There are five different time zones in China. They range from UTC+5 to UTC+8. That means the first parts of China celebrate New Year at about 4pm GMT on Sunday the 22nd.

Happy New Year.

In order to celebrate here are five photographs of Chinese Dragons.

In Pure Spirit

What will you be doing to celebrate Chinese New Year? Will the Year of the Dragon be a lucky year for you?

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According to the police’s survey; if you are an Aries then you’re most likely to commit a crime – or, at least, be arrested by the Chatham-Kent police. Libra are second most likely and Virgo come in at third place.

Who are least likely to commit a crime and be arrested by the Canadian police? Sagittarius are least likely and Aquarius second least likely and Taurus third least likely.

In Pure Spirit

Are you surprised by any of these placements? Or does this research by Chatham-Kent seem to be about right based on your experience?

What’s your star sign?

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Krampus is mainly still talked about in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia but on Krampusnacht in Germany they dress up as the demon.

This video is from Krampusaluf Graz, in Austria, last year and it is in equal measures awesome and scary.

In Pure Spirit

Are you tempted? I mean; are you temtped to tell naughty children to be good or risk a visit from Krampus?

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Father Gabriele Amorth - the Vatican’s chief exorcist

Father Gabriele Amorth is the Vatican’s chief exorcist. He had held the title for 25 years, was appointed by Pope John Paul II and may have carried out more than 70,000 exorcisms.

Speaking at the Umbria Film Festival, the exorcist attacked Hinduism, Harry Potter and Yoga. On Harry Potter, he said;

”People think it is an innocuous book for children but it’s about magic and that leads to evil. In Harry Potter the Devil is at work in a cunning and crafty way, he is using his extraordinary powers of magic and evil.

“Satan is always hidden and the thing he desires more than anything is for people to believe he does not exist. He studies each and everyone of us and our tendencies towards good and evil and then he tempts us.

“My advice to young people would be to watch out for nightclubs because the path is always the same: alcohol, sex, drugs and Satanic sects.”

So, why is Yoga Satanic? According to exorcist Gabriele, Yoga is evil because it leads to Hinduism.

”Yoga is the Devil’s work. You thing you are doing it for stretching your mind and body but it leads to Hinduism. All these oriental religions are based on the false belief of reincarnation.”

Previously, Father Amorth has claimed that Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler were both victims of demonic possession. It is believed that the Vatican did attempt a long distance exorcism of Hilter, during the time of Pope Pius XII, but Gabriele Amorth would have unlikely to have been involved as the 85 year old would have been far too young. Amorth was ordained as a priest in 1954.

In Pure Spirit

Is the Vatican right? Is Harry Potter Satanic and does reading the books or watching the movies begin a path towards devil worship?

Is Yoga evil?

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The Krampus stories are most common in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia but is traced back to countries with pre-Christian alpine traditions.

Krampus is a devil like creature who punishes children who have been bad – the opposite of Santa Claus rewarding children who have been good for the year.

The word “Krampus” is German in origin, being old high German for “claw”. The date December 5th is a strong date for Krampus as in some towns he will roam the streets chasing children and women with bells and chains. Otherwise he will accompany Saint Nicholas. December 6th is Krampusnacht in some parts of Bavaria and elsewhere in Germany.

Krampus, the holiday devil, may have a match in Frau Perchta. On Krampusnacht, in Germany, when the men dress up as strange demons the women dress up as Perchta – the Nordic goddess. Frau Perchta may be an aspect of Freyja, the fertility goddess.

This YouTube pop video shows how Krampus is still very much of modern alpine culture.

In Pure Spirit

Will you be warning children of the dangers of Krampus visiting if they’re not well behaved kiddie-winks?

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What’s the connection between guns and God?

In fact, what is the word “glory” in there for? Sounds like a word old warriors might use when riding into battle under a religion banner. Is that the intent? Is this YouTuber preaching holy war or Christian extremism? It’s hard to say for sure but at one point in the video below you can hear him muttering about buying the book – just so he can burn it. Shocking.

