#paganism — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #paganism, aggregated by home.social.
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What does the Minoan Wheel of the Year look like? How can we celebrate life's passages via Minoan ritual? Discover all this and more in Ariadne's Thread! Book details, including a full list of the seasonal rituals and rites of passage and plenty of places to buy the book that aren't named after a South American river: https://www.lauraperryauthor.com/ariadnes-thread
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What does the Minoan Wheel of the Year look like? How can we celebrate life's passages via Minoan ritual? Discover all this and more in Ariadne's Thread! Book details, including a full list of the seasonal rituals and rites of passage and plenty of places to buy the book that aren't named after a South American river: https://www.lauraperryauthor.com/ariadnes-thread
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What does the Minoan Wheel of the Year look like? How can we celebrate life's passages via Minoan ritual? Discover all this and more in Ariadne's Thread! Book details, including a full list of the seasonal rituals and rites of passage and plenty of places to buy the book that aren't named after a South American river: https://www.lauraperryauthor.com/ariadnes-thread
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What does the Minoan Wheel of the Year look like? How can we celebrate life's passages via Minoan ritual? Discover all this and more in Ariadne's Thread! Book details, including a full list of the seasonal rituals and rites of passage and plenty of places to buy the book that aren't named after a South American river: https://www.lauraperryauthor.com/ariadnes-thread
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What does the Minoan Wheel of the Year look like? How can we celebrate life's passages via Minoan ritual? Discover all this and more in Ariadne's Thread! Book details, including a full list of the seasonal rituals and rites of passage and plenty of places to buy the book that aren't named after a South American river: https://www.lauraperryauthor.com/ariadnes-thread
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#FediCoven 2026 Q7: What have seasonal changes taught you that books or teachers could not?
I've learned more from nature in general that I ever would have in school when it comes to many subjects. I allow myself to truly feel (and love) the changes during the year, throughout the seasons, and that alone has done a lot for me. Just as we as people change, Mother Earth does as well throughout the year. Change is good. It cleanses and renews.
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#FediCoven 2026 Q6: What relationship do you have with the moon and its phases, and how does that show up in your craft?
Ever since I was little, I've always felt connected to the moon. That hasn't changed, nor will it. The moon plays a big part in my practice, as I'm sure it does for many others as well. I usually work my schedule and spells around its phases.
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@floofpaldi I love when somebody hits it off with you & we start talking energies, herbs, or spiritual court. Then others join in with their experiences.
What doesn’t work for me when you bring something up that could be better & you’re greeted with apathy. I’ve left circles over this. #Pagan #Paganism #Wicca #Wiccan #Heathen #Fedicoven
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#FediCoven 2026 Q5: What helps you feel welcome in a pagan or witchy space? And what doesn't?
A true feeling of "otherness" and a lack of crosses. LOL. In all seriousness, though, just a genuine sense of self, unapologetically and authentically them, so I can get a read on the person, an idea of who they are or what they like, and we all decorate differently. That final part makes things fun.
Just be yourself.
🍂 🍄 🔮 🧿 🗡️ 🐉 🐺 🍁
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#FediCoven 2026 Q4: How do you identify? (Witch, druid, pagan, shaman, medium, 'all of the above'?)
These days, I generally only use a single word: pagan (because it's simple, easy). Feel free to call me anything you want, though. None of those words bother me. Also, random: I'm a medium, or a clairvoyant, psychic, etc. I even have a paranormal podcast.
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#FediCoven 2026 Q3: Are you out of the broom closet?
I was raised in an Irish Catholic family. With that being said, my father practiced his own sort of Paganism, having been close to and dear friends with so many indigenous peoples, and my mother is Wiccan. So, of course, to some family members, I'm out. To others, I'm not. I actually live with my grandmother, my nana, and she thinks I just collect crystals. She also thinks I might be agnostic. It is what it is.
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#FediCoven 2026 Q2: What role does self-care play in your practice? Any tips?
Self-care is a huge part of my practice. A major one, actually. We have to take care of ourselves before we can even think of taking care of those around us. No matter what your religion is, that should play a role.
As for tips? Do what's right for your body. Listen to what your body needs. Drink more water. Take your medication if you're reading this and you haven't yet. Every little thing matters.
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#FediCoven 2026 Q1: For those who have a form of divination in their practice, does this indicate to you that the universe is predestined or deterministic?
Thank you, @HeliaXyana! :11111:
In some ways, I believe it is. In others, I do believe we forge our own path. You could ask any pagan and they would probably give you a different answer. While I think some things are set in stone, others might be changed.
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Olivia and I were driving back from Trumansburg to celebrate summer bounty last week and I saw this flower universe in front of Indian Creek Farm
#photo #photography #Lughnasadh #lugh #flower #trumanburg #bloomscrolling #zinnia #indiancreek #paganism
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Blessed Lughnasadh! Or Lammas if you prefer.
