Ok, Wicca first. Wicca comes from the Gaelic word Wicc pronounced Wich, which means healer/ worker of magic, which funnily enough is where our word witch comes from. Wow, don’t get lost on me here guys, that’s it for the linguistics for now. Wicca as the new religion is only about 50-100 years old, it is founded upon the same belief system of most ancient religions; its just a new take on the old ways. Wiccans believe in the power of the Earth Mother and the Horned God, they are their deities. They believe in the power of nature and that in helping our Mother Earth she will grant them the power to become one with her.

Most witches or pagans believe in the old ways, the ways of our ancestors – believing in more than one god/goddess. This is called a polytheistic religion – as opposed to monotheistic religions that only believe in one god. Basically any of the ancient religions are polytheistic; Ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, Celt, Norse (Viking), Indian, Hinduism (before the influx of Islam into India) Taoism (before the arrival of Buddhism), Shinto (again before Buddhism), the Aztecs, Mayans, American Indians, and Australian Aboriginals. Wow, would you look at that! That’s almost every religion isn’t it?

So what happened? The Crusades, from 1095 – 1291 were a series of wars waged by the pope to regain control of the “Holy Land.” They were fought mostly by Roman Catholics, against Muslims and Greek orthodox Christians (all monotheistic religions), but smaller campaigns were waged against the pagan Slavs, pagan Balts, Mongols and “Christian Heretics”.

Another example of aggression against paganism is the witch trials, where people who were believed to be ‘witches’ were put on trial and executed. Everyone in modern times has heard of the witch trials, I mean we still use the expression “a witch hunt” this very day. The witch trials started in south-eastern France during the 1400’s before spreading like a plague through central Europe and then to other parts of the continent and in some of the Eastern European colonies in North America. The peak of the witch hunting years was between 1580 and 1630 AD. Over the entire duration of the phenomenon (some four centuries), there was an estimated total of 40,000 – 60,000 executions. Many of these people actually just followed pagan religions.

The next misconception about witchcraft is the pentagram. First of all the typical pentagram with a circle around it, as seen in movies, is wrong; a pentagram is a 5 pointed star with no circle surrounding it. OK, some more linguistics: ‘penta’, as most people know means 5 and gram is ancient Greek for “something written” or “drawing”. So together they mean five picture – a.k.a. a five pointed star. Pentacle, on the other hand, means five-circle, you can see where the misconception lies. A pentacle is the five pointed star with a circle around it, a pentagram is the one without (although they’re similar concepts).

Another misconception is that the pentagram is the symbol for the devil; the symbol of Satanism is actually an inverted crucifix. Why is this? Because Satanism is considered the opposite of Christianity. The pentagram is the symbol for the five natural elements: earth, air, fire, water and spirit. Whether it be upside down or not, it means the same thing, although in some areas of paganism if the top or spirit point is facing down then it is used for ‘dark’ magick rather than ‘good’ magick (although in other sects it is just another symbol for the horned god).

A representation of the pentagram with the 5 pagan elements

Is there another word for male witches? No, a witch is a witch no matter which witch is which. A wizard should more often than not be called an alchemist or a warlock (Honestly, the semantics are pretty varied). The term wizard was most likely manufactured for fantasy literature, and it doesn’t really have any bearing on paganism.

I am a convert to paganism myself, I was born and baptised a Roman Catholic, but I couldn’t deal with what I saw as the use of fear to intimidate people into belief, using it as a tool to make people be good. Most Middle Eastern monotheistic religions make heavy use of the image of hell; where if you are a ‘sinner’ you will suffer for all eternity. Its just something I can’t really believe – why would an all knowing being send the creations that he loves to a place where they will be tortured for all eternity?

I have found that the clergy themselves do not necessarily follow these ideas – there are many different interpretations of the bible. But I just couldn’t take some of the interpretations in, so I did some research and eventually found my way into Paganism, and all the witches I’ve met so far, including one of my aunts, have been really nice.

For more information:

http://www.wicca.com/

http://www.ladyoftheearth.com/

http://www.pagangatherings.com.au/

For information about the Crusades and Witch Trials:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_the_Early_Modern_period

The Heat

This seems to be at the top of the hate list and I agree that sometimes during the wet season it tends to get a little too heated for my liking. There are some people that even migrate to other places in Australia for the six month period to get away from the wretched Darwin sun. Yet I also think that being in such a sunny place is far more enjoyable than being somewhere deathly cold. The sun gives you energy! It makes you want to get active, go for a swim, get a tan, and during the wet season a day with no rain is such a rare occurrence that people want to make the most of it.

