Pagan & Shinto News: Mist Descends On Japan’s “Killing Stone” After Ceremony To Appease Spirit

Top stories of the week in Paganism and Shinto:

Mist descends upon Japan’s “Killing Stone” after ceremony to appease fox spirit
Singapore: Schoolgirls praying to Athena state deemed ‘unacceptable’
How UK’s newest ‘Neolithic’ site could become nationally important spiritual centre

Pagan News

Singapore: Schoolgirls praying to Athena state deemed ‘unacceptable’

Yahoo! News
No disciplinary action was meted to a group of Raffles Girls’ School (RGS) students who were captured in photos allegedly “dancing, chanting and praying” to a statue of Greek goddess Athena located on the school’s premises. But an apparent email from the school said “Praying’ to the statue of Athena, even if done in jest, is unacceptable. If you do subscribe to a religion, let me remind you that your action is sacrilegious.”…

How UK’s newest ‘Neolithic’ site could become nationally important spiritual centre
Kent Online
Left derelict the church became a ruin, while the abandoned village was lost in time, remembered only in name as the ‘Lost Village of Dode’ – that was until Doug found it in 1990, bought the church and restored it as a venue for weddings, pagan handfastings, and birth-related ceremonies…

US: ‘Connected to nature’: Pagans at Pitt reflect on spring, spirituality
The Pitt News
Pacifico, a junior nursing major, is a member of the new Pagans at Pitt club…

Crystals, incense, oh my!
The Red & Black
Moldavite, carnelian and money spells. A decade ago this would have made the average teenager laugh and ask what these words mean — but now, not only are they almost common knowledge, they bring people closer together and share a collective meaning of identity and overall well-being…

‘In 2022 perhaps it’s easier for us to connect with the mindset of the Surrealists’
Christie’s
As the exhibition Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity opens in Venice, its curator Gražina Subelytė talks to Christie’s about the role of the occult in the Surrealists’ lives and art — and why their response to global conflict seems as relevant as ever…

Is witchcraft outgrowing Paganism?
Patheos Pagan (Devin Hunter)
I came into witchcraft in the late 90’s and at that time there was little that distinguished a witch from a pagan and many of us used both terms fluidly to describe our spiritual views…

Shinto news

Mist descends upon Japan’s “Killing Stone” after ceremony to appease nine-tailed fox spirit
SoraNews24
Does this mean the priest’s purification ritual has placated the beast? Or is it an omen of something else to come?…

Female virtual YouTubers are here to collaborate with Tokyo’s Kanda Myojin Shrine in a punny way
SoraNews24
Hololive Production teams up with one of Tokyo’s most important shrines to provide a creative new method of support…

Japanese city to host annual ‘Penis Festival’
UPI
Revelers in a Japanese city are preparing for the Kanamara Matsuri, an annual celebration also known as the “Penis Festival.”…

‘We have waited so long’: a cautious Tokyo celebrates cherry blossoms in shadow of Covid
The Guardian
After two years of pandemic-related cancellations and restrictions, Japan is again observing the time-honoured ritual of hanami – cherry blossom viewing…

Other News

Turkey: Mother goddess Cybele’s stele from Ephesus to be displayed in Izmir
Daily Sabah
A 2,200-year-old marble stele unearthed in the ancient city of Ephesus in the Selçuk district of western Izmir province is now on display for the public for the first time since its discovery. The stele depicts the “mother goddess” Cybele, who was believed to be the ancient Greek symbol and protector of abundance and fertility…

Ireland: Protest calls for removal of turbine from 5,000-year-old burial site
RTE
A group demanding the removal of a controversial wind turbine from the site of a 5000-year-old protected burial site, has staged a protest this afternoon, utilising an ancient Irish trumpet…

‘Witch Hunts’ Past & Present

UK: Historian helps commemorate 36 victims of witch trials
East Anglian Daily Times
The 36 women in Essex who were accused of witchcraft in the 17th century are being commemorated with the help of a university historian…