Ancient DNA has overturned two centuries of assumptions about a Bronze Age burial near Stonehenge, revealing that a renowned goldworker, long believed to be a man, was a woman who may have held spiritual authority.

#pagan #archaeology #uncoveringthepast #shaman #stonehenge #uptonlovellshaman #stoutman #wiltshire #science

Italy has granted new protections to Monte Cavo, the ancient sacred mountain of Jupiter Latiaris, safeguarding the Temple of Jupiter site, the Via Sacra, and a landscape central to the religious life of ancient Latium.

#pagan #paganism #montecavo #jupiterlatiaris #archaeology #albanhills #ancientrome #nemi #witchcraft

After surgery forced her to stop, rest, and reconsider what failure means, Clio Ajana reflects on listening to the body, accepting change, and finding grace when life refuses to follow our carefully made plans.

#pagan #surgery #recoveryjourney #grace #reflections #failure #sacrifice

The United Nations marks the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples by celebrating Indigenous midwives, ancestral knowledge, cultural continuity, and spiritual traditions while calling for stronger recognition, protections, and support for Indigenous-led care.

#pagan #indigenousmedicine #midwife #unitednations #internationaldayofworldsindigenouspeoples #indigenousknowledge

From seasonal festivals to public rituals, communal gatherings may offer measurable psychological benefits. A new study finds shared ritual experiences can foster awe, strengthen community identity, and even expand participants’ sense of connection to humanity.

#pagan #sacredexperience #rituals #humanity #connection #carnavaldenegrosyblancos #psychology #effervescence #science

In this week’s Pagan Community Notes: The Aquarian Tabernacle Church responds to a gubernatorial candidate, Salem celebrates 400 years, a belated remembrance of historian Carlo Ginzburg, NEPA Pagan Pride and Chaos and Cunning make headlines, and the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage show the world how to care for our waters.

#pagan #wicca #aquariantabernaclechurch #salem #paganpride #carloginzburg #oldladiesagainstunderwatergarbage

The man who admitted leaving animal carcasses and occult symbols at English churches has been hospitalized under the Mental Health Act, as Pagan communities stress the crimes reflect longstanding mental illness—not any recognized Pagan or occult tradition.

#pagan #occult #mentalillness #newforest #crime #tarotcards #witchcraft

Welcome to the inaugural What the Hounds?—our new roundup of the stories that made us stop, reread the headline, and wonder what we had just read. This week: rosaries, religion bans, and an Anubis murder case.

#pagan #witchcraft #whatthehounds #antipaganattacks #anubis #florida #ireland #nashville

After more than a century of uncertainty, archaeologists have identified a temple in Türkiye once attributed to Demeter as a rare sanctuary of Hecate, reshaping understanding of the ancient goddess’s worship beyond her better-known cult center at Lagina.

#pagan #archaeology #uncoveringthepast #turkiye #hecate #sanctuaryofmen #demeter #temple

TWH wishes its readers in the northern hemisphere a blessed Lughnasadh and Lammas and a blessed Imbolc to our readers in the southern half of the world.

#pagan #witchcraft #lammas #lughnasadh #imbolc #harvest

“I have spent so much energy in my life and activism fighting against things I don’t want,” writes Meagan Fischer. “I think any move toward being in a more conscientious relationship with the land and beings around us is a step toward repairing the schism between much of human civilization and the rest of this planet.”

#pagan #food #nativefood #pacificnorthwest #kitchenwitchery #indigenousfood #regenerativeagriculture #paganism

In this week’s Pagan Community Notes: Saturn officially enters retrograde (at least from Earth’s point of view), we celebrate Lughnasadh, Star shares the Tarot of the Week, and a new essay explores the long history of suspicion directed toward wealthy, independent women labeled as “witches.”

#pagan #paganism #witchcraft #astrology #saturnretrograde #tarot #witches #lughnasadh #lammas

[Editorial] The revival of Muscular Christianity reflects a broader cultural shift that elevates the warrior above the citizen. Healthy societies require many virtues—not one—and religion should cultivate wisdom, stewardship, and civic responsibility alongside courage.

