This is not a movie review, but I watched 'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters' last evening. I make notes if I'm going to review a movie, and it's always a movie which I'm undecided about... but that I will probably like. I'm not going to give any strong negative review of some fantasy movie, which probably wasn't meant to be taken seriously anyway. Still, it's always interesting how certain people are expected to grin and bear certain things, which others will howl at the smallest slight. This movie was an easy watch, as it moved along at a quick pace. It had both dark foreboding and enchanting qualities to it. By and large, it was a good fantasy movie. I suspect that it was intended to take place in a rural wooded German-speaking region during the Middle Ages. The film pulled no punches, at least throughout most of it; "witches" were evil child murdering monsters who deserved to be killed... preferable by fire or decapitation." Wow... if this was in 2013 (a sequel is on it's way soon), I guess we can't be too surprised that Leo Martello founded the now defunct Witches Anti-Defamation League forty years earlier. Oh, but of course.. this movie was all just for fun!
One aspect of all of this which I was thinking about was that there's a shortage of genres for the "bad gals." The evil women characters of film history are usually just following the lead of the "bad guy" genres. However, with witches, the women are the undisputed rulers of darkness. Muriel, the "evil grand witch" portrayed here, was a very powerful and fearsome character. She was shown to be the ruler of the forest, yet displayed no qualities that one might expect from an adherent of a nature-based religion.
Only later in the film was there a character and references made demonstrating the presence of "good witches." Basically, this was a passive-aggressive film which glorified "the burning times." I do, however, believe that there are Satanic women who call themselves "witches" based on the popular Christian conflation of organic European spiritual traditions with Satanism. Still, we're not expected to ruin everyone's fun here. I can't help but grin when I think of all the possible movie titles: 'Hansel and Gretel: [place any religious group here] Hunters' (aka Killers). Ohhh... doesn't feel good, does it? Other than that, it was a good film with lots of powerful imagery. I confess, I rooted for the bad gal... or as a wise man once told me regarding movie viewing... "you can mix it the way you want to mix it." .
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Just like other recent remakes, such as 'Evil Dead', 'Blair Witch' didn't come close to living up to the original. Despite the low budget of the original, there were many interesting curiosities about it; how it was made, the small park location, the "movie tourists" in Burkittsville, Maryland, etc. This remake was really much like any low budget horror film set in the woods.
Of course, my main interest here is the portrayal of what I call the "Vehmic rune." The symbol was again shown as an evil symbol, which it was not, with a clear tie to a negative spirit of Witchery (Neopagans never get a break!). One observation was that the Vehmic/Blair Witch symbols used here, made from small branches and twine, appeared more artistic and powerful. The only other observation I can make was the symbol on one movie ad (see image to the left) was placed inside of a circle/wreath... the symbol of nature, such as with a Pentacle. This movie was actually a sequel more than a remake, although I don't know if it was a continuation of the original (1999) or of 'Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000). It makes little difference, as this was really a movie to watch in the dark to get scared. That's fine, but that's what it is. The fictional "huge" "Black Hills Forest" of Maryland, was actually filmed in British Columbia here. It appeared to be perhaps a tree farm with many thin woods, but it was plenty dark and scary at night. The brother of the young woman from one of the earlier films sets out to find the still yet undiscovered "hidden house" (shown in film footage) in the Black Hills Forest in order to discover what really happened to her. He brings along three friends and a couple who had taken some footage of the house as guides if I recall. Apparently the house is like a "ghost ship." The group seems well equipped, all carrying walkie talkies, and bringing along a drone; none of which ended up offering much help.
After one of the guides initially staged some of the symbols in their camp at night, some very unexplained happenings began (sleeping in until 2 PM or walking in circles). This is just about the point where I have to warn of a spoiler alert. The Blair Witch entity here attacked in more the manner that the demonic spirit from the two original Evil Dead films attacked.... and there were many sudden jolting scenes. The concept was that the entire film was from footage later found at the scene, and of course every person was using both a camera and flashlight at all times.. but we had to have a movie, right? At about the halfway point of the film, there was like an endless night where it was apparently still dark when their time showed it to be morning. I won't give away the ending, but it does present mostly non-stop danger, action, and violence during about the last thirty minutes. During this time, the "real" paranormal Blair Witch symbols begin to show up around them, with more frightening happenings revolving around them which I won't give away here. The film only runs ninety minutes. Coincidentally, right after I watched it, there was an episode of 'American Supernatural' on The Weather Channel which featured a ghost legend from the this-time-real "Black Woods Road" in Maine. I recall other "black woods" or "black hills" from other regional folklore, which I would guess may be the source of the idea behind the Blair Witch films. .
