Top stories in Paganism and Shinto this week:
- Pagan, Shinto and other religious communities react to coronavirus
- UK: Stonehenge A303 tunnel given go ahead by chancellor
- UK: Plans submitted for Neolithic-style tomb in Wales
Read more below…
Coronavirus Coverage
US: Mid-Atlantic Pagans consider precautions as COVID-19 spreads
The Wild Hunt
As more and more cases of the Novel coronavirus named COVID-19 are detected across the country, groups and organizations, including Pagans, that host public gatherings are faced with the possibility of having to postpone or outright cancel scheduled events in an effort to help slow the spread of the virus…
US: CDC shares COVID-19 guidelines for Faith-Based Organizations
The Wild Hunt
The Center for Disease Control has released resources to help faith leaders prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic and any specific outbreak in their communities…
Japan: Jinja and Covid-19
Mimusubi
A couple of weeks ago, Jinja Shinpō ran an editorial about the way jinja were responding to Covid-19…
Scrapping Japan’s cherry blossom custom ‘like taking hugs away from Italians’: Tokyo governor
The Straits Times
Preventing Japanese from gathering to enjoy cherry blossom season because of coronavirus would be like “taking hugs away from Italians”, the governor of Tokyo said on Thursday (March 12)…
As Japan scales down events due to COVID-19, Ehime Prefecture sticks to hanami tradition
The Japan Times
The ever-growing outbreak of COVID-19 is prompting some municipalities to urge cancellations of hanami parties, the annual Japanese tradition of picnicking and carousing while enjoying the ephemeral beauty of cherry blossoms that start gracing parks and riversides once spring arrives…
US: Cherry Blossom Festival Parade Canceled Due to Coronavirus
My MC Media
The National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C. has been canceled due to coronavirus precautions, the festival organization said in a statement…
Virus Halts Tradition of Kissing Ireland’s Blarney Stone
The New York Times
The new coronavirus outbreak that caused the Irish government to strictly limit social interactions, including by shutting schools, universities and child day care centers, on Friday interrupted one of the country’s most-cherished traditions…
Tokyo Olympics flame lit in Greece ‘behind closed doors’
Daily Nation
With spectators banned, an actress dressed as an ancient Greek high priestess lit the flame using the rays of the sun reflected off a concave mirror, launching a week-long torch relay in Greece before the flame is handed to Tokyo organisers on March 19…
Pagan News
US: WitchFest Austin draws thousands of attendees
The Wild Hunt
The one-day event, Austin Witchfest, is the brainchild of Derrick Land, who moved to Austin in 2011…
US: A Witch Walk Of Love
New University
Open between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., the Witch Walk is a marketplace with over 100 vendors, showcasing tarot readers, psychics, artists, healers and self-proclaimed witches…
UK: Genesis P-Orridge, of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, Dies at 70
Variety
Orridge was a provocateur whose art revolving around witchcraft and pornography caused considerable uproar in the United Kingdom…
Does a new asteroid have astrological significance?
The Wild Hunt
On February 15, two astronomers from the Catalina Sky Survey found a stray asteroid orbiting the earth…
Shinto News
In the footsteps of Okinawa’s forgotten priestesses
The Japan Times
This religious rite, which took months to prepare and culminated in a two-day journey from Shuri Castle to Sefa Utaki and back, hasn’t been practiced for over a century…
Mysterious salt cauldrons predict disasters at one of the “Three Great Miracles of Japan”
SoraNews 24
First classified by Tachibana Nankei, a doctor from the Edo Period, who described them in his book as ‘three miracles’, these three sites consist of Ishino Houden, a “floating” rock located in Hyogo Prefecture, Ama no Sakahoko, the “Spear of Heaven”, located on the island of Kyushu, and Yonku no Shinkama, “Four Holy Iron Pots”, which we’ll be introducing today, located in Miyagi Prefecture…
Hamster Adds Taito’s 1986 Action Shoot ‘Em Up KiKi KaiKai To The Arcade Archives
Nintendo Life
This Taito action shoot ’em up title was first released in arcades in 1986 and is all about a young Shinto shine maiden named Sayo who must rescue the Seven Lucky Gods after they’re kidnapped by monsters…
Other News
UK: Stonehenge A303 tunnel given go ahead by chancellor
BBC News
Plans to dig a two-mile (3.2km) road tunnel near Stonehenge have been given the go ahead by the chancellor…
UK: Plans submitted for Neolithic-style tomb near Llanidloes
BBC News
Based on real tombs found on Anglesey, a former Druid stronghold, it would provide a final resting place for people’s ashes…
Egypt reopens its oldest pyramid after £5m restoration
The Independent
An Egyptian pyramid that’s believed to be the first one ever built reopened to the public on 5 March after a 14-year restoration project costing almost $6.6m (£5m)…
UK: Claire Mitchell QC seeks posthumous justice for Scotland’s ‘witches’
Scottish Legal News
A member of the Faculty of Advocates marked International Women’s Day by launching a campaign seeking justice for thousands of people in Scotland who were convicted of witchcraft and executed…
UK: Accused, tortured, strangled, burned: Why Scotland’s witches should be pardoned
The Scotsman
We have yet to close one of the most shameful chapters of historical abuse against women, writes Dani Garavelli..
UK: Kirkcaldy drama group to stage play on the final days of a tortured Fife ‘witch’
Fife Today
A new play offering a fictitious account of the final days of a Fife woman accused of witchcraft is to be staged in Kirkcaldy this May.
US: Baptist Preacher Calls Smudging ‘Witchcraft’ & ‘Satanic Aromatherapy’
Native News Online
After receiving sage for a housewarming gift from two women parishioners, Rev. Jamal Bryant, a Georgia Baptist pastor, says he didn’t know what to do with it. So, he did some research and concluded that burning sage is “witchcraft” and “satanic aromatherapy.”…
The Sun
The fear of Friday 13th is actually rooted in a combination of witchcraft, Christ’s crucifixion and the plot by a murderous king who tortured and massacres thousands of members of a Catholic sect…
Mysterious ancient Egyptian box containing goose egg may lead to Pharaoh’s tomb
New York Post
An ancient stone chest and a mysterious ceramic box found at a burial site in Egypt may provide clues to the location of a royal tomb…
Romans used ‘flying penis amulets’ to ward off sickness 2,000 years ago
The Sun
Ancient Roman used amulets shaped like flying penises to ward off bad luck and illness…
Belief in witchcraft hampers drive to end female genital mutilation in Guinea, campaigners say
The Japan Times
Aminata Bah, who underwent FGM at the age of 5, said many people in the West African country believe traditional circumcisers have supernatural powers, and girls fear being cursed if they speak about what had happened to them…
Hope for disabled Congolese kids accused of witchcraft
Southern Times Africa
Disabled children facing accusations of witchcraft are among vulnerable members of the public to be protected from abuse as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) passes its first law on the rights of people with disabilities…
India: One killed, two injured over witchcraft allegations in Meghalaya
The News Mill
One person was killed and two others were seriously injured when an unruly mob in a remote village over allegations of ‘menshohnoh’ witchcraft, authorities said on March 9…
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