May your harvest be bountiful and the fruits of it sweet!
There's a fuller explanation of the mini altar I set up in the image alt text. Pan isn't strictly part of this, I know, but it felt right to include him so we rolled with the vibe.
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Happy Lughnasadh, everyone! 🌟🍞🌻🌞
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Happy #Lughnasadh everyone! While not something I harvested, today seems appropriate to share this picture I took with #mosstodon and #mushtodon.
#Lughnasa #Lúnasa #paganism #NeoPaganism #harvest #nature #fungi
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Stone monument in dedication to Mithras (2nd-3rd century CE)
Archaeologisches Museum Frankfurt, Germany 🇩🇪. The museum has a lot of stone dedications to Mithras, whose cult was popular in the area.
Inscription and German translation in alttext.@histodons
#paganism #mythology #MythologyMonday #religion #ReligiousStudies #Altertumswissenschaften #LinguaLatina #antiquité #AncientReligions #LateAntiquity #AncientHistory #antike #epigraphy #MuseumArchive #glam #AncientArt -
Another pitch for my Relics class, boosts appreciated:
Though I focus on the Christian cult of relics, I also discuss similarly powerful objects from ancient Greece, the ancient Hebrews, and the Islamic world. It's a great introduction to magical and memorializing objects throughout the premodern Mediterranean.
https://kentnavalesi.neocities.org/AncientMedRelics
@histodons @medievodons #history #AncientHistory #histoire #histodons #medievodons #islam #paganism #ReligiousStudies #religion #judaism
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Tha a' bhliadhna a' tionndadh — the year is turning.
Five days to solstice. The magnolias are browning at the edges and dropping their saucer petals on the red clay; the fireflies have started their slow Morse in the wet dark. The old wheel doing what no congress can repeal.
#Solstice #Phenology #Nature #EarthBased #Druid #Paganism #SouthernUS #Seasons #Mindfulness #SlowLiving #FolkTradition -
Sisyphus is taking forever!
https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/2124206/sisyphus-is-taking-forever
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Hexing the Bomb
Hot on the heels of my little foray into the Battle of the Beanfield I decided to dig a little deeper into another important and largely forgotten nugget of social history. This one incorporates a couple of my favourite subjects, neither of which is politics. It does, however, have women standing up together and achieving the seemingly impossible and witches.
Pull up a chair… 🙂
There are moments in history when politics, folklore and belief collide in ways that seem almost impossible to imagine. One such moment unfolded on the windswept perimeter fences of Greenham Common during the final decades of the Cold War, when thousands of women gathered to oppose the presence of American nuclear missiles on British soil. Among the banners, songs and acts of civil disobedience was something few journalists expected to find at the heart of a major political protest. Witches.
For nearly two decades, Greenham Common became one of the most significant centres of peace activism in modern British history. It was a place of arrests, demonstrations, campfires and confrontation. It was also a place where ancient symbols found new life. Women danced in circles, wove webs across military fences, invoked goddesses, cast symbolic spells and drew upon centuries of folklore to challenge one of the most powerful military alliances in the world.
To understand why, we must first return to a Britain gripped by fear.
The early 1980s were shadowed by the threat of nuclear war. Relations between East and West had deteriorated. The Soviet Union and NATO were engaged in a dangerous arms race. Television viewers watched films such as Threads and The Day After, which depicted the horrific consequences of nuclear conflict. Schoolchildren grew up with the knowledge that a single political miscalculation could end civilisation in an afternoon.
Against this backdrop, the British government agreed to host American cruise missiles at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire. To supporters, the deployment was a necessary deterrent. To opponents, it made Britain a target and increased the likelihood of nuclear confrontation.
In September 1981, a small group of Welsh women marched from Cardiff to Greenham Common. Their intention was straightforward. They wanted a public debate about nuclear weapons. When their concerns were ignored, some chose to remain.
Few could have imagined that their decision would create one of the most influential protest movements in modern British history.
The Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp became a permanent presence outside the military base. Women arrived from every corner of Britain and beyond. Some stayed for days. Others remained for years. Grandmothers camped alongside students. Teachers shared fires with artists, nurses, activists and travellers. The camp developed its own culture, traditions and rituals.
Media coverage was often hostile. Newspapers portrayed the women as scruffy, eccentric or dangerous. Politicians dismissed them as naïve. Yet Greenham continued to grow. By December 1982, around 30,000 women joined hands around the nine-mile perimeter fence in one of the largest demonstrations Britain had ever seen.
As the movement evolved, some participants began drawing upon folklore, mythology and spiritual traditions to express their opposition to nuclear weapons.