In other locations people will be staying inside, huddling over whatever heating source they might have, in this way really cold weather is counter-productive and often depressing. Have you ever woken up in such a cold room that you can’t even fathom getting out from under the covers? Well that’s what it’s like in most places down-south, all the time. So be grateful for the sun, because without it we would all be dead.

Lack of Popular Franchises

So we don’t have a Tightrope, or a Calvin Klein or any high-end fashion outlets here. If you can’t find any fancy clothes in Darwin, shop online! Chances are you’ll get the same clothing for a much cheaper price and you won’t even have to leave your house to look for it. In all honestly Darwin has a fair range of clothing stores anyway. I challenge you to browse every single shop in Casuarina and tell me there isn’t one thing you would wear.

Another big complaint I’ve heard in this department is not having a Krispy Kreme in Darwin. I for one love those donuts, it would be grand if there was a shop here, but having one would take all the charm out of it. It’s so exciting when someone comes back to Darwin with two, three, four, fifteen boxes of Krispy Kremes, but if we had them up here it’d just become a regular donut place, plus we would all get fat because they’re too delicious to pass up.

Swimming

You can’t go to any beaches here because you might get stung by a jellyfish. You can’t even swim in any lakes or rivers because years of reading the NT News has made it apparent that crocodiles are everywhere and they will eat you given the chance. But Darwin has some great locations that ensure your safety if you want to go for a nice dip. For example, the artificial beach down at the Waterfront, you can swim in real sea water but not die! And adjacent to this is The Wave Pool, an awesome place to find a donut floaty and chill with your friends, with the added feature of artificial waves just in case you hardcore surfers want to ‘hang-ten’. Most of the time it’s okay to go swimming at beaches during the dry season anyway, so if you want the full beach experience you can have a whole six months of it!

Superstars?

The lack of popular artists, comedians and all-around famous people is something I can actually empathize with. Darwin still has a small population so it’s a bit harder to book superstars that usually sell out gigantic stadiums, however annual events such as Bass in the Grass, The Darwin Festival and The Big Gig bring some fairly impressive performers to town. There are also smaller music gigs that host a tonne of home-grown Aussie musicians. Although it is quite sad you will be saving money by not seeing all the people you love and if you are a true lover of music you will become more connected to the local musicians of Darwin. Which brings me to my next point:

No Variety in Music?

There are plenty of different genres of music bouncing around in Darwin! Although most of the gigs don’t get advertised as much as they should most of the time there are great performances happening at places like The Happy Yess, Brownsmart and The Darwin Entertainment Centre. Even a lot of the bands performing in the bars around Darwin do pretty well.

The music scene is a lot smaller in Darwin compared to most places, but it’s so dynamic. Most of the musos are friends with each other and because of this people are more willing to collaborate and create new and awesome styles of music. In Darwin you can get to know the musicians, the fans and you can sing along to a vast amount of bands because you’ve seen them so many times and you love them! It’s much better for people who like a diverse range of genres as opposed to people wanting to be a part of a specific ‘scene’ but in this way it opens up your mind to styles that you might be hesitant about. You can learn to understand everyone’s taste in music.

As far as the local music scene goes, Darwin’s got it down pat.

Darwin is indeed lacking in some things, but having a negative attitude about the place won’t make it any better, so you can either learn to love it or go somewhere else! Chances are you’ll miss it when you’re gone so make the most of the friendly atmosphere whilst you’re still around.

On Wednesday 29 June, the Aviation Institute played host to the launch of Darwin Festival’s program. Artists, managers, sponsors and benefactors to the Darwin Festival all were invited along with a GRINDonline reporter and photographer.

The night began with addresses from the Minister of Arts Gerry McCarthy and Alderman. There was a unanimous appraisal of the festival as the Northern Australian and Asia Pacific “Premiere Arts Festival”, as well as the usual jesting and joking that accompanies such speeches. No matter how much praise and joking they offered though, what everyone was really hanging out for was an introduction of the festival program by Arts director Jo Duffy.

