A Marine artillery captain named Sukhbir Singh Toor has been on a mission over the past year to become the first Sikh in the United States Marine Corps allowed to openly practice his religion while in uniform.

During that time he has won a string of victories against the strict dress standards of the Marine Corps, and he can now wear the beard, long hair and turban required of a faithful Sikh while on duty. But recently, the Marine Corps dug in, refusing to allow him or any other Sikh to wear a beard on a combat deployment or during boot camp, saying that beards would hinder...

Last October, a TikToker uploaded a short instructional video in which she claimed to teach a technique to "make someone think of you 24/7." All a person needed to do was follow a few simple steps: Write the name of their unrequited love on a piece of paper three times, fold the paper three times, and put it under their pillow. Subsequently having a dream about them would mean it had worked, she said.

The TikTok, which is one of hundreds on her account teaching followers simple "spells," has since been viewed more than 20 million times and received 1.4 million likes, but the...

The Indiana Department of Correction is now allowing followers of Druidism to study and worship as a distinct religion pursuant to a court-approved consent decree.

The Indiana Southern District Court on March 11 approved a stipulated judgment between inmate Isaac Felton and the Indiana Department of Correction providing that, “Defendant, Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction — along with his officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and any other persons in active concert or participation with these persons — is hereby permanently enjoined to allow for...

“We stand here helpless under this crescent Moon. We stand here helpless as the inevitable happens,” reads the beginning of a pagan prayer for Ukraine and its people, written H. Byron Ballard. 

After news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spread, pagans and witches joined thousands of other faith leaders in praying for peace and for strength. Ballard, an Asheville-based witch and priestess, shared her personal prayer and a photo of her altar, welcoming others to join her in holding space for the Ukrainian people.

Her prayer continues: “Holding in our...

An inmate at the Adult Correctional Institutions is suing the state Department of Corrections because it has sanctioned him for his hair style, which he says is based on his religious beliefs.

Christopher Banks, 24, of Westerly, seeks in the suit filed in U.S. District Court to remove penalties he’s been given for wearing his hair short on the sides and long on top, the Providence Journal reported ...

By a 4-0 vote, the St. Mary’s County Board of Appeals on Dec. 16 rescinded a temporary permit that a county department had issued for a pagan observance.

The land use and growth management department approved the permit on June 3, 2021.

Deputy Director Harry Knight and alternate board member Ronald Payne Sr., who was filling in for board member Guy Bradley, recused themselves.

Source:...

Seattle-based Bri Luna, aka @thehoodwitch, has 472,000 followers on Instagram. On her website, thehoodwitch.com, her profile picture shows an attractive young woman wearing a black dress that reveals both tattooed cleavage and one tattooed thigh, holding a crystal ball in a ring-bedecked hand. The image is fiercely sexual and deliberately powerful, but this is a power that is linked to magic, which, she says, is open to all who choose to claim it: “The universe is vast, and we need as many healing information sources as possible. It...

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday it has reached a settlement with the Michigan Department of Corrections to change the state's policy limiting worship and religious activities for prisoners, as well as the kosher diet fed to Jewish inmates.

Under the agreement, Michigan corrections officials agreed to eliminate its policy that required a minimum of five people for religious services or activities. It will also remove a prohibition on group religious practices for Hindus, Yorubas, Hebrew Israelites and Thelema practitioners, unless there's...

Bridget Sidhe-Lyric and her coven usually gather at her house near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, every Oct. 31 to celebrate Samhain, which marks the new year for many Wiccans and other modern pagans.

Group members talk about what they’ve accomplished since last fall and the things they’re glad are drawing to a close, said Sidhe-Lyric, 62, a Wiccan.

But Samhain (pronounced “ sow -win”) is also a time to remember and interact with the dead, and this year’s celebrations will be especially poignant as many witches, Wiccans and other pagans remember the ...

Bennett, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, starts by meditating and selecting a tarot card from a deck on a small wooden table. They call it their “working area.” Other items laid out on it include a labradorite crystal for mind-clearing and enhanced intuition, and a wand made of selenite for its protective quality. There is also a slightly singed bundle of juniper, which Bennett burns to cleanse and protect the work area as they focus on connecting to various energies, gods and goddesses, and more deeply to themself.

Bennett...

In a scene from a recently released movie, three older women in a small room slowly walk clockwise around a table covered in candles, chanting curses softly.

A scene from the latest “Macbeth” remake? Not exactly: It’s a moment from indie film “A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff,” a musical exploration of spirituality, Jewish identity and the Bernie Madoff case.

Its creator, Alicia Jo Rabins, identifies...

The world’s fascination with witchcraft is a tale as old as time. From legends and folklore to newer incarnations in film and television like Bewitched, Charmed, Hocus Pocus, The Craft, Practical Magic, Harry Potter and more, audiences never seem to tire of the evolving landscape of modern witchcraft. And in this case, life seems to be mirroring art. 

The number of people who practice Wiccan or pagan religious rituals has increased dramatically over the last few decades. According to the ...

Shave or be Shaved. Aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, sailor Edmund Di Liscia faced a stark choice. According to his lawyers, he was told to either shave his beard voluntarily or be held down by his bunk mate and forcibly shaved. For Di Liscia, a practicing Hasidic Jew who had not shaved for more than two years, it was a choice between his loyalty to the U.S. Navy and his religious faith.

Di Liscia is one of several sailors and marines who are seeking religious accommodation to wear beards while in uniform.  

Earlier this year, Di Liscia, along with three...