For many women involved in the peace camp, the figure of the witch held profound significance.The witch has never been simply a character from fairy tales. Across European history she has represented independence, resistance and the refusal to conform. She is the village healer, the wise woman, the outsider and the scapegoat. She embodies knowledge that exists beyond accepted authority.
Many women at Greenham recognised parallels between historical witch hunts and contemporary attempts to dismiss or marginalise female voices. The image of the witch became a powerful symbol of protest.
Some protesters identified as pagans or practitioners of modern witchcraft. Others were not religious at all but embraced the symbolism. Together they transformed folklore into a political language.
At various demonstrations, women dressed as witches, carrying besoms and wearing pointed hats. They conducted symbolic rituals outside the base gates. Circles were formed. Chants were spoken. Songs echoed through the Berkshire countryside.
Perhaps most striking were the webs.Women frequently attached ribbons, wool, photographs, toys and personal objects to the military fences. These creations resembled enormous spider webs stretching across the perimeter. They symbolised connection, community and the fragile threads linking humanity together. Military planners saw security barriers. The women transformed them into canvases for storytelling.
One protest became known as the “Embrace the Base” demonstration, during which thousands of women encircled Greenham Common. The act itself echoed ancient traditions of protective circles and boundary rituals found throughout British folklore.In many folk traditions, circles create sacred space. They mark a distinction between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Whether consciously or unconsciously, Greenham’s protesters drew upon symbolism that would have been recognised by generations of cunning folk, ceremonial magicians and village communities.
There were also reports of symbolic spell-casting directed not at individuals but at the weapons themselves.
These actions were largely theatrical and symbolic. Yet symbolism has always been one of humanity’s most powerful tools. Flags, crowns, crosses and national monuments derive their power from collective belief. Greenham’s witches understood this. They recognised that ritual could attract attention, build solidarity and create memorable images capable of travelling far beyond the camp itself.Photographs from the period remain remarkable. Women dance beneath military floodlights. Costumed protesters stand before coils of razor wire. Sacred imagery appears alongside anti-nuclear slogans. Ancient archetypes confront modern technology.
The contrast could hardly have been more dramatic.
Behind the spectacle lay a serious philosophical question. How should ordinary people respond when faced with systems that appear too vast to challenge?
For some, the answer lay in petitions or political lobbying. For others, it involved direct action. At Greenham, many women chose creativity. They responded to missiles with songs, fences with artwork and military authority with myth.
It is tempting to dismiss such actions as eccentric. Yet history suggests otherwise.Throughout the centuries, folklore has often emerged during periods of uncertainty and upheaval. Communities create stories to explain fears, express hopes and challenge power structures. Ballads mocked landlords. legends criticised rulers. Folk customs strengthened communities during times of hardship.
Greenham Common followed the same pattern.The camp generated its own folklore almost immediately. Stories circulated among protesters. Songs were composed. Rituals evolved. Shared symbols developed meaning through repetition. What began as a political protest became something resembling a living folk tradition.
Even the landscape itself absorbed these stories.
Greenham Common is now remembered not only as a military site but as a place of resistance. The fences have gone. The missiles have long since been removed. Yet the stories remain. Visitors still encounter traces of the movement in memorials, artworks and local memory.
The protest ultimately achieved far more than many observers predicted. Cruise missiles were removed from Greenham Common in 1991 following the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The peace camp remained for several years afterwards before finally closing in 2000.
Whether Greenham alone changed government policy remains a matter of debate. Few historians would argue that it was the sole cause. Yet its influence on public discourse is undeniable. The movement helped shape conversations about nuclear weapons, gender, protest and citizenship. It inspired campaigns around the world and demonstrated the power of sustained grassroots activism.
The witches of Greenham Common occupy a particularly fascinating place within that story.
They remind us that folklore is not confined to dusty books or distant centuries. It remains a living force, capable of adapting to new circumstances and addressing modern concerns. Ancient symbols continue to resonate because they speak to enduring human experiences.
The women who danced around Greenham’s fences were not attempting to retreat into the past. They were using the past to imagine a different future.
In an age dominated by military technology, political rhetoric and the machinery of the Cold War, they answered with stories, songs, rituals and symbols that had survived for centuries.
Whether one believes in magic is ultimately beside the point.
The real magic of Greenham Common lay in its ability to transform fear into action, isolation into community and protest into legend.
More than forty years later, the image remains unforgettable. A line of women standing beneath winter skies, facing one of the most formidable military establishments on Earth armed with banners, determination and the enduring power of folklore.
History remembers the missiles.
Folklore remembers the witches.
