Pagan & Shinto News: Events Related To Emperor Naruhito’s Enthronement Completed

Top stories in Paganism and Shinto this week:

Japan: Events related to Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement completed
Hina Matsuri celebrations begin for Japanese communities worldwide
UK: Stonehenge tunnel may be scrapped over funding problems

Pagan News

UK: Sheringham Viking Festival ‘warrior’ finds faith in Norse gods
BBC News
A man said he eventually found his own faith by “becoming a Viking warrior”…

Witches Be Like … What is the Difference Between Religion and Spirituality Anyway?
Georgia Voice
Instead of attending mass regularly, I found myself seeking wisdom from clairvoyant spirit guides…

I washed my hair according to the phases of the moon and this is what happened
Stylist
Washing your hair in line with the moon’s phases is officially a thing – here’s what happened when writer Sophia Charalambous tried it…

Spring Equinox coverage

US: Ostara celebrates the spring equinox
The Lawton Constitution
For centuries spring has been seen as the season of renewal. Earth-based religions have long recognized the spring equinox as a day of celebration…

Spring is coming earlier than it has in over 100 years
CNN
The spring equinox will occur on March 19 this year. And according to the Farmer’s Almanac, it’s the earliest equinox the Northern Hemisphere has seen in 124 years…

How the Spring Equinox marks the changing seasons
The Telegraph
The first day of spring is upon us, but why are there two different dates – and what actually happens during the equinox?…

Shinto News

Events related to Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement completed
The Japan Times
Events and rites related to the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito on May 1 last year came to an end on Friday…

A trip to Niigata’s phallic Shoki Festival
Japan Times
Along the Agano river, deep within Niigata Prefecture are several small villages. Each one supposedly participates in maintaining a long religious folk tradition, found dating back to the late Edo period involving deities named Shoki-sama…

Emperor for People
The Daily Star
The Emperor is a ceremonial head of state, with no real political power. However, they are also considered the highest form of authority in the main religion of Japan, Shinto (or Shintoism)…

Hina Matsuri coverage

Hina Matsuri (Dolls Festival): One of the year’s most auspicious days dedicated to girls
Japan Today
The Hina Matsuri (Dolls Festival or Girls Festival) is a traditional event held each year on March 3 to celebrate young girls’ growth, good health and happiness…

City of Iizuka transforms into a giant dollhouse to usher in spring
The Asahi Shimbun
For sheer spectacle, the Iizuka Hiina no Matsuri doll festival heralding the arrival of spring is one of those must-see events…

US: Kona Historical Society Marks Girls’ Day With Dolls
Big Island Now
Hina Matsuri, better known as Girls’ Day or Doll Festival, is a Japanese holiday still observed in Hawai‘i, even among multi-ethnic families…

Baskin Robbins Girls’ Day ice cream inspired by Disney and ‘Hina-matsuri’ dolls
Japan Today
Baskin Robbins Japan are always quick to celebrate an occasion with a new ice cream flavor, or special ice cream set. They released a whole ice cream cake for the release of the latest “Star Wars” movie, and they’re also on the ball when it comes to holidays such as Halloween and Christmas…

Other News

UK: Two mile tunnel underneath Stonehenge is set to be scrapped over funding problems
Mail Online
A controversial £2-billion scheme to build a tunnel underneath the neolithic Stonehenge is now set to be scrapped, it has been claimed…

Italy: Rediscovered shrine tied to Rome founder
The Japan Times
Archaeologists have discovered an ancient cenotaph that almost certainly commemorated the legendary founder of Rome, Romulus, buried in the heart of the Italian capital…

UK: British Museum to exhibit Tibetan objects made of human remains
Phayul
British Museum in London will hold an exhibition “Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution” from Apr 23 to Jul 26 where Tibetan objects made of human remains will be on display…

UK: Witchcraft, fairies and folklore … a journey to the Gaelic otherworld
The National
There are various accounts of the Gaelic “otherworld” not always matching each other, as is appropriate for the shape-shifting, identity-loosening, bureaucratic nightmare that it presents…

UK: The sane move is to give Greece back its Elgin marbles
The Times
How would we feel if Big Ben were permanently transplanted to Athens?…

Japan: Why not skip packed ‘hanami’ sites and enjoy nature at its best?
The Asahi Shimbun
If all one wants to do is to simply sit outside on the grass and savor sake, there is absolutely no need to head to some popular–and invariably overcrowded–cherry viewing spot…

Spain’s mysterious underwater ‘Stonehenge’
BBC
Thought to be more than 4,000 years old, the Dolmen of Guadalperal was “invisible” for almost 60 years – until it unexpectedly reappeared…

Burning Down the Patriarchy with The Wicker Man
Splice Today
Ari Aster’s 2019 film Midsommar is basically a feminist remake of the 1975 paranoid pagan 1973 classic The Wicker Man. Like all the best remakes, though, Midsommar makes you reconsider its source material. Re-watching The Wicker Man after seeing Aster’s film, I realized that the earlier film was trying to burn down the patriarchy too…

India: Man killed by miscreants over suspicion of witchcraft
Newsd
A man was killed on the suspicion of practising sorcery at Balapadu village under Sesakala police limits in Rayagada district…

Zambia: Police rescue woman about to be killed by irate villagers for ‘witchcraft’
Mwebantu
Police in Choma have rescued a female adult aged 41 years who was confined at a funeral house on suspicion of practicing witchcraft and was being suspected to have bewitched a 27 year old female deceased person…