 million range and that "Project X," in a bit of counter-programming, would end up in the high teens: "Warner Bros. perfectly put their R-rated, raunchy comedy right there in the same weekend as 'The Lorax' and both films did very well."

Last week's No. 1 movie, "Act of Valor," dropped to third place with $13.7 million. The action picture from Relativity Media, which stars real, active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs, has made over $45.2 million total.

This year's best-picture winner at the Academy Awards, the silent, black-and-white "The Artist," got a 34 percent bump from its victory last weekend. The Weinstein Co. film made $3.9 million to come in 10th place and now has grossed over $37 million total.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax," $70.7 million ($500,000 international).

2. "Project X," $20.8 million ($1.7 million international).

3. "Act of Valor," $13.7 million.

4. "Safe House," $7.2 million ($10.8 million international).

5. "Tyler Perry's Good Deeds," $7 million.

6. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," $6.9 million ($14.7 million international).

7. "The Vow," $6.1 million ($4.1 million international).

8. "This Means War," $5.6 million ($14.1 million international).

9. "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance," $4.7 million ($6 million international).

10. "The Artist," $3.9 million ($5.3 million international).

___

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," $14.7 million.

2. "This Means War," $14.1 million.

3. "Safe House," $10.8 million.

4. "War Horse," $10.6 million.

5. "Hugo," $10.25 million.

6. "The Devil Inside," $7 million.

7. "Chronicle," $6 million (tie).

7. "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance," $6 million (tie).

9. "The Woman in Black," $5.6 million.

10. "Intouchables," $5.4 million.

Witchcraft trial: couple found guilty of boy's murder in London

2012-03-04T15:17:00.000-05:00

The Guardian

Kristy Bamu, 15, who was abused for several days and murdered after being accused of witchcraft. Photograph: Metropolitan police/PA

A man and woman who tortured and killed a 15-year-old boy because they believed he was a witch have been found guilty of murder.

Eric Bikubi and Magalie Bamu, both 28, killed Magalie's brother Kristy Bamu in their east London flat after violently abusing him for several days because they believed he was possessed by evil spirits.

In a statement read out at the Old Bailey, the murdered boy's family said they were able to forgive his killers, but not able to forget the "terrible" events. "Kristy died in unimaginable circumstances at the hands of people who he loved and trusted. People who we all loved and trusted," his father, Pierre, wrote on behalf of Kristy's relatives and friends, including his mother, Jacqueline.

"Christmas, a festival of joy and Jacqueline's birthday, will always be scarred by these terrible events."

Bikubi and Bamu also accused two of the teenager's sisters of witchcraft and were found guilty of causing actual bodily harm after abusing them for several days. Bikubi and Bamu were remanded in custody to be sentenced on Monday.

Over four days, Kristy, who was visiting his sister with his siblings from France, was tortured with metal bars, a chisel, a hammer and a pair of pliers in a "prolonged attack of unspeakable savagery and brutality", the court heard.

A few days after Kristy arrived in London on 16 December 2010, Bikubi, a man he thought of as his uncle, began to accuse him of witchcraft after he wet his pants.

After being denied sleep and food and having been attacked with a number of weapons, Kristy admitted to being a sorcerer in the hope that the violence would stop. He finally begged to be allowed to die.

On Christmas Day 2010, when Kristy was weakened as a result of the beatings, Bikubi forced the boy and his siblings into a bath. He doused them with freezing water and, as the bath filled up, Kristy was submerged and drowned.

When Kristy was found by paramedics in the eighth-floor flat in Forest Gate, his head, face, back and arms were covered in deep cuts and bruises, and several of his teeth were missing. Pathologist reports revealed he suffered 101 injuries and died as a result of drowning and the injuries.

Bikubi, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, carried out a series of increasingly violent attacks over a period of days against Kristy, whom he accused of having an evil influence over another child in the family.

He forced Kristy and two of his sisters who he also believed were witches – Kelly, 20, and their 11-year-old sister, who cannot be named – to pray, denying them food and sleep in an attempt to "remove the kindoki", the Lingala word for witchcraft.

