Wadegaon (Maharashtra), May 24 (ANI): In an unusual event in Wadegaon village of Maharashtra, a seventy year-old Dalit woman, Ruddha, was accused of practicing witchcraft. She was stripped and beaten by the villagers before being paraded astride a donkey.

The locals claimed that she was doing sorcery on one of the neighbours with lemons.

However, Ruddha denied the charges and claimed that she was being harassed. “They beat me. Ladies beat me. Men folk beat me. They dragged me out of my home onto the streets and thrashed me for nothing,” said Ruddha.

She further said that the villagers tore her blouse and even robbed her of Rs.2000.

Police have detained 11 persons including four women for further investigation.

“Further investigation and necessary legal proceedings will be followed,” said N Z Kumbhare, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Akola.

He also mentioned that on learning about this incident, the police personnel rushed to the village and saved Ruddha from further humiliation. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.

posted by kimmie under In The News Spells & The Craft Spirituality & Mysticism 1 comment

 A man riding his Harley was riding along a California beach, when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and, in a booming voice, the Lord said, “Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.”

 Finally, he said, “Lord, I wish that I and all men could understand women; I want to know how she feels inside, what she’s thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothing’s wrong, and how I can make a woman truly happy.”
The Lord replied, “You want two lanes or four on that bridge?”

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A dream is the recall of mental activity that has occurred during sleep. Using polysomnography, sleep can be divided into stage 1 (sleep onset), stage 2 (light sleep) and stages 3 and 4 (deep sleep)–the non­rapid-eye-movement (REM) stages. REM sleep occurs cyclically every 90 minutes during the night in association with high brain activity, rapid spontaneous eye movements and suppressed voluntary motor activity. Dreaming occurs in all stages of sleep. It is reported by 80 percent of persons who are awakened during REM sleep and sleep onset (stages 1 and 2), and 40 percent of persons who are awakened from a deep sleep.

Patient reports about the content of their dreams vary based on the sleep stage from which they are awakened. Patient reports of dreams experienced during REM sleep tend to be bizarre and detailed, with storyline plot associations. In contrast, dreams experienced in deep sleep are more diffuse (e.g., dreams about a color or an emotion). The dreams of stages 1 and 2 are simpler, shorter and have fewer associations than the dreams of REM sleep. The ability to recall dreams may reflect the dream’s accessibility or distance from awake thought; the highest recall seems to occur during sleep stages with electroencephalographic patterns that are most like those in the waking state.

Some researchers believe that dreams have no function. Others think that dreams are the nocturnal continuation of conscious thought processing during the day or a reprogramming of the central nervous system for the next day’s conscious functioning. Evidence suggests that dreaming, like most other physiologic events, is important for learning and memory processing, gives cognitive feedback about a person’s mental functioning and helps a person adapt to emotional and physical stress.

Frightening Dreams: The
Nightmare

Nightmares are vivid and terrifying nocturnal episodes in which the dreamer is abruptly awakened from sleep. Typically, the dreamer wakes from REM sleep and is able to describe a detailed, associative, often bizarre dream plot. Usually, the dreamer has difficulty returning to sleep. Nightmares are also common. In a two-week prospective study of college students, 47 percent described having at least one nightmare. Results of a general population study of 1,049 persons with insomnia revealed that 18.3 percent had nightmares. In this study, nightmares were more common in women and were associated with increases in nocturnal awakenings, sleep onset insomnia, and daytime memory impairment and anxiety following poor nocturnal sleep. Studies of the general population reveal that 5 to 8 percent of the adult population report a current problem with nightmares.

Nightmares affect 20 to 39 percent of children between five and 12 years of age. Contrary to popular belief, frequent nightmares in children do not suggest underlying psychopathology. Nightmares are often described by creative persons who demonstrate “thin boundaries” on psychologic tests. Persons with thin boundaries are less likely than others to define the world around them in concrete terms. They rarely define issues as being black and white, but instead see themselves and the world in shades of gray.

Nightmares are also associated with the use of medication, primarily those medications that affect neurotransmitter levels of the central nervous system, such as antidepressants, narcotics or barbiturates. Intense, frightening dreams may occur during the withdrawal of drugs that cause REM sleep rebound, such as ethanol, barbiturates and benzodiazepines).

