Pagan

What is paganism, really?
Paganism.

Who wrote the dictionary on the word paganism exactly? The World English Dictionary defines this interesting umbrella term as “a member of a group professing a polytheistic religion or any religion other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam” then in the second definition names a pagan as “a person without any religion; heathen.” Pagan, to The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, is a term that describes a person who “belong[s] to a religion which worships many gods, especially one which existed before the main world religions." Its origins span as far back as to the early Roman empire as another word for “civilian” compared to “miles Christi” (Soldiers of Christ). More derivations conclude the simple-minded ridiculed “country bumpkins,” “outsiders,” and “hicks.” Basically an episode of Glee. The pagans are the underdog, the overseen and underrated. At least in word alone, causing animosity through time of medieval Witch hunts, the obsession with magic and outside misunderstanding of human mortality in a organized religion. Read full story from examiner.com

Strange & Fun New Year Food Customs
Only a day away from Christmas, which means it’s only days left until the end of the year. This also means there are only days left to accomplish those 2010 resolutions! To start the New Year on the right foot, many will be out celebrating and setting the tone for the next year. There’s no better way to do that than with food, holiday traditions, and great company. Many people around the world agree and so here’s a round up of the strangest New Year food customs from around the world. Read full story from planetgreen.com

The Medical Power of Ritual
Harvard researcher Ted Kaptchuk trained for five years in traditional Chinese medicine, but then became one of the leading researchers into the placebo effect. In his hands, the fact that patients with some kinds of illnesses get better with dummy pills is a gateway into the ways that other aspects of medicine, including the capacity of doctors to generate feelings of hope, are overlooked in our technology-obsessed health care system.

Total lunar eclipse on December 20 or 21, depending on time zone
There is a lunar eclipse on the night of December 20 or 21 – depending on your time zone. See below for the date in your location. This December solstice eclipse is also the northernmost total lunar eclipse for several centuries.

There won’t be a total lunar eclipse this far north on the sky’s dome until December 21, 2485.

Fact and fiction of Paganism
THE cult film The Wicker Man has a lot to answer for. It featured a naked Britt Ekland tempting virgin cop Edward Woodward on a remote Scottish island before he is burned alive as a sacrifice to appease their Pagan Gods because of a crop failure – a bit different from your average Christian harvest festival. Now there are calls for Paganism to be put on the school curriculum. Should we be worried? Mike Kelly reports

Celebrating paganism with a winter solstice
A solstice is the celebration of the sun’s rebirth. Every year, Sudbury’s pagan community celebrates a summer and winter solstice, noting the longest and shortest days of the year.

Kristan Cannon-Nixon, one of five organizers who helps run both annual events, said its a way for pagans of all denominations to celebrate their beliefs together, and celebrate the shifting of seasons as it’s happening.

‘Goddess Temple’ planned at Wellsprings
ASHLAND — Nearly 20 local women plan to open an Ashland Goddess Temple dedicated to the “sacred feminine” in a dome at Jackson Wellsprings north of town.

The temple, founded by Graell Corsini and 18 others, will open under a full moon on the spring equinox, the women say.

It will enshrine the great goddess mother of ancient times, working in equal partnership with the “sacred masculine” God to “celebrate the divinity in everything,” Corsini said.

‘I’m Not A Witch’ Picked As Top Quote Of Year
Christine O’Donnell’s TV ad declaration “I’m not a witch” during her U.S. Senate campaign topped this year’s best quotes, according to a Yale University librarian.

O’Donnell’s quote is cited by Fred Shapiro, associate librarian at Yale Law School, who released his fifth annual list of the most notable quotations of the year. In the ad, O’Donnell was responding to reports of her revelations that she had dabbled in witchcraft years ago. Read full story from npr.org

Historic Holy Thorn tree cut down in Glastonbury
A historic tree of religious significance in Glastonbury has been cut down overnight, prompting a police investigation.

The Holy Thorn tree on Wearyall Hill is thought to have been planted by Joseph of Arimathea nearly 2,000 years ago.

Wendy Plumtree, who lives nearby, said: “It’s like one of those moments where you close the door again and open it to see if your eyes are deceiving you.” Read full story from bbc.co.uk

The Cancun “Green Dragon” Freak Out!
Remember how I mentioned the invocation of the Mayan goddess Ixchel at the opening of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico? At the time I noted that it would most likely confirm the greatest fears of those conservative Christians who see environmentalism as a stalking horse for Pagan religion, a “Green Dragon” that must be opposed. Read full story from wildhunt.org

Pagan prisoners and press prejudices
The Metro’s news room yesterday must have echoed to the sound of the bottom of barrels being scraped, as the paper chose to put a story about the rights of Pagan prisoners on today’s front page (7 December).