The Pagan Activist

A Global Online Newspaper & Forum for Pagans & Heathens of all paths.

Home of the Vital Rites Project and now being read in 46 countries!

2007 News Archive:

 Welcome to the 2007 News Archive!

Here we store old articles from the Front Page.

Enjoy!

The Pagan Activist 

Jump Articles:

You can jump directly to the monthly articles using the month links or just scroll down.

December:

 

From pagan deity to modern sex symbol - Snegurochka revealed  / Ancient stone circle found in Skåne  / Record-breaking haul from Gaul discovered at farm in Brittany  / Quoth the Raven  / Tajikistan: Government Reacts To Economic Crisis By Banning Witchcraft  / Italian expert links first Christmas celebration to pagan shrine in Rome  / Stonehenge pagans mark winter solstice  / Hundreds celebrate winter solstice  / Pagans welcome solstice, celebrate Yule  / Chilly welcome for winter solstice  / Solstice clock goes live on web  / Hundreds to celebrate solstice  / Bodmin Moor Hurlers mystery solved  / Marking the solstice — Celebrations are bright spot at the darkest time of the year  / Pagans gear up to celebrate winter solstice  / Earth-based spirituality fosters respect for environment  / Inmate sues for Norse god worship  / Greeting the winter solstice: Family creates own tradition  / Lescudjack Hill Fort and the Winter Solstice  / Where to celebrate the world's oldest holiday  / Before solstice arrives, honor the dark  / Winter Solstice  / Santa Claus Is Coming to Town  / Marvel at winter solstice sunrise in Newgrange  / Nativity scene, Wiccan symbol removed from city hall site  / Pagans, Christians unite for advent  / On Russian Wedding Traditions of the Past  / Storytelling Adventure Hits The Right Note  / Stonehenge: "International jubilation" as £540-million road scheme is finally scrapped  / Rare ancient wooden throne found in Herculaneum  / Pagans find purpose in fighting stereotypes, building community  / Book on little known Venezuelan cult released  / Mistletoe  / Life as a gypsy: A Bentonville pagan sorts through stereotypes  / Modern day Vikings  / Ridley Scott to roll with 'Stones'  / Proof of Liverpool's Viking past  / Tribal event marks reopening of T.O. Chumash center and the Chumash solstice  / Lord of the languages: Prof teaches with Elvish, Orkish  / Illuminating the winter solstice in Warwick  / December skywatch: Meteors, Mars, solstice 

 

November:

 

Experts offer histories of holiday plants  / Gene study suggests Native Americans came from Siberia  / Wicca Goes Video: Magick TV Celebrates 2nd Anniversary  / Pucker up, it's mistletoe time!  / Silbury Hill: Burial ground for Neolithic 'souls'  / Eighth wonder of the world?  / Hardy Offers Cowboys for Christ  / Dead cats and absent camels  / Long Man sex change show to be broadcast  / Temple built 4,000 years ago unearthed in Peru  / So when do you Pagans do the naked dancing?  / Campus Wiccans spell out their beliefs  / At Witch School, spelling has new meaning  / The 16th century book that shows how vicars abused people's fear of witchcraft  / CBC to air documentary based on bestseller 'The Pagan Christ'  / Desecration angers witch  / Pagan Beer for Modern Times  / Lottery winner plans Md. spirituality center  / Winter given the warmest of welcomes  / Facing discrimination, Wicca pagan followers learn to turn the other cheek  / Pagan Religion Grows In Popularity  / Talk to unveil witchfinder horrors  / The (straw) burning of Kingston  / Schools ban "cult of death" Halloween  / Maori scholar: Indigenous women were forgotten in the colonizer's history  / Witches gather to celebrate Samhain  / Witchcraft goes mainstream  / Voodoo priest debunks religion's stereotypes  / Pagan Holidays Added to Excused Absences 

 

October:

 

Witches come out of the 'broom closet' and into the mainstream  / Wiccans enlighten Whitewater  / Homework project digs up Roman relic  / A witch for all seasons  / A witch explains Halloween  / Every witch way  /