Nightmares and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Nightmares are a defining symptom in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The latter is not a new disorder. In 1667, after the great fire of London, Samuel Pepys wrote, “To this very day I cannot sleep a-night without great terrors of the fire.” Nightmares related to PTSD occur after an intensely frightening or highly emotional experience. These nightmares are often associated with disturbed sleep and altered daytime behavior, which is best described as hyperarousability.

The occurrence of PTSD following trauma varies. Thirty percent of veterans of the Vietnam War were affected by PTSD, as were 68 percent of veterans who were in the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1973 and 8 percent of veterans of the Gulf War. Among the civilian population, PTSD affects approximately 25 percent of persons who have experienced emotional and physical trauma or have suffered a severe medical illness. However, among some groups of patients, such as immigrant psychiatric patients, the incidence of PTSD approaches 40 percent.

The frequency of PTSD increases with severity of trauma, hostility, depression, poor health habits and poor coping skills. Persons with PTSD generally report awakening from dreams that involve reliving the trauma. In these dreams, they experience strong emotions, such as rage, intense fear or grief, that would have been appropriate reactions to the original traumatic event. Nightmares related to PTSD generally happen during REM sleep but also occur at sleep onset, which can interfere with the initiation of sleep. Polysomnographic studies in these patients have shown that they have poor sleep maintenance, increased eye movement density, decreased percentage of REM sleep and an increased tendency to have REM sleep at sleep onset (REM pressure). This phenomenon is similar to that occurring in patients with narcolepsy.

Symptoms of PTSD can persist for decades after the traumatic experience; however, the occurrence of PTSD after trauma is the exception rather than the rule. Patients who experience PTSD are divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of impaired psychologic functioning before the trauma.

Nightmares and
Psychiatric Illness

Nightmares can occur in patients with psychiatric illness. Depression is sometimes associated with themes of masochism and poor self-image in dreams. Patients with schizophrenia and dissociative disorders may have intense dreams during a relapse of the illness. Panic attacks can occur during REM sleep in patients who have panic disorders and depression, and in patients who have asthma and breathing disorders of sleep. The REM sleep rebound related to withdrawal from alcohol and sedative-hypnotics, which chronically suppress REM sleep, may present as disturbing nightmares.

REM-Sleep­Associated
Disorders

A strong association exists between REM sleep and dreaming. Most frightening dreams occur during REM sleep, and most REM-altering disorders and medications affect dreaming. A variety of REM-associated parasomnias can alter dreaming. Symptoms of underlying illness can also occur during REM sleep. It often happens that persons awakening from REM sleep, a state that is  electrophysiologically near waking, recall the mentation and physical symptoms associated with the state of REM sleep.

REM Behavior Disorder

REM behavior disorder most commonly affects middle-aged men. Patients with this disorder often present with a history of sleep-associated injuries to themselves or a sleeping partner. REM behavior disorder is characterized by vivid, action-filled, violent dreams that the dreamer acts out, sometimes resulting in injury to the dreamer or the sleeping partner. On polysomnography, these patients show elevated submental and limb electromyographic tone, which may be phasic or tonic and that is associated with prominent jerking of the limb or truncal areas.

REM behavior disorder often occurs without concomittant pathophysiology, but can be associated with neurodegenerative neurologic disorders. The most common of these disorders are Parkinson’s disease, primary dementia and narcolepsy. Computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging brain scans of affected patients may show diffuse hemispheric lesions, bilateral thalamic abnormalities or brain stem lesions.

Night Terrors

Night terrors are nocturnal episodes of extreme terror and panic that usually occur early in the sleep period. They are similar to other arousal disorders that occur during deep sleep, such as somnambulism (sleepwalking) and confusional arousals. Night terrors are associated with autonomic discharge, confusion and vocalizations, often a “blood-curdling” scream. Persons with night terrors are often difficult to arouse and have limited recall of their dream content. Night terrors can occur in association with the other arousal disorders that are associated with deep sleep. Night terrors are most common in children between four and 12 years of age and affect 1 to 4 percent of the population. Polysomnographic studies in these patients generally show increased arousals from deep sleep.

Adults who have night terrors are more likely than children to have psychopathology, mainly substance abuse and affective disorders. As with other parasomnias that affect adults, night terrors are more likely to occur in association with other sleep pathology, such as periodic limb movements and obstructive sleep apnea.

