The top stories in Paganism and Shinto for the week Apr 9th- 15th…
Pagan News
Philly Voice: Are witches and their descendants offended when politicians use the term ‘witch hunt’?
“We got to wondering what living, breathing self-identified witches – and their descendants – think about the phrase being thrown around by politicians.”
Press Republican: 21st century keepers of ancient Celtic traditions
Druid Fearn Lickfield shares how spring is time to rise up like seed, root and bulb from Earth
Comicsverse: BLACK MAGICK vs Real Belief Systems
Modern paganism and witchcraft are hot topics for comics. BLACK MAGICK, written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Nicola Scott, does a great job at representing this very real and very wide-reaching community…
LA Magazine: Meet the L.A. Woman Demystifying Modern-Day Witchcraft
The author of Craft: How to Be a Modern Witch talks female empowerment, her love for L.A., and her witchy fashion muses…
Refinery29: “I Thought I Knew What To Expect At A Witchcraft Convention. I Was Wrong.”
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first Wicca meeting, or why I’d been feeling so anxious about it all day. I imagined a group of young women, armed with crystals and tarot cards, sitting on the floor of a dimly lit room, doing a seance”…
The Wesleyan Argus: The Wiccans and Witches of Wes
This is the third installment of The Wiccans and Witches of Wes, a three-part interview series with two students who identify as Wiccans and witches on campus…
The Wild Hunt: New women’s workspace uses Wiccan terms to empower its members
Despite members being addressed as “witches,” it does not have a specific Wiccan or Pagan religious identity and appears to be completely secular…
BBC Arts: Party animals: How ancient cultures let loose Bacchus-style
“Sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll have been lambasted as a symptom of the post-modern world, a vogueish search for extreme and excess – but I’d argue that our desire for release, to go wild, to get off our heads can be traced right back to the very beginning of civilisation itself.”
Live Science: Nubian Stone Tablets Unearthed in African ‘City of the Dead’
The discovery includes temple art of Maat, the Egyptian goddess of order, equity and peace, that was, for the first time, depicted with African features…
Independent Ireland: BBC spy show granted access to ancient Greek temple as filming decision reversed
The Central Archaeological Council granted access to the 2,500-year-old Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion on April 12 after the production company said it would limit the number of hours needed…
Shinto News
The Asahi Shimbun: Spring festival returns to town that evacuated in nuke disaster
For the first time in eight years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster unfolded here in 2011, the happy sights and sounds of the spring festival dubbed “Tantan Peropero” returned to lift the spirits of residents…
SoraNews24: Japan Sumo Association bans girls from prohibiting in practice event as controversy continues
Stance that the sanctity of the sumo ring is tarnished by female presence extends all the way down to elementary school-age kids…
The Economist: Why women are not allowed in sumo rings—even to save a life
The ring is said to be sacred ground. Women, traditionally considered polluting in Shintoism, are barred from entering it…
The Japan Times: Time for sumo to ditch ban on women in ring
“It’s essentially an interpretation of that ancient practice that considers women impure and bans them from holy ground. Of course that’s not a view ascribed to by the vast majority of people in this day and age, so why do we keep the rule?”…
Other News
The Star, Kenya: Autism not witchcraft, Kilifi residents told
Kilifi county has launched a campaign geared at ending stigma and neglect against children with autism…
News Deeply: Branded as Witches, Stripped of Land: Tanzania’s Widows Need Support
When a widow is accused of being a witch in Tanzania, she can be blamed for her husband’s death, thrown off her land or lose her children. Some are killed for the imagined crime of killing their husband. Landesa’s Monica Mhoja explains why the government must step in…
Naiji, Nigeria: Crowd flogs elderly woman accused of witchcraft for allegedly killing people in Abia
It was reported that the woman was stripped of her clothes, flogged and excommunicated by angry residents of Amuda Isuochi community, Abia…
Chronicle Zimbabwe: Grandpa killed, 2 women injured in witchcraft row
A man from Binga struck an 86-year-old man to death with an axe after accusing him of bewitching him before setting upon two women from the same area with the same weapon, leaving them seriously injured…
Sowetan Live: Bushiri sued millions over witchcraft prophecy
Controversial leader of Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) Shepherd Bushiri and one of his employees are facing a mountain of legal woes following a prophecy in which a North West businesswoman was called a witch live on TV…
The Maravi Post: Two Mchinji men arrested for witchcraft allegations
Police spokesperson in Mchinji Kaitano Lubrino identified the suspects in the witchcraft case as Alexander Mickson, 27 and Andrew Patrick Dewu who are accused of planning to bewitch Lonzo Zimba over chieftaincy of Delu…
ScienceNordic: Medicine in Antiquity: From ancient temples to Roman logistics
In ancient Greece, treating disease was a religious concern that stretched right to the top…
Smithsonian: Simulation Suggests Viking Sunstones of Legend Could Have Worked
If they existed, the crystals—used to locate the sun’s position on cloudy days—could have helped Vikings sail to far away places…
The Times: Japanese children get lessons in how to love their country
Japan has introduced rules for teaching morality in primary schools that have been criticised by Christians and liberals as a throwback to the era of nationalism and indoctrination…
Daily Record: Secrets of Freemasons revealed as Grand Lodge lets in TV cameras and deny Illuminati and occult links
The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland has allowed a BBC documentary to be filmed in a bid to dispel the rumours surrounding the ancient order…