Ed Kuepper

It was clear from the get go that Ms Duffy was passionate about the festival. She identified key themes throughout the festival which she stated as homecoming and backyards. There are Darwin artists returning from all corners of Australia like Jessica Mauboy and Sietta along with huge acts like Ed Kuepper and The Herd. There were plenty of acts named and promoted, along with a short summary by Ms Duffy as she covered acts from the indescribable Kris Keough to the sellout B-Boy battle. On the youth side of things, free events during the festival were mentioned as well as free public transport. If you want more details on the Darwin Festival program, keep an eye out for upcoming articles!

The festival is shaping out to its typical extravagance and quality, pulling in big name acts and local more underground gigs at the same time. Watch out Darwin, your festival is going to be huge!

Around 7500 Northern Territorians attended the annual Savings and Loans BASSINTHEGRASS on Saturday the 21st of May, and I would say that at least half of those people ‘moshed’ at one point in the day or another. I was one of them. Every year I tell myself that I’ll go dancing on the outskirts of the crowd and I won’t follow my friends into the mosh pit, and every year I find myself in the middle of the crowd being elbowed in the face, stomped on, and being grinded by the person behind me.

Being claustrophobic I should’ve noticed what was happening before I got to this stage, but I was too busy listening to the music and having fun with my friends. That was, until I got to the middle of the sea of drunk, high on life (and possibly other substances), dancing people. At this stage I thought it couldn’t get any worse, so I decided to stick it out, at least until the next band started playing. At that point the girl in front of me started stomping her in feet in what felt like concrete boots, and waving her fist in the air, narrowly missing my face with her elbow and fist every time.

Just as I moved my head away from her deadly fist I barely missed a very hairy and smelly armpit covered in sweat. I realised at that moment that I’m that (not so) perfect height of just being able to see the stage- so long as no one taller than me goes in front (which happens all the time), being hit in the head and having sweaty armpits smeared across my face. I was almost thinking of getting out of the mess when my boyfriend holstered me up onto his shoulders. Now this would’ve been great- I was getting out of the crowd and I could breathe, but I’m not sure what greater fear I have- tight spaces or heights. I wouldn’t let go of his head until I was firm on the ground again, even if it meant being in the mosh pit again.

After this I decided that my legs and feet hurt too much from being trampled on, but all my friends were in the mosh pit, and there was no way in hell that I was going to try and make my way out of there alone, and potentially find myself deeper in. I stuck it out to the bitter end and made my way out in a chain of my friends pulling each other along.

The music was fantastic and I loved it. Some people go to music festivals for the mosh pit, and that’s fine, it’s just not for me. I’m fine sitting down or dancing around the outskirts of the crowd, and next year I’m promising myself that’s just what I’m going to do.

On the evening of Tuesday the 24th, a bunch of young enthusiastic people went to meet with Kat Byron on the couches, crates, and car seats of Happy Yess to participate in the Agents of YEAH Darwin workshop. YEAH stand for Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS, and is a youth led health promotion organisation dedicated to engaging, educating and empowering young Australians to lead HIV/AIDS awareness.

Kat got us to introduce ourselves to each other, then go through what we were hoping to get out of the workshop, whether it was to find out more information or to update our knowledge. Many of us who came already had a good knowledge on Sexually Transmitted Infections, and it was great to see people from so many experiences there.

For the first activity of the workshop we each picked an STI from chlamydia to HIV/AIDS and we had to go around the room finding what symptoms (if any), what statistics, and what other information went with each infection. I really enjoyed this exercise because we had to interact with each other and test our knowledge of STI’s. It was a great ice breaker.

For the rest of Tuesday night we talked about STI’s, how to prevent them, which ones are treatable and how they are treated, as well as how to manage the ones without a treatment. We also watched a short clip of a young person, Matt, living with HIV/AIDS in Australia today, and we did an exercise where we had to draw a picture of how we perceive HIV/AIDS and people living with it.

We all left the workshop with our book, cards, spin wheel and USB bands to do some reading before Friday’s workshop.

Friday came around quickly and we all got into it straight away. We talked in depth about HIV/AIDS and took turns answering questions that may come up in workshops. We all then were given a briefing on how to properly put on a condom (so that now, if we’re asked, we can inform other people on the correct way), and we were able to practise on the work dildo ‘Big Red’. We all were then given stacks of condoms and a pat on the back, ready to go out into Darwin and educate the youth.

