The Pagan Activist

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See below for our Front Page Articles.

 We at The Pagan Activist cannot vouch for the accuracy of the articles we list, they are here for informational purposes only, whether they are of educational or entertainment value.

 

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May:

 

Homage to the sun in Peru 

 

University of Liverpool: Pupils test Stonehenge theory at summer solstice 

 

Festival traffic 'chaos' fears over 3-day Pendle pagan event 

 

Going back to nature worship 

 

Mellon Foundation Grant: Increasing Access to Penn Libraries’ Hidden Treasures 

 

In Wicca We Trust! Is America Ready For A Pagan Or Atheist President? 

 

Solstice revellers warned 

 

Pagan convicts allowed magic wands in cells 

 

Pagans push for change at Berkeley festival 

 

Nature-based Wicca misunderstood, practitioners say 

 

Stofa timbers heading Papa’s way 

 

Newer Scouting Group Serves 'Wise Ones', Mother Earth 

 

Pagans celebrate new season; Group looks to dispel myths, rumours about their religion 

 

Wicker man burned at pagan festival 

 

Thousands flock to Edinburgh pagan ritual 

 

Pagan weddings attract more than a cult following 

 

Course tackles Gaelic place names 

 

Psychics may face regulations that help tell which is witch 

 

Celebration time for Lancashire pagans 

 

May Day, May Day! 

 

Pagans celebrate the coming of summer with Beltane Ritual 

 

 

 

We also have articles from July 2006 - April 2008 (totalling 631) in our News Archives. Click here for 2008, here for 2007 and here for 2006.

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http://www.thestar.com/Travel/article/425455

 

Jeremy Ferguson

 

Cuzco, PERU–Every June 24, Peru's pre-Columbian past springs to life for Inti Raymi, Inca Festival of the Sun. It's the most spectacular historical pageant in South America. Ask Bill Gates or actress Cameron Diaz, who were among last year's throng of international guests.

 

Inti Raymi recreates the celebration of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the beginning of the Sun God's new cycle: Happy Inca New Year.

 

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

 

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http://finchannel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12802&Itemid=9

 

The FINANCIAL -- Archaeologists at the University of Liverpool are investigating whether Stonehenge could have been designed using no more than simple numeracy, a piece of rope and the sun's shadow.

 

According to University of Liverpool, the complex design of Stonehenge - erected in Wiltshire nearly 5,000 years ago - has mystified archaeologists, engineers and astronomers for years and researchers are still unclear as to how such a structure could have been built by a preliterate culture.

 

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

 

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By Samrana Hussain

 

A CONTROVERSIAL pagan music festival will cause traffic 'chaos' and environmental damage, a councillor has claimed.

 

Organisers of the Shamania Lugnasadh festival will hold the three-day event, starting on July 27, in fields around Gisburn Old Road, Blacko, despite the restrictions imposed by the court last month.

 

A district judge limited the number of festival-goers to 1,500 at a review hearing at Reedley Magistrates Court after residents challenged Pendle Council's decision to grant the licence over traffic and noise fears.

 

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

 

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http://www.nj.com/living/ledger/index.ssf?/base/living-1/1210826169221210.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

 

BY LISA ROSE

 

A rap on a drum breaks the silence amid a circle of worshipers celebrating the pagan holiday of Beltane.

 

Tents are scattered around a campground in the Pine Barrens the first weekend of May for rituals welcoming the planting season. In the circle, some stare at the sand beneath their sandaled feet while others look up at the sky, vast blue blotted with retreating rain clouds. The event, hosted by the South Jersey-based group Beyond the Summit, draws a multi-generational crowd. Fashion statements vary from tie-dye and tassels to piercings and tattoos. Different traditions are represented with druidic robes, Celtic kilts and Egyptian pendants.

 

Contrary to pop culture depictions of pagans, the members of Beyond the Summit aren't practitioners of dark magic. They don't pray to Satan or sacrifice animals.

 

Paganism is a religion centered on the sacrament of nature. Like all religions, it's often misinterpreted and misused.

 

Organizations like Beyond the Summit are founded to educate the public about the basis of earth worship.

 

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

 

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http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v54/n33/mellon.html

 

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a grant of $450,000 to the University of Pennsylvania Libraries to reveal the treasures of the Henry Charles Lea Library collection to a wider world. The Mellon Foundation’s generosity will open new avenues of scholarship by facilitating local and global access to this unique collection, which is comprised of printed and manuscript materials documenting medieval and early modern Church history and the Inquisition.

