Pagan Tama
Top stories in Paganism and Shinto this week:
- More than 1 million watch Stonehenge Winter Solstice online
- German church finally says sorry for ‘bleeding wound of witch burning’
- Japan: Coronavirus surge disrupts New Year rituals
Read more below…
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Winter Solstice coverage
More than 1 million watch Stonehenge Winter Solstice online
Planet Radio
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event on Monday 21 December was closed to the public…
Pagan revellers brave downpours at a closed Stonehenge to mark Winter Solstice
Mail Online
Thousands have welcomed in the shortest and darkest day of 2020 this morning, tuning in to watch the Winter Solstice sunrise over Stonehenge on live stream as visitors are banned from the site…
Druid chief says Christmas Star is feminist and ‘end of the world as we know it’
Daily Star
Pagan leader Wally Dean, 51, hailed the joining of Saturn and Jupiter on the Winter Solstice as the “end of the world as we know it” and will see the end of patriarchal societies…
Egypt: Hundreds witness solar phenomenon in Luxor’s Karnak Temple
Xinhua Net
Hundreds of Egyptians and tourists braced the cold breeze to witness on Monday the solstice sunrise at the sanctuary of the ancient Egyptian God, Amun Ra, in Luxor’s famous historic Karnak Temple…
Rare ‘great conjunction’ of Jupiter and Saturn wows skywatchers around the world
Space.com
Saturn and Jupiter are hundreds of millions of miles apart. However on Monday they formed a line through space with Earth, which caused the two gas giants to appear very close to one another in the evening sky shortly after sunset…
What is Yule? Origins of winter festival explained, and how it influenced Christmas celebrations
iNews
Each year, Yule marks the start of the Winter Solstice and it’s a holiday many celebrate across the world…
The mischievous Greek goblins that run wild at Christmas
Greek Reporter
From Christmas Day until the Feast of the Epiphany, on January 6, Greeks watch over their homes especially carefully, looking for moved items or stolen Christmas goodies. That’s because, according to Greek folklore, a group of tiny goblins, called kalikantzaroi, come out during the holidays, hoping to wreak some havoc on mankind…
Pagan News
US: Mayor says town ‘not racist’ after allowing Asatru Folk Assembly in Minnesota
Global News
Murdock leaders say they approved a permit for the AFA place of worship in order to avoid a long legal fight over religious liberty…
UK: Mystery surrounds disappearance of pagan symbol on hill in Holyrood Park
Edinburgh Evening News
A five point star inside a circle was discovered by chance on a secluded spot at Dunsapie hill by Graham Robertson yesterday, after his dog tried to eat the white substance used to create the symbol…
US: Practicing witch starts bakery business in her home during a pandemic
WILX 10
“I am a practicing witch – I am the ‘Witch Bakes’, my magic is creating the cakes,” said Romero…
8 important events and trends in Paganism in 2020
Patheos Pagan: John Beckett
Does anybody really want to look back on the dumpster fire that was 2020? Probably not. But we need to do it anyway…
Shinto News
Japan New Year rituals fall victim to virus surge
France 24
A major Tokyo shrine said Monday it would close its doors on New Year’s Eve for the first time in decades, as religious sites in Japan adapt year-end events amid record virus infections…
Meiji Jingu to stop overnight worshipper visits
NHK World
Meiji Jingu, a major Shinto shrine in central Tokyo, has decided to close its gates during New Year’s Eve to prevent spread of the new coronavirus…
Year-end laughing ritual switched to subdued mode
NHK World
Laughing off all the bad memories of the past year is at the heart of a year-end Shinto ritual in western Japan. But this year, in addition to wearing a mask, participants were asked to keep their voices low…
Japan Airlines staff reassigned to work as shrine maidens during virus travel downturn
Japan Today
A group of JAL employees from Fukuoka Airport will instead be showing up for work as miko, Shinto shrine maidens…
Shinto shrine accepts digital offerings
NHK World
A Shinto shrine in the Japanese city of Toyama has started using a cashless payment service to receive New Year donations with digital money…
Out with the dust, in with the new
Penn Today
Ayako Kano and Linda Chance, both scholars of Japan, discuss Oosouji, the traditional New Year’s cleaning…
Other News
UK: Campaigners launch legal challenge against Stonehenge tunnel
BBC
Campaigners have launched a High Court challenge to the government’s decision to approve a £1.7bn road tunnel near Stonehenge…
Kenyan university set to launch degree in witchcraft
Zimbabwe Daily
Machakos University in Kenya is set to launch a degree in witchcraft becoming the second institution to offer the same globally…
Greece: New lighting scheme completed at temple of Hephaestus and Philopappos monument
Greek Reporter
The redesigned lighting for all the major Athenian monuments is now complete, with the new lighting for the temple of Hephaestus and the monument to Philopappos shown for the first time on Tuesday evening in the Greek capital…
UK: A replica of Stonehenge could be built at new ‘prehistoric theme park’ in York
Yorkshire Live
A new prehistoric visitor attraction is planned for York – including a replica of Stonehenge…
Fundamentalist Christians clash with American Indian Movement at Serpent Mound
The Wild Hunt
A video has surfaced on YouTube showing an altercation at Serpent Mound Native American Burial site on Sunday in Ohio…
Some native Hawaiians see Kilauea eruption as a sign of hope during the pandemic
KITV
The eruption of Kilauea is a sign to many native Hawaiians of the presence of Pele, the goddess of volcanoes and fire…
‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present
German church finally says sorry for ‘bleeding wound of witch burning’
The Times*
After 400 years of near silence from the local catholic diocese, Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke has described it as a “bleeding wound in the history of our church” and promised to place a memorial plaque in the local cathedral…
Zambia: 72-year-old man killed on allegations of ‘witchcraft’
Zambia Reports
A 72-year-old man of Mufumbwe District has been murdered by four people on suspicion of practicing ‘witchcraft’…
70-year-old Kenyan woman lynched by villagers for allegedly ‘bewitching’ grandson
Mwakilishi.com
Police have launched an investigation after a 70-year-old woman was lynched by a mob in Kisii for allegedly practicing ‘witchcraft’…
Kenya: 38-year-old woman living in fear over ‘witchcraft’ accusations
All Africa
Twenty-three years ago, Jackline Riziki moved from her home village in Mkoroshoni in Kilifi North Sub-county and settled in Ganze town to start a new life as a businesswoman. What was not clear to the mother of three boys, however, is that the community that warmly welcomed her would one day turn against her and brand her a witch…
No safe place for alleged ‘witches’ in the Central African Republic
News Ghana
CAR is one of those African countries where witch persecution is pervasive…
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