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rachelkaser · 10 months

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Masonry Monday: The Case of the Prodigal Parent

The loutish heir of an import business is shot dead, and his hated stepfather, who owned the murder weapon, is the prime suspect -- but far from the only one. The victim's mother asks Perry Mason to represent her ex-husband, then vanishes before the trial.

Who's Who

Perry Mason's client: Joseph Harrison, who returns to Los Angeles from a "health retreat" to see his ex-wife at the worst possible time

The victim: Philip Larkin, a lout who was determined to have his way, especially with regards to his mother's marriage

Suspects: Ethel Harrison, the victim's mother, who divorced Harrison because of her son but later asks Perry Mason to represent him George Durell, Larkin's partner in the import business, whose home life with an unpleasant wife is not much better than work Lorraine Stevens, Durell's secretary, who was the subject of Larkin's unwanted romantic attentions Irene Collaro, Larkin's (formerly Harrison's) secretary, who was trying to keep the peace in a very tense office Claire Durell, the shrill, borderline deranged wife of Durell, who is confined to a wheelchair after an accident he caused Sarah Winslow, the maid in Larkin's house, who is a font of in-house gossip for the police despite her fondness for Ethel

The Setup

At the Larkin Import business, George Durell asks his secretary, Lorraine, to stay late and finish some extra business. He enters the office of Philip Larkin just as the man himself exits and begins harassing Lorraine. They used to date, but Lorraine broke up with him because he made "cruel accusations." Philip waves a paper in her face, saying the accusations were true, and threatens to tell her new boyfriend. Larkin's own secretary, Irene Collaro, enters and distracts Larkin to get him away from Lorraine.

Later that night, Lorraine arrives at Alcorn Jewelers and tells Alcorn that she was instructed -- by an unsigned note left at her desk -- to pick up a package. Alcorn has no record of any order for Larkin Import or George Durell, and says the store is about to close as it's 9 pm. He offers to let Lorraine use their phone to call Durell, whom she assumes wrote the note. In the Durell home, a woman in a wheelchair answers the phone and, as soon as she hears Lorraine's voice, starts screaming at her and accusing her of having an affair with Durell. Durell himself enters in the middle of this as his wife, Claire, hangs up the phone and babbles apologies.

Back in the jeweler's, Alcorn gets a shaken Lorraine a glass of water and lets her use the phone one more time to call the other likely note-writer: Philip Larkin. Lorraine reluctantly calls. Trouble is, on the other end of the line is nothing but the dead body of Larkin laying next to the phone. Another man stands over him, sweating. He initially answers the phone, then immediately hangs it up and wipes it of prints and leaves.

Back at Alcorn's, Lorraine is out of options and leaves. Alcorn confirms with his assistant he took no order from Larkin Imports -- very strange, indeed. Meanwhile, two police officers knock at the Larkin residence. Maid Sarah Winslow answers the door and they say they received a call from the residence, pushing their way in. On the floor of the parlor, they find the body of Philip Larkin and realize he's dead, one officer telling the other to call in Homicide.

The Murder

The same man who stood over the body returns to the house and introduces himself to the police officers: He's Joseph Harrison, former stepfather of Philip Larkin and ex-husband of his mother, Ethel Harrison. He's here to see Ethel, who's sitting in parlor staring into space, but Sarah takes her out of the room. Tragg informs him of Philip's murder and asks when he was last in the house. Harrison says six months previously. Tragg then shows him the murder weapon -- a vintage Mauser pistol -- and Harrison confirms it's his.

It was apparently removed from a case nearby, as Harrison had left it in the house before he and Ethel divorced. Harrison confirms he's been under medical care at a retreat near Salt Lake City until two weeks previous, after which he was at Lake Tahoe before returning that night to Los Angeles. Tragg asks if they can fingerprint him, and Harrison doesn't object. Later, Tragg tells Hamilton Burger that the only fingerprints on the gun case belong to Harrison, and Sarah told them she polished the case the day before. There are no prints on the gun itself.

Burger asks about Harrison's relationship with Larkin: They hated each other, and Larkin was the primary reason for Ethel and Harrison's divorce. He also says Larkin Imports was built by Philip Larkin Sr, the deceased first husband, and Ethel let Harrison take over after their marriage -- Harrison closed his own import business and migrated his staff. Larkin eventually pushed Harrison out with the divorce. Burger tells Tragg to pick Harrison up.