Some of the books pulled out from the “Witchcraft” shelf include Richelle Mead’s (who he called a perv) Bloodlines, Lauren Kate’s Passion and P. C. Cast’s Chosen. It’s tempting to buy them – if just to keep them safe from burning.

Everyone is welcome to their own personal beliefs. Problems arise when people have extreme views (such as viewing fiction as Witchcraft manuals) that they seek to impose on others. Has Mr Guns’n'Glory gone too far with this video?

In Pure Spirit

What do you think about Wal-Mart’s teen selection? Should they have had more openly religious books in there? Should they have had more bibles?

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It can be a challenge and it’s certainly the true that we don’t all have the time, space or ability to make our own. The craft site Etsy can be on solution.

Take a look at this black candle from Witchcrafts. Isn’t it impressive?

You can buy more from Myfanwy’s shop here.

In Pure Spirit

Where do you buy your witch candles? Any tips for readers?

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What’s your view on Halloweeen? Do you think it’s still a religious occassion or is it just a good time holiday? This picture, which is now doing the rounds on the web, may interest you. The JesusWeen movement is paying good money to ask the question; “Should JesusWeen replace Halloween?”

Of course, many historians will point out that this is perfectly normal. It is possible that both Easter and Christmas were originally pagan holidays that were usurped by Chrisitan missionaries looking to bring their religion to Northern Europe.

JesusWeen, also known as JesusWin, is a not-for-profit group that looks to help people. They publish Bibles and encourage people to volunteer. Their website is accessible to most browsers.

In Pure Spirit

Do you have any thoughts on JesusWeen?

Are they silly or scary? Are they well meaning but missing the target or is this exactly what modern America needs?

Do you have proof?

I would not be surprised if you’ve had that debate with friends and family in the past. Today, however, the debate takes a whole new turn in the UK. The Advertising Standards Authority (the ASA) started to regulate the claims made by websites and digital adverts this year. Up until today their page of non-complying advertisers had been blank; today there are four new entries and three of them are alternative or complimentory health.

There’s Life Healthcare who sell a cream from a website that claims it can help with joint pain and arthritis. The ASA are worried about the lack of evidence to support this claim. The ASA are worried that people may mistake the cream as medicine.

There are also Allan Sweeney and Samantha Pearce who both offer reiki.

Samantha’s claims include;

“Reiki healing can help with stress relief, sinusitis, menstrual problems, M.E. eczema, arthritis, menopausal problems, back pain, depression and insomnia.”

Allan Sweeney’s International Reiki Healing & Training Centre made even stronger claims. The ASA wrote;

The adjudication stated that the claims to treat cancer, ADHD, back pain, migraine, depression, anger, low energy, sleeplessness, ADD, sadness, bereavement, tinnitus and sciatica should be removed from marketing communications on the website and advised that efficacy claims for Reiki should not be made without robust evidence to substantiate them.

There are two things worth noting.

Firstly, the online remit of the ASA does make room for websites to discuss their beliefs, talk about ideas and support causes. The assumption is that these sites moved beyond discussion and to retail.

Secondly, these three companies have been given time by the ASA to discuss their sites, provide research or even make changes. To end up in the list of companies ignoring the rules all three have stuck to their guns.

So, is it against the law to have a reiki website in the UK? No, absolutely not.

Reiki experts are still able to sell their trade and describe their skills. They just have to be careful to accurately describe what they offer people and manage expectations on what reiki can achieve. The ASA tends to react to consumer complaints and it is likely that people complained about Life Healthcare, Samantha Pearce amd Allan Sweeney.

It’s also worth noting that the ASA is not a legal authority. They can’t force you to change your website. However, when the ASA become very concerned about something they can bring in the Office of Fair Trading and the OFT does carry the weight of the law.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? Has the ASA acted fairly in naming these “non-complying advertisers”? Should reiki experts be able to claim and attribute anything to reiki?

Photo credit: Christopher Soghoian.

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What do you think?

Twitch asks whether she’s the greatest troll of all time. Back in 2008 she asked whether her children should be allowed to dress up for Halloween or whether that was a Satanic pagan ritual. Satanic and pagan? Good one Muriel.

In Pure Spirit

Is Muriel a real mother who’s really worried about this? Do you you know a real life Muriel?