A 200-year-old tree at the centre of worship by druids and witches has been chopped down to size after it became diseased.

The 80ft beech at Winterbourne Abbas has been reduced to a 10-metre stump by English Heritage because of fears it would die and fall over. (more…)

Nowadays, some of those unable to acknowledge a creator seem eager to make a cult of creation instead. This should not surprise us. Earth worship, rather than deference to personal gods, is arguably humanity’s default religion.

The Earth, after all, requires no act of faith to validate its existence. The generosity with which it bestows life and livelihood, the awesome wrath with which it inflicts flood and famine, and indeed its control over our destiny, all brook no denial. What’s not to worship? What’s not to love, fear and propitiate? (more…)