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Tramin (South Tyrol. )Saint James church in Kastelaz: Romanesque frescos (1210s ) showing fantastic creatures. (Public Domain)
22 May, 2019 - 21:29 nrushton

Hiding in Plain Sight: Medieval Mermaids in Churches

Why would an ancient, folkloric, but non-Biblical, character such as a mermaid find its way into so many medieval European churches? And can such mermaid imagery and symbology be correlated with the...
Flower of Life.
14 May, 2019 - 18:52 Joanna Gillan

What Ancient Secrets Lie Within the Flower of Life?

The Flower of Life is a name for a geometrical figure composed of seven or more evenly-spaced, overlapping circles. This figure, used as a decorative motif since ancient times, forms a flower-like...
Beltane Fire Festival Celebrations.
9 May, 2019 - 01:23 Kerry Sullivan

The Pagan Wheel of the Year: What Elaborate Rituals and Events Mark this Sacred Cycle?

As more and more people describe themselves as ‘spiritual’ rather than religious, experts expect eco-friendly pagan movements will continue to grow. Already there are perhaps a million pagans in the...
Kalash woman. Kalash people have a fascinating history and culture.
16 April, 2019 - 23:01 dhwty

Are the Distinctive Kalash People of Pakistan Really Descendants of Alexander the Great’s Army?

The Kalash (also known as the Kalasha) are an indigenous people living in what is today Pakistan. Although Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, with more than 95% of its population being adherents of...
A Sámi family in front of goahti and lavvu housing, early 1900s, Norway
4 April, 2019 - 02:05 Alicia McDermott

The Sami People: Reindeer Herding and Cultural Survival in the Far North

The Sámi are the northernmost indigenous people of Europe. For thousands of years they have lived in an area called Sápmi - the northern sectors of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula...
The Janus figures of Boa Island
31 March, 2019 - 18:51 Caleb Strom

Mysterious Janus Figures of Ireland Reflect Pagan - Christian Fusion

Tucked away on two tiny islands in Northern Ireland – Boa Island and White Island – are a series of ancient anthropomorphic figures that are regarded as the most enigmatic and remarkable stone...
Carlisle Cursing Stone, carved in 2000 using a 16th century curse.
13 March, 2019 - 22:09 Sarah P Young

Cursing Stones of Ireland: When Christianity and Pagans Pooled Their Sacred Water

Ireland is a country famed for its spectacular scenery and landscapes. Known to many as the Emerald Isle, the land is characterized by lush and verdant greenery. But the landscape is more than just...
Modern Pagan Long Barrow at All Cannings, UK
4 December, 2018 - 13:56 ashley cowie

UK's First Pagan Burial Site In Over 5000 Years Is Hit For ‘Business Rates’. Is it Religious Discrimination?

Tim Daw, an innovative farmer from Devizes, Wiltshire, spent over £200,000 of his hard earned cash building the UK’s first ‘long barrow’ tomb in over than 5,000 years. Now he’s being charged “...
A mysterious sorceress
19 November, 2018 - 13:50 ashley cowie

Rapidly Closing American Churches Are Shadowed by The Meteoric Rise in Witchcraft

A highly-thought provoking report published in the October edition of Christian Post highlights that “the number of witches (and wiccans) has dramatically increased since the 1990s, to the degree...
Rituals at a Modern Viking Wedding: A Blood Sacrifice, Bride Running, and Obligatory Drinking
6 September, 2018 - 18:46 Alicia McDermott

Rituals at a Modern Viking Wedding: A Blood Sacrifice, Bride Running, and Obligatory Drinking

While others may have had weddings with a Viking theme, it has been said that Rune and Elisabeth Dalseth are the first couple in almost 1,000 years to have held a true Viking wedding that includes...
The ruined Christian church in Turkey's Lake Iznik is thought to have been built over a Roman Pagan temple
6 September, 2018 - 01:42 ashley cowie

Christian Basilica, and now Possibly a Roman Pagan Temple Found in a Turkish Lake

The foundations of a massive submerged ancient church in Turkey are suspected to have been built on top of an even greater treasure, an older Roman pagan temple dedicated to the sun god Apollo...
A ceremony taking place at the new Roman temple.
30 August, 2018 - 18:49 Caleb Strom

