News

After Vandalism, Pagans and Polytheists make pleas for a relabeling of “ISIS”

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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. –The spate of worldwide attacks attributed to the terrorist group al-Dawlah al-Islamīyah fī al-ʻIrāq wa-al-Shām in recent days has sent ripples of shock and fear in their wake: the downing of a Russian passenger plane leaving Egypt, suicide bombings in Beirut, and the Parisian attacks which topped the trifecta with a bloody bow. The fact that these attacks all took place outside of war-torn Syria and neighboring Iraq led to rampant speculation that the terrorists were concealing themselves in the massive crush of refugees fleeing those areas, and reports confirm that one of the Paris attackers did possess a Syrian refugee passport. While US elected officials and presidential candidates reacted with plans to stop accepting refugees or even start labeling Muslims already in this country, one anonymous person took matters into their own hands, tossing a brick through the sign of Isis Books & Gifts. //

Dear friends, this happened to us over the weekend. We humbly request that you send protective energy to us, as this is…

News

Religious landscape shifts underfoot

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UNITED STATES –Analysts at the Pew Research Center have released a second report parsing data collected during the 2014 Religious Landscape Survey. Where the initial report “described the changing size and demographic characteristics of the nation’s major religious groups,” this second one instead “focuses on Americans’ religious beliefs and practices and assesses how they have changed in recent years.” While the activities of those who belong to religious minorities, including those who fall under or near the Pagan umbrella, can at best be inferred from the data — out of 35,071 survey participants, only 605 are listed in the “other faiths” category, which was separate from the 92 identified under “other world religions” — the overall trends in the United States suggest a slow, generational shift away from any religious activity. However, among those who hold religious beliefs, the frequency and variety of religious activities has not appreciably changed since the first survey, conducted in 2007. Those interested in digging into the data have, for the first time this year, an interactive tool for combing through the results as well as the full report in PDF format.

Living

A Place in Tarot History

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SAUGERTIES, NY — Robert Place didn’t set out to be a tarot artist and scholar. Once upon a time, he made jewelry, including the wedding ring worn by Margot Adler. Through a series of messages and signs he received from his patron deity Hermes, Place set aside that work and turned his artistic abilities to the creation of cards for divination, including tarot. Along the way, he became an expert in the history of how cards have been used for oracular purposes. Place’s best-selling work thus far has been the Alchemical Tarot, but he has created several other decks in that style, as well as writing a treatise on the subject, called The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination.

News

Salem’s Latest Witch ‘Trial’ Makes News

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SALEM, Mass — An October court hearing found Christian Day facing allegations of harassment by his former business associate Lori Sforza. Due to the timing, this brewing conflict must have felt like a golden opportunity to someone at the Associated Press (AP). Leading up to Halloween, the “Witch Sues Warlock” angle proved impossible to resist, and the story achieved viral status in short order. What Sforza, who goes by the business name of Lori Bruno, actually wanted was a simple restraining order, claiming that Day had been harassing her online and over the phone. Some of Sforza’s more recent allegations surprised Day.

News

A look at Paganism in South Africa

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Encompassing over 470,000 square miles and boasting close to 1,750 miles of coastline on two oceans, South Africa is the 25th largest nation by area, and 24th largest by population. The term “Pagan” was all but unknown there prior to 1994, at which time the same constitution that lifted the apartheid system of racial segregation also provided for freedom of religion. Since that point minority religions, such as those within Heathenry, Wicca and others associated with Paganism, have been adopted by a growing number of people, modelling — and sometimes adapting — practices more common in the northern hemisphere. One group that is active in promoting Paganism in South Africa is the Pagan Assistance Network, which has been putting on a growing number of annual events. A quick look at PAN’s calendar shows how adapting wheel-of-the-year holidays for the southern hemisphere doesn’t always result in a complete reversal.