The Agents of YEAH Darwin workshop was educational, fun and full of great people. I loved meeting them and joking about Angus’ mum, Sydney and asians (Of course, they were all part of our talk on misleading information on HIV/AIDS)). I am very glad that I chose to participate, and I can’t wait to get out to Darwin events or private workshops to help inform Darwin’s youth about HIV/AIDS!

Bass in the Grass is one of the biggest, if not the biggest music event of the year in the Territory. On Saturday 21^st, people of all ages headed to the place of large music performances: the Ampitheatre!

A rundown of the day is in order.

Opening at 11, Bass in the Grass started with local Darwin acts, unfortunately this reporter arrived too late to see them! I arrived around 2.30, just in time watch the last songs of The Potbelleez. The mosh pit was happy and lively, the people pleasant and the beat was good. The little I heard of The Potbelleez act was amazing.

Next up was Dead Letter Circus, who rocked out enthusiastically. While many of my friends enjoyed them, and I didn’t think their music was bad, I ended up sitting down and watching their act from afar.

Local band Ned & Friends, winner of the Battle of the School Bands (which was held at the BIG GIG, brought to you by GRIND), was the following act. They took the venue by storm, dressing in outlandish outfits, performing stunts and throwing in heavy rock and jazz together. They also heralded the “Tax Me” activism, which was collecting signatures during the day.

Art vs Science delivered a pumping track, playing electronic tunes all produced on stage. Good to mosh to, good to listen to, they got the crowd jumping and screaming. The crowd also started a ring fight in the mosh pit during their act. Maybe their music pumped the crowd so hard they had to act on it?

Heading into the evening, Birds of Tokyo took the stage. Their indie beats soothed the crowd then got them jumping! Playing a mixture of obscure and well known songs, they made sure that people didn’t want to see them leave.

Of course, the music was not all there was to Bass. A local Tax Me actvism campaign was running during the earlier part of Bass, collecting signatures of those supporting the carbon tax.

Security certainly weren’t left twiddling their thumbs either; there was an astounding number of people who drank to excess, took illicit drugs and smoked in the strictly smoke-free venue. And the amount of rubbish left behind was enough to plaster the entire grassed amphitheatre.

Despite these things however, it was a fine night. The costumes people wore, the music and the atmosphere makes Bass in the Grass memorable and the government is sure to keep Bass in the Grass around for years to come!

In a good way! People and banners from near and far gathered in protest of the nuclear waste dump planned for Muckaty Station.

Roughly 150 people attended, with lots and lots of colourful banners

AND THIS MASSIVE AIR-FILLED BARREL! HOW MAD DOES THAT LOOK?!

This event was preceded by rallies and meetings in Tennant Creek and a visit to Muckaty Station itself; organized by Anti Nuclear NT and MC’d by Cat Beaton.

Speakers included representatives of the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation, Unions NT, the Uniting Church, the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, locals from Muckaty and even the Mayor of Palmerston. The member for Barkley, which includes Muckaty, even spoke. It was great to witness a politician being there for and representing his voters.

Everyone who spoke was against the Federal Government’s decision to build a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty. I got the impression that it’s a really bad place to choose for the dump. The land there is already in use through farming, housing and traditional land. Nobody there wants it; the places the waste is likely to travel through don’t want it; and the information that has been released about planning and safety is so vague that it makes me laugh.

But where is a good place? Where in the world is a good place for nuclear waste? Is our only option to stop producing nuclear products?

What solutions come to mind? Tell the guys over at the Beyond Nuclear Initiative http://beyondnuclearinitiative.com Talk about it with the people in your life,  maybe leave a comment.

You can read more here:

More coverage of the event
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/05/12/231901_ntnews.html

ABC reports and the member for Barkley speaks
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/11/3214167.htm

World Nuclear Association’s waste factsheet:
http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/wast.htm

And shockingly, a media release from the NT government showing that they reject the planned waste dump!
http://newsroom.nt.gov.au/index.cfm?d=5&fuseaction=viewRelease&id=6599

2. Organise for each one of them to fly/boat/walk/drive/swim to your place for one week or one night. Money for their travel doesn’t have to be your own.

3. Tell them that the reason why you are organising for them to stay for one night is because you are holding a party and would like them to come.