Enter Perry Mason, Attorney at Law

Ethel Harrison is in Perry Mason's office, explaining the whole thing up to Harrison's arrest. She asks Perry to represent him, and Perry is confused considering the victim is her son. Ethel says she realizes now that Harrison was a better stepfather than her son deserved and she's choosing to believe in his innocence. Perry agrees to speak with Harrison and points out to Ethel she'll have to testify -- spousal privilege doesn't apply to divorced couples. She thanks him and leaves.

Perry tells Della to ask Paul to investigate Philip Larkin and his mother. He doesn't fully believe Ethel. Perry meets with Harrison, who tries to say he doesn't know how his fingerprints got on the gun case, but Perry points out there's no other explanation. Harrison eventually confesses he was there, and found Larkin already dead. He didn't kill him, but he left his fingerprints on the case after seeing the gun. Perry says that, like Ethel, he believes Harrison is innocent, and agrees to represent him.

Later, Perry meets with Durell and Irene, who say they're happy to let him look at the company's books if it'll help Harrison. Durell is managing the business now that Larkin is dead. Irene tells Perry she was Harrison's secretary for 23 years, and she stayed on as Philip's secretary after he left. Suddenly there's a shriek from the outer office, and they all rush out to see Mrs. Durell once again berating poor Lorraine. She stops when she sees Durell, who apologizes to Lorraine and wheels his rambling wife out.

Lorraine asks Irene while Durell puts up with his unhinged wife, and Irene says it's out of guilt -- Durell caused the accident that crippled her 25 years ago. Irene tells Lorraine to go home, and Perry offers to drive her as it's on his way, and she agrees. Perry notices Irene staring at Lorraine. Shortly after, Perry has tea with Lorraine in her apartment as she says that she's not involved with Durell at all, and Mrs. Durell is confused because Lorraine called the night before.

Perry asks Lorraine why she called, and Lorraine explains about the note and her visit to Alcorn's. She says she called Durell at nine, and she threw away the note. Lorraine tries to say that someone must have been playing a joke on her, but Perry says it's far from a joke -- being at the jeweler's, she's the only one in the case who has a rock-solid alibi.

The Investigation

Tragg enters Burger's office with a film reel they found in Larkin's closet and a projector. Burger finds whatever is on the tape damning. He tells Tragg to find Ethel, which he's already trying to do. Later, Paul confirms Lorraine's alibi to Perry, and adds that he found out Lorraine and Larkin dated. He also tells Perry to speak with Harrison again, as Burger has some kind of evidence that all but guarantees a guilty verdict, but he doesn't know what.

Paul pretends to be a gas man and attempts to gain access to Irene's apartment. She immediately knows he's not with the gas company -- they just sent someone out -- and accurately guesses that he's trying to find Ethel Harrison and says he won't find her here. In Burger's office, the prosecutor speaks with Sarah Winslow and asks her where Mrs. Harrison is. Sarah claims she doesn't know, and says Ethel left after getting advice from Perry Mason -- an unethical move.

Della fields a call from Burger and reports to Perry, who says he's as much in the dark about Ethel's flight as Burger is. The preliminary hearing starts tomorrow. Later, Paul apologizes for not finding Ethel, but says she's sure she's in Los Angeles. Della says she's confused -- who but the killer would have sent Lorraine to the jeweler's? Paul says Lorraine got her job at Larkin Imports through Irene, and she's been working there 10 months. Before that? Paul doesn't yet know.

The Trial

Burger calls the coroner Dr. Hoxie to the stand, who says that Larkin died between 8:40 and 9pm. He next calls Sarah, who was with Ethel for 8 years, before she married Harrison. She testifies that Larkin opposed Ethel's marriage to Harrison and the relationship only got worse afterwards. She says the gun case was Harrison's, and had been polished the day of the murder.

On cross, Mason asks Sarah where she was at the time Dr. Hoxie testified Larkin died. Sarah was in the kitchen, on the opposite side of the house and she didn't hear a gunshot. She also didn't hear the phone ring as it was a separate line from the rest of the house. Mason asks who opened the French doors on the night of the murder. Sarah doesn't remember and says it could have been Larkin, but Mason says they found her fingerprints on the handle. She admits she must have done it by rote and can't remember when.

