Practitioners of Pagan religions no longer need to go into a forest to find an object for their altars. Commercialization has meant that sacred objects are available online.
Native Americans are struggling to find sage for their spiritual practices as the plant is being overharvested for sale to the wider public.
Kindergarten students in 1952 race out of school in Los Angeles, eager to celebrate Halloween.
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From its origins as a Celtic pagan ceremony to its celebration of all things gruesome and ghoulish today, Halloween has been reinvented over the centuries.
For Wiccans, celebration of summer solstice is a spiritual practice.
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Tok Thompson, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
A folklorist explains the prehistoric origins of the mythical Easter Bunny and why this longstanding cultural symbol keeps returning each spring.
WitchTok is the subculture of pagans who use TikTok to share spells, learn about mythology and connect with co-religionists.
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Whether someone is scrolling mindlessly or actively conducting research, WitchTok connects witches to their practices and community.
The pagan tradition of celebrating the winter solstice with bonfires on Dec. 21 inspired the early Christian celebrations of Christmas.
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Christmas was popularized in the United States during the American Civil War, when Harper’s Weekly featured the image of Santa Claus visiting the Union Army on its front page.
A masquerade during the celebration of an Igbo ritual.
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Over the past 15 years there’s been a revival of young people - mostly Christians - participating in traditional masquerades, despite these being branded as pagan.
A wolf in the Białowieża Forest, Poland.
EPA-EFE/Wojciech Pacewicz
Forty-five years ago, ‘The Exorcist’ terrified viewers with its portrayal of a practice that goes back several centuries and continues today in Christianity.
The idea that the athletic contests – held in honour of the Greek god Zeus for over a thousand years – were shut down by a puritanical Christian emperor makes for a good story. But is it true?
The proposition that Easter is a 100% Christian affair is manifestly unsustainable. It shows an ignorance of history. Worse, it shows a failure to understand the way religious traditions work.
Halloween these days calls pumpkins to mind, cackling witches, teenagers pulling pranks and scream masks. You probably know that all this derives from All Hallows’ Eve, the night before the Christian feast…