Pagan & Shinto News: Princess Ayako has Shinto wedding at Meiji Shrine

Pagan & Shinto News: Princess Ayako has Shinto wedding at Meiji Shrine October 29, 2018

Top stories in Paganism and Shinto for October 21st – 29th:

  • Princess Ayako has Shinto wedding at Meiji Shrine
  • Druid event in Tennessee sparks protest from Christians
  • Hospital employee fired over beard he says required by ‘Norse Pagan Heathen’ faith
Left: Torii at Meiji Shrine, Tokyo. Centre: Druidess, by sandyraidy [CC 2.0, Wikimedia Commons). Right: From Pixabay.

Pagan News

Tennessee woman holding Druidic event to honor ancestors

Wate
On Saturday Wilson will be holding the Wayist Druidic Order Samhain in the Athens Market Pavilion. Wilson says this will be the “first ever nonevent-based public ritual by an archdruid in American history.” …

Druid event in Tennessee sparks protest from Christians
News Channel 9
Wilson leads the Druid chapter. She’s facing backlash over hosting a public ceremony…

Hospital employee fired over beard he says required by ‘Norse Pagan Heathen’ faith
Dayton Daily News
A former Premier Health security officer is accusing the hospital of firing him for refusing to shave his beard, which he said is an important part of his faith as a Norse Pagan Heathen…

‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s’ Production Designer Is an Actual Practicing Pagan
Variety
Who better than an actual self-described practicing pagan, who was born on Halloween and has credits such as “Awakening the Zodiac,” “Paranoid” and “The Dark Stranger,” to develop the scenic world of a show about a teenage half-witch grappling with whether she can leave her mortal life behind to fully embrace her destiny with the Dark Lord?…

Wand of Alex Sanders goes to auction
Rugby Advertiser
The wand comes with a typewritten document entitled the Magic of Creative Prayer and includes details of a devotee attending a midnight spiritual meditation on April 25, 1968…

New York witches place hex on Brett Kavanaugh
BBC News
Dozens attended the event at Brooklyn’s Catland Books, which was also streamed online…

Inside the Brooklyn Witches’ Antifa Hex on Kavanaugh
Daily Beast
Despite protests, the Brooklyn antifa witches’ hex on Brett Kavanaugh went on. Both vengeful hate and intense love filled the event…

‘Ordained Minister of Spiritual Consciousness’ Claims Christians Can Also Be Witches
Christian News
A woman who says that she is an “ordained minister of spiritual consciousness,” a seer, and a “Christian witch” recently recorded a rant video explaining why she believes it is wrong for people to tell her she can’t both be a witch and identify as a Christian…

Which witchcraft? Virginia witches set the record straight on paganism’s multiple paths
News Leader
While the commercialized “holiday season” has created its own mythology around a jolly old elf and flying reindeer carrying a big-box sleigh full of gifts, the Halloween season has commercialized more than mythological monsters like vampires, werewolves and mummies. It’s also reshaped the image of the very priestesses of the celebration — witches…

Rowena Whaling, IPMA’s Best Female Artist, destined to be a singer
The Wild Hunt
At the Second Annual Pagan Music Awards, held in Nashville in September and presented by the International Pagan Music Association, Whaling was honored as Best Female Artist for the second year in a row…

Walking with Witches
The Weekly Standard
How Salem’s legacy of fear and injustice gave rise to a kitschy way of life…

“Pagans Become Unlikely Allies to Skeptic Climate Activists”
Blue & Green Tomorrow
“Despite my skepticism, I welcome the positive contributions of pagans, regardless of my disagreements with their religion.”…

Modern Witches Do Away With Stereotypes, Focus on Healing
US News
Where is the next generation of witches coming from? The Internet, mostly, according to Wiccan Niki Somers of Lincoln Park…

Arts and crafts of the corridor; witches practice within Iowa City
The Daily Iowan
Witch, Wiccan, or metaphysical practitioner, the Iowa City area is home to a host of beliefs and rites…

IC Pagans dispel myths behind spiritual practices
The Ithacan
From movies like “The Craft” to “Harry Potter,” the mention of paganism, Wicca or magic conjures up images of fantastical spells and unrealistic results. However, these stereotypes do not truthfully represent Paganism — a centuries–old group of religions…

Local Wiccans take advantage of Hunter’s Moon
The Daily Evergreen
For fresh perspectives on harnessing energy, crafting spells, this writer speaks with witches…

Meet the witches of Instagram
Newsweek
Using the hashtag #WitchesOfInstagram, women who identify as witches are finding each other and connecting online…

What Modern Witchcraft Means for Art History
Mutual Art
How is the representation of witches in art and culture changing? As the Witching Hour of All Hallow’s Eve looms, we take a look at the Ashmolean’s new exhibition, Spellbound, as well as speaking to artists, witches, and academics, to find out…

Bewitching Minds: How Witches in Pop Culture Inspire Us
About
A brief overview of how historical Witchcraft from countless cultures have inspired media icon witches with their magic and strength…

Samhain celebrations happening across the UK
The Wild Hunt
It’s once more coming up to Samhain, and there are a series of seasonal celebrations happening across the UK as Pagans anticipate the period of Samhain itself and others remain content with the pumpkins and trick or treating of Hallowe’en…