Brazil's Sorcerers and Witches Stage Magic Ritual to Heal Mother  / Witches will gather for Samhain  / Happy new year!!  / Witch School fails to charm town  / Last chance to solve puzzle of ancient hill  / Wiccan, not wicked  / Bring back the Greek gods  / Belief in Witchcraft, Magic Serves 'Basic Human Need,' Professor Says  / The Daily Grind: 11 questions for a professional witch  / Witch speaks of Wicca beliefs, practices  / Salem's official witch wants a happier Oct. 31  / L.I. wiccan mom's set to observe 'Samhain,' not Halloween  / Cabin from Viking Era Discovered in West Fjords?  / Ancient Mexican city raises questions about Mesoamerica's Mother Culture  / Worlds of the Living & Dead  / Burning issue for fire festival  / University adds Pagan holidays to absence list  / Robin Hood's greenwood under threat as ancient trees die off  / Witch noose hanging decoration causes controversy  / Paganism not about bubbling cauldrons  / Halloween is Ruined!  / Use chair money to boost prizes?  / It’s market day for witchy folk  / Druid Opens World Of Mystery  / Viking ship 'buried beneath pub'  / Viking queen exhumed to solve mystery  / Pagan ceremony launches art show  / Wizard appears in court  / English villagers scratch heads over mysterious gargoyles  / Huge Fiberglass Statue of Anubis, the Ancient Egyptian God of the Dead, Floats Down Thames  / Austrian film on the Icelandic Sagas  / Fifty lucky winners get tickets for solstice at Newgrange  / Teenagers place faith in witchcraft  / Head of Pagan group clarifies club's aim 

 

September:

 

Pagans say they’re not so different after all  / Pagans celebrate equinox at Avebury  / A wheel with five points  / Pagan Organization Offers A Welcoming Setting  / Computer technician leads double life as witch  / Pagans usher in Autumn  / PaCO all about the goddess, not about the pentagrams  / Norse mythology presents ideal religious beliefs  / Thornborough Henges to be target of Restoration campaign  / Digging History: Second pagan temple (slowly) unveiled in Artashat  / Pagans fight stigma with Pride Day  / O.C. witch fights for pentacle-inscribed tombstones  / Pagans descend on Lakeville to celebrate equinox  / Pagan event draws the curious  / Witch fleeing Halifax after friends attacked, family swarmed  / My life as a Pagan priestess  / Festival celebrates the autumnal equinox  / How do you tell 60,000 people it's time to go home?  / Brunswick schools consider book policy  / Wicca Teacher Claims Piece of Jackpot  / Labor Day as the Romans do 

 

August:

Americans United Commends President Bush For Apologizing To Wiccan War Widow  / Wiccan widow not invited to meet Bush during visit  / Artist arrested in Burning Man torching  / Giant daubed by 'vigilante'  / Kangelu, waterproof Sassanid temple   / The first lady of pacing  / Total lunar eclipse early Tuesday  / Do you feel the magic?  / Seahenge 10 Years On  / Pagan pride day on Saturday shows city's cultural diversity  / A Minnesota Mystery: The Kensington Runestone  / Pagan grave discovered in Westfjords  / Viking ship lands in Ireland after nearly 1,000 yrs  / Woman faces charges after yelling chants  / Navajo Cub Scout: Religion emblem needed  / Experts uncover Orkney's new Skara Brae and the great wall that separated living from dead  / Author, singer, spiritualist Shekhinah Mountainwater found truth in goddess myths  / Hope for peace, love, understanding  / Soho School Principal: I Don’t Practice Santeria  / Catholic Church wages campaign against witchcraft in Mexican town  / Cowboys for Christ lensing in September  / How to be... a Druid  / Druids pedal for charity  / From shop girl to pin-up witch 

July:

 

