Alternative Faiths

Yule – a celebration of the return of light and warmth

By Helen A. Berger — December 8, 2023
(The Conversation) — Yule, celebrated by Wiccans and many other Pagans in the Northern Hemisphere on Dec. 21, the day of the winter solstice, is a time for reflection.
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Pilgrims yearn to visit isolated peninsula where Catholic saints cared for Hawaii’s leprosy patients

By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher — December 4, 2023
KALAUPAPA, Hawaii (AP) — The pilgrimage to Kalaupapa is logistically challenging to make under normal circumstances. It is even more so today because of lingering COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

In the US, Hmong ‘new year’ recalls ancestral spirits while teaching traditions to new generations

By Giovanna Dell'orto — November 27, 2023
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The majority of the approximately 300,000 Hmong in the United States are animists and believe that spirits live throughout the physical world.

Bestselling spiritual author Marianne Williamson presses on with against-the-odds presidential run

By Luis Andres Henao — November 13, 2023
Born in Houston to a Jewish family, Judaism remains her core belief, and she also embraces universal spiritual themes, like loving one another.

This All Souls’ Day, experience moments of connection with those who have gone before us

By Christine Paintner — November 1, 2023
(RNS) — This is an intentional act of cultivating relationship with our ancestors.

How ‘nones’ − the religiously unaffiliated − are finding meaning, purpose and spirituality in psychedelic churches

By Morgan Shipley — October 31, 2023
(The Conversation) — A scholar who studies alternative expressions of spirituality visited secular, atheist and psychedelic churches and interacted with attendees. Here is what he found.

Documentary on Black millennials depicts wide range of religion, rebellion

By Adelle M. Banks — October 24, 2023
(RNS) — ‘We show the pluralistic nature of the African American religious experience,’ said creator Teddy Reeves, ‘from those who are of some formal faith tradition to those who are not.’

Nonviolence, rebellion and the Palestinian attack

By Andre Henry — October 13, 2023
(RNS) — In the famous words of John F. Kennedy, 'Those who make nonviolent revolutions impossible, make violent revolutions inevitable.'

Psychedelic ministry sells magic mushrooms from historic Detroit church

By Kathryn Post — October 12, 2023
(RNS) — The church was raided by police in September after reportedly displaying signs saying ‘Shrooms: we deliver.’

What ancient Greek stories of humans transformed into plants can teach us about fragility and resilience

By Marie-Claire Beaulieu — October 9, 2023
(The Conversation) — Stories in Greek mythology on the cycle of nature showing youth, death and rejuvenation can have lessons for us today on how grief changes over time and transforms who we are as people.

In secular Japan, what draws so many to temples and shrines? Stamp collecting and tradition

By Mari Yamaguchi — October 9, 2023
TOKYO (AP) — Japan has a long history of pragmatism about traditional religions, which often serve more as connections to family and community than as theological guides, as in the West.

US government agrees to help restore sacred Native American site destroyed for Oregon road project

By Claire Rush — October 9, 2023
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — In a settlement filed with the high court Thursday, the U.S. Department of Transportation and other federal agencies agreed to replant trees and aid in efforts to rebuild an altar at a site along U.S. Highway 26.

Inspired by llamas, the desert and Mother Earth, these craftswomen weave sacred textiles

By MarÍa Teresa HernÁndez — September 29, 2023
COLCHANE, Chile (AP) — Among the 3 million Aymaras who live along the borders of Chile, Perú and Bolivia, the Earth is known as “Pachamama.”
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