Pagan & Shinto News: Norse God Loki Wrapped Up In Trademark Battles

Pagan News

Pagan god (and Disney star) Loki wrapped up in trademark battles

The Washington Post*
Rebecca Tarn, also known as TikTok user @LessonsfromLoki, launched a Change.org petition titled “Stop Disney Trademarking The Names of Norse Gods.”…

UK: Hundreds attend Stonehenge at Summer Solstice despite advice
BBC
Hundreds of people attended the summer solstice at Stonehenge despite official advice asking them not to travel to the site in line with Covid restrictions…

UK: Anti social behaviour and illegal encampments at Glastonbury Tor during summer solstice
Somerset County Gazette
Fixed penalty notices were issued and cars towed away after summer solstice celebrations at Glastonbury Tor…

Stonehenge: How druids and witches are making sense of the pandemic
Channel 4
Not just the longest day of the year: the summer solstice is a time of special celebration for witches, druids and pagans…

Witches celebrate the summer solstice with cakes, mead – and salsa
Richmond Free Press
To Lidia Pradas, the summer solstice “always recharges my energy and makes me want to start new projects,” she shared on her popular Instagram account, Wiccan Tips…

‘Have you been there with a lantern?’ How Australians embrace the winter solstice
The Guardian
Whether it is the Dark Mofo effect or just a desire to dance in the dark, solstice celebrations are lighting up the night…

Petition demands Disney stop trademarking Norse gods
The Wild Hunt
A petition to stop Disney Enterprises, Inc. from trademarking the names of Norse gods has gained momentum…

UK: “All the people they despise, we welcome joyfully”: the Chief Druid on overcoming extremism
The New Statesman*
Eimear Burke on the newfound popularity of Druidry’s diverse, nature-based spirituality…

UK: How the nature-deprived super-rich are joining spa retreats led by Druids
The Telegraph*
Those in search of a cure for the lockdown blues can now add Druidism to the list of spiritual experiences on offer at top spas…

Shinto News

Masako Miki’s shapeshifting spirits draw on Japanese folklore
Wallpaper
In San Francisco, Osaka-born artist Masako Miki explores human identity, transformation and the Japanese Shinto concept in a new series of playful candy-coloured bronze sculptures…

Other News

UK: Stonehenge road tunnel go-ahead unlawful, high court told
The Guardian
The transport secretary’s decision to allow a road tunnel to be built near Stonehenge was unlawful because it did not properly consider damage that would be done to a string of prehistoric sites and many thousands of ancient artefacts, the high court has been told…

Unesco warns that Stonehenge will go on its danger list unless plans to build tunnel beneath it are modified
The Art Newspaper
Unesco has warned that Stonehenge could be put on its list of World Heritage sites in danger if plans to build a tunnel under the prehistoric site in Wiltshire are not modified…

‘Vigil for Stonehenge’ held outside Royal Courts of Justice
Salisbury Journal
Sacred Earth Activism – which says it “works to connect communities, people and institutions with earth, nature and the sacred”, was in London from Wednesday to Friday…

Temple of Zeus to be restored to its former glory in SW Turkey
Daily Sabah
The ancient city’s Temple of Zeus Lepsynos, which was built in the 2nd century B.C., is being restored to its former glory thanks to meticulous efforts…

Greek police arrest 2 trying to sell rare Hecate statue
ABC News
Police in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki say they have arrested two 56-year-old men for trying to sell a rare Roman-era statue of the Greek goddess Hecate for 40,000 euros ($48,000)…

1,800-year-old statue found in ancient “City of the Mother Goddess” in Turkey
Art News
Archaeologists in Turkey have uncovered an 1,800-year-old statue in the ancient city of Metropolis, known as “City of the Mother Goddess.”…

Ancient Greek necropolis to be revealed in new exhibition site
Greek Reporter
Greek officials signed a deal Wednesday approving a $4.8 million donation to exhibit the findings from the 2016 necropolis discovery that was made as part of the construction of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC)…

UK: Actor James Corden urged to give back ‘ancient stones’ in garden
Bracknell News
TV-star celebrity James Corden has found himself caught between Jersey officials who wish to repatriate a prehistoric monument from his back garden in Henley-On-Thames…

Singing to the gods: a millennium’s span of ancient Greek hymns, gloriously portrayed
The Spectator*
Much of the mythology concerning the Greek gods comes to us from hymns, presented here in new translations by Barry B. Powell…

The thorny ethics of displaying Egyptian mummies to the public
Undark
Mummy exhibits are big draws for museums, but curators are grappling with issues of cultural and racial sensitivity…

Dogs worshipped around the world from ‘master of secrets’ to one with 3 heads
Daily Star
From Ancient Egypt to India, Greece and Rome to Mexico, puppies Anubis the Egyptian god of the dead, and greek Cerebus have been worshipped for centuries…

Top 10 ancient Celtic gods and goddesses, ranked
IB4UD
Tales from Celtic folklore and mythology still play a huge part across the Emerald Isle to this day…

17 enchanting witch romance books
Book Riot
Here’s a fun mix of witch romance books that’ll entrance you with love spells in no time…

‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present

India: Man thrashed to death over suspicion of practicing ‘witchcraft’
Pragativadi
A man was killed while two others sustained serious injuries after being thrashed by locals on suspicion of practicing ‘witchcraft’ in Rameyapalli village under Sriramchandrapur Panchayat in Ganjam district…

South Africa: Elderly Eastern Cape woman stripped naked and beaten after being labelled a ‘witch’
Sowetan Live
Police have described how an 81-year-old woman was stripped naked, tied with rope and assaulted in an open field in Mount Fletcher in the Eastern Cape last week after being accused of ‘witchcraft’…