Diagnostic Testing

Often, nightmares and night terrors can be diagnosed on the basis of the patient’s history. In persons who have a history of nocturnal injuries, polysomnography is required to diagnose REM behavior disorder or nocturnal seizures. To diagnose REM behavior disorder, the use of additional electromyographic arm leads is required. In up to 25 percent of patients with epilepsy, the condition may present only as nocturnal seizures. A diagnosis of nocturnal seizure may be suggested by family history, stereotypic nocturnal behaviors and incontinence. Nocturnal seizures can be grand mal, petit mal, partial-complex, vegetative or paroxysmal nocturnal dystonias.

All parasomnias more commonly affect persons who have breathing disorders during sleep. Polysomnography is appropriate for any patient with symptoms or signs of obstructive sleep apnea, such as daytime hypersomnolence, nocturnal hypoxia, loud snoring and increased neck circumference. REM behavior disorder often occurs concomitantly with degenerative neurologic illnesses that may require further evaluation. In adults, the onset of arousal disorders such as somnambulism and night terrors may reflect underlying neurologic disease. Thus, neurologic evaluation, including imaging of the central nervous system, may be indicated.

Treatment

Nightmares and Night Terrors in Children

Nightmares and night terrors in children are usually disturbing to parents and family members; therefore, proper diagnosis and education of family members are important components of management. It is essential to control the environment by removing dangerous objects and providing barriers to prevent escape from a safe sleeping environment. Reassurance and support are often the only therapy required because these disorders rarely, if ever, reflect underlying illness and usually disappear with maturity. Pharmacologic intervention is not usually indicated; in fact, it should be discouraged because it may contribute to further sleep disruption. Behavioral methods for treatment of frequent nightmares are effective in older children.

REM Behavior Disorder

Clonazepam (Klonopin), in a dosage of 0.5 to 1.0 mg at bedtime, is generally effective in the treatment of REM behavior disorder. Long-term efficacy and safety have been reported, along with relapse when the medication is discontinued. Response to other medications (primarily antidepressants) has been reported with postulated effects secondary to diminished REM sleep. Many parasomnias in adults, including night terrors, respond to this pharmacologic approach.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD can be a short-term, limited problem or a lifelong, chronic illness that results in recurrent hospitalizations, impaired social relationships and aggressive or self-destructive behavior. Although many different approaches to treatment have had limited success, psychotherapy, individually or in a group setting, is generally indicated and can help with resocialization. Cognitive restructuring, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy,  rolonged exposure (flooding) therapy and nightmare imagery techniques can decrease symptoms in patients with PTSD for months after therapy. Fluoxetine (Prozac) is an effective agent in the treatment of symptoms of PTSD. This condition is often associated with anxiety and mood disturbance, which may also require pharmacotherapy.

Recurrent Nightmares

Nightmares that occur after the patient has experienced trauma or stress may lead to an interpersonal integration of the event. On the other hand, long-term persistence (the habitual pattern of recurrent nightmares not associated with recent trauma) can cause a decline in daytime functioning without apparent benefit.

Behavioral approaches in the treatment of nightmares have been successful and can result in short- and long-term reduction of nightmare frequency in more than 70 percent of patients. Such therapy requires only a few group or individual sessions with a psychologist or in a sleep medicine center.

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I often come across archived articles that I find interesting. This one I felt deserved to be shared:

Wiccans Keep the Faith With a Religion Under Wraps
By NEELA BANERJEE

DUMFRIES, Va. — Above the woman’s fireplace hangs her wedding picture, taken in a Lutheran church years ago. Below it, on the mantelpiece, is a small Wiccan altar: two candles, a tiny cauldron, four stones to represent the elements of nature and a small amethyst representing her spirit.

The wedding portrait is always there. But whenever someone comes to visit, the woman sweeps the altar away. Raised Southern Baptist in Virginia and now a stay-at-home mother of two in this Washington suburb, she has told almost no one — not her relatives, her friends or the other mothers in her children’s playgroups — that she is Wiccan.

Among the most popular religions to have flowered since the 1960s, Wicca — a form of paganism — still faces a struggle for acceptance, experts on the religion and Wiccans themselves said. In April, Wiccans won an important victory when the Department of Veterans Affairs settled a lawsuit and agreed to add the Wiccan pentacle to a list of approved religious symbols that it will engrave on veterans’ headstones.

