Pagan & Shinto News: Pastor sparks outrage after labeling Beyoncé ‘a witch’

Pagan & Shinto News: Pastor sparks outrage after labeling Beyoncé ‘a witch’ March 1, 2023

Top stories of the week in Paganism and Shinto:

  • US: Pastor sparks outrage after labeling Beyoncé ‘a witch’
  • UK: Ely Pagan shop targeted by vandals
  • Egyptian officials share first look at ancient scroll filled spells to guide the deceased to the afterlife

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Beyoncé at the London premiere of The Lion King. Sassy, CC BY 3.0

Pagan News

The Falliforia: Dionysus is celebrated across Greece
The Wild Hunt
Falliforia celebrations were held this month in Tyrnavos and Athens in honor of Dionysus, the God of wine, revelry, and fertility…

US: Georgia grand jury forewoman who wanted to subpoena Trump has witchy Pinterest page 
Mail Online
The Georgia grand jury forewoman who laughed about bringing down the former president has a Pinterest page with collections of pinned magic spells…

UK: Stonehenge druid at Low Traffic Neighbourhood march
Oxford Mail
Neo-druid King Arthur Pendragon, who as an eco-campaigner was arrested 26 times during the Newbury bypass protest in the 1990s and was represented in court by barrister and future Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, joined the Oxford march – wearing his druidic robes…

UK: Paganism – Why are more people choosing to join the ancient religion?
ITV
A group of pagans have claimed that acceptance of more people from the queer community is one reason many are choosing to follow the religion…

Canada: Pictou County Pagan Society welcomes likeminded spirits
Saltwire
Stewart, who owns the Art of Divination Gift Shop in downtown New Glasgow, said she came up with the idea of forming the society from talking to customers…

US: Witches, Pagans, heathens, oh my! The Hill’s new coven
The Kenyon Collegian
Kenyon Coven had its first meeting last Saturday and is excited to establish a Witch, Pagan, Satanist and heathen organization in Gambier, Ohio…

US: Sage, sacred to Native Americans, is being used in purification rituals, raising issues of cultural appropriation
The Conversation
White sage, which is sacred to a number of Native American tribes in the southwest United States, has been adopted by both some contemporary Pagans and New Age practitioners for purification rites…

UK: 9 ancient traditions and Celtic customs of Scottish Spring
The Scotsman*
Our ancestors celebrated the Spring equinox because it marks the time when night and day stand equal as the sun heads north over the celestial equator, bringing new life and light after the punishment of Winter…

Shinto News

7,000 dolls adorn streets, steps in Chiba ahead of Hina Matsuri
The Asahi Shimbun
Thousands of dolls are on display here for the upcoming Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival) that is celebrated across Japan on March 3…

Over 1,000 traditional dolls crowd pyramid display in Saitama Pref.
The Japan News
An arrangement of some 1,800 traditional hina dolls on a stepped pyramid delights visitors at a shopping mall in Konosu, Saitama Prefecture…

Arita doll festival opens in Saga, features huge 7-tier display
The Asahi Shimbun
The Arita Hinamatsuri Festival, featuring one of the world’s largest seven-tiered displays of porcelain “hina” dolls, is being held in Arita, Saga Prefecture, through March 12…

Women dedicate ‘rice planting dance’ to shrine in Fukushima Pref. after COVID hiatus
The Mainichi
Women wearing colorful costumes and hats adorned with flowers dedicated a traditional rice planting dance to a local shrine in this northeastern Japan town on Feb. 19 for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began in spring 2020…

Nara: Worshippers frolic in sandy deluge
The Japan News
Sand flew through the air as people flung sand at one another at Hirose Shrine in Kawai in Nara Prefecture, as part of a traditional — yet unusual — festival to pray for a good harvest…

Geisha bring life and color to plum blossom festival at Kyoto shrine
The Mainichi
Geisha and their “maiko” apprentices served tea to visitors to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Japan’s ancient capital on Feb. 25, adding their own dash of color and verve to the “Baikasai” plum blossom festival…

Japanese anime ‘Oni: Thunder God’s Tale’ wins two prizes at Annies
The Japan Times*
Japanese anime series “Oni: Thunder God’s Tale,” a story about a girl growing up in a world of gods and monsters, won two prizes in the TV/Media category at the annual Annies on Saturday…

Other News

Egyptian officials share first look at ancient scroll filled spells to guide the deceased to the afterlife
Mail Online
Photos of a 52-foot-long Book of the Dead scroll discovered in March 2022 have been revealed to the public – showing illustrations of gods and the afterlife…

Mexican president posts photo of what he claims is a Maya elf
The Guardian
Mexico’s president posted a photo on his social media accounts on Saturday showing what he said appeared to be a mythological woodland spirit similar to an elf…

UK: Celtic fertility figurine found in Haconby could fetch £1,200 at Noonan’s auction
Grantham Journal
Measuring 5.5cm high by 1.2cm wide, the figure, which was found after harvest time last year, will be auctioned with an estimated price of £800 to 1,200…

UK: Ai Weiwei leads a dip into witchcraft and weird nature
The Guardian
Inspired by a Dartmoor witch’s cauldron, Earth Spells features magnificent oddities, including a human-headed hen, while Super Natural, another south-west show, ties wisdom to the Earth, not least in Ai Weiwei’s tree root sculpture…

Did Byzantine Christian icons conceal Pagan gods?
Greek Reporter
That the peoples of the ancient world worshipped statues and figures of their gods is well known, but newer evidence suggests that they also commissioned portraits of their gods to be venerated in their own homes, not unlike Orthodox Christian icons…

UK: The Pagan roots of Pancake Day and Shrove Tuesday
Sky History
Just like many of our other Christian-themed annual holidays and celebrations, the roots of Pancake Day lie in pre-Christian pagan times…

‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present

UK: Ely pagan shop and LGBTQ+ charity targeted by vandals as windows smashed
Cambridgeshire Live
Positively Magickal, a pagan and alternative shop in Ely, had two windows broken and stock destroyed and spread into the street…

US: Pastor sparks outrage after labeling Beyoncé ‘a witch’
Mail Online
A pastor has gone viral after labeling record-breaking Grammy winner Beyoncé ‘a witch’ and furiously shamed any Christian who plans to attend her concert…

Kenya: Kwale elderly man predicts his killing over ‘witchcraft’ allegations
The Star
“He had been at loggerheads with one of his sons. The dispute was to do with allegations of witchcraft and other small family issues,” said Hassan…

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