Attentive readers of this blog may have noticed that I have strayed far away from mysticism, and that politics has overtaken the blog. Now that the semester is over I do plan to start mentioning my research and other items relevant to both mysticism and magic. Chakira has posted an amusing message about Lubavitch and the use of amulets -- My Blog is a Segulah For Both Literacy and Laziness. I also would mention that the cover story in last week's New Republic was about how Kabbalah goes Hollywood. Yossi Klein Halevi writes about the pop kabbalah that has intrigued the likes of Madonna -- the Kabbalah Centres spread by Rabbi Philip Berg.