Further Reading
Common Women, Uncommon Practices by Sasha RoseneilGreenham Women Everywhere by Rebecca Mordan
Peace Camps: A Study of Greenham Women by Lynne Jones
The archives of the Greenham Common Women’s Peace
CampRecords held by the Women’s Library at the London School of Economics
Imperial War Museum collections relating to Greenham Common
Oral history projects documenting former Greenham residents
Copyright Notice:
© 2026 Mysterious Times. All rights reserved.This article is published exclusively for Mysterious Times. No part may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without prior written permission, except for brief quotations used for review, commentary or educational purposes with appropriate attribution.
#1980sBritain #AlternativeBritain #AlternativeSpirituality #AntiNuclearMovement #BerkshireFolklore #BerkshireHistory #BritishCounterculture #BritishFolklore #BritishHistory #BritishSocialHistory #BritishWitchcraft #ColdWarBritain #ColdWarFolklore #ColdWarHistory #ContemporaryFolklore #Counterculture #CruiseMissiles #FeministHistory #folkMagic #FolkTraditions #FolkloreAndPolitics #GreenhamCommon #GreenhamCommonPeaceCamp #GreenhamWomen #HistoricalLongRead #HistoryOfProtest #LivingFolklore #MagicAndProtest #modernWitchcraft #MysteriousTimes #NewAgeMovement #NuclearDisarmament #NuclearProtest #Paganism #PeaceActivism #PeaceCampHistory #PeaceMovementHistory #PoliticalProtest #ProtestHistory #ProtestMovements #RitualAndResistance #SacredProtest #SocialHistoryUK #SymbolicResistance #ThatcherEraBritain #WitchcraftAndPolitics #WitchesOfGreenhamCommon #WomenSActivism #WomenSHistory #WomenSPeaceMovement -
Battle of The Beanfield
There are certain moments in modern British history that seem to sit just beyond the edge of official memory. Events that everybody vaguely remembers, yet somehow never quite make it into the comfortable national story we tell ourselves.
The Battle of Orgreave is one. The miners’ strike is another. The poll tax riots. Hillsborough. Brixton. They linger in photographs, old television footage and the memories of those who were there, carrying the uncomfortable reminder that Britain is not always as civilised, measured and orderly as it likes to imagine itself to be.
The Battle of the Beanfield belongs firmly in that category.
Forty years on, it remains one of the most controversial policing operations in modern British history. More than 1,300 police officers confronted a convoy of around 600 New Age Travellers attempting to reach Stonehenge on 1 June 1985. By the end of the day, dozens of people had been injured, hundreds had been arrested and an entire way of life had effectively been marked for destruction.
What happened in that Hampshire beanfield has never been the subject of a full public inquiry. Yet for many people who witnessed the decline of Britain’s traditional industries during the Thatcher years, the images remain painfully familiar.
I grew up in Yorkshire through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. I watched pit villages hollow out. I watched steelworks close. I watched communities that had existed for generations suddenly find themselves described as obstacles to progress. There was a language that emerged during those years. Certain groups became “the problem”. Miners. Trade unionists. Travellers. Alternative communities. Anyone who stood outside the increasingly rigid idea of what Britain was supposed to become.
That is one reason the Battle of the Beanfield still matters.
To understand the confrontation itself, we first need to understand the strange, colourful and often misunderstood world that produced it.
The Stonehenge Free Festival began in 1974. It emerged from the wider countercultural movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining music, environmentalism, spiritual exploration, political activism and communal living. Over the following decade it grew steadily, becoming one of the largest free gatherings in Britain. By the early 1980s thousands of people travelled to Stonehenge each summer to celebrate the solstice. The festival attracted an eclectic mix of punks, bikers, druids, musicians, environmental campaigners, anarchists, hippies and families living on the road.
The people who became known as the Peace Convoy were not a single organisation. They were a loose collection of travellers, festival-goers and alternative communities who spent much of the year moving between free festivals, protest camps and temporary settlements. Some were escaping unemployment. Some rejected consumer culture. Others simply wanted a different way of living. Many travelled in converted buses, coaches, ambulances and vans that doubled as homes.
To their supporters they represented freedom, creativity and resistance to conformity.
To their critics they represented disorder.
By 1984 tensions were reaching breaking point. The Stonehenge festival had become enormous. Estimates suggested attendance reached around 100,000 people. Concerns were raised about damage to the archaeological landscape, litter, unauthorised trading and open drug use. English Heritage, which had recently taken over management of the site, came under increasing pressure to act. Local authorities and police forces were equally determined that the gathering should not continue in its existing form. A High Court injunction was obtained to prevent the 1985 festival from taking place. The state had drawn a line.
On the morning of 1 June 1985, the Peace Convoy left Savernake Forest and began moving towards Stonehenge. Around 140 vehicles carried approximately 600 people. Many were families. Children were travelling alongside adults who had spent years living on the road. They knew there would be police opposition. Few appear to have anticipated what was waiting for them.