But Wicca in the civilian world is largely a religion in hiding. Wiccans fear losing their friends and jobs if people find out about their faith.

“I would love to be able to say ‘Accept us for who we are,’ but I can’t, mainly because of my kids,” said the suburban mother, who agreed to talk only on the condition of anonymity. “Children can be cruel, and their parents can be even more cruel, and I don’t want my kids picked on for the choice their mommy made.”

She worries that because most people know little about Wicca, they will assume she worships Satan. She fears that her family and friends will abandon her and that the community will ostracize her.

David Steinmetz, professor of the history of Christianity at Duke Divinity School, said, “Wiccans have so many things stacked against them, from what the Bible says about the practice of magic to the history in this country of witch trials, that the image of them adds up to something so contrary to the consensus about genuine religion that still shapes American society.”

Wiccans worship the divine in nature. Some practice it privately in their homes, and others worship with large congregations. Most people do not grow up Wiccan but come to it from another religion.

“It’s a very open religion,” said Helen A. Berger, a sociology professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. “Each person can do what they want, and they don’t have to belong to a group. They take things from a number of different sources, like Eastern religions, Celtic practices. You are the ultimate authority of your own experience.”

But its symbols and practices elicit suspicion from outsiders, Wiccans and religion scholars say.

Many Wiccans practice some form of magic or witchcraft, which they say is a way of affecting one’s destiny, but which many outsiders see as evil. The Wiccan pentacle, a five-pointed star inside a circle, is often confused with symbols of Satanism. (The five points of the star represent the elements of nature — earth, air, fire and water — and the spirit, within the eternal circle of life.)

It is unclear how many Wiccans and other pagans there are. The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey by the City University of New York found that Wicca was the country’s fastest-growing religion, with 134,000 adherents, compared with 8,000 in 1990. The actual number may be greater, Ms. Berger said. Some people may have been unwilling to identify themselves as pagan or Wiccan for the survey. Others combine paganism with other religions.

Wiccans face less backlash now than in the past. The Internet provides information about Wicca, and the popularity of the Harry Potter novels has made magic seem a force for good, scholars and Wiccans say.

David and Jeanet Ewing, coordinators of two pagan groups in the Washington area, estimate that at least 1,000 Wiccans and other pagans live in Northern Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. At least half actively hide their faith from their relatives, Ms. Ewing said. Many also hide their faith from their employers, Mr. Ewing said.

One such person is a 58-year-old former Roman Catholic who has been an auditor for 30 years in what he calls “one of the most buttoned-down departments in one of the most sacrosanct agencies” of the federal government.

“I put on this Joe Taxpayer suit, and it’s like living two lives,” he said. “A minority would have a problem with me, but it would be a big problem. They would assume we are doing weird things, illegal, immoral things, at all hours. They wouldn’t want to really know what we do, but they would go with their presuppositions instead.”

The auditor said that by “coming out of the broom closet,” he risked ostracism at work and perhaps being pushed into early retirement, which would affect his pension. “I don’t even want to contemplate it,” he said.

A New York marketing executive finds the city so secular that being passionate about religion is often met with a smirk, and it would be worse if people knew he was Wiccan, he said. “In my personal and private life, I like to be taken seriously,” he said. “Pagans are associated with the ’70s and hippies and counterculture. New York is a Type A city, and it’s all about getting ahead, and the kooky ones don’t get ahead.”

Members of other religions, including Jews and Catholics, have sometimes been forced to mask their faith in the past because of religious bias, Professor Steinmetz said. But it is rare, he added, for people to keep their religion from parents and grandparents, as many Wiccans do.

The Virginia mother has not told her mother or grandmother that she is a Wiccan. “I have a deep-seated fear that they will say, ‘I can’t be a part of this, you’re raising your kids as evil,’ ” she said.

She attends classes about Wicca on Friday nights, and she has yet to caution her older child, a preschooler, not to tell anyone about them.

“My son says, ‘Yeah, Mommy’s going to witch school,’ ” she said. “I’m just waiting for the day he says that in front of a teacher.”

posted by kimmie under Lifestyles Live & Learn Spells & The Craft Spirituality & Mysticism 1 comment