A campaign to seek a posthumous pardon for the British witches punished for witchcraft between the 16th and 18th Centuries was issued to the Justice Minister, Jack Straw, on Halloween.

The campaign follows a decision in August by the Swiss Parliament to issue an official pardon to Anna Goeldi, the last European to be executed as a witch in Europe in 1782. It was instigated by Angels, a fancy dress retailer, with the help of author and historian, John Callow, who prepared eight test cases in support of the campaign.

The Witchcraft Act of 1735 put a stop to the torture and execution of people accused of supernatural crimes in Britian but, to date, nobody has called for an official pardon.

Callow states “Today we are well aware that these individuals were neither capable of harmful magic nor in league with the devil. After the passage of some 400 years, it seems time to recognize the witch trials as fabrications of the most dangerous — and tragic — kind.”

Most modern-day “witches” follow the Wiccan path, which they claim as Britain’s native spiritual tradition. Wicca is an Earth-based spiritual system and its followers recognize the divine essence in everything around them.

Wiccans work in balance with the seasons and the phases of the moon, strive for spiritual knowledge and their “spells” are mostly cast with the intent to heal and achieve harmony. Much of the credit for the recognition and validity of Pagan religions is due to the efforts of The Pagan Federation, an organization that undertakes serious work to promote and defend the Pagan traditions, of which Wicca is one.

Whilst the spirit of Angels’ campaign is admirable, should the fancy dress retailer be successful in achieving official pardons for the eight test cases they have put forward in what was clearly a Halloween publicity stunt, perhaps The Pagan Federation will take up the cause for the remaining “witches” executed across Europe, said to number about 40,000 in total.

Rhian Gibbings

Excited Japanese yeti hunters believe that their recent pictures of footprints are conclusive evidence that the elusive “mythical” species exists.

Yoshitera Takahashi, the group leader, claims that the discovery of the eight inch, human-like footprints corroborates local stories and sightings of yetis.

Takahashi’s team, from Nepal’s Yeti Project, had spent 42 days on top of a 25,000 ft peak in the Himalayas hoping to catch a glimpse of the mythical half man, half ape, on film. Although they had based themselves in a yeti “hot spot”, they failed to catch sight of the hairy creature.

Takahashi is one of the many “believers” and claims to have seen a yeti for himself on a previous expedition in 2003. In the 1950s, Eric Shipton took photographs of footprints in the snow that some are still convinced were those of a yeti. And in 2007, a set of 13-inch long footprints was photographed at the foot of Mount Everest.

This latest discovery of footprints comes only a few months after scientists from the UK’s Oxford Brookes University began DNA tests on hairs found in the Meghalaya area of India by yeti enthusiast Dipu Marak, who had followed up a three-day sighting by a jungle forester.

Experts say that the hairs have the same cuticle pattern as possible yeti hairs found in the Himalayas by the explorer Edmund Hilary and donated to the Natural History Museum. By a process of elimination, the hairs have not been proven to originate from any known native creature in the Meghalaya area.

Ian Redmond, from the UN’s Great Ape Survival Project, believes the hairs could come from an unknown species of primate. He suggests that the Megahalayan yeti could actually be a descendant of a 10-foot tall, black and grey ape-like creature called the Gigantopithecus, which was only identified 80 years ago.

Rhian Gibbings

While children everywhere were celebrating Halloween last weekend, dressed in ghoulish outfits and knocking on doors for a trick or treat, the Pagans in our communities were celebrating Samhain, the Feast of the Dead, the beginning of the Celtic Year.

In Celtic traditions Samhain marks the move from light to darkness, the first day of winter, the time when the veils between this world and the Otherworld are at their thinnest and when Deities, deceased loved ones and ancestors can draw close to us and be remembered. The “Jack o’lantern” pumpkin lamps that we now associate with the Halloween festivities echo the skulls of the ancestors that the Celts placed outside their doors to guide the spirits of their loved ones back home.

The Celts would light a sacred bonfire, play traditional games, such as apple bobbing, and practice divination. This was a joyous celebration, and a time for reflecting on the past and moving forward to the future, as the Pagan view of death incorporates notions of new beginnings and rebirth.

Samhain is a time for wisdom and for calling upon the Crone aspect of the Divine Feminine to transform our darker aspects in her cauldron of transformation.

In the quiet of winter we can withdraw and reflect on the aspects of ourselves that we wish to change and the past hurts that we need to let go of, and in the dark safety of this silent time we can make the preparations to re-emerge, refreshed and renewed at Imbolc (January 31) when Winter becomes Spring.

Rhian Gibbings

ET enthusiasts are watching the skies again as a bizarre pink cloud appeared over the Mayfair area of London on October 21.

Mysterious pink light over London

The peculiar, bright pink lights seemed to hover and break up, but not before plenty of spectacular pictures were shot.

Although the Met Office has suggested that this phenomena is simply the lights of the city reflected in a cloud, this has not stopped speculation on other, more unusual explanations for the occurrence. Some are saying it was an extra terrestrial portal, others believe it was a light ship and there have even been claims that the event was a symbol of the rising consciousness of humanity.

Whatever the explanation, it is certainly the case that UFO sightings and prophesies of alien visitations are on the increase.

Psychic Channellers are again predicting that our “Galactic Family” is soon to reveal itself and more dates, such as October 24 and November 11, have been deemed to be significant.

The bright, pink light was quite a sight to behold, however, and has only added fuel to the fire for those hoping that we are not alone in the universe.

Rhian Gibbings