Pagan Tama
Top stories of the week in Paganism and Shinto:
- UK: Pagan summer solstice event at beach sparks row about camping
- UK: “We are still ridiculed” says modern-day witch as Cheshire festival cancelled
- Japan: Portable shrines carried into sea near Tokyo to pray for safety
And more – see below…
Summer Solstice coverage
UK: Pagan summer solstice event at Talacre beach sparks unholy row about camping
North Wales Live
An unholy row has erupted over a pagan group’s plans to celebrate the summer solstice at an iconic North Wales beach…
UK: Summer Solstice at Stonehenge visitors urged not to drive
Salisbury Journal
Drivers are being urged to use public transport and car share to get to Summer Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge next week…
UK: The Witch Elm Markets are back for Midsummer
Express & Star
Celebrate Midsummer this June with the Witch Elm Markets in the Mander Centre, Wolverhampton…
Canada: Lessons of the strawberry will be focus of Indigenous ceremony
Collingwood Today
The summer solstice change of seasons ceremony will take place Sunday, June 18 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Awen Gathering Circle…
The 11 best places on earth to celebrate summer solstice
Time Out
It’s the longest day of the year – wring every drop of magic out of it at these ultimate sun-worshipping solstice spots…
Summer Solstice 2023: Top European locations to celebrate shortest night of the year
Farming Life
These are some of the best places to celebrate the Summer Solstice in Europe, including Stonehenge…
Summer Solstice 2023: Top ten Stonehenge alternatives in the UK for the best sunrise views
Hemel Today
Marking the longest day of the year, Summer solstice sees crowds flock to Stonehenge to watch the sunrise but there are many spectacular UK locations to try if you’d prefer to avoid the crowds…
Pagan News
UK: “We are still ridiculed” says modern-day witch as Cheshire festival cancelled
Cheshire Live
A modern day witch has spoken of her disappointment after having to postpone a planned ‘myth-busting’ witch festival that was due to take place in Knutsford this summer…
UK: 15 extraordinary pictures as York hosts its first witches coven
York Mix
Around 100 witches of all ages and genders gathered in Patrick Pool for what turned out to be a spellbinding event…
US: Local pagan group says membership growing
Yahoo! News/Tahlequah Daily Press
As the Pagan Grove seeks to grow a safe and supportive environment for those practicing paganism, the group continues to welcome new members…
US: Remembrance and honoring the deities of desecrated Pagan shrines
The Wild Hunt
Robert Schreiwer, founder of the Heathen tradition of Urglaawe, has livestreamed a ritual, “Observance of the Desecrated Shrines.”…
US: Elon Musk trolls Megan Fox as he tweets about hiring ‘a VP of Witchcraft & Propaganda’
Daily Mail
The billionaire businessman, 51, said in a Tweet Sunday, ‘Looking to hire a VP of Witchcraft & Propaganda,’ after Fox referred to herself as a ‘witch’ amid a social media row with conservative commentator Robby Starbuck…
Folk horror and the Holy Fool: how Paganism re-enchanted modern Britain
Dazed
50 years after The Wicker Man, Christianity is waning and neo-Pagan beliefs are on the rise – here, we talk stone circles, online spirituality, and anti-capitalist mysticism…
Young people are flocking to astrology. But it comes with risks.
The Washington Post*
The astrology field is booming — a trend that has been driven by younger generations, experts say, and is evidenced by the countless websites and platforms that cater to the astrologically inclined…
‘Haunted ruins’ of eerie church in UK still used for ‘witchcraft’ to this day
Daily Star
A burnt-down church is the home of ‘witchcraft’ practices with the ‘haunted ruins’ supposedly populated by ghosts, some of which are furious at the sight of those trespassing on the once holy grounds…
Shinto News
Portable shrines carried into sea near Tokyo to pray for safety
NHK World
People came together in Kamakura, near Tokyo, on Sunday to shoulder portable shrines and carry them into the sea to pray for the safety of the community…
‘Chagu Chagu Umakko’ horse festival held in Iwate, northern Japan
NHK World
Dozens of horses adorned in colorful decorations and bells paraded in a festival marking the start of early summer in northern Japan…
Is religion in Japan in irreversible decline?
