The ruling has been announced as part of a prisons policy that requires Pagan prisoners to have the same rights as prisoners of other religions. The new rules were drawn up with the help of the Pagan Federation, which advised the prison service on what equipment its members needed.

Supporters and critics of pagan weddings often describe the ceremonies as beautiful, mystical, bizarre and even evil, all descriptions Kemper has heard. But, according to some experts, there is one word they can no longer use: uncommon.

Jerrie Hildebrand fights against the misconception that Wiccans and Pagans are somehow fundamentally different from Christians, Jews and Muslims — a belief she says was held and accepted even by Salem officials until recent years. In truth, said Hildebrand, they come in all forms: gay, straight, businesspeople and artists, family leaders and singles. “We’re just regular folk having a life,� she said. “So we’re just like any other faith community.�

Witches get more respect than they used to here in the Witch City. That was a recurring theme among about 40 witches, pagans and Wiccans at a city-sponsored forum held Saturday night to educate the public and challenge stereotypes about their religion.

Mr Garland said that according to 2006 Census, there were more than 40,000 Pagans of different denominations across Australia, “all remarkably unaffected by demonic possession”.

On Saturday, whether alone or in covens, area residents who call themselves Pagans will celebrate Yule, a celebration of the changing seasons on winter solstice.

Ellwood “Bunky” Bartlett – Mega Millions lottery winner, Wiccan high priest, recently retired accountant – would like to clear up a few misconceptions about his plans for a “witch school.”

Pagans have pledged to perform “rain magic” to wash away a cartoon character painted next to their famous fertility symbol – the Cerne Abbas giant.

For some NHS hospital patients it would seem the help of one god is just not enough. Pagan chaplains are, for the first time, to offer counselling and prayers to the sick in Scottish wards.

Witchcraft, also known as Wicca, is one of hundreds of pagan religions followed around the world. And there are hundreds of Utah pagans.

Archeologists working near Stonehenge in England have discovered what appears to be an ancient religious complex containing a wealth of artifacts that may finally illuminate the lives and religious practices of the people who built the mysterious monument 4,600 years ago.

A profusion of steeples, spires and crosses reach for the sky in McMinnville, but these symbols of our nation’s dominant Christian faith do not reflect the full range of spirituality among the county’s population. That range includes Earth-centered faiths that first began to reach the public eye in the 1960s under labels like New Age, Pagan and Neo-Pagan.

A small evangelical Christian church that has tried to reach out to the witch community says it was dropped by its national organization for getting too close to local pagans.

Pagan prisoners in Britain are to be given time off work duties to allow them to observe a religious festival on the day of Halloween.

Paganism is to receive official recognition at Scotland’s oldest seat of learning.

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