 

In both its printed book and manuscript holdings, the library of Philadelphia publisher, book collector, and scholar Henry Charles Lea (1825-1909) encompasses materials ranging from medieval French history to early European legal history, the Latin Christian Church, the Spanish Inquisition, and finally to magic and witchcraft.

 

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

 

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http://newsblaze.com/story/20080513142303reye.nb/newsblaze/OPINIONS/Opinions.html

 

By Robert Paul Reyes

 

Polls indicate that the vast majority of Americans wouldn't vote for a presidential candidate who's an atheist or a member of a fringe religion, like a Pagan or Wiccan.

 

"Many current pagans in industrial societies base their beliefs and practices on a connection to Nature, and a divinity within all living things." Quotation from Wikipedia

 

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

 

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http://www.adver.co.uk/display.var.2263843.0.solstice_revellers_warned.php

 

WARNINGS are being sounded to revellers planning on attending the summer solstice at Avebury.

 

Every year people flock to mark the summer solstice at the village between Marlborough and Chippenham.

 

But because of the numbers who attend the event each year traffic is always a problem.

 

This year organisers are urging people planning to attend on the night of June 20 to use public transport.

 

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

 

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/1948252/Pagan-convicts-allowed-magic-wands-in-cells.html

 

By Richard Alleyne

 

Hundreds of Pagan worshippers locked up in British jails have been given the right to take twigs into their cells to use as magic wands.

 

The ruling, which also allows hoodless robes and rune stones, was made to ensure the 300 or so Pagans currently serving sentences have the same rights as other religions.

 

The permission to use the “religious artefacts” was agreed after consultation with the Pagan Federation which advised the prison service on what equipment its members needed.

 

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

 

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http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_9217445

 

By Kamika Dunlap

 

BERKELEY — People from all walks of life joined in the fun Saturday at the 7th Annual Pagan Festival and Parade.

 

It was a showing of acceptance and celebration across all ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations and faith traditions at the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. The event, organized by the Pagan Alliance, brought out a large crowd under this year's theme, "We are Change." The mission of the Pagan Alliance is to promote acceptance of faith and to work for justice.

 

The aim of the event was to foster change, connect communities and promote spiritual diversity. Organizers said they also wanted to dispel common misconceptions that paganism is about devil worship.

 

Paganism is an Earth-centered religion that includes practices such as Wicca, Shamanism, witchcraft, Druidism, and Native American spirituality.

 

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

 

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http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_05_2008/Stofa%20timbers%20heading%20Papas%20way.htm

 

A PROJECT to reconstruct parts of an ancient Norse royal farm on a small Shetland island will take a major step forward this Sunday when 12 specially prepared timbers arrive in the isles on board the Norwegian sail training vessel Statsraad Lehmkuhl.

 

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

 

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FRESNO, Calif. _ In two years, the Boys Scouts of America celebrates 100 years of service. Meanwhile, a lesser-known organization, SpiralScouts_an alternative to mainstream scouting programs_is only 9 years old.

 

According to its Web site, www.spiralscouts.org, the organization "allows individual groups to determine the exact manner in which they will pursue their own goals." Groups are coed, and leaders aren't subject to discrimination based on sexual orientation, religion or gender.

 

A new SpiralScouts chapter is being organized by Clovis, Calif., resident Beckie Tetrault. She is mother to Danielle, 6, and Jack, 2. Her oldest son, Michael, 16, is a former Boy Scout.

 

"Boy Scouts is very Christian-centered," Tetrault, a Wiccan, says. (Wicca is a neo-pagan religion.) "Their views aren't consistent with my family's beliefs."

 

Tetrault, 36, does agree with the Boy Scouts' appreciation of nature. After researching other programs, Tetrault came across the Michigan-based SpiralScouts program on the Internet. She has been working on establishing a group in the Fresno, Calif., area for the past two years.

 

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

 

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http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1014045

 

Posted By Kelly McShane

 

Pagan's from around the region gathered in Barrie this weekend to celebrate Beltaine, but some feel misconceptions about paganism make newcomers reluctant to join in the fun.

 

"Even though we are becoming more open as a society, there are still some old beliefs kicking around," said Katt West, a pagan, and manager of Earth and Sky Connection in Barrie, where the celebration was held.

 

West said a lot of people associate paganism with witchcraft or devil worshipping, which she says is inaccurate.