The trial was told the attacks began with beatings and intensified until Bikubi – helped and encouraged by Bamu – was using an "armoury of weapons" found in the flat. He beat the child with a metal bar used for weights, shoved a metal bar into the teenager's mouth and struck Kristy with a hammer in the face, knocking out his teeth. Bamu also beat him, taking a pair of pliers and wrenching his ear.

Giving evidence through a French interpreter, the boy's older sister Kelly, now 21, said the pair were fixated on the idea that the three siblings were practising witchcraft. "It was as if they were obsessed by that and then it became absolutely unbearable," she told the court. "I repeated again and again and again that we were not witches that we had come there to spend Christmas as a family together. But I don't know what was going on in their minds. They decided we were there to kill them."

In a "staggering act of depravity and cruelty", the defendants recruited sibling against sibling as "vehicles for their violence", with Kristy's brother forced to stand guard to make sure he did not escape. Just before he died, two of the younger children were made to clean up Kristy's blood, which covered the flat.

The court heard that Kristy's parents, who were set to join their children a few days after Christmas after remaining in Paris because of work commitments, spoke to Bikubi, Bamu and finally their son on the day he died. Bikubi told Pierre Bamu, Kristy's father, that his son was possessed by witchcraft and if he was not collected immediately he would kill Kristy.

Kristy also spoke to his father on the telephone and warned him that Bikubi would kill him.

Pierre had dismissed fears about the children because he could not imagine Bikubi doing any harm to them.

On Christmas Day, after these phone calls, his parents attempted to get a last-minute hire car but failed, and instead decided to arrive as planned two days later. A few hours later, they received a call from Kelly to tell them Kristy was dead.

In the statement to the court, Pierre Bamu wrote: "We were always fond of Eric and regarded him as a son. We were proud that he would call us Mum and Dad. As a family we planned our futures together and Eric and I were to open a restaurant in London together as a legacy for our family."

The statement continued: "The pain of Kristy's death is something which cannot be measured or calculated. Kristy was a fine young man, kind and considerate, much loved by his family and friends. We saw that he was becoming a man. We hoped that he would work with me in my carpentry business and one day take over. Kristy was also a role model to his siblings."

The court heard that 20 minutes before Kristy died, the council sent a plumber to the flat who heard splashing in the bathroom, but nothing else suspicious. Neighbours told the court they heard angry shouting and continuous music throughout the night before Kristy died.

Neighbour Umar Anzaar told police: "I was aware of a lot of noise coming from the flat – it sounded like a fish market. There were a lot of people shouting, and the voices sounded angry. The noise was so loud that I shut the window."

The court heard that Kristy was put in a bath and doused with cold water. As the bath filled up, his siblings were also forced into the tub and Kristy became submerged in the water. Kelly noticed he was not breathing and Bikubi attempted to resuscitate the teenager. Bamu called the emergency services, but the child was dead by the time paramedics arrived.

First Look - Tim Burton's Frankenweenie

2012-03-04T14:24:00.000-05:00

I love the original and I am super excited for the remake!
Thoughts?

First Look At Cobie Smulders In The Avengers!!!

2012-03-04T14:01:00.000-05:00

You got a brief glimpse of How I Met Your Mother star Cobie Smuldersin the latest Avengers trailer.

And now, here's a closer look of her as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill.

She's all serious business! And she looks seksi!

Check out a fuller pic of her below!

Thank you Perez!

SPOILERS - Doctor Who News!!!

2012-02-28T18:55:00.000-05:00

Express.co.uk

HE IS best known for battling villains in his celebrated role as super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes – now Benedict Cumberbatch is being lined up to play Doctor Who’s deadly foe The Master for the show’s 50th anniversary.

Programme insiders say the 35-year-old actor is likely to lock horns with current Time Lord Matt Smith, 29, when the series marks its half-century next year.

Ironically Cumberbatch, who has won plaudits for his portrayal of the modern- day Sherlock in the hit BBC1 series, has often been linked with the role of the Doctor himself but has played down the prospect in the past.

Writer Steven Moffat is currently at the helm of both the Doctor Who and Sherlock shows on the BBC.

