Pagan & Shinto News: List of accused ‘witches’ in Scotland published online for first time

Top stories in Paganism and Shinto for August 25th – September 2nd:

• List of accused ‘witches’ in Scotland published online for first time
• Oxford show investigates the history of magic and witchcraft
• US-based Shinto priestess appears on The History Channel

Pagan News

Pierced hearts, unicorn horns and a bottled witch: Oxford show investigates the history of magic and witchcraft
The Art Newspaper
Around 180 objects at the Ashmolean Museum reveal how humans have embraced the occult over the past eight centuries…

Pagan event aims to demystify the faith while also blessing modes of transportation
The Southern
Sunday will provide a unique opportunity in an effort to both contribute to the greater good and to tear down stereotypes as the Southern Illinois Pagan Alliance is hosting a Bless Your Ride event at Giant City State Park…

Sephora will start selling ‘entry level witch kits’ in October
Quartz
In some good news for area witches, Sephora will soon emerge as a mainstream purveyor of witchy accouterments…

University of Exeter looks at the best way to summon fairies
The Wild Hunt
The University of Exeter is currently sponsoring a postgraduate research project on how to summon fairies and demons…

Philip Pullman: why we believe in magic
The Guardian
The world of magic defies rational explanation, but beware dismissing it as nonsense. Like religious experience and poetry, it is a crucial aspect of being human, writes the Dark Materials author…

In Venezuela, Witchcraft is everywhere
The Wild Hunt
Thinking of the relationship between Venezuela and Witchcraft could be complication…

Neo-Romans Revive Classical Worship Ceremonies at New Iuppiter Perunus Temple
Ancient Origins
The ancient Roman state religion is making a comeback. As of 2017, these modern Romans even have an active, public temple to Jupiter, the Iuppiter-Perunus temple…

Shinto News

US-based Shinto priestess to appear on The History Channel
Shusse Inari Shrine of America
Rev. Izumi Hasegawa, the Shinto Priestess will discuss topics such as the importance their eco-friendly lifestyle and how to pay respect to nature…

Hiking Japan’s most spiritual trails
My Statesman
My hiking journey along the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail in Japan started by passing through a torii gate, a Shinto symbol marking the transition into sacredness…

Other News

List of ‘Scots witches’ published online for first time
The Scotsman
The historic pages of a 350-year-old book used to record the names of those accused of witchcraft in Scotland have been published online for the first time…

Ireland’s darkest, oddest and weirdest secrets uncovered
The Irish Times
A voluntary collective online is working its way through transcribing 700,000 pages of folklore that were collected throughout Ireland between 1937 and 1939…

The “return” of the 2,500-year-old Ballachulish Goddess
The Scotsman
The 2,500-year-old Ballachulish Goddess has “returned” to the Highland lochside where she was found after the Iron Age figure was recreated by a team of archaeologists.

New attraction to take journey into Greek mythology
Cyprus Mail Online
The labyrinth will be surrounded by greenery and waterfalls, creating an oasis which will complement the dreamlike experience of strolling by statues of ancient Greek mythological gods and goddesses scattered outside the labyrinth walls, taking visitors right into the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur…

Arrowverse’s John Barrowman Digs Into Celtic Mythology With New Legendary Comic Acursian
SyFy Wire
An upcoming comic series from Legendary, titled Acursian, will delve into the lore of Celtic culture and starring in the thick of things will be John Barrowman, the Scottish-American performer known for his roles of Captain Jack Harkness (Doctor Who and Torchwood) and Malcolm Merlyn (Arrow)…

‘Burning Man’ Is America’s Largest Religious Gathering
The Daily Wire
The festival began as a summer solstice bonfire ritual in 1986, when Bay Area artists “spontaneously” burned an eight-foot-tall wooden man, as well as a smaller wooden dog, in effigy…

The thriving female ‘witch doctors’ of southern Africa who fought colonial oppression in the 1800s
Face2Face Africa
The title witch doctor did not exist until the coming of the Europeans and their misunderstanding of the indigenous African traditional healing and religious practices…

Project Blitz, a strategic threat to religious freedom
The Wild Hunt
Minerva of Lady Liberty League, a Pagan civil rights organization, believes that IGWT display laws threaten not just Pagan children but all children. She said that IGWT display laws send “the message that Christianity is more important than any other faith (or non-faith) group.”…

“Religious freedom for some” critics say of new DOJ Task Force
The Wild Hunt
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has formed the Religious Liberty Task Force to help implement the various legislation and policies that were put into place last year…

Assam Government flayed for delay in adopting anti-witch hunting act
Northeast Now
Human rights activist Dibyajyoti Saikia has come down heavily on the Home and Political Departments of Assam for their ‘lacklustre’ attitude in the delay in adopting the Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2015 and making it into Act…

Woman Poisoned For Practicing Witchcraft, Accused Duo Arrested
OdishaTV
A woman was allegedly poisoned by her sister-in-law and nephew for “performing black magic” at Hadabahal village under Ramachandrapur police limits here on Monday…

Chikwawa Police warn against witchcraft accusations
Maravi Post
An angry mob in Chikwawa has assaulted a 60 year old man, accusing him of bewitching a boy who got killed by a crocodile…