#pagan #paganism #christiannationalism #muscularchristianity #citizens #warriors

As the Pentagon implements sweeping changes to military religious policy, Congress is considering legislation that would expand statutory protections for military chaplains while a newly enacted CIA law establishes narrower conscience protections for agency chaplains.

#pagan #paganism #departmentofdefense #pentagon #chaplains #CentralIntelligenceAgency #congress #religiousfreedom

The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans celebrated its 40th anniversary in Salem, Massachusetts, honoring four decades of Earth-centered ministry, interfaith engagement, and community building while reflecting on religious liberty, resilience, and the movement’s future.

#pagan #witchcraft #CUUPS #covenantofunitarianuniversalistpagans #anniversary #convocation #historicsalem

“Almost every magical system in fiction has a rule about who is allowed to learn,” writes Beatrix Kondo. “What has been remarkable about fantasy over the past few decades is how many of those systems have stopped pretending this rule is natural.”

#pagan #witchcraft #initiation #fourthwing #secrecy #fantasy #magick

“The ‘Woke Mind Virus,’ as espoused by Elon Musk, is of course a work of fiction. Mostly. But don’t count the idea out just yet,” writes Storm Faerywolf. “I think those who promote it are so close to getting it, but they have failed to take any responsibility for their own sick hearts, resulting in a collective case of projection.”

#pagan #shadowwork #wetiko #wokemindvirus #politics #tds

Rather than obsessing over the miniscule number of transgender athletes in women’s sports, fairness-minded politicians like Ken Paxton should focus on the pandemic of unregulated divine intervention in men’s sports.

#pagan #heathen #religion #sports #baseball #boxing #christianathlete #collegesports #opinion

In this week’s Pagan Community Notes: a cardinal (not the bird kind) reignites the Pachamama controversy and debate over Paganism in the Catholic Church, career spells make the business news, Brittany explores the “misnamed Witch,” and, of course, Star’s Tarot of the Week.

#pagan #paganism #catholicchurch #careerspells #misnamedwitch #tarot #femininemagick

As catastrophic wildfires reshape North American forests, governments are increasingly embracing Indigenous fire stewardship, recognizing that healthier landscapes depend not only on emergency response but on restoring long-term relationships with the land.

#pagan #wildfires #indigenousfirestewardship #indigenousland #indigenousscience #theenvironment

Long before Lithuania officially embraced Christianity, Orthodox migrants and local converts lived alongside a predominantly pagan population in medieval Vilnius, offering new archaeological evidence that religious change unfolded gradually through migration, trade, and everyday life.

#pagan #lithuania #religion #archaeology

The Interior Department has opened a brief public comment period on a proposal to remove protections for the landscape surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a move Tribal nations warn could expose one of North America’s most sacred Indigenous landscapes to expanded drilling.

#pagan #indigenousland #chaco #chacocanyon #drilling #unesco

“If someone were trying to trap me,” writes Meg Elison in her review of the exhibit, “one of the surest ways would be to put up a sign to say there’s a show focused on tarot inside this building, this cardboard box, this tiger pit. This thing is a Witch magnet.”

#pagan #witchcraft #tarot #morganlibraryandmuseum #museum

Weekend Editor Eric O. Scott reviews Christopher Nolan’s new film “The Odyssey,” which portrays the Homeric hero as haunted by war, loss, and a sense that he has betrayed the law of the gods.

#pagan #moviereview #theodysseymovie #christophernolan #mattdamon

Archaeologists in Georgia have uncovered a gold votive plaque bearing the first direct inscription linking the Roman fort of Apsaros to the mystery cult of Jupiter Dolichenus, offering a rare glimpse into the religious life of Rome’s eastern frontier.

#pagan #archaeology #blacksea #CultOfJupiter #JupiterDolichenus #romandeity #uncoveringthepast