Pagan & Shinto News: Worldwide Pagan Community Celebrates Beltane Indoors

Top stories in Paganism and Shinto this week:

Worldwide Pagan community celebrates Beltane indoors amid pandemic
Japan: Shinto, Buddhist, and Catholic priests come together to pray for end of pandemic
UK: No decision on A303 Stonehenge project until July

Pagan News

US: Circle Sanctuary shares their online ritual experiences and strategies

The Wild Hunt
The COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily made many face-to-face (F2F) group rituals a thing of the past. But many Pagan groups have responded to the challenge and replaced F2F group rituals with online rituals…

US: Pagan librarians respond to challenged book list
The Wild Hunt
While its services change with the needs of the public, the library remains a place where new ideas are discovered and contested – including Witchcraft, Paganism, and LGBTQ issues, which have all seen an increase in challenges to books on their topics…

UK: Dorset celebrant hosts handfastings online
BBC
Couples who have had to cancel or postpone weddings while in lockdown have been taking part in online handfasting ceremonies…

Modern-day witches are holding Zoom coven meetings to continue rituals, spells, and the occult
Insider
Pat C. and Paul B. who own and operate Artes and Craft, a brick and mortar witchcraft shop in Hartford, Michigan, held an online ritual for the Spring Equinox…

Beltane Coverage

Beltane in the U.K. during the lockdown
The Wild Hunt
As we draw closer to Beltane, traditionally a time when people gather in large numbers around local maypoles, how are British pagans treating the current crisis?…

Beltane 2020: when is the Gaelic May Day festival – and blessings, rituals and Pagan origins explained
The Scotsman
Beltane is the Gaelic May Day festival and is most commonly celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice…

The history of May Day, a spring celebration
National Trust
Assistant Curator of Pictures and Sculpture, John Chu, delves into the May traditions that have brought communities together throughout history and considers objects from our collections that relate to this ancient festival…

What is the history behind May Day and why do we celebrate it?
History Extra
Historian Helen Carr explores the history of May Day, which has Roman origins and was once a pagan celebration. She reveals how, through history, this celebration of spring has been deeply connected to the earth’s enduring cycle of birth, life and death…

Why do we celebrate May Day?
Metro
May Day falls on 1 May every year and is traditionally taken as a day to celebrate the arrival of spring…

Walpurgisnacht: The German Night of the Witches explained
I Am Expat
The origins of Walpurgis Night can be traced all the way back to pagan festivities that celebrated the coming of Spring…

Czech Witches Night celebrations canceled due to coronavirus
Expats CZ
Coronavirus restrictions prevent traditional Čarodějnice celebrations, while a drought makes fires inadvisable…

Shinto News

Shinto, Buddhist, and Catholic priests come together to pray for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic
Sora News 24
The three biggest religions of Japan and some of their sects unite in the spiritual fight against the disease…

Emperor Naruhito performs ritual amid pandemic
The New York Times
Emperor Naruhito marked his first anniversary of his enthronement with a prayer at palace shrines for the people’s peace and happiness amid the pandemic…

Shinto blogger releases new book
Mimusubi
I have just published An Introduction to Shinto, a book based on the first two years or so of essays for the Mimusubi Patreon…

Shinto and Shugendo responses to COVID-19
Green Shinto
On April 8, Shinto priests at Matatabisha, a branch shrine of the famed Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, performed a Gion goryōe, or “assembly at Gion for angry spirits,” specifically aimed at quelling malevolent powers for the quick elimination of coronavirus…

Other News

UK: No decision on A303 Stonehenge project until July
Spire FM
The Government’s confirmed that the deadline for an outcome on the scheme has been delayed…

Coronavirus could cause rise in ‘witchcraft abuse’ in UK, police say
The Independent
Witchcraft accusations against children and vulnerable people could rise in Britain because of the coronavirus outbreak, police have warned…

UK: Iron Age fort ‘where Guinevere was born’ at risk from builders
The Times
Historic England has been accused of effectively giving the green light to a housing development next to a 3,000-year-old hillfort, which locals say will mar one of the nation’s Iron Age treasures…

Japan: 75% of public feel positive about Emperor Naruhito, survey finds
The Japan Times
Three-quarters of the public feels positive about Emperor Naruhito, who ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1 last year, a survey shows…

US: Shapiro Accuses Pope of being a Pagan
Breaking News Israel
Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro took to the airwaves on his Daily Wire program blasting Pope Francis for promoting what Shapiro considered pagan after the Pope commemorated Earth Day which Shapiro said was a “Pagan holiday.”…

Heavy Metal Magazine and Dylan Sprouse Join Forces for “Norse Pagan” Comic Book Series
Bloody Disgusting
A deeply personal tale, drawn from his profound Viking enthusiasm and Norse Pagan affinity, Sprouse creates an intriguing saga that will fall under the Heavy Metal umbrella…

Take a virtual tour of Creswell Crags’ Witch Mark cave with amazing 3D video
Derbyshire Times
The popular visitor attraction on the border of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire is closed due to COVID-19 but a video of its underground wonders has been created from 3D scans…

UK: Well dressing ‘postponed’ amid coronavirus pandemic
Worcester News
The Malvern Well Dressing and Water Festival celebrates Malvern’s history, from its iconic spring water and Victorian Water Cure to the area’s ancient Pagan traditions…

UK: Manchester Museum is offering a rare glimpse at its amazing Ancient Egypt collection
Manchester Evening News
Curator Dr Campbell Prince will explore objects from the museum and answer questions during the live event…

The weird sisters of Shakespeare and the witchcraft trials of his time
Syfy Wire
The weird sisters of Macbeth are certainly an unnerving lot: a trio of strange women whose omniscience drives the seemingly benign Lord Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, and his wife to ruin as they murder their way to the throne of Scotland then find themselves ravaged by unbearable guilt…

Ancient Ireland’s understanding and reverence for the environment
Irish Central
Our ancient ancestors held a deep respect for nature down to trees being part of the Brehan Law…

Mozambique: Two women murdered for suspected ‘witchcraft’ in Inhambane
Macau Business
Two women were murdered for suspected witchcraft in Inhambane a week after 11 members of the same family were convicted of the same type of crime in the province…

South Africa: Superstitious mob tie ‘witch’ monkey in noose and beat it unconscious
Daily Star
The monkey was rescued from the mob in the rural community of Msawawa in the municipality of Randburg, in the northern South African province of Gauteng…