Tragg testifies the gun is registered to Harrison and that his prints must have been left on the case after it was polished. On cross, Mason asks about any fingerprints they found on the gun, and Tragg says they found nothing identifiable. He asks if there were any other prints on the case, and Tragg says there weren't, not even Sarah's.

Burger next questions Lorraine about her relationship with Harrison. She was at his house multiple times before the divorce, and Burger asks if he tried to break up her and Larkin. Lorraine says Harrison thought they weren't suited and argued with Larkin frequently about it. Mason has no questions for Lorraine. After she steps down, Burger asks that the courtroom be darkened so the prosecution can show a film with a projector.

Mason demands to know more about the film, and Burger says it's a home movie taken six months before the murder at the Larkin home, three days before Ethel filed for divorce. Mason objects that they haven't laid a foundation for the film, and Burger shoots back that they'd love to -- but the only witness who can do that is Ethel, who's been missing since the day after her son's murder. The judge rules they'll run the film and he'll judge their admissibility, and Mason reserves the right to voir dire examination.

In the darkened courtroom, the clerk runs the projector. The completely silent film shows Harrison gifting Ethel a necklace when Larkin runs in and confronts Harrison. He makes several exaggerated gestures at both Harrison and directly at the camera, while Harrison tries to get the person filming to stop the tape. Then Harrison apparently snaps at something Larkin says and punches him, sending him backwards into a hedge. Ethel goes to her son and the tape ends. The judge adjourns for the day after the film ends.

The Investigation Continues

Perry speaks with Harrison at the jail and asks about the film. Harrison says he forgot the films existed as Ethel asked him for a divorce that same night. He won't tell Perry what the fight was about, and says he knows Ethel won't say either. Perry says that there was a fourth person there -- the camera operator. Perry knows Harrison, who won't admit who else was there, must be protecting someone.

In the Durell home, Mrs. Durell is frantically piecing together a torn letter and envelope from a wastebasket. She uses the phone, placing a handkerchief over the mouthpiece, to call Perry's office. Playing an anonymous tipster, she says Ethel Harrison keeps writing to George Durell and must be in love with him. She gives him the address on the envelope -- it's Irene's apartment. Perry pretty easily pegs the caller as Claire Durell.

Perry arrives at Irene's apartment and asks to see Ethel, saying he knows about the letter. Ethel emerges from the bedroom and says the letter was innocent. Perry tells Ethel she needs to be in court the next day, and Irene tries to tell her not to go. Ethel says her testimony won't help, and goes quiet when he asks about the film. Irene tells Ethel the information would hurt an innocent person -- and Perry guesses Irene would know that because she was the one filming it. There's a knock at the door -- it's the police.

Perry tells Ethel that she can't hide forever. Ethel opens the door to Lt. Tragg, who apparently also got his information from the same source as Perry. Tragg tells Ethel she'll have to come with him. Perry asks Irene in front of Tragg if she'll testify to what was said in the video. She remains silent and Perry leaves. The next day in court, both women will have to testify to this bombshell evidence that will convict Joe Harrison of murder...

Case under review. Please return later...

#perry mason #masonry monday #raymond burr #della street #paul drake #paramount plus #the case of the prodigal parent #s01e36 #erle stanley gardner

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buggywiththefolkmagic · 1 year

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Personal Do Not Read Witchy Author List

There will be a google doc with updates as I find more authors to avoid. These are all my own personal opinion and I do take the author's actions into account when judging their ability to write legitimate information.

TW: Slavery, serial killers, racism, TERFs, creeps, neonazis, asylums, and a slew of other super unsavory things. I tried to make this list as PG as possible while highlighting the issues with these individual people.

*Alestier Crowley. *

He's a literal piece of garbage. Misogynistic, thief of a toooon of closed practices, has entire cults still dedicated to him, called himself a voice of God (both Abrahamic and apparently like 5 Egyptian deities??? I mean excuse me sir how about no??) He also declared himself ‘above’ Gods back in 1922 calling himself Ipssissimus. I hate Crowley so much I have literally stuck a picture of him to a dartboard before. He can suck an egg in the afterlife. He also put his own wife in an asylum for 'alcoholism’ because she wanted a divorce. The only thing he ever did right was get kicked down a flight of stairs at a temple once by a poet.

