By John CastellucciJournal Staff Writer  PAWTUCKET — On the face of it, there was nothing irregular about Rhode Island Pagan Pride’s plans for a Sept. 22 autumnal equinox festival in Slater Memorial Park.

There would be opportunities for pagans of all persuasions, including Wiccans, shamans and druids, to practice their religion. (read more)

by Terry Rombeck

It seems like discussions in faith circles about the evils or virtues of Harry Potter have simmered down since the first books and movies originally came out.

Or at least there seem to be fewer news stories about the religious debate. (read more)

THE SUSSEX Archaeological Society has apologised to protesters after they allowed a controversial stunt by ITV to give the Long Man of Wilmington a sex change.

ITV and the archaeological society caused fury among Pagans and other protesters when they allowed fashion gurus Trinny and Susannah to add breasts and pigtails to the figure many believe is sacred. (read more)

By Louise Flanagan

Witches are not criminals, but have religious and spiritual rights too.

That’s the argument the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (Sapra) wants to use to protect the belief of witchcraft against a newly proposed bill. (read more)

A small but enthusiastic crowd was gathered in Tappan Square with some people decked out in skirts and capes and sporting their finest piercings, while others were dressed in everyday clothing. But everyone was there last Saturday to experience the Beltaine Festival, which Tim Sullivan, an Oberlin resident and part-time student who helped organize the event, called a “Renaissance-esque Fair with a pagan bent.”

The Oberlin Pagan Awareness Network has been planning since September to get the festival — which is its biggest event of the year and the one most open to nonmembers — off the ground. The Beltaine holiday is an Irish tradition related to the May Day festival that celebrates renewal, rebirth and fertility in the moment between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. (read more)

Though Vermont has a reputation for being tolerant and accepting, one local high school student recently learned that disrespect has many faces. And sometimes it can be scary.
The student, a 15-year-old Marlboro resident who practices Wicca, never expected to have her beliefs attacked in the form of an offhand joke.

“I told him several times to knock it off, but he didn’t stop,” said Gwen Williams, about a classmate who was quoting from a Monty Python movie. (read more)

A waltz with me? I’m sure men would kill for that. But why the stampede? Would it be because I’m gorgeous and witty or could it be because I’m a life-line to personal power and magic? Difficult question. But nothing’s too difficult for India’s beloved witch. How do most people react to me — I mean apart from overawed men? They’re amazed at my guts, curious about my amazing youthfulness, (you know that line, about ‘her loveliness goes on and on’), and yes, I’ll be frank, most wives are a tad envious. In fact, sometimes terribly resentful. Specially since my autobiography Beloved Witch zoomed in and up and refused to come down from the top.

But fascinating though the subject is, let’s stop talking about me for a while. What is ‘Wicca’? It comes from the old English ‘Wicce’ meaning the craft of the wise. An ancient branch of wisdom, going back, some historians believe, nearly 25,000 years (read more)

In regard to the March 22 edition of The Standard-Times, I would like to voice my objection to a piece that appeared as a feature article on the front page of that edition.

This was an obituary tribute to a man named Shawn Poirier titled, “Witches mourn their king.” (read more)