4. Do not tell them that the other 19-29 people that are going to be there are also your international friends.

5. They all arrive.

6. Celebrate your success with 30 people from all over the world.

Your Party Could Look Like This!

“Man, yesterday I flew to (obscure country, far, far away) for this insane party. There were people from all the corners of the world there. It was an amazing night.”
– One of your friends.

It’s the Australian blockbuster that every gamer should play. The world’s number one video game magazine, Game Informer rated it 9.5, PlayStation Magazine- Australia calls it “one of 2011’s biggest blockbusters.” What is it? L.A. Noire.

Developers Team Bondi teamed up with publisher Rockstar for seven years, hired hundreds of programmers and over 300 actors to bring to you a game that breaks the boundaries in video game storytelling. L.A. Noire contains drugs, sex, violence and corruption in a post WWII setting. But unlike many other Rockstar games where you play the outlaw running free to kill anyone in your path, L.A. Noire is different. There’s more to Rockstar than just GTA or Red Dead Redemption. You play Detective Cole Phelps (voiced by Aaron Staton) as he seeks to right the wrongs that he made during the war, and you must act like a cop. Killing and causing public damage is against the law and players will be reprimanded for their actions. But it isn’t the story that makes this video game so breathtakingly fantastic- it’s the graphics and the technology that the developers have used to make it so amazingly defined. You are able to see every crease in an old man’s brow to detecting a liar from their physical expression.

Players will find the characters realistic as the MotionScan shows every twitch of the mouth, downward glance and loss of eye contact that are vital to the game play. MotionScan is a new technology that uses 32 HD cameras to capture true-to-life expressions and then recreates them into a fictional character. You will need to pay attention to the details at the crime scenes and while interviewing suspects as nothing can be ignored. NOTE: If you are the type of person who likes to get up and grab a bite to eat while the cut scenes are on, this is NOT a game for you. You will need to listen to what is said, how it is said and every other little detail to make the correct decisions. If you fail to get the correct evidence you will have to get it from other, much harder sources. As you complete cases you will gain experience points that unlock new outfits and Intuition points. Intuition points have been described by Examiner.com to work like lifelines in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

I highly recommend everyone getting down to the stores today to pick one of these amazing Australian feats off of the shelves to play for yourself. The MotionScan takes this game to the next level in video games around the world!

4.5 toasters out of 5

L.A. Noire’s release date is the 20th of May 2011 (some places the 19th). It is rated MA15+ for Strong Themes, Violence, Coarse Language and Nudity.

Hello Grinders!

It seems that the climate change movement in Darwin has lost some of its momentum. The evidence for climate change has never been stronger with strong circumstantial evidence for climate change in the forms of the extended wet season, record breaking rain falls, extreme temperatures and massive weather related natural disasters. Even considering this, there is strong opposition to the government’s plan of action on climate change, otherwise known as the carbon tax. The carbon tax is being attacked from all sides. Tony Abbot is busy informing us of how much it will add to living costs. Industry, especially high emission industry, is campaigning to be exempt. Businesses of all sorts are attempting to wrestle concessions from the government. And all this is happening without a price for carbon even being named.

Both sides of politics recognise the need for action on climate change. Both sides believe it is caused by human activity. However, the Coalition* are dead set against the Carbon tax. They claim it’s just another big tax. They claim that it will bring down our ‘fragile’ economy, that poor families will be unable to afford anything ever if the carbon tax is brought in, that businesses and industry can only operate with a carbon tax by laying off hundreds of workers or not at all.

We need to tell politicians on both sides that a carbon tax, as much as we may not like it, will lead to much needed action on climate change and reduce emissions. If properly implemented, it can provide resources and an incentive to switch to cleaner technologies and offsetting emissions. The previously more expensive cleaner technology would be cheaper to operate. And Australia would be catching up with other developed countries like Germany and Sweden, and be living up to obligations it agreed to with the Kyoto protocol.

One local action in support of the Carbon Tax is “The Great Bass Photobomb 2011”, where people are wearing shirts with “Tax Me” written on them and photo bombing people, and offering petitions in support of the Carbon Tax to be signed. If you are attending Darwin’s Bass in the Grass and support the Carbon Tax, check out http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143475979057643.

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Disclaimer: the views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not necessarily representative of GRINDonline