*Anastasia Greywolf*

Appropriates at least Jewish practices if not every Indigenous practice there is. Wholeheartedly encourages people to use magic instead of going to a doctor for things like oh I dunno EPILEPSY And claims she has spells for like Marvel-level super powers which uh no Ana. You don't. Lots of Christianity for a supposedly FULL pagan and wiccan author. Her spells are all controlled like...so wrong. So, so wrong. Don't ask please. I can't begin to describe it. Advocates for smudging and uses phrases like "Cherokee Rituals", and the Romani G-slur.

*Gerald Gardner*

Made his own branch of wicca, the first technically, and his own coven had to make rules just so he wouldn't spill everything to any reporter that asked. Used Crowley as a main resource.

*Jason Miller*

Claims to do Hoodoo. A horrible formatter, and generally super dismissive of being a rootworker and other potentially closed practices, has not been initiated. Has claimed that anyone can petition/pray to Papa Legba without initiation because "Vodou is a congregational religion/practice". From the Vodou and Haitian Vodou practitioners I have talked to that is VERY incorrect, it may be congregational but you still have to be involved in the community to be trusted with those practices because so much of it has been bastardized for media and racism purposes. He is also a student of Catherine Yronwode, who is another SUPER problematic figure in the Hoodoo/Rootwork community.

A link of his own words on culture appropriation which includes mild inaccuracy towards Indiginous Peoples and that they don’t ‘own’ certain practices when it’s very clear the wording of those practices DOES in fact come from those peoples. He’s fine with people being Yogis, or Shamans, or calling satchel spells mojo bags, and other such phrases and won’t correct people if they use such words out of context because “language changes”. Also says if someone within a practice says it’s closed to go to ANOTHER AND ANOTHER until you find someone willing to teach you??? That’s not how it works sir.

Source: https://www.strategicsorcery.net/on-cultural-misappropriation/

*Lisa Chamberlain*

Not an actual person. This is a ghost writer name for a bunch of garbage literally copy and pasted from wikipedia into books. I wish I was kidding.

*Lisa Leister/Lester/whatever other spelling she's used.*

Such a major TERF. Like JK Rowling level TERF. Claims magic comes from a womb so anybody that doesn't have one isn't a real witch. Like WTF lady.

*Raymond Buckland*

Where to start...uses the G-slur often. (His grandfather was romani so it blurs the line of blood quantum.) Very sexist and obsessed with the idea of a woman getting uh...undressed for rituals while men stay dressed and more things I cannot say ina PG space??? As magic?? VERY anti-minor and LGBTQA+. Toxic, just plain toxic. Can't do it. I have read his Blue Book and it's the least problematic thing he wrote. I'm alright with it.

*Silver Ravenwolf* WhOOO boy. So super anti-christian, which is fine and dandy...if you didn't claim to be in a lineage of braucherei/hexerei. Wiccan, like the type of wiccan that says no other witchcraft exists and yet has written folk magic books??? She really needs to make up her mind. Claims Satanists don't actually exist. Claims most Jewish powers worshiped "the Goddess" (whoever that is)??? Very cult-like language about "not telling friends and family about your new life/reality/experience/whatever". Also SO MUCH APPROPRIATION. SO SO MUCH. She also gets her history wrong, on a lot of basic information that most non-witches know about like say the Salem Witch Trials.

*Catherine Yronwode* Ooh man. So Catherine Yronwode’s career started as a comic book artist. She’s worked on such things like the Elvira comic, DNAgents, and a gaggle of super controversial trading cards which included the Kennedy Assasination, a serial killer collection, and the AIDS epidemic. Of which she was sued for using one half of the Hillside Stranglers duo in said killer trading cards without his permission, the judge sadly threw the case out because and this is a quote, “ If Bianchi had been using his face as a trademark when he was killing women, he would not have tried to hide it from the police.” There were two more from her comic days, but those aren’t super relevant besides the one that pushed the envelope of what sort of trading cards should be sold to children. On the magical side of things, I will be blunt here: As one of the ‘big bads’ of the Rootwork/Folk/Hoodoo community? I really REALLY dislike her. She has made numerous false claims about New Orleans/Haitian Vodou and that it’s only a very recent practice, non-religious, and slaves never used it because it didn’t exist yet??? History books and entire generations will disagree. An example would be this link of an open letter to her written by a New Orleans Voodoo practitioner and someone she wrote a whole article about: https://conjureart.blogspot.com/2013/10/open-letter-to-cat-yronwode-and-lucky.html

She owns a few different websites namely https://www.luckymojo.com/, has written numerous Hoodoo based books, and actively has accused numerous people who have asked her for sources and or disagreed with her of plagiarism and has slung more mud that you can shake a stick at.

