Real witches cry foul at portrayal on "True Blood"

I'm surprised this has taken so long ... in the books Charlaine makes clear that some of the witches in her books have nothing to do with the Wiccan religion - I guess Ball isn't really making that distinction



(Reuters) - Critics of bloody violence and excessive sex on TV have long had HBO's vampire drama "True Blood" in their cross hairs, but now the popular series has another group of wary citizens -- witches, real ones.
The series' fourth season has focused on Marnie Stonebrook (Fiona Shaw), a seemingly harmless medium and leader of a Wiccan group who becomes the physical conduit for Antonia, a long dead witch who is hellbent on vengeance against vampires who persecuted and burned her at the stake.
Marnie winds up as the mouthpiece for Antonia's spell to drive the bloodsuckers of fictional "True Blood" town Bon Temps into the daylight. And that sort of deadly revenge, say some modern-day witches, is what gives witchcraft a bad name

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True Blood’s Fiona Shaw on Playing the Witch, Rehearsing With Vampires, and Conjuring the Dead in Real Life

Season four of True Blood is the season of the witch, i.e., the season of Fiona Shaw. In her role as the sorceress Marnie (who is possessed by the spirit Antonia), the actress is wreaking havoc among the vampires of Bon Temps: erasing Eric’s memory, melting Pam’s face, and generally bringing unwanted sunlight into their lives. It’s all great fun for Shaw, who didn’t get to do much in the way of magic as Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter series. Now she even gets to levitate. Vulture phoned the actress in London and talked to her about spotting witches on the subway and trying to conjure the dead.
Were you a fan of the books or the show before you signed on for this?
Alan Ball discouraged me from reading the books, which I don’t regret; I don’t want to hanker for material I don’t have. But when I started reading the scripts, and the first lot of Latin came my way, I knew there were challenges ahead! [Laughs.] And when we had the first read-through, and suddenly seeing all these vampires in person, that was very stunning. I had to adjust and remind myself that they’re all just actors. Nan and Pam, they’re my favorites. Both vampires, both very sour.

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True Blood Season 4: Mythological Creatures - Witches

'True Blood': Minor Characters Take Center Stage

Though the main characters were as entertaining and good-looking as ever on True Blood this week, some of the newer characters were up to especially strange antics. Rather than the laughably unhealthy relationships everyone else in the show was dealing with, these new characters were dealing with a different type of possessiveness altogether.

Marnie keeps getting more interesting—she seems to have been more or less a screw-up her whole life, spread across two worlds, and looking for some sort of destiny based on that inability to fit in one place in particular. Maybe if Sookie ever had time to get bored, instead of always being attacked by some creature or another, she'd fall into a similar identity crisis and start experimenting with the hard witchery the way Marnie is doing. In the past few episodes, Marnie came across as an immature and rebellious teenager (complete with self-cutting!) who'd never quite grown up, and I feared she would maintain this one-dimensional line of irritating obtuseness to her death. With some persuasion, however, she seems to regain common sense, starts poring through various texts to solve her little vampire death threat problem, and her frustrated up-close-and-personal call to the "spirits, for the THOUSANDTH TIME" is a pleasant reversal from her earlier obsequiousness towards the spirit world. It gives her some refreshing complexity.

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The CW to adapt 'Vampire Diaries' writer's, L.J. Smith, 'The Secret Circle'

According to Kristin Dos Santos, the CW’s new pilot Secret Circle, based on the book series authored by The Vampire Diaries scribe L.J. Smith, is expected to help fill the Life Unexpected void midseason. There are also some rumors of other pilots in development for the network.

“The Secret Circle” is a series of books about witches. A 16 year old girl named Cassie moves, with her mother, to New Salem, Massachusetts. Her new highschool is ruled by a group of girls known as ‘The Club’. The girls in The Club are witches, descended from the original Salem witches, and Cassie is a witch herself.

Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, are writers and producers who were also involved with creating The Vampire Diaries show (and were involved with Buffy, Angel and Dollhouse). They’re now spearheading the adaptation, while screenwriter Andrew Miller is writing the pilot episode.

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Witch 'True Blood' character is Alan Ball conjuring up for season 4? by Michael Ausiello and Andy Patrick

Though this season of True Blood still has three episodes to go, I’ve already got scoopage on the next one: Long story short, it might as well be titled “Season of the Witch”!
Series creator Alan Ball reveals that he’ll be introducing Hallow Stonebrook, the were-sorceress from Charlaine Harris’ fourth Sookie novel, Dead to the World. Preferring to refer to the character as a necromancer, the boss man says she’s “actually a medium. She communicates with the dead, and she’s interested in developing further powers.”
In the book, Hallow casts a spell on Eric, so um, not sure what more desirable power there can be. Anyway, she’s described as a tall, trim brunette—or, to me, Juliet Landau, Buffy’s nutso Drusilla. But who do you see in the role? Below’s your casting couch. Have fun! (Additional reporting by Tim Stack)

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/08/17/true-blood-season-4-hallow/ 

True Blood Spoiler : Holly Cleary , witches and the Jesus connection !!!