Japan Today
Back in 2015, Kenji Ishii, professor of Shinto studies at Kokugakuin University, projected that more than one-third of the nation’s shukyo hojin (incorporated religious bodies) will have ceased to exist by 2040…
Japan’s regional festivals mark the seasons with prayers and local colour
Nippon.com
Festivals throughout the year in Japan offer up prayers to the land’s myriad spirits and deities for good harvests or protection from disease or disaster…
What is Capcom’s newest original game Kunitsu-gami: Path of the Goddess?
Gameranx
It may seem esoteric now, but this may be a game everyone plays in the future…
Making a case for Japan’s right to brag about its four seasons
The Japan Times*
I most often hear the seasons mentioned as being characteristic of Japan, as if there is no winter or summer beyond its borders…
Other News
Israel: Woman finds 3,000-year-old Egyptian goddess figurine during beach walk
Newsweek
A figurine from the age of pharaohs and pyramids has been found on a beach in Israel by a surprised beachgoer…
Ancient Egyptian followers of Bes may have used hallucinogens
Ars Technica
An ancient Egyptian vase in the shape of the deity Bes showed traces of chemical plant compounds known to produce hallucinations, according to a recent preprint posted to Research Square…
Romania: Wolf skull atop 1,800-year-old grave was left by robber who feared revenge, experts say
Miami Herald
While excavating the center grave, archaeologists uncovered a stack of rocks with a wolf skull on top — a tribute left by an ancient grave robber, the Polish excavation leader, Bartłomiej Szymon Szmoniewski, explained to Science in Poland…
UK: Rare Roman mausoleum unearthed in London
BBC
A “completely unique” Roman mausoleum has been discovered by archaeologists in south London…
US: Student ‘forced to take part in pagan ritual’ during class, parents claim
CBN
Parents of an Ohio elementary school student say their son’s First Amendment rights were violated after he was ‘forced to make a Native American kachina doll in his class…
UK: Goddess of the Wye highlights river’s pollution levels
BBC
A giant puppet has been created by campaigners to raise awareness of pollution levels in the River Wye…
Mayor becomes ‘most hated man in France’ after bulldozing the ‘French Stonehenge’ to make way for a DIY shop
LBC
A French mayor has become “the most unpopular man” in the country after allowing an ancient stone formation to be knocked down to make way for a DIY shop…
In the Arctic, a 2,500-year-old Greek myth is coming true
Patheos Pagan (Ben H. Gagnon)
One of the most incredible stories of the 21st century hasn’t showed up yet on the radar of popular culture, thanks in part to the sterile language of scholarship and the lack of cross-disciplinary thinking in academia…
Greece: Five Caryatids in Athens still waiting for their lonely sister
Greek Reporter
The Caryatids which can currently be seen at the Erechtheum are faithful copies, since the five remaining originals are in the Acropolis Museum for their protection, conservation, and restoration…
UK: James Gorst Architects creates timber-framed temple in rural Hampshire
Dezeen
Timber-framed pavilions connected by cloistered walkways define this non-denominational temple complex by British studio James Gorst Architects in rural Hampshire, UK…
‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present
Nigeria: Three policemen, 10 civilians arrested for alleged killing of women over ‘witchcraft’
The Eagle Online
The Adamawa State Police Command said it has arrested three policemen and 10 civilians over their alleged involvement in the killing of two killing two women over ‘witchcraft’…
‘Modernization of witchcraft’ and evangelical throwbacks in Africa
Opinion Nigeria
Messages and preaching like that of Stephanie Ike Okafor are mainly responsible for the perpetuation and pervasiveness of this make belief, and the violence and abuses linked to allegations of witchcraft and demonic possession…
The astonishing story of the last British woman jailed for witchcraft – just 80 years ago
The Telegraph*
Nellie Duncan’s missives from the other side caused a wartime scandal – leading to a trial Churchill dubbed ‘obsolete tomfoolery’…
Witchcraft: A History in 13 Trials by Marion Gibson review — when witch-hunts really were deadly
The Times*
This timely history of witch trials shows how they were used to terrorise poor and marginalised women…
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