She also praises a book on Marie Laveau and yet discredits herself by calling New Orleans Voodoo a new religion/neopractice??? She’s just confusing as all heck to me.

*Christian Day* This guy’s just a creep. One stuck in the early 2000s mall goth phase even though he’s over 50. He also appropriates Hoodoo and owns two Hoodoo shops as well as multiple other witch shops in Salem and recently New Orleans on the French Quarter (Which is pure tourist fodder and not a reflection of true New Orleans Voodoo/Vodun/Rootwork). He has also harassed ex-employees so badly it’s landed him in court. His book The Witch’s Book of the Dead also reads very much like a list of accomplishments rather than anything useful. All about his television spots and experiences doing that. (Did I mention he was in an episode of Ghost Adventures? Yes, that one with Zac Bagans??? And it did not make us witches look too great, honestly speaking.)

Sources for Harassment Claims: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salem-witch-gets-protective-order-against-warlock/

https://www.wcvb.com/article/warlock-christian-day-ordered-to-stay-away-from-salem-witch/8228072

*Yvonne and Gavin Frost* I dunno how else to say this, I really don’t. These two? Pedophiles. Multiple writings of theirs included not-safe-for-work-or-children rituals that must include minors. Avoid. AVOID AVOID. AVOID ANYONE WHO USES THEM AS A RESOURCE! This should NOT be okay in any circle. They are VERY used within the Wicca religion so please be careful!!

*Orion Foxwood* Some of his information is very sound! I can’t fault him there. He does have a tendency to blend different traditions without actively TELLING you he’s blending them though. He’s and this is a direct quote, “He is a witch and Elder in Romano Celtic-Traditional Craft, High Priest in Alexandrian Wicca and teacher of the Faery Seership tradition. He is also the founding Elder of Foxwood Temple and a primary founder of the Alliance of the Old Religion, a national network of covens in his line that have united to preserve the ways of his Elders. He was the co-director of Moonridge, a center for metaphysical, Craft and Faery studies in Maryland” That’s an awful lot of traditions to juggle and not only write on but actively teach. He also performs conjure, which in of itself might not be an issue but Conjure usually blends into Hoodoo really quickly if one isn’t careful! A lot of the traditions he talks about from his family sound quite familiar, he’s clearly from Appalachia but his books on the subject blend in his other practices instead of keeping them separate.

*Starr Casas* She’s in the same category as Orion, only she doesn’t necessarily give her credentials to be teaching Hoodoo, and even wrote a whole book filled with Hoodoo love spells. She also co-owns a French Quarter Conjure Shop, which if you ask any practitioners from New Orleans...is catered to pure tourists and not a true example of the crafts from the area.

*Shawn Engel* I’m gonna be blunt here. More appropriation of the Jewish practices, Hoodoo, and other information that is just plain UPG without saying it’s UPG and encourages throwing hexes at political party members solo. I read The Power of Hex and had to put it down numerous times just to gather myself and not throw it away, I don’t know if it was tone or sheer level of appropriation...likely both.

*Kate Freuler* Of Blood and Bones is chock full of Hoodoo, full stop. Only acknowledges that something comes from Hoodoo once and also gets basic mythology information on the Deities she mentions wrong in some cases. Also a lot of the book seems to be UPG because the bibliography is super small for a 300 page book.

*Dorothy Morrison* I picked up Utterly Wicked once. A very odd book full of Hoodoo and Vodun spellwork and misinformation, the author is also Garderian Wiccan so even the writing of a book full of hexes is slightly...concerning compared to the Wiccan traditions and redes. Odd is the best I have to describe how I personally feel. I will say this again: Voodoo Dolls are not used to cause pain, stop bastardizing that single aspect of the practice. Thank you.

*Helena Blavatsky*

I dunno how else to say this either, her philosophy and occult knowledge, called Theosophy is a portion of what inspired Hitler. Pure unadulterated racism veiled in a ‘Atlantian Race Theory”. Horrible stuff, read for a class project once and felt disgusting.

