By RICHARD N. OSTLING
The Associated Press
(AP) — It’s weeks before Thanksgiving but already interest groups are preparing for an intense year of conflict over Christmas observances by cities and public schools, with one conservative group lining up hundreds of attorneys to work on the issue.
Continue reading Tension over Christmas observance begins
Even after the kids take off their Halloween costumes, witches remain among us
Debby Reis (The Peak)
BURNABY, B.C. (CUP) — Back in high school, like many other teenaged girls, I became interested in the occult. Witches in particular held interest for me. But the image of a witch in my head went beyond that of the fairy tale hag.
My witch had a mystical beauty about her, and more importantly, she had power. I didn’t quite understand this power, but I knew I wanted it. I learned to read palms and tarot cards, and whenever I looked at someone’s hand, I felt a little bit of that power when their lines and fingertips told me about who they were.
Continue reading The Power of Witches
Halloween is the holiday that most associate with witches and pagans, but it’s actually one of eight sabbats – or holidays – that pagans celebrate.
Continue reading Roman holiday, pagan tradition
DERBY — Make-believe witches may worry most about not getting enough chocolate today. But a real-life witch has her hands full with more pressing matters.
Alicia Folberth, a Wiccan high priestess, has persuaded the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities to review her complaint last June that she was fired, ostensibly because of her need for time off to practice her faith.
Continue reading Wiccan fights for religious freedom
Four years ago, OnMilwaukee.com posted the first “Interview with a Witch” segment, and because of its popularity, later created two more segments in the series. Now, the three articles are combined and updated with new information to provide a clear and honest glimpse into the life of a Milwaukee witch. Luna is 36 years old, lives in Bay View and works as an artist and hair stylist. Fifteen years ago she was initiated as a High Priestess, and today, is a part of a small coven.
Continue reading Interview with a witch
SALISBURY — When she saw the devil costume in a local store, frustration boiled inside her.
Everything classic about the devil was there, said Morning Dove. There were horns and red makeup, but the pentacle — the symbol of her Wiccan religion — was like a slap in the face.
Continue reading Halloween is time to dispel myths for pagans
Do you believe the original meanings of many festivals have been lost?
THE wheel of the year constantly turning has brought us once more to Hallowe’en, or Samhain (pronounced sow-in), as our Celtic ancestors would have known it.
Continue reading All fired up for our celebration of life
Wicca has become incredibly popular in the past ten years,” one witch in Salem, Massachusetts, told Catherine Edwards Sanders, author of Wicca’s Charm : Understanding the Spiritual Hunger Behind the Rise of Modern Witchcraft and Pagan Spirituality. In her book, Sanders tries to find out just how big Wicca is (you’ll find them in Salem but also in Topeka), what the attraction is, and what others can learn from them.
Continue reading Catherine Sanders on Wicca
Wicca devotee Chris Jones wants to clear the air about the symbols of Samhain, or “the night where the veil between life and death is the thinnest.”
Continue reading Truth or scare? Facts about Wiccan symbols
Allhallow’s Eve, a night of ghosts and goblins kids in costumes, going door to door, yelling “trick or treat,” pumpkins carved into jack-o’-lanterns – this is Halloween.
Wicca is a polytheistic, nature-based religion. I worship a Goddess and a God or one of the many aspects thereof.
Nature has male and female aspects; I believe the gods do, too. The God is a dying and rising God. The Goddess is eternal.
In one aspect, the God represents the grains, fruits and meat we eat. The Goddess is the mother that nurtures us and helps us grow. We celebrate eight Sabbats (holidays):
Continue reading Wiccans bewitched by nature