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Retraction On a posting from last October 25 entitled '"The Plague of Three" upon Folkish Neopaganism', I stated that Anthropology Professor Sabina Magliocco was not involved in the.. lets just say "Neopagan movement" and was a negative force. This was not accurate. She is strongly involved and sees herself as a very well-placed asset. Additionally, the study of folklore is important; and should compliment technology and other areas of human endeavor, even if there are disagreements in certain conflated or relevant areas. I will place this link above the article and below the paragraph in question. There are some other older postings where I may have changed my mind, expanded my knowledge regarding some issues, facts, or opinions, or where there was a small factual error; but I never thought the need to retract them before this, and also since each posting here is now receiving an average of 600 views within 2 weeks. I think that we probably all take ourselves a bit too seriously from time to time. I only retract that one paragraph however. Joseph Cominini - Brisbane, CA
'You Call It Groundhog Day, We Call It Imbolc' Peg Aloi - WitchVox - February 3, 2000 I trudge over the snow-covered lawn to my backdoor, ignoring my earlier tracks and breaking new ones. I enter the house this way each night, initially because I misplaced my keys, but now because I like to use this roundabout path. It allows me to look up at the huge bare trees silhoetted against the blue night sky, and to check the birdfeeders, to see if the starlings, bluejays, cardinals, chickadees, and sparrows (not to mention the marauding squirrels) need more food. Crunching through the white crust, made glassy and sugary from a recent sleet storm on top of a foot of powdery snow, the sound is enormous: crunch, crunch, CRUNCH...I am a kid again, smashing my boots onto frozen puddles and frost-rimed grass, whacking at icicles with a stick, just to hear the sound of frozen water breaking. As I usually do, I look up to gaze upon the moon...but I can't see it. She is shrouded in greyish, opaque mist...her light gives the clouds form but not brightness. She wears the frozen fog like a gossamer cloak, through which she may peek at any moment...for now, I can see the surface of the snow reflecting the lights of neighboring houses, lamps, televisions, throwing gleaming color across the white expanse of snow-lawn, shimmering now blue, now orange, now pale green... I think of the approaching festival of Imbolc, the midwinter fire festival honoring Brigid, and I picture the beautiful Irish goddess up there beside her sister the Moon, also wrapped in a white gossamer cloak, both of them aglow from the cold air...offering us their gifts of healing and hope as we wait for a brief respite from the single-digit temperatures, a thaw, a day or two when the snows melt away, the buds tremble with incipient growth and all living creatures feel a small, fiery flutter deep within our beings, as we whisper, gladly, "Spring will come again! Spring will come again!" con't...
5 Ways to Celebrate Imbolc * Wheel of the Year ~ The White Witch Parlour
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'How to Make An Attention-Grabbing, Festive Culinary Wreath' Jacki Andre - OffTheGridNews.com You’ve worked hard growing herbs and vegetables. Why not show off your bounty as a beautiful wreath? Culinary wreaths can be created in a variety of ways. Most start with a base of herbs and may include other small produce — like garlic bulbs or small peppers — for visual interest. Culinary wreaths smell amazing and offer a unique way to access your herbs while cooking. If you use fresh herbs, they will start to dry fairly quickly on the wreath form. The best fresh herbs for this project are those with woody stems and small leaves, like rosemary, thyme, tarragon, marjoram and oregano. They will be easier to attach to the wreath form and will keep the wreath shape better than those with soft stems and larger leaves, which will droop as they dry. If you’re fortunate enough to live in a zone where bay laurel is hardy, or if you have a bay laurel tree growing indoors, bay leaves work great, too. con't... ************************* Yarn of the color of your choosing could be tied and fashioned into many symbols (pentacle, othala, etc.). I like to place them outdoors.
'This stunning 'hotel room' in the Swiss Alps has no walls' Leanna Garfield, Business Insider - Independent.co.uk - January 23, 2017 From a lodge sculpted from ice to one made from metal sheets, there are an infinite number of offbeat hotels that re-think the traditional B&B. One open-air hotel, called Null Stern, eliminates walls and a roof altogether. Located in the middle of the Swiss Alps, it only features a bed with linens. In German, the hotel's name translates to "zero stars." "The star is not the hotel but each guest," the hotel's co-founder, Daniel Charbonnier, tells Business Insider. "We got rid of all the walls, and the only thing left is you and your experience." con't... ************************* This would be something of a fantasy for me; just pushing a roll away bed into the yard on a warm evening. I wouldn't want anyone to see me though. Also, there are a lot of raccoons and skunks around here. This video is funny..
Jim Bakker is on to Us! Hellbound Heathen JIm Bakker was innocent of al cahrges of fraud and buying his mistresses silence with $350,000.00 dollars of his congregation's money. It was all the work of Witches!!
