Vampire Conference Paper Accepted

'Vampires: Myths of the Past and the Future' - An interdisciplinary conference organised by Simon Bacon, The London Consortium in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Cultural Memory, Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, University of London

From the conference description:

Myths of vampires and the undead are as old as civilisation itself, wherever humans gather these ‘dark reflections’ are sure to follow. Whether as hungry spirits, avenging furies or as the disgruntled dearly departed, they have been used to signify the monstrous other and the consequences of social transgression. Embodying the result of a life lived beyond patriarchal protective proscription that quickly changes from dream to nightmare and from fairy tale to ghost story.

Sir Christopher Frayling, Dr Stacey Abbott, Dr Catherine Spooner and Dr Milly Williamson will be giving papers, and there'll also be the world premiere of a short film on vampires.

I'll be presenting a paper on the 18th century vampire epidemic and its consequences.

See the website for more details on the full programme http://igrs.sas.ac.uk/events/conferences-workshops/vampires.html
And put 2-4 November 2011 in your calendars.

Reinventing the Renaissance Occult

Review of 'Reinventing the Renaissance Occult in Modern and Postmodern Culture' now available at http://jwmt.org/v2n20/reinventing.html

Five hundred years ago the occult – what we think of as ‘the occult’ – was taught in university and practised by many of the foremost personalities of the age. Still it was persecuted. Dangerous. Between the Church and the deep blue sea: Scylla and Charybdis. It was the high point of ‘the occult’ and also its low point. To some it promised to reveal the secrets of the universe, to others it automatically meant a pact with the Devil and damnation. Such contrasts have thrown long shadows that still play across the present.

Published in the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition, No. 20, Vol. 2. Vernal Equinox 2011.

Reinventing the Renaissance Occult

Review of the 'Reinventing the Renaissance Occult in Modern and Postmodern Culture' conference accepted by the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition (JWMT) for the forthcoming edition, vol. 2, no. 20. Will post link when the journal is published.

"How to cure a witch..."

A guide on how to convert witches to Christianity has been published by the Roman Catholic Church in Britain.

The move comes in response to fears that growing numbers of teenagers are being lured into Wicca, occult practices and paganism by the heroic depiction of witches in entertainment including the Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice films, and TV.

The booklet, called Wicca and Witchcraft: Understanding the Dangers, offers parents advice on what to do if one of their children takes an interest in witchcraft.

Where's the Wiccan guide on how to convert Christians? Oh yeah, there isn't one, because Wiccans respect the spiritual choices of other people.

Read the full story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353517/Catholic-Church-issues-guide-convert-Harry-Potter-witches-Christianity.html