Neo-Romans Revive Classical Worship Ceremonies at New Iuppiter Perunus Temple

Worship of the ancient pagan gods is on the rise in many parts of Europe. Norse Neopaganism is becoming popular in Scandinavia, Germany, and elsewhere. Hellenic Neopaganism or simply “Hellenism,” is...
‘Yorinda and Yoringel’ by John Duncan (1909)
6 August, 2018 - 16:26 nrushton

Once Upon A Time: Concepts of Afterlife and Altered Consciousness Concealed in Faerie Folklore

Once upon a Time, they all lived happily ever-after. In the 1891 publication The Science of Fairy Tales , the folklorist Edwin Sidney Hartland devoted three chapters to ponder over ‘The Supernatural...
Digital model of the neopagan Ásatrúarfélagið temple in Iceland.
11 July, 2018 - 18:47 Alicia McDermott

Neopagans in Iceland Will Build the First Temple to Thor and Odin in 1000 Years

About 1000 years ago, paganism was practically stamped out in Iceland, while Christianity was ushered in. But Nordic neopaganism, under the name of Ásatrúarfélagið (sometimes called Asatru), has now...
1,500-Year-Old Graffiti reveals Gladiator Battles
16 June, 2018 - 02:17 Mark Miller

1,500-Year-Old Graffiti reveals Gladiator Battles

The Italian word graffiti dates only to 1851, online sources say, but the practice of drawing and scribbling on walls and surfaces in public places dates back millennia. In fact, a Professor from...
Representative image. The Eruption of Vesuvius in December 1820 by Johann Christian Dahl
20 March, 2018 - 17:54 ancient-origins

Did a Brutal Volcanic Eruption Lead People to Abandon Their Pagan Gods and Embrace Christianity?

Memories of the largest lava flood in the history of Iceland, recorded in an apocalyptic medieval poem, were used to drive the island's conversion to Christianity, new research suggests. A team of...
A curse tablet wrapped around a chicken bone.
24 February, 2018 - 18:48 Riley Winters

Ancient Sex Curse Revealed: May Your Penis Hurt When You Make Love!

Curse tablets in the ancient world are like Facebook posts today—they were everywhere, created by almost everyone, and can still be found in the strangest of places. They could be broadly vague or...
Right: Detail of a statue of a reclining Attis. The Shrine of Attis is situated to the east of the Campus of the Magna Mater in Ostia. Statue of Jesus Christ as a shepherd with a lamb.
22 February, 2018 - 19:00 Caleb Strom

The Pagan Attis and Christian Jesus: A Spurious Connection?

Recently, it has been popular to suggest in some circles that Christianity was influenced, or even derived from, the ancient Roman mystery religions – religions often known to have orgiastic rituals...
A Greek amphora showing athletes, 4th century BC. ©Trustees of the British Museum.
22 February, 2018 - 01:45 ancient-origins

Mythbusting Ancient Rome: Did Christians Ban The Ancient Olympics?

Every two years, when the Winter or Summer Olympics comes around, we hear about how the games staged at Olympia in Greece since 776 BC came to a sudden end in the late fourth century AD. The finger...
Zoe Wanamaker in TV series ‘Britannia’.
30 January, 2018 - 13:59 ancient-origins

Britannia, Druids and the Surprisingly Modern Origins of Myths

The new TV series Britannia, which has won plaudits as heralding a new generation of British folk-horror, is clearly not intended to be strictly historical. Instead director Jez Butterworth gives us...
Externsteine, north-eastern face, across Wiembecke pond.
3 January, 2018 - 19:02 ancient-origins

Worship? Meditation? Sacrifice? What Ancient Ritual Activities Were Held at the Externsteine Sacred Stone Formation?

Externsteine is an unusual sandstone rock formation near Ostwestfalen-Lippe in the northwest of Germany. It is unique among other monolithic sites in Europe because it is a natural formation that has...
A dragon-like animal head (pictured), made from antler or horn, was found in the grave of a small child.
29 December, 2017 - 01:51 ancient-origins

Magical new 4,500 year old finds add to 'oldest toy collection in the world'

By: The Siberian Times reporter Archaeologists have made ‘rare’ discoveries of pre-historic toys at the Itkol II burial ground in the Republic of Khakassia, southern Siberia. At 4,500 years old, they...
Artist's rendering of the hof, a pagan temple, in Uppsala, Sweden.
27 December, 2017 - 22:48 dhwty

The Heathen Hof: Resurrecting a Germanic Pagan Temple

A heathen hof, also referred to as a Germanic pagan temple, is the name given to a place of worship in the Germanic religion. These were pre-Christian temples found in various parts of Northern...

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