Source: Beliefnet

Source: News Net 5

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2207932/detail.html

On May 15, 2003 News Net 5 reported that "Mark and Elizabeth Sommerer, adoptive parents of four cats, are self-described 'regular people...' 'We shop like everybody else does. We go to the Laundromat. We play with our kids. We pay taxes, work jobs,' Elizabeth said... And Lee said they cast spells... They contacted News Channe l5 after seeing news reports of so-called Satan worship linked to the discovery...

Source: Casco Bay Weekly

http://www.cascobayweekly.com/cbw2003/cover/cover05.08.03-7.stm

On May 8, 2003 the Casco Bay Weekly reported that "Maine’s Pagans are part of one of the fastest-growing religious movements in the U.S. Columbia University’s American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) found in 2001 that nearly 300,000 Americans identify themselves as Pagan, Wiccan or druid; all terms that Pagans use to describe themselves."

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

On May 8, 2003 the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "Harvard scholar Diana Eck calls America the most religiously diverse nation in the world – and San Diego is no different, home to faiths ranging from Baha'i to Wicca... Here is a look at representatives from four of these other faiths – a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Sikh and a Jew. They talk about their devotion to their beliefs – and how they feel about attempts to convert them."

Source: St. Petersburg Times

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/05/07/Southpinellas/Spring_loving_Wiccans.shtml

On May 7, 2003 St. Petersburg Times reported that "in St. Petersburg, some Wiccans celebrated [Beltane] several days before the traditional May 1 date by dancing around the maypole in the courtyard of the Unitarian Universalist Church near Mirror Lake. Thursday through Sunday, many more are expected to converge on Boyd Hill Nature Park at the...

Source: The Southern

http://www.southernillinoisan.com/rednews/2003/05/04/build/local/LOC003.html

On May 3, 2003 The Southern reported that "the Southern Illinois Pagan Alliance will host an open Beltane Celebration at noon today at the Giant City State Park Shelter 2 near Makanda... Fire, light and fertility are the focus of Beltane as it celebrates longer days, the return of spring and summer warmth, and the creative splendor of nature as...

Source: The Cincinnati Post

http://www.cincypost.com/2003/04/28/pagan042803.html

On April 28, 2003 The Cincinnati Post reported that "the 10-year-old boy was listening in Sunday school... But David Gordon-Johnson wasn't learning about the Bible -- he was learning how to become a good Pagan... David's Sunday school class is part of Earthspirit, the St. John's Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans in Clifton... The lesson for David and other youngsters in Clare...

Source: Knox News

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_1886670,00.html

On April 14, 2003 Knox News reported that "the family of a 14-year-old girl embroiled in a lawsuit with the Union County school system over religious freedom said Sunday they endured years of harassment before taking legal action... India, her older siblings, Tyla and Garrett, and their mother, Sarajane [Tracy], described how years of alleged verbal...

Source: The Argus

On April 13, 2003 The Argus reported that "even though this is only its second year, today's Interfaith Pagan Pride Parade will have an old soul... The theme is 'Ancient Voices,' honoring nature-based traditions throughout history that have 'revered the Earth as a church itself, the divinity within and around,' said parade organizer Micha Dunston... 'In Interfaith dialogue, the word pagan represents people who follow indigenous, tribal, polytheistic, nature-based and Earth-based beliefs,' Dunston...

Source: The Times-Picayune

On April 10, 2003 The Times-Picayune reported that "members of First Unitarian Universalist Church are celebrating their congregation's 170th year in New Orleans as a small bastion of spiritual liberalism embedded in conservative New Orleans... Continuing a recent tradition, members of the congregation of 100 or so ended a regular Sunday service March 23 by laying a wreath on the grave of the Rev. Theodore Clapp, a robust, colorful figure who in 1833 founded what would become First Unitarian Universalist after being expelled as a...

Source: The Record

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MzYyNzY3

On April 5, 2003 The Record reported that a "controversy that brewed after a shopkeeper attempted to stage a Wiccan festival in borough parks provided some of the impetus behind portions of a new ordinance, Borough Attorney Anne Marie Rizzuto said. Disputes that arose from soccer groups jockeying to...

Source: The Sun

http://www.sunspot.net/bal-ca.pagans01apr01.story

On April 1, 2003 The Sun reported that "gathered in the cramped but comfortable basement of a Finksburg church on a recent Friday night, the pagans joked about the difficulties of raising children and staying married. They riffed on contradictions they've found in the Christian Bible. They shared frustrations about growing up overweight, gay and apostate... Outside, not a single protester walked the dark,...

Source: School Library Journal

Source: The Boston Globe

On March 23, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "months of walking down a cold, dirty, traffic-clogged stretch of Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge transformed Christopher Penczak into an urban pagan... Already a practicing witch, Penczak, like most pagans - those who practice earth-based religions - deeply reveres forests and pastures, not trash-littered sidewalks and MBTA bus depots. His spirit felt trapped by the concrete, but his brain had no intention of abandoning a hard-won job at a city recording studio. So he decided...

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/112965_aboard18.shtml

On March 18, 2003 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that "it is here... abroad the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf... on folding metal chairs, that shipmates utter private secrets and confessions, gather in Wicca circles for meditation, study Bible verses, offer up devout prayers to Allah, work their rosary beads, celebrate the Jewish Sabbath... The number of...