Author: F. Andrew Taylor

Source: View Neighborhood Newspapers

http://www.viewnews.com/2009/VIEW-Jul-14-Tue-2009/North/29930274.html

Witches have gotten a bit of a public relations makeover in the last decade. These days, the word witch is less likely to summon images of green-skinned hags with pointed hats than it is British schoolchildren with a penchant for eating horribly flavored jelly beans.

Neither image is quite...

Author: Sergei Ponomarev

Source: Syracuse.com

Wire Service: AP

Author: Matthew McGowan

Source: Odessa American Online

http://www.oaoa.com/articles/pagans-33002-beliefs-pagan.html

When you think of pagans, chances are you've got it all wrong.

Many see them as soulless and godless Devil worshippers who cast spells and sacrifice animals.

But at least two local pagans beg to differ with this stereotype, instead offering a more peaceful and community-oriented glimpse at the religious...

Author: Simon de Bruxelles

Source: The Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6547935.ece

Papuan dancers waved their hands in the air and went: “Woo, woo, woo”.

Only the guest of honour failed to put in an appearance at Stonehenge.

A record 36,500 people had gathered at the prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain to watch the sun rise. So many turned out to celebrate the solstice that...

Author: Jeff Wilkin

Source: The Daily Gazette

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/jun/21/0621_solstice/

For the sun, it’s the big day out.

Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and the beginning of summer on the Gregorian calendar. Some will greet the great day with celebrations; others may just be interested in all of the scientific facts under the sun.

According to the National Weather...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5558521/Witches-claim-religious-discrimination-after-church-ban.html

Sandra Davis - High Priestess at the Crystal Cauldron - had reserved Our Lady's Social Club in Shaw Heath, Stockport for her Pagan group's Annual Witches' Ball.

But when she rang to make payment arrangements she was...

Author: Aijaz Maher

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8083048.stm

Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) is today arguably one of the most dangerous places in the world.

But while that may be true of regions where the Taliban proliferate, there are still areas of NWFP where life goes on as normal.

The most prominent of these is the Kalash region in the northern-most district of Chitral.

It is...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: PRWeb

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2498164.htm

Oberon Zell of Grey School and Don Lewis of Witch School have agreed to a trivia contest about all things magical to test their students and all comers. They plan to meet on June 13th...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Pagan Alliance

http://www.thepaganalliance.org/?PageID=138

The Pagan Alliance (www.thepaganalliance.org), together with the Order of the Pentacle (www.circlesanctuary.org), will hold a ritual of remembrance at the Lafayette War Memorial Monday, May 25, at 11:30 a.m.

The Order of the Pentacle is an organization of Pagan veterans. It's a group that worked with Americans United, Circle Sanctuary, and the American Civil...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Chillicothe Gazette

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20090514/NEWS01/905140302/1002/rss01

Southeastern High School graduates will not have a clergyperson delivering an invocation and benediction at their ceremony.

Superintendent Brian Justice explained Wednesday he and the board are not anti-prayer, but are obliged to follow the law.

"We will not violate the laws...

Author: Melissa Nann Burke

Source: York Daily Record

http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_12339729

Many gave thanks in church Sunday to mom.

At the spiritually eclectic Nature Church, which attracts followers of Earth-based and nature religions, congregants also remembered the divine mother -- mother goddesses first revered by ancient cultures for qualities of motherhood, fertility or creation.

"She is the oldest, most primal, most universal of deity concepts...

Author: Jona Ison

Source: Chillicothe Gazette

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20090511/NEWS01/905110301

Southeastern Local Schools has received notice from a Washington group that it would be a violation of the Establishment Clause to include a prayer at the graduation ceremony.

Traditionally, the school has had a reverend deliver an invocation and benediction at the ceremony, but the practice recently was...

Author: Steven Morris

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/07/stonehenge-police-g20-jon-tapper

Police today tried to allay growing concern that a "zero tolerance" approach during the summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge could lead to serious trouble.

Officers maintained they would police the ancient site in a fair and sensitive manner and played down comparisons to the tense build-up to last...

Author: Jeff Brumley

Source: The Florida Times-Union

http://www.jacksonville.com/lifestyles/values_and_religion/2009-05-04/story/pagan_explains_beltane_holiday

Spring is a busy time in terms of holidays in the world's religions.

Jews observe Passover. Christians celebrate Easter.

And it's also the time for Beltane, one of the four main holidays in the pagan religion, said Zee...

Author: Matthew McGrath

Source: App.com

http://www.app.com/article/20090504/NEWS02/905040364/1070/NEWS02

May Day, or Beltane, an ancient Celtic festival of fertility revived by Wiccans and neopagans alike, sprang to life again on Saturday.

Members of the Sanctuary of Universal Life, a Wiccan church — danced around the holiday's chief symbol, the maypole, weaving bright ribbons into a braid around it. The ritual symbolized...