Tribe at threat by 'green' fuels demand  / Pagan prisoner to sue bosses over ban on drum in her cell  / New Big Bro contestant is just like Harry Potter  / Druid chief to stand for parliament  / Pagan ritual comes to Coney Island  / A Psychic Path to Water?  / Pawtucket park to host Pagan Pride festival  / Labyrinth returns to HMB Saturday  / Army denies Hawaiians access to sacred sites  / Witches win £350m legal battle  / Adherents are positive about Paganism  / Bewitched or de-witched?  / Viking treasure found in England  / Newcastle's little black book of magic  / Pilgrims flock to the healing waters of Haiti's voodoo Virgin  / Bulgarian archaeologists discover 2,400-year-old golden mask  / Pagans pledge 'rain magic' to wash away Homer Simpson  / Archeological Chapiters Carrying Greek and Roman Faces Discovered  / Back on Hallow grounds as witch cabin reopens  / Going potty about paganism  / Midsummer fun: Armenians pour water on each other to bridge pagan and Christian traditions  / WytcheHaven retreat located near Salem  / Where Sci-Fi ends, Magick TV begins: Witch School Reality Show Airs  / Romanian witches go online  / Move over Hogwarts: Witch School Reopens Headquarters in Rossville, Illinois  / About 2,000 people took part in bathing rite at "Sayan Ring" festival  / Bronze age Ribbon to be tarmacked  / Hail, Odin! Latter-day 'Vikings' set sail for glory  / Archaeologists rise to solstice circle discovery  / We won't wear it' - pagans furious with Trinny and Susannah  / Support for Stonehenge wonder bid  / Govt turns to Wiccan queen to save girls  / Pagans to Rally for Religious Rights in Front of the White House on July 4th  / NHS gives it’s blessing to Paganism  / MPs turn back time to pardon Swiss 'witch'  / Paganism in Utah  / Wiccans moving to Rossville 

 

June:

 

Solstice turns sour  / The enigma of Italy's ancient Etruscans is finally unraveled  / Viking sword fighting practiced in Iceland  / Witchcraft in focus at Arctic rendez-vous  / Draco Malfoy's real-life ancestors were 'witches'!  / Jack Black and Todd Phillips team up for Man-Witch!  / Burying the past  / Worshippers of ancient gods mark solstice at 2,500-year-old seaside temple  / Nature's glitch for solstice hopefuls  / The Lowdown on Swedish Midsummer  / Thousands attend solstice party  / A river of fire for Rome's solstice celebrations  / Druids to mark solstice – late  / Revelers welcome summer solstice  / Here comes the Sun  / Tracking the longest day: Aztec Ruins to host summer solstice event  / Summer solstice legends long as the day  / The fair witch project  / Interview with Damh the Bard - Gather Round People as He Spins You a Tale  / Bolder T-shirt printer cleared  / Midsummer Fest set to hail solstice  / Solstice Heritage Trail  / Enyovden - 24. June  / Temple Found under President’s Home  / Witchcraft – Yesterday and Today: The Midnight Sun Witchcraft Conference  / Unique Cybele Temple Findings Exhibited in Bulgaria  / WND 'Paganstock': 3 days of fun, music ... and ritual  / Harry Potter Teacher Loses Tribunal Claim  / Pagans resist keeping the faith to themselves  / Bronze goddess fetches record $28.6 million at New York Sotheby's  / Combat Library Censorship  / Summer solstice fests have deep roots  / MP's fury over Stonehenge funding  / Wizard School and Witch School form Cooperative Alliance  / Wiccans support their own  / Volunteers to start ancient Mayan sea journey  / Infamous home to open  / Maasais, Canaanites and the Inca connection  / Va. inmate can challenge denial of Thor's Hammer  / Cauldron discovered in bog  / The power of Rock 

 

May:

 

Pagan music rave blasted  / The Burning Question  / Ga. Judge: Keep Potter Books in School  / Police plan for solstice spectacular  / The Seto People  / Widows of Wiccan vets make historic dedication  /

