Jennifer's Alternative Religions Blog

The passing of soul musician Isaac Hayes is the latest in a string of celebrity deaths, but one that strikes me as especially tragic. Hayes was most recently famous for voicing the character of "Chef" on the satirical cartoon South Park, until the show began to pick fun at Scientology. According to most accounts, Hayes got a somewhat hypocritical attack of conscience over picking fun at his own religion, and he resigned from the show.

It now appears that he may not have made the decision himself. Isaac's longtime friend and colleague Roger Friedman reveals that Hayes suffered a debilitating stroke shortly before leaving the show, and that his "resignation" may have been done for him. Friedman also muses whether Scientology's opposition to neurology and psychiatric medications may have hastened the star's decline.

A hearing scheduled for early September will determine the final chapter, for good or bad, of the saga of the three men known as the "West Memphis Three." The case of three teens in rural Arkansas (oops) who were convicted of a so-called Satanic sacrificial murder in 1993 was brought to public prominence by a series of HBO documentaries that revealed the darkest side of religious paranoia. Without a single eyewitness or a shred of physical evidence, the teens became suspects because their interest in heavy metal music and paganism had drawn the attention of a civilian who suggested them as suspects while "assisting" at the crime scene. So much so that other possible suspects were ignored, including a disheveled injured stranger who left a trail of blood at a nearby eatery the night of the murders. When one of the boys, a frightened, mentally deficient Jesse Misskelley, confessed and implicated his friends, the boys were charged.

The trial revolved almost entirely around the confession, despite a great many revealing inaccuracies, and the testimony of Dale Griffis, a self-appointed expert in "occult murders" who lived in the area. Griffis' testimony was a mishmash of occult urban legends, fantasies, and fabrications, including testimony linking crime scene "symbolism" to sinister occult groups known only to Griffis. In the resultant wave of hysteria, the boys were convicted. Jesse Misskelley and Jason Baldwin received life sentences; Damien Echols was sentenced to death.

An HBO film crew followed the teens and the families of the murdered boys throughout the trial, and brought the case international attention. A follow-up film brought forth more evidence to support the trio's innocence, and citizen's groups were formed to assist with appeals and evidence gathering. Unfortunately, appeal after appeal has been shot down, and hearings brief.

After exhausting appeals, the boy's last chance is an evidence hearing scheduled four weeks from today, presided over by the original trial judge. During this hearing, the defense will present exculpatory evidence, including DNA that points away from the suspects, witness recantations, and testimony from two victims' parents who no longer believe the convicted men are guilty.

The text of the Emerald tablet is brief- only thirteen lines- but it is the cornerstone of the Hermetic movement. The origin of this mysterious text is shrouded in antiquity, and even its name is a mystery, yet is has been an inspiration for alchemists and magicians for hundreds of years. The well known Hermetic axiom, “As above, so below” is derived directly from the Emerald Tablet. It may be the oldest Hermetic text known, predating both the Corpus Hermeticum and the Christian religion.

The Tablet languished in relative obscurity until the middle ages, when it began to circulate throughout the alchemical community through contact with Muslim mystics. Scholars believe the original was written in Greek, but the oldest surviving copies are Arabic translations. Despite its mysterious origin, many have imputed great significance to the text- its famous translators include Roger Bacon, Isaac Newton, and even HP Blavatsky.

The philosophical ideas contained within are profound- influencing medieval alchemists, Jewish kabbalists, Masons, and ritual magicians alike.

Continue: The Emerald Tablet

Several weeks ago, I compiled a list of tragic events stemming from Scientology's negative views of Psychiatry and psychotropic medicine, which can have dire consequences when people who desperately need such medicines go without. The young woman who stabbed her mother and father after being prescribed inadequate doses of medication by a Scientology-friendly doctor was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

In the Roman clendar, today marks the festival of Lychnapsia, the "Lights of Isis," commemorating the search of the goddessIsis for the body of her murdered husbandOsiris. The festival is ts the first of a three day celebration derived from the ancient Egyptian pageant of Isis, Osiris, and Horus. To read more about the legend of Isis and Osiris, try Plutarch's Isis and Osiris.

Today is also the day of the "Old" lammas, a traditional day for hand-fasting in Scotland.

Would you buy the cross as a "secular symbol of death?" Despite the obvious absurdity of such a notion, that's exactly what a Utah federal court would have you believe, in answer to a challenge against the Utah Highway Patrol Association's habit of putting up crosses to honor fallen officers. It might have been a noble gesture, but for the inconvenience of using the cross despite the actual faith of individual officers. It seems only the universal identifier of the Christian faith may serve as a "secular symbol," but not any other.