Pagan Tama
Top stories in Paganism and Shinto this week:
- US: Asatru Folk Assembly leader loses bid to charge critic with harassment
- UK: Couple harassed by neighbours over witchcraft practices
- Iceland: Vikings created a massive boat in volcanic cave to ward off the apocalypse
Read more below…
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Beltane coverage
UK: May Day Morris dancers wear blue makeup over racism concerns
BBC
Members of the Hook Eagle Morris Men showcased their new look at a performance near Hook, Hampshire, to mark the May Day dawn earlier…
UK: Wickerman burning goes online as Butser Ancient Farm celebrates Beltain virtually
The News
With crowds still unable to gather, a pagan celebration is goes digital this year, as Butser Ancient Farm celebrates its annual Beltain Festival online…
Beltane 2021: What meaning behind the pagan fire festival is, and how it is celebrated
iNews
Historically, rituals were performed during Beltane to protect cattle being put out to pasture…
Beltane: When May fires burned for three days on a Scottish island for luck
The Scotsman
The fires burned for the first three days on Shetland in hope that crops would grow well that year…
The May Day wreath and its roots in ancient Greece
Greek Reporter
Maios (Μάιος in Greek), the month of May, took its name from the ancient goddess Maia (in Greek Μαία, the mother, the midwife, she who helps to give birth…
Pagan News
US: Asatru Folk Assembly leader loses bid to charge critic with harassment
New York Post
The leader of a whites-only Heathen group in Minnesota lost his bid to file harassment charges against a woman who opposes his congregation…
UK: Couple harassed by neighbours over witchcraft practices
The Wild Hunt
Paul and Annie Riggs have been together for seven years, but current harassment began about two years ago with their vehicle being blocked and their tires being deflated…
Tarot booms as Generation Z sorts out spiritual path
Religion News Service
Generation Z has been the driving force behind the renewed popularity and mainstreaming of the age-old esoteric system…
Southern Illinois Pagan Alliance welcomes all
Daily Egyptian
The welcoming atmosphere of the Gaia House interfaith center is home to various religions/faiths and organizations, one of them being the Southern Illinois Pagan Alliance…
US: Channeling ancient Egypt’s Goddess of Isis in Geyserville
The Press Democrat
The small town of Geyserville is both an unlikely location and a perfect one for the Isis Oasis Temple and Sanctuary…
US: Pagan community gathers for metaphysical fair in Burlington
WCBU
The Burlington riverfront was a beacon of spiritual activity during the annual Metaphysical Fair at the Port of Burlington…
Why it’s suddenly wicked to be a witch
Mail Online
Four midlife witches share why magic has cast its spell on them…
Shinto News
Streamers of koi colour the skies of Tokyo for Children’s Day
Japan Forward
These colorful koinobori are a celebration of children and a tradition-filled, cheerful sign of the changing seasons…
Tracing the remains of the ancient Fujiko cult in Tokyo’s mini Mount Fujis
Japan Today
In the early years of the Edo period (1603–1868), a cult called Fujiko (富士講) arose around the mountain. It was founded by a Shinto priest called Hasegawa Kakugyo (1541–1646), and it turned the ascent of Mount Fuji into a religious rite and duty…
Protect yourself from social media evils with Japanese omamori amulet capsule toys
SoraNews24
Every time you post something on social media it’s sort of a roll of the dice as to what’ll happen. However, capsule toy maker Tama-kyu wants to help put the odds in your favor with its new line of social media omamori good luck charms…
Wakayama: The land of the gods
Japan Today
Just a couple of hours south of the electric city of Osaka, there’s a place where ancient pathways lead to hidden shrines shrouded in mist; where monks worship waterfalls and mystical forests float…
Hajichi: the banned traditional tattoos of Okinawa
Unseen Japan
For many Ryukyuan women, the hajichi tattoos were associated with being spiritually clean. They helped assure a pathway to heaven; 35.6% of Miyakojima women listed this as their main purpose…
Other News
Iceland: Vikings created a massive boat in volcanic cave to ward off the apocalypse
Live Science
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of rare artifacts from the Middle East in an Icelandic cave that the Vikings associated with Ragnarök, an end-times event in which the gods would be killed and the world engulfed in flames…
UK: Stonehenge tunnel among schemes threatened by green legal challenge
The Times*
Major road building schemes including a tunnel close to Stonehenge are threatened by a new legal challenge that claims ministers are ignoring commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions…
UK: Pagan business grows rapidly thanks to niche nature of her items
Newark Advertiser
Jeanine Hamlyn, of Lowdham, owns two shops in Matlock Bath selling Pagan, wicca and nature-based witch craft supplies and giftware. Thanks to the unusual nature of her products, Jeanine’s business, called The Coven, has grown rapidly during the past year…
Why proposed renovations to Greece’s Acropolis are so controversial
Smithsonian Magazine
Scholars voiced concern about planned aesthetic changes and a lack of adequate accessibility measures for people with disabilities…
Mysterious stone structures in Saudi Arabia were used to sacrifice animals to an ‘unknown’ god
Mail Online
Hundreds of stone monuments scattered across northwestern Saudi Arabia may represent the oldest known ritual site on Earth…
Burkina Faso: Burkinabe fighters seek protection with spiritual traditions
The Independent
Militias battling Islamic extremist fighters in northern Burkina Faso say they’re turning to traditional spiritual practices for protection…
‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present
Woman bludgeoned to death over suspicion of ‘sorcery’ in Assam
The New Indian Express
The locals said the miscreants killed the woman after suspecting her to be practising ‘witchcraft’…
Two women tortured in latest ‘sorcery’-related attack in Papua New Guinea
The Guardian
Two women have been brutally attacked in Port Moresby by up to 20 men after being accused of witchcraft, in the latest instance of sorcery-related violence in Papua New Guinea…
Norway’s witch trials: the woman killed for a fatal storm
The Guardian
Else Knutsdatter, one of 91, mainly women, executed, was burned to death in fishing community of Vardø…
The dark story of the tiny village home to Kent’s last witch hunt
Kent News
The unassuming village near Dover may fly under the radar today but it has a dark past of occult fears and mob violence…
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