Pagan Tama
Top stories in Paganism and Shinto this week:
- US: Heathens respond to “Q-Shaman” and Norse imagery in Capitol riot
- Japan: New Year’s Shinto shrine visitors plummet
- UK: Major new cultural project to honour Scottish women persecuted as witches
Read more below…
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Pagan News
US: Heathens respond to “Q-Shaman” and Norse imagery in Capitol riot
The Wild Hunt
Of the many rioters photographed during the assault on the Capitol, one in particular caught the eye of the Heathen community – a face-painted, shirtless man, wearing furs and a horned helmet, carrying a spear, and covered in tattoos related to Viking and Norse imagery…
US: Film producer Steve Bing was suicidal for a year, sought help from a Wiccan
WBAP
Steve Bing had been struggling with suicidal thoughts for a year and had even turned to a Wiccan for help before he leaped to his death in June last year, according to a new report…
US: Fear spreads in Minnesota town as ‘extremist’ Asatru group moves to open church
The New York Times
The group, the Asatru Folk Assembly, which describes itself as centered around a “native, pre-Christian spirituality,” has been identified as a white supremacist hate group by other Pagan believers and organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center…
UK: Tribute to Pagan NHS worker found dead on Boxing Day
My London
According to a friend, Paul ‘Candiflp’ Blackwood “lived by the mantra ‘Do what they will and let it harm none.’…
US: Shawnee resident owns unique metaphysical, spiritual supply store
The Shawnee News-Star
From herbs to crystals to incense, business owner Lorna Ward provides a variety of unique spiritual supplies through her store, Oak, Ash and Thorn in downtown Shawnee…
Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore summoned ‘pagan god of war’ during a Rainbow studio session
Louder Sound
Using a ouija board to summon spirits is all fun and games until one appears, as Ritchie Blackmore discovered in 1977…
Black Christians, don’t demonize African spirituality
Religion News Service
Even in this trauma, African people in the Americas reshaped the predominant Christianity. We mixed and remixed a slave religion with our African spiritualities and those we encountered in the New World into a faith that emphasized freedom…
What it’s really like to be a new age witch
Glamour UK
Interest in modern witchcraft is on the rise, thanks in part to those of us who are looking for new ways to look after our mental health during turbulent times…
Celebrity Witches
Patheos Pagan: Tony Mierzwicki
I personally think that celebrities identifying as witches is a good thing…
Shinto News
New Year’s Shinto shrine visitors plummet in Japan
Nippon.com
The number of visitors to shrines and temples in Japan in the first three days of 2021 plummeted from a year before, a private survey has shown…
Shinto shrine pilgrims wish for pet animals’ health
NHK World
Pet owners visited a Shinto shrine in Kumamoto Prefecture, western Japan, for an annual event to wish for the good health of their loved animals…
Swordsmiths pray for safety in New Year ritual…
NHK World
Swordsmiths have prayed for safety amid the coronavirus pandemic in Japan’s northern prefecture of Hokkaido…
Black cat ‘praying’ at Shinto shrine becomes online sensation
Asia One
A Japanese social media user (@nori22) captured a picture of a black cat praying in front of a shrine on Jan 2, and the series of cute videos and photos went viral on Twitter…
Other News
Viking Age ship burial found in Norway
The Wild Hunt
A burial complex in Gjellestad, Norway includes burial mounds, buildings and a ship burial may help us to better understand the cultural and spiritual practices of the Vikings…
Egypt restores famous ram statues at Karnak Temple
MENAFN
Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled Al-Anani and Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Mostafa Waziri have inaugurated the largest renovation project to save 29 ram statues at the Karnak Temple…
‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present
UK: Major new cultural project to honour Scottish women persecuted as witches
The Scotsman
Women persecuted for witchcraft crimes in Scotland hundreds of years ago are set to be honoured in a major new cultural project being developed by two of Scotland’s leading traditional musicians…
A brief history of witch hunting in Scotland
Positively Scottish
If you have read about the witch hunt in England, such as the actual cases of Pendle witches, don’t think for a second that Scotland was immune to the incident…
Belgium: Town of Lier apologises for 430-year-old witchcraft trial
The Brussels Times
The municipality of Lier in Antwerp province is about to issue an official apology for a witchcraft scare in the late 16th century which led to the execution of Belgium’s last alleged ‘witch’…
Malawi: Woman killed over ‘witchcraft’ accusations
Malawi 24
An elderly woman in Dedza has been hacked to death on accusations that she killed a 12-year old boy through ‘witchcraft’…
India: Woman killed for ‘witchcraft’ in Bihar
The Times of India
An elderly man and his son killed their 61-year-old relative for allegedly practising ‘witchcraft’ at Laldeiya under Khaira police station area in Jamui district on Friday…
India: Couple driven out of village on ‘sorcery’ suspicion
The Pioneer
A couple of Baliapal block was thrashed by their fellow villagers and driven out of their village Mahinsapatta under Srirampur GP of Balipal block in Baleswar district on the suspicion of practising ‘witchcraft’…
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