“It’s fitting that the Doctor comes face to face with his ultimate enemy, The Master, for the 50th anniversary and it’s felt Benedict is the perfect choice if schedules can work,” we’re told. “Fans will love the idea of the man who plays Sherlock Holmes taking on the Doctor’’.

Fans will love the idea of the man who plays Sherlock Holmes taking on the Doctor

A source

The Master was last portrayed in the series by John Simm during former Doctor Who star David Tennant’s time in the role.

The character, who is a renegade Time Lord, has often been described as the Doctor’s biggest enemy of all and has appeared in the show in various guises since 1971.

Cumberbatch has also been cast as a currently unnamed villain in the forthcoming Star Trek film.

“Benedict has often been asked about whether he would like to play the Doctor so it will be ironic if he now
ends up being The Master instead,” we’re told.

Star Wars ‘Yoga Galaxy’ Indulges Dorkiest Fantasies

2012-02-28T18:06:00.000-05:00

YogaDork

Many of you know we can be pretty dorky, but this Star Wars – Yoga correlation, that keeps popping up, tips the scale on dorkdom. And we kinda love it. Purely for your giggly enjoyment, your complete Star Wars ‘Yoga Galaxy’ poster collection, designed and drawn by artist Rob Osborne, who also sells them on etsy.

The description via etsy:

THE STORY: Yoga poses spanning the original Star Wars trilogy! A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi! Poses are demonstrated by Luke Skywalker (with Yoda), Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Princess Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, and a host of Imperial baddies (Stormtrooper, Biker Scout, Tie Fighter Pilot, Snow Trooper, Imperial Commander).
Twenty-Eight yoga poses are depicted in this print, and each pose includes the sanskrit name. Poses included are: Goddess, Crow, Bird of Paradise, Half Lord of the Fishes, Scorpion, Camel, Extended Side Angle, Warrior 2, Chair, Eagle, Gate, Salutation Seal, Plow, Feathered Peacock, Boat, Warrior 3, Reverse Warrior, Extended Triangle, Tree, Downward-Facing Dog, Supported Headstand, High Lunge, Mountain, Side Plank, Lord of the Dance, Supported Shoulderstand, and Half Moon.

Happy Birthday Anthony Daniels!!!

2012-02-21T16:29:00.000-05:00

Upcoming - 'The Raven' UK Trailer

2012-02-21T15:41:00.002-05:00

Thoughts?

Happy Birthday Alan Rickman!!!

2012-02-21T14:55:00.000-05:00

For Maeghan:-)

Clive Owens in INTRUDERS by director of 28 WEEKS LATER

2012-02-16T08:08:00.000-05:00

Thoughts?

Just because I can.... Simon Pegg!

2012-02-14T06:53:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, oh King of the Nerds!!!

For your brilliance as a writer and actor, we salute you.

My FAVOURITE moment of the night!!! When David Guetta and Deadmau5 showed the room how to dance!

2012-02-13T08:22:00.002-05:00

Mind-blowing!

Ms. Whitney would have been proud...

2012-02-13T08:14:00.002-05:00

Adele is back and the Muses are smiling!

2012-02-12T16:38:00.002-05:00

Salem’s official Witch Laurie Cabot moves her magic online

2012-02-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

The Boston Globe

SALEM - For roughly 17 years, Salem’s Pickering Wharf was the Graceland of witchcraft and Laurie Cabot its Elvis.

“It was just constant lines waiting to get in to see her and she signed her books,’’ said Ginny Goldsmith, who owns Crafters Market, across from Cabot’s Official Witch Shoppe. “People would be really excited to see her; they’d be like ‘We just saw her! It was my dream to see her!’

“It’s going to be sad, and quiet.’’

Cabot, who opened Salem’s first witch shop about 40 years ago on Derby Street, locked her doors at 63R Wharf St. on Tuesday for good.

But the 79-year-old is not retiring.

“The online store is doing great, and it’s worldwide,’’ said Cabot, who began selling her homemade merchandise such as bags of incense ($4.50) and bottles of potions ($17.50) online last year.

