Suddenly this summer, the reality of same-sex couples lining up to get married in California has led some religious leaders to rethink their government role.In a letter last month, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California directed his clergy to “encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of first being married in a secular service and then

Ryle MacPebbles, in case you were wondering, did end up shelling out $35 for that sign permit. The pagan symbols he spray-painted on the outside of his fence can stay.So now what? Well, the fence still looks, in one spot anyway, like a subway car. The neighbor lady still despises MacPebbles and his "graffiti," and he isn't crazy about her.The solution is shrubbery.The neighbor lady, wh

Today's topic: "Suffer not a witch to live among you..." In most ways coming to America brought out the very worst in the Puritans. In England, they were mostly about "purifying" the Anglican Church-chosen by God to restore the "bride of Christ " to the bright and shining city on a hill that she had once been. But in America, far removed from more moderating secular authorities the Puritans be

Harry Potter fans discovered the magical properties of everyday plants at Duthie Park in Aberdeen yesterday.The Hogwarts-inspired Magical Medicines event forms part of Aberdeen University’s Planet Plant project, which aims to engage youngsters in plant science.

James Morrow is the author of The Last Witchfinder, an historical novel about the birth of the scientific worldview, centred around one woman's audacious crusade to bring down the Parliamentary Witchcraft Act of 1604."We tend to regard belief in witches as a rather low order of credulity, something belonging to the medieval period or perhaps even the dark ages. The startling and instructive fa

A fortuneteller is suing Montgomery County after he learned he would not be allowed to open a shop in Bethesda because the county bans the business of forecasting the future.Attorneys for Nick Nefedro, previously of Key West, Fla., say county officials violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and discriminated against his “Roma,” or Gypsy, culture when they refused to give him a busi

As one of the world’s leading authorities on ancient seafaring, Jon Erlandson has devoted much of his career to hunting down evidence of ancient human migrations, searching for something most archaeologists long thought a figment: Ice Age mariners.The little “tree” in my hand is a dart head fashioned from creamy-brown chert and bristling with tiny barbs designed to lodge in the flesh of marine prey. Erlandson recently collected dozens of these points from San Miguel Island, a scrap of land 27 miles off the coast of California. Radiocarbon dating of marine shells and burned twigs at the site shows that humans landed on San Miguel at least 12,000 years ago, and the dart head in my hand holds clues to the ancestry of those seafarers.

Vitrified Fort in Ross County, Ohio.Spruce Hill earthwork encloses 150 acres and is possibly the largest Hopewell era enclosure ever built. The unique walls of this massive site are made of more stone than earth. There is evidence of high-temperature fires on sections of the wall - with slag and glazed bedrock that have led to controversial debates about metal-smelting furnaces (either historic or prehistoric).

Cairn Cemetery in Providence County, Rhode Island. At least 100 rock piles within an area of 230 acres. The cairns are approximately 3 feet high and 4 feet wide. Argument exists over the origin of this stone mound cairn field. The Wampanoag Nation's Seaconke Indian tribe claims it is a burial ground, with cairns marking both burial sites and memorials. Some authorities differ in their assessments, believing it to be the remains of field clearing in colonial America.

A few kilometres to the east of Ménerbes, along the D.103, and to the west of Lacost, the home of the chateau of the Marquis de Sade, can be found this dolmen which has its own signpost.

Gateholm's name, like several other islands off the Pembrokeshire coast, is derived from the names used by the Vikings who frequently raided this area in the 9th & 10th centuries, eg Skomer, Skokolm, Grassholm.

This magnificent hill fort in the Parish of St. Columb Major (Borough of Restormel) is a scheduled monument of national importance. It stands 700 ft (214m) above sea level and commands extensive views: south and east over Goss Moor to the Hensbarrow Downs, north towards St. Breaock Downs and west to Newquay and the estuary of the Gannel, an important focus of prehistoric settlement and trading activity.

Ancient Village or Settlement in Georgia. Remains of buildings in forest made of megalithic cyclopean stones.

An Illinois site known to have contained the remains of a thousand year old village was bulldozed by a developer in late June and early July. Archaeologists and local residents are urging the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) to take Tom Bow to court for exceeding allowed activities at the Pfeffer Site in Lebanon, Illinois. The ancient village of over 100 houses has been part of the Lebanon Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places since the 1970's.

The sixth salt man was discovered in Chehr-Ābād Mine in Zanjan City. It is likely that a large number of salt men were buried in Chehr-Ābād Salt Mine, said Farhang Farokhi head of Zanjan Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ZCHTO). Five previous discovered salt men are being kept in Washhouse Museum, he added.

Prehistoric Village site which has been occupied in four main periods from the end of the neolithic. Some houses have been reconstructed. There is also an iron age tumulus and two dolmens.