Police had prepared extensively.
The miners’ strike had ended only months earlier. During that bitter industrial conflict police forces had developed new methods of coordination, rapid deployment and large-scale public order operations. Senior officers later openly acknowledged that lessons learned during the strike had informed preparations for dealing with the travellers.
A four-mile exclusion zone had been established around Stonehenge. Roadblocks were prepared. Officers from multiple forces were assembled. Some estimates place police numbers at around 1,300. Others suggest even higher figures by the end of the operation.
The convoy encountered its first major roadblock near Shipton Bellinger, several miles from Stonehenge. According to police accounts, some traveller vehicles attempted to push through the blockade and rammed police vehicles. Travellers and independent witnesses tell a very different story. They describe a convoy seeking negotiation before finding itself trapped and surrounded.
Whatever happened during those first moments, the situation rapidly escalated.As vehicles attempted to leave the road and move into adjacent fields, police began smashing windows and making arrests. The convoy became scattered across farmland. Families were separated. Children became lost in the confusion. What followed would become one of the most infamous confrontations in modern British policing.
Television footage remains difficult to watch even now.
Officers in riot gear strike vehicle windows with truncheons. People are dragged from buses and vans. Terrified children can be seen inside shattered vehicles. Journalists and witnesses described police hitting men and women indiscriminately. Several accounts alleged pregnant women and individuals carrying babies were assaulted during the operation. Numerous vehicles that functioned as homes were systematically damaged.
The Earl of Cardigan, whose family owned Savernake Forest and who had followed the convoy on a motorcycle, later provided testimony that proved deeply damaging to official police narratives. He described officers rushing vehicles with drawn truncheons, shouting at occupants and creating scenes of intimidation and violence that contradicted many early police claims.
Journalists present that day reported similar concerns.
ITN footage captured scenes that shocked many viewers. Photographer Alan Lodge later described the event as an ambush rather than a battle. Others argued the very name “Battle of the Beanfield” created a misleading impression of two evenly matched sides. One side possessed riot shields, command structures, communications systems and overwhelming numerical superiority. The other consisted largely of civilians living in vehicles.
By the end of the operation, 537 people had been arrested. It remains one of the largest mass arrests of civilians in modern British history. Most of the charges eventually collapsed or were dismissed.
That fact alone raises uncomfortable questions.
If hundreds of supposedly dangerous lawbreakers had been lawfully apprehended while carrying out serious criminal acts, one might expect hundreds of successful prosecutions to follow. Instead, much of the legal case simply evaporated.
Years later, travellers successfully pursued civil actions against Wiltshire Police. Damages were awarded for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and property damage. One police sergeant was convicted of actual bodily harm arising from the events of that day.
Yet despite these outcomes, there has never been a full public inquiry.
Perhaps that is because the Battle of the Beanfield was about more than Stonehenge.
Looking back now, it feels impossible to separate it from the wider atmosphere of Britain in the mid-1980s. This was a country being transformed at extraordinary speed. Traditional industries were disappearing. Unemployment was soaring in many regions. Entire communities were fighting for survival. Alternative lifestyles increasingly found themselves portrayed as threats to public order rather than expressions of individual freedom.
For many people in mining and industrial areas, there is a recognisable pattern.
First comes the language.
A group is described as troublesome, outdated or undesirable.
Then comes the media narrative.
Then comes the justification.
Then comes the force.
That does not mean every traveller was a saint, any more than every miner was. Human beings are messy. Large gatherings bring problems. Some attendees at the Stonehenge festivals undoubtedly caused damage. Some individuals within the traveller movement undoubtedly committed crimes. A serious historical assessment has to acknowledge that reality. The archaeological concerns surrounding Stonehenge were genuine. Local residents had legitimate complaints. Authorities were entitled to seek solutions.
But none of that explains the scale of what happened on 1 June 1985.
The images of smashed homes, frightened children and riot police advancing across fields continue to disturb because they seem wildly disproportionate. They suggest a state determined not merely to enforce an injunction but to send a message.
And the message was received.
The traveller movement never fully recovered.
Legislation introduced during the following years increasingly restricted nomadic lifestyles and unauthorised gatherings. The Public Order Act 1986 and later the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 created new powers that made life significantly harder for travellers, free festivals and eventually the emerging rave culture.
In many ways the Beanfield became a blueprint. The same language used against travellers would later be applied to ravers, squatters, protesters and environmental activists. Alternative communities were increasingly framed not as citizens exercising freedoms but as public order problems requiring management.
Yet the legacy of the Beanfield refuses to disappear.
Songs were written about it. The Levellers turned it into a folk-punk anthem that introduced a new generation to the story. Hawkwind referenced it. Writers, filmmakers and activists kept returning to it. Every summer solstice the memory resurfaces among those who remember what happened.
