Bartolo Longo takes a more necromantic role The Vatican has officially declared Bartolo Longo a saint, recognising a man who once immersed himself in spiritualism and occult rituals before becoming a pillar of Catholic charity and devotion.  Pope Leo XIV canonised Longo during a ceremony in St Peter’s Square witnessed by 70,000 onlookers, many drawn by the astonishing trajectory of the former law student turned religious icon. Longo was born in 1841 in the town of Latiano in southern Italy. Raised in a Catholic household, his life took a sharp turn when he enrolled at the University of Naples in the 1860s. At that time, spiritualism and anti-clericalism were hot across Europe, and Longo found himself swept up in the intellectual and occult trends of the time.  He participated in séances, spiritist circles, and ritualistic practices that the Church later labelled. He even claimed to have been "ordained" in one of these groups, though it is unlikely that it was a formal Satan...

Russian despot Vladimir Putin has dumped his most loyal witch in jail, even after years of magical devotion and magical support for his regime. Alyona Polyn, 45, known in less enchanted circles as Elena Sulikova, has been sentenced to two years behind bars for “extremism and insulting the feelings of believers.” This, after she organised covens of self-proclaimed witches to cast spells boosting Putin and sending his enemies “back to the abyss.” We are not sure that the intention is correct. Enemies of Putin are unlikely to have come from any abyss. Ukrainian intelligence didn’t see it as harmless hocus pocus. Kyiv’s SBU security service said she was “not only involved in magic and esotericism, but also recruiting new members… outside Russia on the instructions of the FSB.” Her witches were allegedly told to spy on Ukrainian troop movements and feed the data straight to Moscow’s spies. It's unclear when everything went pear-shaped for Polyn. For some reason, the Russian security f...

  Australian pagan singer Wendy Rule [ pictured ] has publicly dumped New Orleans-based self-styled “warlock” Christian Day's Hexfest after he made a repellent crack about starving Palestinians. Despite watching Day hurl online abuse across the Pagan community like a drunken bard, Rule had initially agreed to perform at his Hexfest event next August. Her usual stance is to remain neutral, moving between Pagan factions without kicking off. But that plan went up in smoke this week whena revolting Watchers of the Dawn quote from Day about the plight of those in Gaza surfaced on the WitchesWorkshop page. For those who missed it:   “They can always dine on one another. I'm surprised they haven't eaten the hostages yet.” Given the chance to deny or explain the remark, Day instead clammed up. Rule then sent him a polite email withdrawing from the festival. No contract had been signed and no cash had changed hands. She didn’t explain her decision, having seen Day’s flair for ...