 

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

 

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http://www.thisisdorset.net/display.var.2247226.0.wicker_man_burned_at_pagan_festival.php

 

DORSET pagans gathered for a Beltane Festival of Rebirth oganised by the Weymouth-based Dolmen Grove on a site just outside the town over the weekend.

 

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

 

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http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Thousands-flock-to-Edinburgh-pagan.4050141.jp

 

 

By JOANNA VALLELY

 

ORGANISERS of the Beltane Fire Festival have declared the 21st anniversary event a success despite torrential rain.

 

The producer of the outdoor pagan festival said the children's event Family Beltane in particular had been well received in its inaugural year.

 

More than 8000 people attended the Calton Hill festival, which has become known for its semi-clad danceers, druid spirit guides and massive fire sculptures.

 

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

 

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http://www.modbee.com/life/faithvalues/story/287826.html

 

By LISA CUPIDO

 

NEW YORK -- On the morning of Anna-Jeannine Kemper's wedding, she, like many brides, will fasten the corset of her lace and taffeta ballroom gown, pick up her silk pink orchid and rose bouquet, and re-count her Champagne flute favors.

 

But while some brides pace nervously before the ceremony, Kemper, 25,will be busy blessing the four corners of the courtyard where she and fiancé Justin Herman will exchange vows with items that symbolize the four elements of nature: air, fire, water and earth. Later, the couple will bind their hands together with a cord, light unity candles and jump over a broom. The latter gesture is also a tradition in some African-American weddings, but in pagan weddings, it is embraced as a symbol of sweeping away the old and welcoming the new.

 

Supporters and critics of pagan weddings -- like Kemper's -- often describe the ceremonies as beautiful, mystical, bizarre and even evil, all descriptions Kemper has heard. But, according to some experts, there is one word they can no longer use: uncommon.

 

A 2001 survey by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York found that the number of followers of Wicca, one of the many religions that fall beneath the pagan umbrella, increased from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001, making it the fastest-growing religion in America in terms of percentage increase.

 

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

 

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7375178.stm

 

A four-week course is offering people advice on how to pronounce Gaelic place names and an explanation of how they reflect the landscape and its wildlife.

 

Hillwalker and Gaelic teacher Neil McGregor will take the classes at Edinburgh's Telford College.

 

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

 

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http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/psychics-may-face-regulations-that-help-tell-which-is-witch/2008/05/03/1209235234274.html

 

John Mangan

 

POSSIBLY they saw it coming, but after decades of lenient regulation, British mediums, psychics and healers will this month find themselves subject to tougher consumer protection laws.

 

These laws leave them open to legal action if they don't provide a series of disclaimers before performing their services.

 

Motivated by concerns that some spiritualists prey on the vulnerable, inducing or prolonging emotional suffering, Australian sceptics are calling for a similar toughening of legislation here.

 

Seventy people have contacted Consumer Affairs Victoria over the past year seeking advice or lodging complaints about psychics, clairvoyants and fortune tellers.

 

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

 

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http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Pagan-festivals-get-under-way.4038969.jp

 

By Rachel Dearden

 

Pagans across Lancashire celebrate one of the most significant dates in the Celtic calendar as the Beltane celebrations get under way.

May 1 is the mid-point of spring and is the main fire festival of the year when pagans celebrate the coming of summer.

 

In Irish mythology, the beginning of the summer season for the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians started at Beltane.

 

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

 

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http://www.aftenposten.no/english/article2401163.ece

 

Thursday, May 1st, is "May Day" for many people all over the world.

 

"May Day" means different things to different people.

 

For many, it is the International Workers' Day, or a celebration of the labour movement.

 

But the celebration has other origins, some very ancient, and different customs have become associated with it.

 

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

 

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By Samir Abdel-Aziz

 

The Marshall University Pagan Association combined different traditions Monday to celebrate the ritual of Beltane, which marks the beginning of summer.

 

"Beltane is a Celtic festival of early summer," said George Fain, president of the Marshall Pagans and sophomore sociology major from Welch, W.Va.

 

"We celebrate the new crops coming in, celebrating initiation and fertility. It is a sharing of Appalachian traditions. West Virginia is among the most Appalachian of the states. A lot of the traditions that were here tonight were celebrated here not even a hundred years ago."

 

The ritual is the basis of a lot of traditions in other countries. While Beltane is a Celtic ritual, the Marshall Pagans combined Appalachian Native American, Paganism and Christian traditions, Fain said.

 

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

 

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