Perhaps that is because the Battle of the Beanfield sits at the crossroads of so many larger questions.
Who gets to occupy public space?
Who decides what constitutes a legitimate way of living?
How much power should the state possess when dealing with communities that reject mainstream norms?
And perhaps most importantly of all, what happens when governments begin to see certain groups not as citizens but as enemies?
Forty years later those questions feel remarkably current.
The travellers who set out for Stonehenge in 1985 were not trying to overthrow the government. They were trying to reach a festival. They were trying to celebrate a solstice. They were trying, in their own eccentric and imperfect way, to live differently.
Many paid a heavy price for that.
For those of us who grew up watching pits close, furnaces go cold and communities written off as inconvenient relics of the past, the Beanfield feels like part of the same story. Different people. Different landscape. Different politics perhaps. But the same underlying lesson.
When power decides a group no longer belongs, it rarely begins with dialogue.
It begins with exclusion.
Then comes the roadblock.
Further Reading
Andy Worthington, The Battle of the Beanfield
Christopher Chippindale, Stoned Henge: Events and Issues at the Summer Solstice, 1985
Emma Hallett, BBC News, Summer Solstice: How the Stonehenge Battles Faded
Tony Thompson, The Observer, Twenty Years After, Mystery Still Clouds Battle of the Beanfield
English Heritage, Stonehenge 1977–85: A Dig in Time and a Confrontation
Copyright © Mysterious Times 2026. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from Mysterious Times, except in the case of brief quotations used for review, criticism or scholarly reference.
#1980sBritain #1985Events #AlternativeBritain #AlternativeCommunities #AlternativeLifestyles #BattleOfTheBeanfield #BritishCounterculture #BritishFolklore #BritishHistory #BritishProtestCulture #BritishSociety #BritishSubcultures #CivilLiberties #CivilRights #ContemporaryHistory #CounterculturalHistory #Counterculture #CountercultureHistory #culturalHeritage #CulturalResistance #Druidry #EnglishCountryside #EnglishHeritage #FestivalCulture #ForgottenHistory #FreeFestivals #FreeSpiritBritain #FreedomOfMovement #Hampshire #HiddenHistory #HistoricalAnalysis #HistoricalConflict #HistoricalControversies #HistoricalMysteries #HistoryFeatures #LongReadHistory #LostBritain #MargaretThatcher #MiningCommunities #ModernBritishMythology #ModernFolklore #ModernLegends #MysteriousTimes #NewAgeMovement #NewAgeTravellers #Paganism #PeaceConvoy #PeopleSHistory #PoliceHistory #PoliticalHistory #ProtestHistory #ProtestMovements #PublicOrder #RoadProtestHistory #RuralEngland #SocialChange #SocialCommentary #socialHistory #SocialJustice #SolsticeCelebrations #SolsticeTraditions #StatePower #Stonehenge #StonehengeFreeFestival #StonehengeHistory #SummerSolstice #ThatcherEra #Thatcherism #TravellerMovement #TravellerRights #TravellingCommunities #UKHistory #UndergroundBritain #UnofficialBritain #Wiltshire #WorkingClassHistory #YorkshireHistory -
Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – The Bible vs. The Quran: Surah al-Baqarah Verses 156-158.
Last time on Flippin’ Fatwa Friday, we covered three issues, talking about good works, the Ka’ba, and jihad. Today, we’re sort-of back to talking about the Ka’ba, though we’ll more specifically be looking at another big part of the Hajj. Let’s take a look at this:
156. Who, when a calamity befalls them, say, ‘Surely, we belong to Allah and to him, of course, we return (and in his will is our peace).’ 157. It is they upon whom descend the benedictions from their Lord and his mercy, and it is they who are guided aright. 158. The Safa and Marwah (- the two eminences near Ka’ba) are certainly (two) of the symbols of Allah, so he who is on Pilgrimage to the house or performs ‘Umrah (- a visit to Ka’ba), there is no blame on him to perform Tawaf (- to run between) the two (eminences), and he who remains thoroughly dutiful and chooses to do good deeds spontaneously, the surely (he will find) Allah is Appreciative and rewards ever good deed done. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing.
I’ve already talked about the pagan origins of the Ka’ba and the Black Stone, but one of the things I sadly forgot to mention was how the Hajj also includes running between two small hills, the Safa and Marwa, seven times. This verse is the only time where this practice is mentioned, and it isn’t really elaborated on in the Quran.
