Pagan & Shinto News: Pagan Tama writer interviewed by The Wild Hunt

After a short break, Pagan & Shinto News is back! Here are some of the top stories from the past weeks:

• Pagan Tama writer interviewed by The Wild Hunt
• UK: Original ‘Stonehenge’ discovered, echoing a legend of the wizard Merlin
• In Memoriam: Dr. Wendy Griffin, co-founder of Pagan Studies

Read more below…

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Pagan News

Pagans for Secularism: an interview with Megan Manson
The Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt‘s Jake Leibowitz recently spoke with Megan Manson, the founder and administrator of Pagans for Secularism (and writer of the Pagan Tama Patheos blog), about the group and its mission…

In Memoriam: Dr. Wendy Griffin, co-founder of Pagan Studies
Patheos Pagan: Jason Winslade
Scholar, author, researcher, and drummer Wendy Griffin passed away at the age of 78 on February 12th…

Olly Alexander identifies as a witch
The List
‘It’s a Sin’ star Olly Alexander identifies as a Wiccan, meaning he’s a follower of witchcraft…

US: White supremacist Pagan group takes over church in Cumberland County
WRAL
A Pagan group whose mission is to ‘preserve the white race’ has moved into a former church building in Cumberland County…

UK: Modern long barrow builders find a niche in burials market
The Times*
Tim Ashton from Soulton Hall, Shropshire, has spent three years creating Soulton Long Barrow, a reimagining of ancient burials…

UK: Sex magic, occult art and acid: the story of the infamous witch of Kings Cross
The Guardian*
In the 1960s she would have been celebrated by the counterculture – but a decade earlier, Rosaleen Norton was shunned and mocked…

The rise of dark Nordic folk
The Guardian
Heilung jam with Siberian shamans and play with human bones, while Wardruna record songs submerged in rivers and on burial mounds. Now this vibrant undergound music scene is finding a wider audience…

Did Tom Brady’s witchcraft habit help him win the Super Bowl?
Daily Dot
Tom Brady won a seventh Super Bowl on Sunday night, and it’s his first with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team he joined last season. Could it be attributed, in part, to an affection that he and his wife share for witchcraft?…

Shinto News

Vandalism suspected at Shinto shrine with connections to Momotaro folk tale
The Mainichi
A national-treasure listed hall at a shrine in this west Japan city with connections to the folk tale “Momotaro” (Peach Boy) has been found damaged with scratches which appear to have been made with hard objects…

Japanese ‘miracle cow’ who lived 2 decades after being swept out to sea honored in bronze
The Mainichi
A statue of a bull who returned home alive after being swept onto the shores of an island some 90 kilometers away by typhoon flooding has been unveiled…

Festival starring UNESCO-designated, devilish ‘Namahage’ held in northern Japan
The Mainichi
A festival featuring the demon-like “Namahage,” a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, was held at a shrine in this northern Japan city between Feb. 12 and 14, though the devilish hijinks were toned down this year due to the coronavirus pandemic…

Japanese voice actress Ai Kayano embroiled in controversy after visit to Yasukuni Shrine
Global Times
Japanese voice actress Ai Kayano was embroiled in controversy on Chinese social media after she revealed that she recently paid a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine…

Climbers help myth and the present meet at sacred cave
The Asahi Shimbun
Hirotaka Takeuchi, the only Japanese to conquer all of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 meters high, and two others stretched a “shimenawa” sacred rope across the entrance to the Amano-Iwato cave situated halfway up a precipitous cliff in accordance with legend…

Other News

UK: Original ‘Stonehenge’ discovered, echoing a legend of the wizard Merlin
Live Science
The earliest megalithic circle at Stonehenge was first built in the west of Wales more than 5,000 years ago, before its stones were dug up and dragged over 140 miles (225 kilometers) to its present site in the west of England, new research suggests…

UK: 2,000-year-old figurine of Roman love god Cupid found in England
Smithsonian Magazine
Archaeologists say the petite statue, discovered ahead of construction of highway, may have been a religious offering…

UK: ‘Pagan sorceress’ Viking necklace on display in York
BBC
A “stunning” piece of Viking jewellery worn by a “pagan sorceress” found at Peel Castle, has gone on display off the island for the first time…

UK: Stonehenge Tunnel opponents get day in court
New Civil Engineer
Anti-Stonehenge Tunnel campaigners have been granted a court hearing to allow the planning approval of the road tunnel to be scrutinised…

100,000-year-old story could explain why the Pleiades are called ‘Seven Sisters’
Live Science
People both modern and ancient have long known of the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, a small collection of stars in the constellation Taurus…

‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present

New study shows nurses and midwives were branded witches in Scotland
The Scottish Sun
Nurses and midwives who were pioneering healthcare as far back as the 1500s were wrongly accused of witchcraft, a new study reveals…

UK: Skye woman ‘murdered’ for being a witch 12 years after persecution outlawed
The Scotsman
A powerful clan figure was accused of binding and burning a woman to death after accusing her of being a witch – more than a decade after the persecution was outlawed in Scotland…

Zambia: Two elderly people murdered on suspicion of practicing witchcraft, police say
Mwebantu
Two elderly people have been murdered in separate incidents, in Chingola and Kasama on suspicion of practicing witchcraft…

Zambia: 2 people burnt to death on suspicions of ‘witchcraft’
The Independent Observer
Two people were burnt to death by a mob using petrol on allegations that they were ‘wizards’…

Man poisons granny over ‘witchcraft’ allegation
Ghana Web
A 20-year-old man is currently on the run after allegedly poisoning his grandmother at Pusiga in the Northern Region after accusing her of ‘witchcraft’…

India: Telangana woman strangulated to death over alleged ‘witchcraft’
India Times
The woman, identified as N Bujji of Gandhi Nagar Thanda in Nalgonda district, Telangana was allegedly killed by her neighbours who accused her of ‘practicing black magic’…

Kenya: Teacher scalded by family over ‘witchcraft’ claims
The Standard
A pre-primary school teacher sustained serious burns after he was attacked by relatives on allegations of ‘witchcraft’…

UK: Professor Mary Beard says her long grey hair makes people anxious: ‘I’ve frequently been called a witch’
Metro
Professor Mary Beard has opened up about the reaction to her long, grey hair, admitting people get ‘anxious’ about it and she has been called a ‘witch’…