Samhain

“The cosmos is an unfolding and contingent process filled with endless spirals of life, death, and rebirth,” (Green 143). Death is a universal concept among all people because it is an inevitable part of existing in the physical world. But the concept of death and how it is made sense of differs among religions across the globe. For Neo-Paganists, the belief in reincarnation is one embedded in holding nature as a sacred entity. Death is not something to be feared, rather, it is something to be…

Don’t Fear the Witch There are many things that can come to mind when one hears “witchcraft”. Classic films like “Hocus Pocus”, “The Craft”, “The Blair Witch Project” and many more are famous for their plots that revolve around the antics of witches. The witches are shown to have supernatural abilities such as being able to shapeshift, levitate objects, turn people into animals, and invoke spirits. Delving into the darker side of the topic, the taboo word can incite thoughts of animal sacrifices…

The big money question in today's society is really "What is Wicca". Isn't it the same as Paganism? Paganism is basically the mother branch of all religions. While the two have some similarities, they are considered different. Wicca is a nature based religion that follows the Goddess and the God. Some individuals put a face to the Goddess and God or some just leave them named as they are. A lot of individuals (if not all) follow a rule of ethics called the Wiccan Rede. Most individuals who are…

Wicca: A Misunderstood Religion Most people know them as witches. Some are terrified that they might cast a spell on them. Others might want to be like them so that they could have the power to make someone fall in love with them. And the rest of the population does not even know who they are. Who are they? Wiccans. I spoke with one only a couple weeks ago. And no, she didn’t cast a spell on me. As a matter of fact, the Wiccans are opposite of what many people imagine about them; they are just…

“Coming out of the broom-closet”, a term used by wiccans who reveal their religion to family, friends, or others. Wiccans practice Wicca, also known as Pagan Witchcraft. Wicca is new religious movement that stems from pagan ideology and is considered by academics to be a nature religion. The religion came about in England in the early 20th century. Many of those who marginalized in the 1960’s turned to the Wicca religion for spiritual escape, even though many rejected the idea of Wiccans.…

1. On a scale of 1 – 10 (1 = most central part of my life and 10 = not central to my life) please rate the place of religion in your life. I would say my religion is number 9 or 10, it is the most important thing in my life besides my wife and kids. It provides a sense of fullness I can’t get anywhere else. 2. To what church or religious organization do you belong? What is the tradition and what specific denomination? I am a Druid senior priest from ADF [A Druid Fellowship]. I lead a grove…

Wicca is the second-fastest-growing religion in the United States with the first being Islam. When we here Wicca we usually think of straight up black magic but there is much more to Wicca then magic. Wicca means “wise ones” or “to bend or shape”. Wicca is a predominantly Western movement whose followers practice witchcraft and nature worship. The people involved in Wicca see themselves as a religion of pre-Christian traditions of Northern and Western Europe. The origins of the ancient Wicca…

“Sir Percival, Sir Percival, I’m here, I’m here! I have my own sword and everything!” On a stifling summer morning in Camelot, Sir Percival turned and saw a little boy, about age five or six, bounding toward him. The young boy’s shaggy brown hair bounced as he raced forward, and his cheeks were flushed bright pink due to exertion. Only a few paces away from Percival now, the little boy tripped over the too-large sword he carried, and the weapon went sailing into the air. Percival was forced to…

On Samhain, the story goes, spirits reawaken inside their useless flesh, repulsed by what they have become. Driven mad by the dark and the silence and the stench, they flee their coffins and begin the long battle through six feet of wet earth, up towards the…

Clutching the brown paper bag in her right arm, Sarah Prescott settled her purse securely on her shoulder, switched the bag to that arm, and dug into her coat pocket for her keys. A gust of wind slammed into her from behind, shoving her forward a step and slipping under her coat, and even her sweater, to send a chill up her spine. She hated fall. She hated winter more, but she really hated the fall because that meant winter was just around the corner. Where the hell were her keys? She pulled…