The pagan origins of this practice aren’t something that can only be found through spending hours flipping through history books or scrolling on Google. It’s readily admitted in the hadiths that this practice stems from Arabian pagans. For example, Sahih Bukhari 4496 says:
Narrated `Asim bin Sulaiman:
I asked Anas bin Malik about Safa and Marwa. Anas replied, “We used to consider (i.e. going around) them a custom of the Pre-islamic period of Ignorance, so when Islam came, we gave up going around them. Then Allah revealed: “Verily, Safa and Marwa (i.e. two mountains at Mecca) are among the Symbols of Allah. So it is not harmful of those who perform the Hajj of the House (of Allah) or perform the Umra to ambulate (Tawaf) between them.”Stange how pagan customs were never absorbed into Judaism or Christianity by God. Why would Allah make a pagan custom something that is mandatory in Islam?
The reason for this has much to do with what I’ve mentioned in previous posts about the Hajj. It was all to gain a following. Muhammad knew that these customs were important to the people groups he knew. It wasn’t something they would give up easily. Thus, he simply absorbed them into Islam to make it more palatable for them.
Until next time,
M.J.
#Allah #Arabia #Bible #Blog #Christian #Christianity #faith #FlippinFatwaFriday #god #hadith #Hadiths #Hajj #history #Islam #jesus #KaBa #Marwa #Muhammad #Muslim #OpinionPeice #Paganism #Quran #Religion #Safa #Writing -
I’m now obsessed with the #theology of Emperor Julian, who died in the Battle of Samarra in June 363 CE, a chaotic clash near modern-day Samarra, Iraq, against Sasanian Persian forces led by King Shapur II.
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Our Souls Have Plenty of Time
Paraphrased #Origen (who with Plotinus of #Neoplatonism, was a co-student of Ammonius Sacca).
http://inaniludibrio.com/2025/07/31/our-souls-have-plenty-of-time/
#history #philosophy #theology #metaphysics #paganism #Christianity
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'A pagan doesn’t need to know that they’re a pagan, one might say — even if their adversary does.'
Reformation Day Vs. Halloween: October 31
https://hyperallergic.com/961521/the-battle-between-halloween-and-reformation-day/ via Hyperallergic
Image: Piero di Cosimo via Koninklijke Brill online
#ReformationDay #Reformation #Protestantism #Protestant #Halloween #Paganism #Pagan #Europe #Art -
St Mary's and All Saints Church & Holy Well in Dunsfold, England
An ancient yew tree and holy well nestle beside a remarkable 13th-century church.#water #wells #religion #sacredspaces #trees #medieval #churches #paganism #celtic #holywells #section-Atlas
St Mary's and All Saints Church & Holy Well -
True #conspiracytheory of how Arianism was plotted against and now we’re all the worse off for it.
Make #Arius Great Again
@histodons #history #Arianism #heresy #imperial #bigotry #Justinian #Theodoric #Rome #Roman #philosophy #Neoplatonism #Boethius #pagan #paganism #Consolation #IsaacAsimov #DarkAges
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🔮 Angela's Symposium dives deep into the enigmatic world of Baphomet and the Templars! 🏰
🎥 New Video Alert: "The History of Baphomet and the Templars Explained"
🤔 Ever wondered if there's a historical connection between Baphomet and the Templars? Angela's Symposium unravels the myths, legends, and facts!
👇 Don't miss out! Watch now and join the conversation.
🔗 https://youtu.be/FstjICMyg60?si=P5ojDGRpAmVoMdEj#pagan #paganism # #Baphomet #Templars #History #Occult #EliphasLevi #crusades #esoterica
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Discover the Intriguing Connection between Sleep Paralysis and Spiritual Encounters! 🌌🛌 Uncover the fascinating phenomenon in our latest YouTube video, where we explore the mysterious realm of Sleep Paralysis and its profound impact on spiritual experiences. Don't miss out on this eye-opening journey! Watch now and unlock the secrets within.
https://youtu.be/1AGUhvihJlU
#SleepParalysis #SpiritualEncounters #esotericism #astraltravel #paganism #pagan -
22nd April, Today we commemorate the last British #Pagan King, and last king of the #IsleOfWight Arwald.
On this day in 686, Cædwalla, King of Wessex invaded the #Jutish kingdom of Wihtwara, the land of Whit [ ᚹᛁᚻᛏ ] (Spirits / Supernatural Beings).
Arwald had sent his two son to his kinsfolk, the Meonwara to keep them safe.
Due to their superior size, the army of Cædwalla were victorious. However, not without many casualties. #Folklore says that Arwald dealt Cædwalla a near fatal wound that never healed and would ultimately take his life many years later. The story says, that the last curse, uttered using the last of the old magic was from Arwald's lips as he struck Cædwalla.
After the battle, Cædwalla sent his men the commit genocide on the island. A memory that still runs deep on the Island, even to this day.
The two princes were also betrayed after they had been forced to convert to #christianity -- Cædwalla had them killed.
