Pagan & Shinto News: Cerne Abbas Giant Figure Dates From Anglo-Saxon Times, Analysis Suggests

Pagan News

UK: Pagans across Kent call for handfastings to become legally recognised
Kent Online
A number of pagan groups have shared a parliament petition calling for handfastings alone to be legally recognised marriages, but with work by the Pagan Federation already well underway this could become a reality in the next few years…

UK: Meet the pagan chaplain encouraging people to talk about their death and funeral
Brighton & Hove Independent
The 72-year-old pagan chaplain, who lives in Haywards Heath, is passionate about getting people to prepare for their own death, and making them aware of all the options available when it comes to funeral arrangements…

The Druid in Deutschland who offers YouTube videos and wedding services
The Star
In his previous life, Michel vom Berch was a police officer, then an administrative official and later a business owner with over 100 employees. Today, the 65-year-old is a Druid…

Folk healers create modern techniques from their ancestors’ lost lore
Religion News Service
A collective of healers and practitioners is revisiting ancestral practices to become ‘ancestors for the future.’…

Ireland: Witches and warlocks of West Cork get new one-stop-shop
CorkBeo
There’s good news for West Cork’s strong pagan community this week as a magical shop that has survived floods, the pandemic and a surprise visit by the Taoiseach opens its doors once more…

Shinto News

Horseback archers pray for end to pandemic
NHK World
Traditional Japanese horseback archery, known as “yabusame,” was performed in Yokohama’s Minatomirai District on Sunday to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic…

Giant sandals displayed to pray for pandemic’s end
NHK World
A pair of giant straw sandals has been put on display in a town near Tokyo to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic…

Tokyo Skytree launches ‘Tree of Hope’
Metropolis
Kosugi explained that the Skytree was built along what many Japanese refer to as the city’s ley line – a perceived route that connects several important cultural and spiritual symbols…

Other News

Cerne Giant in Dorset dates from Anglo-Saxon times, analysis suggests
The Guardian
Sand samples examined by National Trust experts indicate hillside chalk figure was created in the 10th century…

Ireland: Mythical creature statue put on hold following complaint from priest, says sculptor
Irish Central
“A vocal minority seem to have been set against it from the start, and that culminated with the priest denouncing it from the altar as a pagan idol…”

British Museum returns looted ancient Greek statue to Libya
Greek Reporter
After a long legal battle, London’s British Museum returned last week a looted ancient Greek statue of the goddess Persephone to Libya…

Folded iron sword discovered in a Roman soldier’s grave in Greece was part of a pagan ritual, expert says
Mail Online
An iron sword deliberately bent as part of a pagan ritual has been discovered in a Roman soldier’s grave in Greece, an archaeologist has revealed…

Ancient mask of Greek God Dionysus found in western Turkey
Greek Reporter
An extremely expressive terracotta mask, thought to represent the Greek god Dionysus, was recently unearthed during excavations of the ancient Greek city of Daskyleion in Western Turkey…

UK: Graffiti artist paints spectacular war god mural on Carlisle West Walls
News & Star
Last week world renown Aussie graffiti artist Smug, based in Glasgow, spent a number of days working on a modern imagining of the deity Belatucadros, on part of the former Peter Tyson electrical store…

UK: The fortune-telling family that made Blackpool famous for psychics and clairvoyants
Lancashire Live
The Ellis family were experts in palmistry, physiognomy, crystal gazing, fortune telling, graphology, hypnotism, and spiritualism…

The history of Mother’s day and its connection to ancient Greece
The Greek Herald
The celebration of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans, who arranged festivals in honour of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele…

‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present

New museum to honour Scots convicted of witchcraft
The Herald*
Scottish campaigners want a museum created to commemorate the thousands of Scots persecuted for witchcraft…