All hell breaks out as pagans given go-ahead for university gathering  / Colonial Witch Hysteria Recalled  / Jody has gone back to her roots and embraced Druidism  / Powwow: Ancient healing art still has adherents  / Parents give child a pagan blessing  / Psychics may have to pass test to practice  / Faith healer: Erol Josue uses music to rehabilitate voodoo’s image  / ‘Facilitator’ seeks to help participants get in touch with their own rhythms  / Witchcraft casts spell on young  / Many paths, one principle  / Mayor's Opposition Startles Wiccan Business Owner  / TV unearths Lost Treasures  / Ancient "Royal Temple" Discovered in Path of Ireland Highway  / Wiccans Keep the Faith With a Religion Under Wraps  / Lost Slavic Mythology  / Roman towns aligned with Sun  / Diatribe possible hate crime  / A magical mystery maypole rises in Brentwood  / 007's creator 'was in plot to frame witch'  / Ronald Hutton - Wicca and other invented traditions  / Epic film quest for Rome's lost Scottish legion  / Egyptians, not Greeks were true fathers of medicine  / Pompeii find shows secrets of the Samnites  / Witchcraft Act being finalized  / Not just words  / City psychics thrown a lifeline  / Myth of the Basque Witches  / Pagan Bonfires  / Witch gets payout in school row  / Mom in the spotlight  / ‘Once in a blue moon’ is every 2.5 years  / Hill of Tara to be lost under M3, warn campaigners  / Hanover teen sent home for pentagram on cheek  / 'Warlike Pagans' Up In Arms At Car Crackdown  / City blazes its way into summer  / Beltane and the Greewood Marriages  / Witchcraft Fuels Legal Complaints on Chile’s Mystical Chiloé Island  / Seeing out the winter in blaze of pagan glory 

 

April:

 

 Mum goes to No 10 with Paganism plea  / Breakthrough for the witching hour in America  / Fortune-telling no longer in the cards in Philly  / Burning climax to pagan festival  / Bewitched for four generations  / Nature, not Satan, lies at the core of Paganism   / New York Posts Mockery of Dead Pagans  / Haiti Festival Season: A wonderful experience for all  / Symposium held on witchcraft  / Marble Phrygian Goddess Statue Discovered in Bulgaria  / The Scholars and the Goddess  / Italy to return ancient Roman statue to Libya  / Earth Week offers education, entertainment  / Bush Administration Agrees To Approve Wiccan Pentacle For Veteran Memorials  / Students hold peace protest  / US Pagan Soldiers Need Your Assistance  / Offerings to Hawaiian fire goddess attracting pests  / 81-Year-Old Woman Jailed For Being A Witch, Making Neighbor's Life Miserable  / Turning up the heat for the biggest Beltane of them all  / Today is the First Day of Summer  / Witch School Closes  / Wiccan views allow multiple interpretations  / Ban urged on sorcery  / Beltane needs you as keeper of the flames  / Get your hands off our Pagan statue  / The Goddess Inside  / Viking ship to retrace route  / Donovan drum workshop adds touch of magic  / 'Hail Persephone': Pagans Retool the Rosary  / World's Largest Witch School for Sale  / Mummers going Stateside to perform pagan rituals  / Haitians gather for Voodoo ceremonies  / Pagans Battle Vow Over Circle of Faith  / Chile rediscovers native Mapuche remedies  / Pagan’s Eviction Threat Over Park Stone Circle  / Celtic festival will set the city alight  / Massive volcanic eruptions leveled ancient Egyptian cities  / Springtime for Paganism in America  / New voice for the oldest song ever  / DNA Boosts Herodotus’ Account of Etruscans as Migrants to Italy  / Bewitched Catholics  / Mythology of stars near tonight's moon  / The Witches of Lillhärdal  / One a penny, two a penny   /

Put Pagans on Committee  / Waltzing with the wicked witch  / Raising Alexandria 

 

March:

 

