Samhain

Witch Direction: The group for Leeds pagans
I’m proud of Witch Direction and the way we have grown stronger together over time.

The group used to be called the Leeds Pagan Moot before I took it over about a year ago. Read full story from yorkshireeveningpost.com

Alabama Wiccans find faith in nature
What do most students think of when they think of witches? Harry Potter? Halloween? “Hocus Pocus?”

Instead of thinking of fictional characters or a secular holiday, there is a more serious religious ideology that can be associated with the word witch. A number of Alabama citizens and local Tuscaloosa and Birmingham residents practice paganism or Wicca, which is a neo-pagan religion. Read full story from cw.ua.edu

Shamanism: Spirits in the valley
The cultural heritage of pre-Islamic philosophy and mythology is so interwoven into the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan that strands of it survive to this day. Religions born of their environments, the influence of centuries of Shamanism, Buddhism, Baoism and Zartosht are seen most clearly in their interaction with nature, where the word worship can be interchanged with respect for and love of. Read full story from tribune.com.pk

Media needs to stop enabling stigmas
The Senate is on the verge of change as 37 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election in November. However, one candidate for the senate in Delaware is causing quite a stir. Tea party favored Christine O’Donnell caused an upset when she became the GOP Senate candidate after the primaries. Though I disagree with everything the tea party stands for, my issue with O’Donnell does not revolve around her party affiliations, but rather her idiotic comments. Read full story from understatesman.com

Does a Wtich live Next Door?
With Halloween coming up tomorrow, most folks are stocking up on candy and other treats to be given away to all the little ghosts, goblins and witches who will be trooping up to the front door screaming, “Trick or Treat.” Read full story from somd.com

Americans embrace alternatives to ‘pagan’ Halloween
WASHINGTON — Witches, beware. Mummies, be gone. Halloween may be a celebration of all things creepy and macabre, but a growing number of US communities are shunning traditional ghoulish festivities, seen by some as tainted by association with paganism and the occult. Read full story from google.com

Day of the Dead honors ancestors
Día de los Muertos, meaning Day of the Dead, is celebrated on November first within the Hispanic cultures around the world. Originating in Mexico, this annual ritual dates back some 3,000 years in history. The rituals are about honoring and communicating with one’s dead ancestors, and was practiced among the Zapotec, Mixtec, Olmec, Maya, P’urhepecha, Totonac and Mexica societies. Read full story from The Examiner