This is not the of the story, the sister of Arwald was the wife of the King of #Kent and was the great great great Grandmother of #AlfredTheGreat. One could argue, the line of Wiht is behind the whole of the British royal family.
#OldEnglish #histodons #medievodons #AngloSaxons #AngloSaxonSaturday #paganism
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Bit of a special #OldEnglish #WordOfTheDay today:
bróðormægen [ ᛒᚱᚩᚦᚩᚱᛗᚫᚷᛖᚾ ] : brothers in magic / family in magic
bróðor: brother
mægen: strength ; power / magical powerPronunciation: https://files-thefolklore-cafe.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/attachments/magic-brothers.m4a
This is a title used the users of the deepest of magics, those that are brothers by magics deeper than blood. Family in power, strength and magic.
Those of us who know #Hookland, know we are all bróðormægen.
#AngloSaxons #Jutish #histodons #pagan #paganism #FairytaleTuesday #Folklore
@languagelovers
@anglosaxon
@folklore
@oldenglish
@histodons -
geonsíþ [ ᚷᛖᚩᚾᛋᛁᚦ ]: yon-journey; journey to the other world, death / Journey to the other place / travelling to the Somewhen
The is the great journey to the other place / to death. It is when the spirit leave the body and moves on to what is waiting for us. It is more than just a journey though, it is the etherial movement from this place to another, to the mysterious place yonder -- out of reach.
In Anglo-Saxon / Jutish pre-christian / #pagan beliefs, it would be to #Hel, not the #Christian Hell, but the after-life.
After #Christianity took over, it became the journey to either #Heaven (for reward) or #Hell (punishment / damnation)
geon: Yon -- Something over there. A place or thing in the far off distance. The root of Yonder
síþ: going journeying; going from this world; a journey voyage course expedition undertaking enterprise
Pronunciation: https://files-thefolklore-cafe.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/attachments/geonsith.m4a
Example: Æfter hyra geonsíðe [ geonsíþ ] hié tó hellewítum beóð gelædde
Translation: She was lead on the yon-journey to pay within the torments of hell
#histodons #medieval #AngloSaxon #Death #Jutish #paganism #language #medievodons #Folklore
@languagelovers
@histodons
@languagelovers
@anglosaxon
@oldenglish
@medievodons -
wælmist [ ᚹᚫᛚᛗᛁᛋᛏ]: A mist that covers the bodies of the slain.
wæl: the slain, the dead, a number of slain, generally of death in battle.
The wælmist rises off the slain in a way that leaves the mortal heart arching with loss and fear -- the wælbrecða (or heart of sorrow for the slain).
They say, that after the battle between #Arwald (the last #pagan king in Britain) and #Cædwalla, Cædwalla's troops move their camp into the woodland of the #IsleOfWight at the sight of the wælmist lest the #Death (Hel) mistook them or one of her own.
#AngloSaxon #Jutish #histodons #History #Historian #Folklore #Paganism
@histodons
@folklore
@languagelovers
@oldenglish
@anglosaxon -
I'm an ecologist and having a career in that field has made a huge mark on my polytheist practice. I know pagans tend to be a bit crunchy by nature, but my education and training inform the way I see the world and that includes my religious ideology.
I'm not living in ancient or even modern Iceland, or Sweden, or Poland, or Scotland. I tend to focus on local plant and animal life and how they tie into my views on gods related to fertility, the land, and the seasons. Bird migrations inform my shifts in seasonal practice. I see Freyja in my local red-tailed hawks. Óðinn in the common ravens on campus. I know when to expect thunder storms and give to þórr ahead of time, while giving to Freyr during the milder rainy season. When crocus bulbs begin to pop up they tell me we're entering Spring and to thank Mokosz. An Cailleach blows in with the first frost.
One of course doesn't need to be a scientist to be keyed in like this, I know plenty of pagans who are not and are just as keyed in. For me though it's second nature, no pun intended. Having a localized practice brings me closer to the gods in a way that makes sense to me. It also informs how I interact with the land wights, making sure to leave offerings safe for local plants and animals when outdoors. It's brought me into the flow of life around me and I'm at grateful for it.
#Pagan #pagans #paganism #polytheism #polytheist #heathen #heathenry #Polytheistic #slavicwitch #GaelPol #norseheathen #norseheathenry #witch #witchcraft
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Interest hashtags:
#ScienceFiction #Fantasy #WorldOfWarcraft #Polytheism #HellenicPolytheism #GreekPolytheism #Paganism #StarTrek #StarWars #DnD #ComputerProgramming #DoctorWho #TenthDoctor #MotherlandFortSalem #StrangerThings #TheSandman #Witchcraft #Magic #InitiatoryWicca #LGBTQIA #NonBinary #Trans #Transgender #Asexuality #Aromanticism #AroAce #ADHD #Neurodivergence #Disability