* We meet Holly first at the beginning of bk 2 right when Lafayette's body is discovered in Andy's car in Merlotte's parking lot.

** I would note that Holly's grandmother once lived in the Renard Parish Nursing Home !!!  This ties her to the TB character we now know as Jesus ( who is Lafayette's Mom's nurse in the nursing home) - so we can assume that they know each other and confirms that he may also be a witch.
*** I wonder if Summer might be the Dainielle character and be HS friends with Holly and Hoyt ?

Living Dead in Dallas

Danielle Gray and Holly Cleary, the two waitresses on the morning shift, came through the back door laughing. Both divorced women in their mid-twenties, Danielle and Holly were lifelong friends who seemed to be quite happy working their jobs as long as they were together. Holly had a five-year-old son who was at kindergarten, and Danielle had a seven-year-old daughter and a boy too young for school,who stayed with Danielle's mother while Danielle was at Merlotte's. I would never be any closer to the two women—who, after all, were around my age—because they were careful to be sufficient unto themselves.

Holly had short blond hair that hung around her face like wilted daisy petals, and the prettiest skin I'd ever seen. "

"Andy let a black queer sleep in his car?" This was Holly, who was the blunt straightforward one.

Then on to book 4 when Jason has disappeared,  it's Tara who helps Sookie find a witch and her first visit with and discussion with Holly "Dead to the World" pg 50

You don't know any witches, do you?" I asked, trying to change the subject before
Tara could read my misgivings."Holly can explain it better than I can," Tara said.
"Holly. The Holly who works with me?"

Holly Cleary lived. I thought I remembered her complaining about the closet size in her apartment, and that meant the Kingfisher Arms.
When I got to the U-shaped building on the southern approach to Bon Temps, I checked the mailboxes to discover Holly's apartment number. She was on the ground floor, in number 4. Holly had a five-year-old son, Cody. Holly and her best friend, Danielle Gray, had both gotten married right out of high school, and both had been divorced within five years. Danielle's mom was a great help to Danielle, but Holly was not so lucky. Her long-divorced parents had both moved away, and her grandmother had died in the Alzheimer's wing of the Renard Parish nursing home. Holly had dated Detective Andy Bellefleur for a few months, but nothing had come of it. Rumor had it that old Caroline Bellefleur, Andy's grandmother, had thought Holly wasn't "good" enough for Andy. I had no opinion on that.
Neither Holly nor Andy was on my shortlist of favorite people, though I definitely felt cooler toward Andy. When Holly answered her door, I realized all of a sudden how much she'd changed over the past few weeks. For years, her hair had been dyed a dandelion yellow. Now it was matte black and spiked. Her ears had four piercings apiece. And I noticed her hipbones pushing at the thin denim of her aged jeans

"You're a witch?" I said, embarrassed at using such a dramatic word.
"I'm more of a Wiccan."
"Would you mind explaining the difference?" I met her eyes briefly, and then decided to focus on the dried flowers in the basket on top of the television. Holly thought I could read her mind only if I was looking into her eyes. (Like physical touching, eye contact does make the reading easier, but it certainly isn't necessary.)
"You draw from a power that most people never tap into. Being a witch isn't being wicked, or at least it isn't supposed to be. If you're a Wiccan, you follow a religion, a pagan religion. We follow the ways of the Mother, and we have our own calendar of holy days. You can be both a Wiccan and a witch; or more one, or more the other. It's very individualized. I practice a little witchcraft, but I'm more interested in the Wiccan life. We believe that your actions are okay if you don't hurt anyone else."
Oddly, my first feeling was one of embarrassment, when I heard Holly tell me that she was a
non-Christian. I'd never met anyone who didn't at least pretend to be a Christian or who didn't give lip service to the basic Christian precepts. I was pretty sure there was a synagogue in Shreveport, but I'd never even met a Jew, to the best of my knowledge. I was certainly on a learning curve.
"I understand. Do you know lots of witches?"
"I know a few." Holly nodded repeatedly, still avoiding my eyes.
I spotted an old computer on the rickety table in the corner. "Do you have, like, a chat room online, or a bulletin board, or something?" "Oh, sure."

So let's look at what we learn from TB Sunday night and examine more about Holly later.

‘True Blood’s New Waitress On Her Bewitching Abilities

This Sunday Lauren Bowles makes her ‘True Blood‘ debut as Merlotte’s newest waitress Holly Cleary.   Bowles, whose credits include everything from guest starring on numerous procedurals, to starring opposite her real life half-sister Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the comedy ‘Watching Ellie,’ is thrilled she landed a longterm role on one of her favorite shows.  She opened up about Holly’s secret powers, why the cast is afraid to give out spoilers, and what to order at Merlotte’s.