Canadian chaplains lend a hand in Afghanistan  / Teacher Forces Girl To Remove Religious Necklace  /

Witch Trials And Tribulations In The Land Of The Free  / Raising Pagans  / Pagan group celebrates equinox  / Statue of exonerated 'Witch of Pungo' finds place to rest  / Druids mark the old ways  / Pagans for Peace Plans to work with locals in Peru  / American Indians perform spiritual cleansing on vandalized Cherokee monument  / Arrival of spring is time to celebrate  / Cave Markings Seen Only On Spring, Fall Equinox  / Let's get metaphysical  / Teaching assistant claims she was sacked for being a witch  / Celebrate the Spring Equinox  / Annual spring egg standing planned for today   / Archaeologists unearth ancient perfume  / (Merovingian Era) Treasure Looted From Germany Goes On Show in Moscow  / Pagans suffer ritual abuse  / Celtic inspiration  / Pagan council speaks to end stereotypes  / Mexico's Maya marked the magic of March  / Yonkers police probe bizarre cemetery ritual  / Sadness at loss of ancient tree  / Mystery hill yields 3,000-year-old town  / Angelina Jolie Now Studying Voodoo In New Orleans  / Vibrant colors keep Ukranian tradition bright  / 'Robin of Sherwood' Aims for Realism  / Witch Hunt Continues  / Pagans stake claim to sacred site  / Goddess of love at heart of dispute  / Steep bail ordered in arson case  / N.Y. Teacher Fights Modern-Day 'Witch Trial'  / Egyptians Find Tomb of Ancient god Osiris  / Egypt Comes Alive  / A serious craft  / Pagans demand apology from Anglican Bishop over graveyard smear  / Big Three 'tolerate' resurgence of Paganism  / Clans: backbone to Scotland's culture  / Austrian film on the Icelandic Sagas  / Michigan's mysterious Indian mounds  / Wiccan veterans waging new war   / Circle of hope  / Goddess statue found below Greece's Mount Olympus  / Ancient towers in Peru were a 'solar calendar'  / Bring back the witch hunt  / Voodoo Vibes  / Mexican Town Hosts Annual Congress of Witches  / Alternative routes to success in business (Voodoo Doctor) 

 

February:

 

Voodoo Day celebrated in Benin  / EU helps witches branch out  / Myths remind us that without winter, there is no spring  / Druids say farewell to leader  / Ritual piece of Stonehenge discovered  / Manchester prepares for the appearance of Lindow Man (Head of Druid Network involved)  / Witch's bottle spellbinds expert  / Witchcraft company awarded  / The "Akelarre," or witch gathering  / Students (some Pagan) march against war in Iraq  / Modern magic  / Tattoos - The Ancient and Mysterious History  / Thor cartoon premiered in 2010  / VA Proposed Rules and Regulations: The Top Ten Reasons Why They Should NOT Be Accepted  / For Gods and Country  / Romanian judge demoted for witchcraft  / Skinwalkers  / 1.8 Million ancient manuscripts go online  / State Willfully Discriminates Faith Community   Druids call for burial of ancient remains  / Court upholds Wiccan-Boscov's ruling  / Pagans and Pancakes  / Church ‘ruined pagan fest’  / Brazilian soap getting into a Celtic lather  / Won't you be my Valentine?  / Mom files suit over teachers' witch garb  / Local Family Lands on TLC  / Viking longships' last voyage strikes fear into the heart of archaeologists  / Archaeologist Discovers Ancient Mayan Wood Architecture   / Woman charged with burning (Pagan) church held without bail  / Mystery of mummified cat in office basement  / Pagans push peace, not politics  / DNA shows Celtic hero Somerled's Viking roots  / Did Viking men paint their teeth a 'pretty red'?  / Island fires up for Viking spectacular  / Climate Change: A Moral Imperative to Act  / Pyramids Older Than Egyptian Allegedly Found in Ukraine   / All Faiths Can Learn From Wiccans' Respect for Mother Earth  / A witches' brew of religious discrimination  / Crystals may have aided Viking sailors  / Jesus in the Morning, Voodoo in the Evening  / Local Hoopeston Woman Confesses to Practicing Witchcraft and Wicca  / Give us back our bones, pagans tell museums  / Priestess who put public face on paganism leaves limelight  / DeLand family's 'Wife Swap' an adventure  / Roman Bath's Celtic acquisition  / Just another day   / A Day of Truth: Groundhog Day  / Irish river find may be first discovery of Viking ship  / Witch School Open House and Teach-In on Saturn's Special Day  / Sacred Cave of Rome's Founders Discovered, Archaeologists Say  / Stonehenge Settlement Found: Builders' Homes, "Cult Houses"   / Help Raise The Tide 