“It’s definitely a beginning; it’s exciting, really,’’ she said during an interview last week from her store’s back room, where she does healings and psychic readings in a black caftan, oversized black glasses, and black eye makeup.

“It has changed, but we’re not going out of business at all. It’s escalating.’’

Cabot said tourism in the Witch City has dipped to the point where a brick-and-mortar store is no longer sustainable. While Salem saw slightly more than a 10 percent increase in tourism this past October from the previous October, according to Salem Regional Visitor Center statistics, the city’s tourism industry on the whole took a hit during the recession and is steadily climbing back.

“In 1970 I opened the first witch shop in America - it became a destination,’’ Cabot said. “With tourism down, it’s very slow.’’

Born in 1933 in Wewoka, Okla., while her parents were en route to California, Cabot says she first experienced psychic abilities when she had a vision of a boy falling off his bicycle onto a train trestle. The 7-year-old’s mother called the sheriff and the boy was rescued, Cabot said.

Four years later, Cabot’s mother split from her husband and moved her daughter back to her native Boston, where they met a woman at the Boston Public Library who claimed to be a witch. Cabot studied under the woman until she was 16 but eventually started dancing at Lou Walters’ (Barbara Walters’ father) Latin Quarter nightclub.

Cabot didn’t practice witchcraft openly until shortly after she found herself a 30-year-old divorcee with two young children, in the late 1960s. But she concealed her religion again after a friend urged her to move into a Federal-style house across the street from the mayor of Salem in 1969.

“Well, they hung people here. I didn’t know how they felt about witches,’’ Cabot recalled. “There weren’t any witches going, ‘I’m a witch.’ ’’

She maintained her anonymity until her black cat was stuck in a three-story tree for three days. Cabot says she called the police and fire departments, only to be told it was against their union rules to rescue cats. When the Animal Rescue League refused to help, Cabot called the local paper.

“By then I was frantic. . . . I said, ‘look, I’m a witch and that’s my particular and I want her down now,’ ’’ Cabot recalled, referring to a witch term meaning the cat was necessary for her rituals.

The cat was rescued in short order but she says a newspaper picture of her clutching the cat went viral when news wire services ran it. Officially out of the broom closet, Cabot says she appeared on several national talk shows, including the “Tonight Show’’ with Johnny Carson.

In 1970, she opened The Witch Shoppe at 100 Derby St. and renamed it Crow Haven Corner a year later when she moved to Essex Street - which under different ownership remains the longest-operating witch shop in the city.

Cabot’s third and final location on Pickering Wharf was originally called The Cat, The Crow and The Crown in the mid-1990s before she renamed it The Official Witch Shoppe, a nod to then-governor Michael Dukakis’s 1977 proclamation that dubbed Cabot “Salem’s Official Witch.’’

Cabot, who has taught witchcraft at Salem State College, Wellesley College, and Harvard, still had to educate customers before she could build a clientele.

“Jesus freaks would walk in yelling at me; irate mothers would come in because one of their kids came in the store and was interested,’’ she said. “It was pretty bad; my two daughters and I would be walking down the street and good ol’ boys would drive by and say, ‘They ought to hang you again.’ ’’

She preached that witchcraft, or the Wiccan religion, combines magic, astrology, and environmentalism in a scientific manner. She is fond of saying witches would never curse anyone because, according to their religion, it would be recast at them three-fold. Cabot has written several books, including “The Power of the Witch’’ and “The Witch in Every Woman.’’

Salem businesses eventually embraced the religion when they realized it could line their pockets. While Cabot said the city became a “circus’’ with attractions such as the Boris Karloff Witch Mansion, Salem also became a haven for witches from around the country.

“We were public, we were out there, we weren’t hiding,’’ she said. “So the commercialism served a purpose.’’

With the store closed, Cabot’s dream is to once again attract witches from all over the world to the North Shore by creating a building for her Cabot Kent Hermetic Temple, which received 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2010.

“We’re going to get together and buy a building so we’re physically visible,’’ Cabot said. “So we have a temple where witches from all over the world can come and join in with us and light a candle and do a meditation or take classes.’’

Justin A. Rice can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com.