Tell me about your character, Holly Cleary.
What I can tell you, because it’s shrouded in secrecy on this show, [is that] I am the new waitress at Merlotte’s – a single working Mom.  I might have some interesting abilities that will develop as the show goes on.
There are some hints, at least judging by the books, that she might be a witch.
This is what I have been told.  This is what the word on the street is.  I’m not even joking.  They make you sign a confidentiality agreement, ‘You can tell nothing. Don’t say a word.’  But she does have some interesting abilities that will develop.

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True Blood Recipe: Octavia Fant's No Nonsense Spaghetti Sauce recipe

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 green bell pepper, chopped
* 1 clove garlic, chopped
* 2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste
* 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
* 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
* 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
* 1 tablespoon
* Worcestershire sauce
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup water

Directions

Brown the beef in a large, heavy bottomed pot, then drain off the fat. Add the onion, green pepper, and garlic and saute until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, seasonings, and water. Simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool. The sauce will keep for several days covered and refrigerated. Serve with spaghetti or your favorite pasta.

Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea V : Wicca and Wiccans

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea " that's a very familiar exclamation to readers of the Sookie Stackhouse books and I decided to take a closer look at churches, religion, the Bible and prayer in the Sookie books.

*Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea Part I : Sookie and faith

*Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea Part II: The Bible

*Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea Part III: Prayer

*Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea Part IV: Eric and Religion

We have a number of references in the books to Wicca and Wiccans.

Dead to the World, Bk4
"Oh, gosh, no, not me. I'm a Catholic. But I have some friends who are Wiccan. Some of them are witches."
"Oh, really?" I didn't think I'd ever heard the word Wiccan before, though maybe I'd read it in a mystery or romance novel. "I'm sorry, I don't know what that means," I said, my voice humble.
"Holly can explain it better than I can," Tara said.
"Holly. The Holly who works with me?"
"Sure. Or you could go to Danielle, though she's not going to be as willing to talk. Holly and Danielle are in the same coven."
I was so shocked by now I might as well get even more stunned. "Coven," I repeated.
"You know, a group of pagans who worship together."
"I thought a coven had to be witches?"

Our little town of Bon Temps had stretched its gates open wide enough to tolerate vampires, and gay people didn't have a very hard time of it anymore (kind of depending on how they expressed their sexual preference). However, I thought the gates might snap shut for Wiccans.

"You're a witch?" I said, embarrassed at using such a dramatic word.
"I'm more of a Wiccan."
"Would you mind explaining the difference?" I met her eyes briefly, and then decided to focus on the dried flowers in the basket on top of the television. Holly thought I could read her mind only if I was looking into her eyes. (Like physical touching, eye contact does make the reading easier, but it certainly isn't necessary.) "I guess not." Her voice was slow, as if she were thinking as she spoke.
"You're not one to spread gossip."
"Whatever you tell me, I won't share with anyone." I met her eyes again, briefly.
"Okay," she said. "Well, if you're a witch, of course, you practice magic rituals."
She was using "you" in the general sense, I thought, because saying "I"
would mean too bold a confession.
"You draw from a power that most people never tap into. Being a witch isn't being wicked, or at least it isn't supposed to be. If you're a Wiccan, you follow a religion, a pagan religion. We follow the ways of the Mother, and we have our own calendar of holy days. You can be both a Wiccan and a witch; or more one, or more the other. It's very individualized. I practice a little witchcraft, but I'm more interested in the Wiccan life. We believe that your actions are okay if you don't hurt anyone else."
Oddly, my first feeling was one of embarrassment, when I heard Holly tell me that she was a non-Christian. I'd never met anyone who didn't at least pretend to be a Christian or who didn't give lip service to the basic Christian precepts. I was pretty sure there was a synagogue in Shreveport, but I'd never even met a Jew, to the best of my knowledge. I was certainly on a learning curve.

Definitely Dead Bk 6
"And I'll need real witches," Amelia said. "Quality workers, not some hedgerow Wiccan." Amelia went off on Wiccans for a good long while. She despised Wiccans (unfairly) as tree-hugging wannabes-that came out of Amelia's thoughts clearly enough. I regretted Amelia's prejudice, as I'd met some impressive Wiccans.

All Together Dead , Bk 7
But after I'd introduced the two and they'd had some conversations, Amelia had told me glumly that she and Holly were very different sorts of witches. Amelia herself was (she considered) a true witch, while Holly was a Wiccan. Amelia had a thinly veiled contempt for the Wiccan faith. Once or twice, Amelia had met with Holly's coven, partly to keep her hand in.and partly because Amelia yearned for the company of other practitioners.