Giant Celtic Cross Found Hidden in Irish Forest October 2016 Initially spotted by puzzled airline passengers flying over a forest in Ireland, drone footage has revealed a massive Celtic Cross that had been hidden until now. The enormous arboreal wonder, which was seemingly first noticed this autumn, measures over 300 feet long and more than 200 feet wide. Although the source of the incredible design was deemed a mystery at first, a subsequent investigation determined who was responsible for the epic artwork. According to the television network ITV, a man named Liam Emmery produced the breathtaking visual by planting different species of trees to form the shape of the iconic symbol. Unfortunately, Emmery passed away in 2010 and, incredibly, his family had actually forgotten about the project until they were contacted by the media about it. "If he was here, we'd all have heard about it, because he would have been so proud," his wife told the news station. While we wish that Emmery had been able to take credit for his creation now that the world knows about it, we're guessing that, much like the drone that captured it on film, he's looking down and smiling over a job well done. Source: ITV
You don't have to be on a mountain in Colorado to have a wilderness experience and You can get a "Rocky Mountain high" on any mountain any where in the world.John was singing about Colorado,but This video is about the wilderness experience everywhere. :)
Special thanks to those of you who have watched,commented,liked and shared,I appreciate it.Extra special thanks to Sony Music Entertainment for the use of their material.No Copyright infringement intended.All musical content is the property of SME (Sony Music Entertainment)
************************* The Himalayas are larger, but not nearly as beautiful as the Rocky Mountains. It may sound like a strange thing to say, but spring isn't really so far away. It's been raining consistently in northern California since mid-October, so I don't have to feel guilty for wanting an early spring. Rocky Mountains John Denver
And the Colorado rocky mountain high I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly Rocky mountain high
Ain't this somethin'? I told my pap and mam I was coming to the mountains to trap and be a mountain man. Acted like they was gut-shot. Says, "son, make your life go here. Here's where the peoples is. Them mountains is for animals and savages." I said, "Mother Gue, the Rocky Mountains is the marrow of the world." And by God I was right.
I ain't never seen 'em, but my common sense tells me the Andes is foothills, and the Alps is for children to climb! Keep good care of your hair! These here is God's finest scupturings! And there ain't no laws for the brave ones! And there ain't no asylums for the crazy ones! And there ain't no churches, except for this right here! And there ain't no priests excepting the birds. By God, I are a mountain man, and I'll live 'til an arrow or a bullet finds me. And then I'll leave my bones on this great map of the magnificent.
************************* www.kellianna.com ************************* Voices of Women with Host Kris Steinnes: Kellianna Girouard - Singing Your Warrior Song and Victory Transformation Talk Radio Published on Jan 3, 2017 Source: https://www.spreaker.com/user/transformationtalkradio/voices-of-women-with-host-kris-steinnes-_731 In SpiritSong circle, Kellianna guides you on a journey of release and personal discovery as we delve deep down inside to seek out our greatest strengths and to honor those things that have helped us to be become the Warrior Women that we are today-strong, loving and resilient. We go inside and we claim her, then we give her voice, and then we sing her song. She, that Warrior inside each of us, will sing a song of undeniable power and individuality. Be it a battle cry or lullaby, we sing our Warrior Song.Victory Lonnquist has been at Standing Rock since August and shares her experiences working on the front line and with the medics and healers.
The Learning Channel's (DirecTV channel 280) Friday evening lineup includes 'Paranormal Lockdown' and 'Alaska Haunting: Dead of Winter', both of which are apparently starting their second season. I think both programs are from the Destination America network, which I don't get, and ether moved or were farmed out to TLC. Discovery Communications owns quite a few cable networks, and it can be a bit confusing. While 'Paranormal Lockdown' is produced in the common investigative style, 'Alaska Haunting' is produced in documentary style. 'Dead of Winter' is apparently the season two sub-title. The program is a lot like 'A Haunting', and with the same excellent narrator Anthony D. Call.
1-1-17 ADDITION:I wanted to add this item as it's something to really ponder within the whole idea of paranormal investigation. Episode 13 ('The Night Ward'; see below) of this past season of Syfy's 'Paranormal Witness' (Season 5) featured the only case which I know of where a paranormal investigator was actually seriously injured during an investigation... and very likely by an evil entity at the location. The person's internal organs were "crushed," although they did survive.
On the same consequential note, on one episode of one of the programs featuring medium Kim Russo on Lifetime Movie Network; a mere visitor at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California experienced a ghost following him home. This "evidence" is not nearly as convincing at the case above, but it's also something to ponder. Perhaps it's best to avoid locations where there has been reports of paranormal activity.
Paranormal Witness Season 5 Episode 13 The Night Ward
Only later in the film was there a character and references made demonstrating the presence of "good witches." Basically, this was a passive-aggressive film which glorified "the burning times." I do, however, believe that there are Satanic women who call themselves "witches" based on the popular Christian conflation of organic European spiritual traditions with Satanism. Still, we're not expected to ruin everyone's fun here. I can't help but grin when I think of all the possible movie titles: 'Hansel and Gretel: [place any religious group here] Hunters' (aka Killers). Ohhh... doesn't feel good, does it? Other than that, it was a good film with lots of powerful imagery. I confess, I rooted for the bad gal... or as a wise man once told me regarding movie viewing... "you can mix it the way you want to mix it."