*Christopher Penczak*Whoo boy. On the surface he seems alright, one of the first ‘male’ witches I had ever heard of except for Scott Cunningham. But the more you dig into his work the more inaccuracies and Christian bashing you see. For example: Christianty was the first patriarchal society. Uhm...I believe you’re kinda forgetting the men who ran Rome and Greece there sir. He also fully proposes the ‘burning times’ were like a ‘witch holocaust’. NO! NO IT WAS NOT. You can’t compare the hundreds of years and MAYBE a thousand-ish people dying to the millions that died in the short timespan the Holocaust was a thing. Fuck Christopher for that comparison and also for claiming it was a ‘burning time’ to begin with. (History says that most were hung...or tortured. Burning is a very small number of that list in general.

He makes a lot of sweeping statements and sees witchcraft as a religion and NOT a practice. He whitewashes, fully harps on the Wicca = witchcraft = religion thing and THEN hones in on the difference between “white and black” magic and how cursing is evil and yet highlights certain practices that actively practice...cursing...as they have for generations??? He (atleast) doesn’t demonize Satanism but does still backhand the idea anyway, that they CAN’T be witches because witches only ‘heal’. Cultural appropriation and fetishization of ‘Native’ practices while calling them primitive all in the same breath, I just can’t with this guy. I really can’t.

*Amy Blackthorn*

Owns a tea brand called ‘Blackthorn Hoodoo Blends’ she is white. When questioned by BIPOC individuals she complains and blocks them instead of explaining why she chose the name Hoodoo for just teas. TEA. She is also the author of Blackthorn’s Botanical Magic, Sacred Smoke (A book on smudging yikes on trikes), and Blackthorn’s Protection Magic.

Proof of blocking: https://thisblackwitch.com/2016/04/01/blackthorn-teas-whose-culture-is-it-anyways/

*Tarl Warwick *

Is more commonly known as Styxhexenhammer666 on youtube and other social media sites. Has written a pile and I mean a PILE of occult based books including ones on Hermetic magic, ritualistic magic, demons, solomon, folk plants and healing, Kabbalah, and many MANY more.

He makes no claim to being Jewish, and given his political wishy washiness, and multitude of controversies which includes claiming the Holocaust wasn’t ‘that many dead’, Charles Manson deserved release because he was ‘extremely innocent and didn’t kill anyone’, and fairly recently also wrote and published a book on Critical Race Theory and why it’s ‘garbage’. I can’t support him no matter how accurate some of his information may be (if any at all).

*Temperance Alden* This really pains me to say, Temperance in her Wheel of the Year book made a claim that birth control “stunted her magical abilities” because it affected her hormones…in OTHER words unless you are a perfectly hormone producing WOMAN you don’t have great magical power. AVOID. AVOID. AVOID. That is a slippery slope to claiming medication will harm you, not to mention how TERF-y it is AND completely disregards that magic is for well…everyone. Such a stupid gatekeep-y concept.

*Sarah Kate Istra/Dver*

Advocates for using ‘spirit animals’ regardless of Indigenous beliefs and concerns. Is also a known ally with the Piety Posse, a neo-nazi group of pagans who claim the term polytheist can only apply to them and if you aren’t a Hellenistic pagan…you aren’t pagan at all. They also advocate for animal sacrifices, blood tests to prove purity, and other horrible HORRIBLE stuff.

*Sannion/H. Jeremiah Lewis*

Obvious Neo-nazi, keeps images of swastikas on his personal blog, and not the ones that the nazis stole from, the nazi one. And super SUPER transphobic.

*Edward P. Butler*

Major persecution complex, spends half his twitter complaining about how monotheists are destroying…I dunno…everything? Also defends Krasskova quite heavily. Antisemetic as well.

*Galina Krasskova*

Hellenic pagans watch out. Defends the AFA. A ringleader of the Piety Posse. There’s a lot more horrific stuff about her and I won’t go into extreme details. But TW: Romanticizes SA with deities, human sacrifice, animal sacrifice. Compares debating to the holocaust, lots of victim blaming, gatekeeping, and screams folkish.

*Diana Cooper*

Racist. Hard stop. Also appropriates chakras. Has a weird belief that food controls skin color and that Africa will never be a good country because it’s the solar plexus of the universe…or something like that. I got 20 pages into the book and literally couldn’t go any farther. Did I mention this book was supposedly on dragons???

*Judika Iiles* So much appropriation, advocates for making altars and working with closed deities. Lots of incorrect information including dangerous spellwork like obsession spells. And one in particular that has roots in a racist stereotypes. Avoid please!