The Multicultural Past of Our Commercial Halloween
Wall Street Journal
Ancient pagans, medieval Christians and Irish immigrants helped to create the holiday we know today…

Halloween: Forget pumpkins – carved turnips are truly frightening
Irish Times
Carving scary faces on to autumnal vegetables is an old Irish tradition but, instead of pumpkins, our ancestors used turnips to scare their neighbours…

Shinto News

Japanese Princess Ayako marries commoner at shrine ceremony
Washington Post
Japan’s Princess Ayako married a commoner in a Shinto ceremony Monday at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine…

The Meiji Shrine: A wedding venue fit for a princess
CNN
Located within the tranquil Yoyogi Park, the famed shrine has long been a popular wedding spot, with about a dozen daily ceremonies conducted there over the year’s busiest weekends…

UNESCO to honor ‘visiting’ masked gods of 10 festivals
The Asahi Shimbun
The recommendation for the honor, submitted by the organization’s evaluation body, was revealed by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs Oct. 24…

Horse whipping at Kumamoto shrine festival blasted as cruel
The Japan Times
A video tape showing a horse getting whipped at a traditional festival held last month in the city of Kumamoto has caused a public outcry, with many people calling it a form of animal abuse…

High court nixes claim that Abe visit to Yasukuni Shrine was unconstitutional
The Japan Times
A high court Thursday upheld a lower court ruling rejecting a claim by some 450 citizens that a 2013 visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine violated the constitutional separation of state and religion…

Japanese Cabinet opts not to visit Yasukuni Shrine during Autumn Festival
The Japan Times
The entire Cabinet along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refrained from visiting Tokyo’s war-linked Yasukuni Shrine during this year’s four-day autumn festival that ended Saturday…

Detention Center closes, site to transform into park showcasing Japanese-era shrine
Taiwan News
The Hsinchu Detention Center has officially closed, with the site expected to reopen as a historical park featuring Shinto shrine next month…

Boys, girls celebrate Japanese rite of passage in Lomita
Daily Breeze
A traditional Japanese rite of passage for girls and boys was rekindled in Lomita on Sunday…

Raking in good luck at the Asakusa Tori-no-Ichi
Japan Today
There are numerous delightful traditions in Japan for securing good luck or warding off back luck. Many are meant to be observed especially at nenmatsu-nenshi (yearend/New Year’s)…

Maintaining Matsuri
Mimusubi
Matsuri can be difficult to maintain. Unlike buildings, which will stand there for at least a few years even if no-one does anything to look after them, a matsuri needs people to perform it…

Other News

Halloween Could Move To Saturdays — If Trump Follows These People’s Wishes
Bustle
Thousands of people are petitioning the president to permanently make Halloween a Saturday, despite the holiday’s deep ties to Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival marking the Celtic new year on Nov. 1…

Church aims to put fear of god into Hallowe’en
The Times
Children need help to avoid the lure of the “dark side” this Hallowe’en, a senior Church of England figure has said, advising youngsters to dress up as saints or go door-to-door handing out treats and Bible verses to their neighbours…

Scots urged to remember ‘feminist icon’ in witch executions
The National
It’s a story of witches, stitches and riches – but the woman at the heart of one of Scotland’s most notorious witchcraft trials has been slandered and should instead be celebrated as a hero and feminist icon, according to an eminent academic…

A tale of three Fife witches
Fife Today
The story of two 17th century witches from Kirkcaldy who made predictions and put curses on townsfolk is just one of the tales featuring in a talk at Kirkcaldy Galleries this week…

So-Called ‘Witch Caves’ Suggest Underground Network Helped Accused Witches Escape Salem
WBUR
Salem is well known for its gruesome history of witch trials and the stories of those executed in the anti-witch hysteria. But it’s also believed that there was a network of people in the area who secretly worked to help those accused of witchcraft escape from Salem to safety…

This Wealthy Woman Was Hanged as a Witch for Speaking Her Mind
History
When Hibbins’ husband died in 1654, she became vulnerable—on June 19, 1656, she was hanged for being a witch…

Halloween in Tokyo’s Shibuya: Where did all the wicked wackiness get started?
Japan Today
Japan’s rowdy, cosplay-themed Halloween celebrations have become famous around the world, with young people congregating in city hot spots and theme parks where they snap selfies in outrageous outfits and ghoulish get-ups…

Madhya Pradesh couple beaten and forced to eat faeces on suspicion of ‘witchcraft’
Times of India
A tribal couple was allegedly tied to a tree and beaten up…

Elderly woman, 70, accused of being a witch fighting for her life ‘after having her tongue cut out’
The Sun
Angry villagers in India’s Bihar State allegedly attacked her with blunt instruments and held her at gunpoint…

Witch and famous – Sanderson sisters celebrate 25 years of “Hocus Pocus” magic
Inside The Magic
As the Sanderson sister sensation celebrates its silver anniversary, new and enchanting merchandise, sequel stories and experiences have been conjured up to mark the event…

Witch Please: The Resurrection Of Witchcraft In Popular Culture
Junkee
From The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina to Suspiria, the witch is back and she’s not riding away on her broomstick anytime soon…

They Don’t Make Witch Movies Like They Did in the ‘90s
Cosmopolitan
Halloween isn’t just a holiday—it’s our entire October mood. So celebrate the best time of year with a month’s worth of stories that will keep you up all night long…


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