Top stories of the week in Paganism and Shinto:
- Ireland: 12,000 sign petition to hold new bank holiday on Imbolc
- US: Salem museum exhibit celebrates modern-day witch culture
- Roman-era statue of Venus discovered in England
Read more below…
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Pagan News
Ireland: 12,000 sign petition to hold new bank holiday on Imbolc
Independent Westmeath
With a date for the planned additional bank holiday in Ireland still to be announced, a campaign to hold it on St Brigid’s Day (February 1) has been gathering momentum. In a press release issued Wednesday, Herstory said February 1 was the ancient Celtic Festival of Imbolc, celebrating the first day of Spring…
US: Salem museum exhibit celebrates modern-day witch culture
The Washington Times
A Salem museum has opened an exhibit celebrating modern-day witch culture to dispel historical stigmas about witchcraft in the infamous Massachusetts town…
US: Coven seeks to provide safe space for spiritual students
The Simpsonian
Many campuses, including Simpson College, are seeing an increase in the number of students who identify as pagan, Wiccan, or a witch…
US: California man sues psychic who said she could remove witch’s curse from ex
Fox News
A California man is suing a Los Angeles psychic he paid for fraud because she allegedly claimed she could remove a witch’s curse put on him by his ex-girlfriend for $5,100…
“The word witch is a powerful thing:” Why so many people are becoming witches
ABC
Mimi’s one of a growing number of young people who are getting into witchcraft through social media…
Inside the Irish ‘hell caves’ where Halloween was born
National Geographic
Go in search of the ancient royal capital that spawned our favorite night of the dead…
Shinto News
Does Tokyo’s “breakup shrine” really have the power to end relationships?
SoraNews24
This particular shrine has a reputation for being one of Japan’s big three “breakup” shrines, and it’s said to be the most powerful one in Tokyo…
Other News
Roman-era statue of Venus, goddess of love, discovered in England
Smithsonian
The seven-inch-tall figurine likely stood in a household shrine in what is now Gloucestershire some 1,800 years ago…
UK: Buried gold necklace ‘protected’ North Wales cottage from demons, witches and dark ‘forces’
North Wales Live
A woman renovating a 400-year-old cottage in the Conwy Valley had a shock when a gold necklace tumbled from cracked plaster in an inglenook fireplace…
Canada: Artist mints Inuit design for new Indigenous coin series
CBC
The series of coins is meant to celebrate how, by passing down Indigenous legends and myths, one generation sets an example for the next…
How two statues of twin gods Artemis and Apollo found a home on Crete
Greek Reporter
The Chania Ephorate of Antiquities presented a group of small statues portraying the twin gods Artemis and Apollo to the public at the Archaeological Museum of Crete on July 24, 2019…
‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present
India: Three siblings thrashed over suspicion of ‘witch practice’
Pragativadi
Three brothers were allegedly thrashed by the villagers over suspicion of practicing “sorcery” at Hudisahi village under Berhampur police limits in Balasore district…
How the Salem Witch Trials influenced the American legal system
History
Those accused lacked basic legal protections, including the premise that one was innocent until proven guilty…
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