#witchblr #witchcraft #Authors to avoid #Will update in the future #If anyone has any questions about any of these please feel free to ask

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traegorn · 2 months

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There's a lot of debate among witches about the Threefold Law (I think? I mean the Law where whatever magic you cast, it will happen back at you three times as strong), which of course discourages cursing of any kind. I like using that as a challenge: like, damn that person was awful. What could I do about it/hope would happen to them? I bless that person. I hope they become a better person. I hope that they realise their faults, and that they can persevere to fix their mistakes and right their wrongdoings. (and I hope I can do that, too). I hoped to see a discussion about this, but I am not a witch and idk who else to ask to see a discussion like this.

The threefold law/law of return was a (possibly intentional) misinterpretation of a passage from Gardner's (fiction) novel High Magic's Aid created by Monique Wilson and popularized by folks like Raymond Buckland to make Wicca seem more palatable to the general public.

So I mean, do what you want. Sounds like you've come up with an interesting thought exercise for yourself. But also, if you aren't a witch (let alone a Wiccan), why were you worrying about it to begin with?

#The rede is advice and would be worthless if it wasn't a voluntary choice #it's meaningless if the universe is going to spank you for disobeying it #witchblr #witchcraft #wicca #witch #Threefold law #law of return #threefold

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harttiklr · 2 years

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Jon Bernthal / Jamie Ray Newman

(Eastwick, 2009)

This pool scene, y’all!

Lord, I am not strong enough to resist this temptation!

#jon bernthal #more thigh kisses 💋#what that man can do with legs #he can do whatever he wants to me #eastwick #Raymond Gardner #i love this man #this scene #he is so hot #heartstopper

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antrunner · 1 year

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#polls #poll #dc #the way i RAN to make this #bat-free #bc none of them even qualify #theyre all too smart lol #i need lovable IDIOTS

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caseopened · 20 days

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Thinking about William Hopper filming the last several shows of Perry Mason in a cast and crutches.

"The cameras were shooting a courtroom scene with Perry Mason [Raymond Burr] and Hamilton Burger [William Talman] And on the sidelines waiting for his call sat a handsome broad-shouldered man with his leg in a cast and crutches at his side. This was William Hopper, who has played Detective Paul Drake on the show. [...] The last few episodes of Perry Mason were rewritten so TV audiences wouldn't know that Paul Drake was on crutches. Hopper stepped on a piece of glass during the filming of one episode, cutting a tendon. It will be mid-June before he's off the crutches. (They were outfitted by his pals with [an] ashtray, drinking glass, paper-and-pencil-pad, and a rubber honker that gives a husky beep to let people know he's coming.) 'They're a wonderful bunch and it's been a wonderful nine years,' said Bill. 'I don't know another show or another cast of characters where there's as much empathy.' And almost as if to prove it, the man in the judge's robes bounced off the bench and began circulating among the cast with a jovial handshake and a cheery 'Attaboy!' as though having the time of his life. This was none other than Author Erle Stanley Gardner. [...] Bill Hopper's call came. He arose unsteadily, honked the horn on his crutches, and thumped toward the camera. 'Attaboy, Bill. Attaboy,' cheered Erle Stanley Gardner."

I've talked about William Hopper's acting choices in bringing Paul Drake to life on numerous occasions, and how he simultaneously put part of himself into Paul while also delivering a method of acting that was true to the art of the detective (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here).

He was always present and obtaining (or revealing) information while still remaining in the background/shadow as a detective ought to be. William Hopper created a Paul Drake who maintained a front of hiding in plain sight (the handsome face, the nice clothing which was all Bill's own clothing, the charm). And if you aren't looking, or if you stop at that surface level, you will miss all the work he's doing in the background. William Hopper's style of acting was all in the subtleties, and it fit so well with what he brought to Paul's character.

But perhaps the greatest embodiment of William Hopper giving so much to Paul's character by hiding in plain sight comes in his own final fade-out. He worked through his injury that landed him in a cast for the final few episodes, taking care that the audience would not know. And just like others would miss how much Paul was doing in the background and behind the front, the audience misses the fact that William Hopper was injured in those final episodes.

William Hopper maintained a front one last time, for us. He didn't miss a beat with his acting or characterization of Paul Drake, even with his injury. He didn't let us see what was going on in his own personal life while playing Paul Drake for the final few episodes of season 9.

