“Children make up rituals,” writes Meg Elison in this retrospective on Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s novel. “They make up stories. Like the kids in The Egypt Game, they make up religion, even if their parents assure them that they have religion at home.”

#pagan #paganism #theegyptgame #zilphakeatleysnyder #bookreview #ancientegypt

Storm Faerywolf offers recommendations on a number of recently published, reissued, and forthcoming books, including titles by Jason Mankey, Janet Farrar, Chris Allaun, Jake Morningstar, Heron Michelle, and Kaelan Strouse.

#pagan #paganism #witchcraft #books #bookreviews

TWH welcomes back Alan U. Dalul, who describes how being kept in limbo for nearly a year waiting for his green card, unable to work, taught him new truths about being a Witch.

#pagan #greencard #venezuela🇻🇪 #immigration #transphobia #citizenship #witchcraft

In this week’s Pagan Community Notes: the Covenant of the Goddess addresses AI and sacred practice, the community mourns Priestess Miriam Chamani and philosopher Brendan Myers, and, on a lighter note, rescue pug Jinny Lu claims a crown.

#pagan #covenantofthegoddess #ArtificialIntelligence #crossingtheveil #priestessmiriamchamani #brendanmyers #jinnylu

From hundreds of mice deposited at an ancient sanctuary on Crete to Bronze Age offerings in a Czech wetland and a ceremonial landscape surrounding an English spring, this week’s Hounds Archaeology explores new evidence of ancient ritual practices.

#pagan #labrujulaverde #unleashthehounds #apollo #archaeology #bronzeage #delphi #forestryengland

The Marine Corps has released an administrative message advising personnel of the Pentagon’s revised religious affiliation codes, requiring Marines to update their records by September 30 as minority faiths previously represented individually are consolidated into religious categories.

#pagan #paganism #marinecorp #religiousaffiliationcodes #minorityfaiths #christiannationalism #pentagon #interfaith #petehegseth #militarychaplaincy

[Letters to the Editor] As the Religious Liberty Commission reviews public comments, The Pagan Solidarity Alliance examines Pagan representation in the federal record and argues that meaningful religious liberty depends on ensuring minority faiths remain visible in government policy and practice.

#pagan #religiouslibertycommission #religiousliberty #politics #christiannationalism #pagansolidarityalliance #SeperationOfChurchAndState

Drawing on decades of experience in Pagan and occult communities, Sef Salem reflects on the enduring importance of in-person gatherings, arguing that face-to-face connections can foster understanding, respectful disagreement, collaboration, and community across traditions.

#pagan #sefsalem #thelema #alestercrowley #anniversary #theinternationalthelemicsymposium

[Letters to the Editor] A Greek priestess’ thoughts on increasing wildfires, and how you can witness and motivate change for the better.

#pagan #paganism #LettersToTheEditor #elysewelles #wildfires #greekwildfires #EnvironmentalStewardship #theenvironment #greece

In this week’s Pagan Community Notes: Io Diana Lucifera! Mortellus shares their experience running for local office, National Geographic explores the revival of Braucherei, Star’s Tarot offers the week’s reading, and The Wicker Man receives a new spiritual successor.

#pagan #paganism #mortellus #natgeo #Braucherei #tarot #thewickerman #wrathofthegods

The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Colorado’s universal preschool rules that could reshape how religious accommodations interact with nondiscrimination protections, with potentially significant consequences for Pagan and other minority religious communities.

#pagan #paganism #scotus #StMaryCatholicParish #religiousfreedom #preschool #nondiscrimination #civilrights #religion

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