Just a few quick news notes for you today.<\/p>\n
Lawyers May Not Mention Druid Beliefs in Vaughn Murder Trial: <\/strong>Earlier this week I mentioned<\/a> that lawyers for Christopher Vaughn, accused of murdering his wife and three children,\u00a0were trying to block any mention of his Druid religion from court proceedings<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Public Defender Jaya Varghese said that\u00a0\u201cThe word \u2018Druid\u2019 alone is prejudicial,\u201d<\/em> and would\u00a0\u201csignificantly impact\u201d<\/em> his right to a fair trial. Today,\u00a0Judge Daniel Rozak ruled that Vaughn\u2019s Druid beliefs may not be mentioned at trial<\/a>, though comments he made on a Druid listserv can be referenced.<\/p>\n \u201cA Will County judge this morning barred attorneys from referring to quadruple-murder suspect Christopher Vaughn\u2019s Druid beliefs at trial, but said some statements Vaughn posted to a Druid listserv can be heard by jurors. [\u2026]\u00a0Prosecutors want to use postings Vaughn made to Druid listservs that refer to his desire to live in the Canadian wilderness. They argue his statements were another sign that Vaughn wanted to be rid of his family. [\u2026]\u00a0Judge Daniel Rozak said he would allow the statements \u201cif they somehow deal with leaving the country or living off the land\u201d and don\u2019t reference Vaughn\u2019s religious beliefs.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n How messages Christopher Vaughn posted to Druid websites are to be referenced must still be decided, though this should be seen as a win for Vaughn\u2019s\u00a0defense\u00a0team. Vaughn lawyer claims his wife killed the children, before he could kill her in self-defense, while prosecutors allege that Vaughn calculatedly eliminated his family in order to be rid of them<\/a>. The trial is slated to begin in August.<\/p>\n The Washington Post Weighs in on the John Friend\u00a0Anusara Yoga Scandal: <\/strong>Manuel Roig-Franzia writes about the \u201ccontorting\u201d (ha-ha) scandal within the Anusara yoga school for the Washington Post<\/a>, taking brief note of the Wiccan-related accusations against Anusara founder John Friend.<\/p>\n \u201cIn conference calls, e-mails and hushed conversations, Friend has admitted to sexual relations with students and employees and married women. He has confessed to cheating on one girlfriend and smoking marijuana, according to senior Anusara instructors who have participated in conference calls with him. And he has acknowledged leading an otherwise all-female Wiccan coven whose members sometimes took off all their clothes for gatherings<\/strong>, according to senior Anusara instructors who detailed his admissions in a written summary provided to The Washington Post. The coven\u2019s name was the Blazing Solar Flames, and Friend had Anusara\u2019s graphics team design a logo for it<\/strong>, according to three former employees.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is the first I\u2019ve seen of any acknowledgement from Friend or Anusara regarding the coven. As I\u2019ve reported previously<\/a> (follow-up, here<\/a>), accusations state that he used the coven as a pretext for sexual\u00a0liaisons. While there\u2019s no further statement, or mention of it in the WP article<\/a>, the fact that Friend was the\u00a0acknowledged\u00a0male leader of an all-female coven does raise some red flags. That said, taking your clothes off for gatherings isn\u2019t unusual within Traditional Witchcraft (it\u2019s called going \u201cskyclad\u201d<\/a>), and isn\u2019t seen as an automatic prelude to sexy-times.\u00a0You can see a video interview with Friend from last year about how Anusara yoga, Wicca, and Paganism interface<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Occult Crimes Taskforce is Coming To the Your Television:<\/strong> Various pop-culture news sites are reporting<\/a> that the comic book OCT: Occult Crimes Taskforce<\/a><\/em> is being adapted into a television series for the A&E Network<\/a>.\u00a0Actress and OCT co-creator\u00a0Rosario Dawson is working with\u00a0The Walking Dead\u2019s<\/em> Gale Anne Hurd to adapt the work, and it is widely assumed that Dawson will star in the show, as the main character,\u00a0Sophia Ortiz, is modeled on her.<\/p>\n \u201cThe scripted drama, an increasingly appealing genre for the cable network, will explore the inner workings of the task force, which was established after the Civil War to make the New York City streets safe from practitioners of black magic, demons from another dimension and all manner of supernatural malcontents.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Scripted dramas, especially scripted dramas that feature occult and fantastic elements seem to be on the increase lately. It should be interesting to see if O.C.T. <\/em>makes it to the small screen, and if it will find an appreciative audience. While I\u2019m on the subject of occult-themed television, I should note that British television channel\u00a0ITV2<\/a> has ordered a new drama entitled \u201cSwitch\u201d about four witches living together in London<\/a>. Created by the same people behind the show Being Human<\/em>, can we expect an American version of that show on Syfy in the near-ish future<\/a>?<\/p>\n That\u2019s all I have for now, have a great day!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just a few quick news notes for you today. Lawyers May Not Mention Druid Beliefs in Vaughn Murder Trial: Earlier this week I mentioned that lawyers for Christopher Vaughn, accused of murdering his wife and three children,\u00a0were trying to block any mention of his Druid religion from court proceedings.\u00a0\u00a0Public Defender Jaya Varghese said that\u00a0\u201cThe word […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[3192,3261,658,3193,1308,1348,1548,3265,3266,2130,2313,2693],"class_list":["post-9394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paganism","category-religion","tag-anusara-yoga","tag-christopher-vaughn","tag-druid","tag-john-friend","tag-law","tag-litigation","tag-murder","tag-oct-occult-crimes-taskforce","tag-rosario-dawson","tag-sex","tag-television","tag-yoga"],"yoast_head":"\n