#&. paul headcanons #paul drake #william hopper #perry mason #the amount of love i have for this man... indescribable!

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teenageoaffireknight · 1 year

Photo

pizzazz, eric, david xanatos, fox, tea, joey and tristan

episode 17

episode 38

yugi vs pegasus match of the milleniuim part 4

in search of album stolen

season 1

#tea gardner #joey wheeler #tristan taylor #Anzu Mazaki #yugioh #yu-gi-oh!#gargoyles #david xanatos #fox #pizzazz #eric raymond #jem and the holograms #jem #misfits #the misfits

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thewitcheslibrary · 1 month

Text

Brief history of wicca

A brief history:

Gerald Gardner, an English civil servant, novelist, and magician, is credited with establishing the religion that would become known as Wicca. Gardner, born in 1884, travelled much as a child and developed an interest in anthropology, archaeology, folklore, and, finally, spiritualism and other esoteric issues. He belonged to a number of groups and associations relating to his hobbies, including the Rosicrucian Order, which he joined in 1939. Gardner met other acquaintances who were members of an even more hidden inner group, and they confessed to him that they were a witch coven. He was inducted into the coven in September of that year.

Several years prior, in the early 1920s, a popular hypothesis circulated in anthropological circles about an old pagan religion that had been largely eradicated by Christianity but was still practiced in secret enclaves across Western Europe. Margaret Murray, the anthropologist who pushed the thesis, referred to the religion as a "Witch-cult," claiming that the remaining practitioners were organised into 13-member covens. When Gardner encountered the New Forest group, he knew they were one of the last vestiges of this old pre-Christian religion, and he intended to help assure the Witch-cult's survival into the twentieth century.

Throughout the 1940s, Gardner remained interested in a variety of religious and spiritual traditions and concepts, but his encounters with the New Forest coven had a profound influence. He eventually formed his own coven, Bricket Wood, and began to create a new incarnation of the ancient Witch-cult, drawing inspiration from a variety of sources, including the New Forest coveners, elements of Freemasonry and ceremonial magic, and the work of other occult figures such as Aleister Crowley and Cecil Williamson. Gardner's primary innovation eventually became one of Wicca's most fundamental elements: the worship of a Goddess and a God who were equal in every aspect. This was very unusual after millennia of male-dominated, patriarchal faiths!

Gardner never referred to his relatively young religion as "Wicca." He did occasionally refer to his coven members as "the Wica," an Old English name for sorcerers and diviners. However, the tradition was usually referred to as Witchcraft, or "the Craft," or "the Old Religion." It didn't become recognised as Wicca until at least a decade later, when it expanded to the United States and Australia.

By then, Gardner's disciples and other occultists had produced new versions on his idea, some of which bear little resemblance to the original Bricket Wood coven. In reality, many people in the UK who continue to practise Gardner's rituals as they have been passed down from covener to covener refer to it as British Traditional Witchcraft. These Witches see "Wicca" as something altogether distinct, often referring to it as an American creation. Gardnerian Wicca is the name given to the original version of Wicca in other parts of the world.

Although Gardner is regarded as the founder of the contemporary Witchcraft movement and was undoubtedly one of its most vocal public supporters, he clearly did not do it alone. Indeed, there are several notable personalities throughout Wicca's history. Many of his friends and colleagues participated in the partnership, including Patricia Crowther, Lois Bourne, and Doreen Valiente, as well as mid-century occultists Robert Cochrane and Raymond Buckland. Indeed, the complete history of Wicca and its growth may fill books, but the entire narrative would most likely never be recounted!

Furthermore, Gardner and others took inspiration from information, beliefs, and practices produced by various previous organisations dating back to the British occult resurgence of the late nineteenth century, and even earlier, to the thirteenth century. And those Middle Age occultists did, in fact, deal with ideas and materials from ancient civilizations.

So, even though no evidence for Murray's Witch-cult theory has ever been discovered, and no unbroken tradition of occult practice dating back to antiquity appears to exist, it is possible to argue that there was some kind of spiritual "lineage"—perhaps an eternal divine essence—strong enough to survive centuries of Christian dominance and reappear in modern times. Whatever the case, for individuals who practise Wicca, the experience is really timeless.

#witchcraft #witchcore #witchblr #pagan witch #witch #wicca #wiccan #baby witch #beginner witch

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