 

January:

 

Vatican marries the pagan inheritances / Navajo Marine Granted Conscientious Objector Status for Being Medicine Man / Unique Family - Duxbury Wiccans open their lives to reality TV / Reality show to feature Witch School / Ongoing Persecution of Pagans in Modern Greece / Do You Believe in Magic? / Ancient spell may be oldest Semitic text / Witch is denied license to perform weddings / The Witchcraft Act wasn't about women on brooms / Ancient Greek gods' new believers / NorCal Indian Tribe Battles To Save 'Sacred' Site / Wiccan ex-barista sues Starbucks over religion / Zeus worshippers demand access to temple / Naomi Campbell's witch doctor / Green Man lives! / Kiowa elder preserves history through song / Stonehenge Didn't Stand Alone, Excavations Show / Pagans count selves among the faithful / Witch School coming to Sci-Fi Channel? / Pagans say game is terrorist training material / Wassailing will be back / Ancient 'warrior' found in permafrost / A Wiccan success story - Owner optimistic despite few customers / Magical Landscape’ is all around us / All artifacts accounted for, in good condition / Nicole turns to witchcraft / Dante Calvi: water witch for hire / Statues offer clues to Greek isle's past / '07 offers plenty of sights for stargazers. Two total lunar eclipses, meteor showers on calendar / Pagan festival tradition maintained with Tribal 12th Night / A tradition that dates back 4,000 years

Please also see our Video Archives (below).

December:

From pagan deity to modern sex symbol - Snegurochka revealed:

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http://www.russiatoday.ru/features/news/19177

 

The Snow Maiden, or Snegurochka, is a core part of winter celebrations in Russia. She partners Russia's Santa – Father Frost – helping him with his New Year duties. Her image is familiar to everyone across the country. But her origins remain shrouded in mystery, even to Russians.

 

The character of Snegurochka actually dates back to pagan Slavic religion. She symbolised the change of seasons, the transition from winter to spring.

 

If you would like to read the rest of this article please go to the link above.

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Ancient stone circle found in Skåne:

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http://www.thelocal.se/9346/

 

Ancient remains including a 3,000 year-old stone circle and presumed place of sacrifice have been discovered near Vitemölla on Österlen in the far south of Sweden. The site extends over two hectares and is older and bigger than the region's celebrated Ale's Stones.

 

The site, presumed to date from the bronze age, is reported to be probably the largest stone circle in the whole of northern Europe.

 

The find was made by Bob G Lind, a private researcher and archeoastronomer, reports Kvällsposten. Lind has named the stone circle Heimdall's Stones after Woden's son Heimdall who in the Edda (of Norse mythology) is described as the most radiant sun god in the world.

 

If you would like to read the rest of this article please go to the link above.

 

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Record-breaking haul from Gaul discovered at farm in Brittany:

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http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3266591.ece

 

By John Lichfield

 

Asterix and Obelix, had they existed, might have paid for their mead and other magic potions with gold-silver-copper coins stamped with elaborate images of men and horses.

 

The largest treasure trove of pre-Roman, Gaulish money ever to be found has been discovered in central Brittany.

