Alternative Faiths
NYC will add Diwali as a public school holiday. But there’s a catch this year
By Associated Press — June 27, 2023
NEW YORK (AP) — The push for official recognition of Diwali comes as South Asians have gained numbers and clout in New York and nationally.
The first woman to head Unitarian Universalists ends term full of historic turns
By Kathryn Post — June 21, 2023
(RNS) — President Susan Frederick-Gray has led the denomination throughout a pandemic, insurrection, racial reckoning and the fall of Roe v. Wade.
‘The Wicker Man,’ the classic horror film and pagan must-see, gets new life at 50
By Heather Greene — June 21, 2023
(RNS) — In anticipation of its 50th anniversary, the landmark film’s ‘director’s cut’ was released Wednesday in time for the solstice, a major pagan holiday.
Why this year’s summer solstice matters so much for a new religious movement mired in controversy
By Simranjit Khalsa — June 14, 2023
(The Conversation) — 3HO was founded in 1969, and SDI followed five years later. What are they, and what is the significance of the 2023 summer solstice for their followers?
Lionized for his Jan. 6 antics, Jake Angeli finds his spiritual beliefs a harder sell
By Jack Jenkins — June 2, 2023
(RNS) — The 'QAnon shaman' remains invested in his spiritual beliefs but so far has had no takers for his post-incarceration religious and political consultancy business.
From Taylor Swift’s tour to statehouses, witches are blamed for climate of fear
By Heather Greene — June 1, 2023
(RNS) — One historian sees a replay of 17th century moral panics in today’s increasing social media attacks on witches, saying, ‘It is getting weird.’
White Lotus Day celebrates the ‘founding mother of occult in America,’ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
By Marina Alexandrova — May 8, 2023
(The Conversation) — Theosophy and its founders had an outsize impact on Americans’ ideas about spirituality and Asian religions.
Why white supremacists would be thrilled to hear Jackie Hill Perry call out Beyoncé
By Andre Henry — May 4, 2023
(RNS) — A Christian criticizes Black musicians for exploring African spirituality.
More Americans pray in their car than in a place of worship, survey finds
By Adelle M. Banks — May 4, 2023
(RNS) — A distinct majority of those who pray (87%) said they believed they’d received an answer to their prayers in the last 12 months.
May Day’s pagan roots are alive and well in Beltane
By Heather Greene — May 1, 2023
(RNS) — One of the eight sabbats, or modern pagan holidays, Beltane is a celebration of community after the colder months and of the returning fertility of the land.
Pagan conferences return with more attendees, more magick after pandemic hiatus
By Heather Greene — April 19, 2023
(RNS) — ‘Everybody is here. There are lots of hugs. We are back.’
Rachel Pollack, tarot expert, trans activist and author, is dead at 77
By Heather Greene — April 17, 2023
(RNS) — Pollack said that in the single year of 1971 she discovered tarot, had her first story published, moved to Europe and came out as trans and a lesbian. 'My whole life changed in one year. It was an amazing year. A year of my life taking off,' she said.
For BLM’s Patrisse Cullors, art is a vocation and salvation
By Jocelyn Noveck — April 14, 2023
Through controversy and personal tragedy, Cullors has focused on her art practice and its themes of race and religion.
In ‘God on Psychedelics,’ Don Lattin offers a roadmap of congregational tripping
By Yonat Shimron — April 10, 2023
(RNS) — The veteran religion reporter investigates how various religious groups are using psychedelics to inspire chemically induced mystical experiences.
Cubans seek solutions and solace in Santería amid crises
By Associated Press — April 10, 2023
HAVANA (AP) — A fusion of African religions and Catholicism, Santería was one of the few religious practices to quietly endure through decades of prohibitions and stigma by the communist government.