Pagan Community Notes: Week of January 22, 2026

In this Week’s Pagan Community Notes, Sinners feasts on Oscar nominations, a UK tribunal blocks charitable status for an esotericism research network, Gaea Retreat Center enacts Zero Tolerance policy, Star’s tarot of the week, and Christian nationalist rhetoric surfaces on X (say it isn’t so), with one author calling for Pagan deportations, increased suppression of women, and your compulsory submission to Christianity.

Witches on TV: Pop Culture and Power

TV witches have always captivated me. As a child, I would sit cross-legged in front of the screen, completely spellbound by reruns of Samantha Stephens from Bewitched on Nick-at-Nite. I remember watching her effortlessly clean the house with a twitch of her nose, never realizing that there was something deeper going on in these portrayals of witches.

Classics of Pagan Cinema: Dancing at Lughnasa

“Pagan nonsense, celebrating the feast of Lughnasadh. This is the month of August. The feast of our lady’s assumption into heaven.” Meg Elison returns with a review of the 1998 Irish-American film “Dancing at Lughnasa,” which juxtaposes Catholic misery and Pagan joy.

Oak, Ash, and Thorn

When the answer came, it seemed obvious. I’d do what any good Witch would do. I’d call on the holy trees, trees that meant the world to me.