 

The 545 coins – each worth thousands of euros to collectors but priceless to historians and archaeologists – could overturn much of the received wisdom about the complexity, and wealth, of pre-Roman Celtic society in France. Why was such enormous wealth, a king's ransom at the time, buried in the grounds of a large Gaulish farm 40 miles south of Saint-Brieuc in the first century BC? Why was the hoard never recovered?

 

"Treasure on this scale would only have been used for transactions between aristocratic families," said Yves Menez, an archaeologist specialising in iron-age Brittany. It has always been assumed that the Celtic nobility lived in fortified towns, not in the wild and dangerous countryside. "The reality must have been more complex," Mr Menez said. Like all Gaulish coins, the 58 "stateres" and 487 quarter "stateres" found near to the village of Laniscat are copies of early Greek money.

 

If you would like to read the rest of this article please go to the link above.

 

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Quoth the Raven:

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http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_life/?cat_id=16568&ew_0_a_id=295890

 

Once when I was walking to the gym on a frosty afternoon, with my eyes on the ground, trying not to step on black ice, a loud croak penetrated my thoughts.

 

I looked up and noticed a stout raven perched on the hideous column that was recently erected in front of the World Class gym in Laugar in Reykjavík (seriously, it looks like a giant penis comprised of dismembered body parts), angrily croaking at a fluffy little house cat giving the bird a mean look.

 

This spectacle apparently also attracted attention from other gym-goers, because a number of people had suddenly forgotten about their afternoon stress and making it to their spinning class on time and stared in amazement at the croaking raven. “What do you think it’s prophesizing?” a woman asked me in a mysterious manner. “Isn’t it just arguing with the cat?” I replied before hurrying inside so I wouldn’t miss my class.

 

If you would like to read the rest of this article please go to the link above.

 

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Tajikistan: Government Reacts To Economic Crisis By Banning Witchcraft:

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http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/12/F1EF4396-2DC9-4DDC-BAE1-CA942A15C0B8.html

 

By Farangis Najibullah

 

Amid a spike in unemployment and energy prices, the Tajik government in recent months has moved to curb civil liberties. Its latest target, however, is an eye-catcher: witchcraft.

 

After banning extravagant weddings and funerals and prohibiting students from driving "expensive" cars and using mobile phones earlier this year, Tajik authorities have now turned their attention to the occult. In mid-December, the Tajik parliament introduced a bill to ban witchcraft and fortune-telling.

 

The move has sparked criticism, with many Tajiks saying that politicians should be tackling more serious issues, such as rampant unemployment and a severe energy shortage that has left many parts of the country without electricity for much of the day.

 

Askar, a 32-year-old resident of the city of Sughd, told RFE/RL that most Tajik households get just six hours of electricity during the cold winter days. He said witchcraft and fortune-telling are not anywhere near his list of everyday problems in a country where employment is believed to be between 25 and 30 percent, and where nearly one-third of the population lives in poverty.

 

If you would like to read the rest of this article please go to the link above.

 

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Italian expert links first Christmas celebration to pagan shrine in Rome:

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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/22/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-Roman-Christmas.php

 

The Associated Press

 

ROME: A recently discovered pagan shrine dedicated to Rome's legendary founder Romulus and his brother Remus is being linked by a scholar to the first celebration of Christmas held on the date that still marks the festivity today.

 

Last month Italian archaeologists unveiled an underground grotto which they believe ancient Romans worshipped as the place where a wolf nursed the legendary twins.

 

Now, a top Italian scholar says that because of that shrine, 4th century Emperor Constantine chose the site to build the church where Christmas was first marked on Dec. 25. The choice was part of efforts in the early days of Christianity to link pagan practices to Christian celebrations.

 

If you would like to read the rest of this article please go to the link above.

 

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Stonehenge pagans mark winter solstice:

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http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2231634,00.html

 

The Observer

 

Hundreds of druids, pagans and tourists braved the fog and cold at Stonehenge at sunrise yesterday to celebrate the winter solstice, marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

 

If you would like to read the rest of this article please go to the link above.

 

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