The article is paywalled, but the photo caption says, "Kefan Wang (4th generation Shaman of Liaoning Province, China) dances as visitors enjoy the sunrise at Stonehenge Credit: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images." I would guess that makes Wang a Manchu shaman, a very small and not well-known branch of Chinese folk religion. I have no idea what connection such a one would have to Stonehenge, but we still don't fully understand what the builders were doing there.
More photos from Stonehenge, here.
6 comments:
I would guess that makes Wang a Manchu shaman....
Good call. Her Instagram page identifies her as a "4th generation Shaman in Manchu maternal lineage."
It's like you spent some time in the PRC a bit ago.
Eric Hines
Not sure that Neolithic megalith sites are necessarily relevant today, but it's clear that mainstream religion is lacking something and people are looking elsewhere.
...it's clear that mainstream religion is lacking something and people are looking elsewhere.
I think it's less that than it is parents deemphasizing the importance of religion, or even just church-going, in their families'--their children's--lives and a weak, namby-pamby priesthood that preaches social justice and politics above all else.
Eric Hines
In parts of Europe, neoPaganism is a nationalist movement, less religious than “it is not Germanic, Catholic, or Russian.” I’m not sure that’s true in England, but given how the Church of England has watered down and feminized Christianity, I can understand why some would find some kinds of neoPagan practices appealing. For others it is shock value, and I suspect there are still a few of the 1960s “prehistoric peoples were feminist and in harmony with their environment and egalitarian” hold-outs still floating around.
As for the Manchu shaman? Diversity? Decolonizing Stonehenge? No idea.
LittleRed1
If it's true that she's a 4th generation shaman, they carried on through Mao and his cultural revolution against old ways especially including religion. I suppose they've earned the right to do whatever it is that they're doing thereby; that can't have been easy or gentle.
Those photos make it look like a smattering of young people amongst a sea of old folks. I don't know that it's right to say the mainstream religious ways are dying- seems like they're resurgent currently, even in Europe.
"Over the past 10 years, France has seen a 160 percent growth in adolescent and adult baptisms. Some 17,800 French adolescents and adults received their baptism in 2024 alone. This is a 45 percent rise compared to 2023. The United Kingdom saw the highest number of adult baptisms in over a decade in 2024, while church attendance among the 18-24 age group grew from 4 percent in 2018 to 16 percent in 2024. Austria saw an 85 percent increase in baptisms from 2023 to 2024. "
Link: https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/christianity-europe/
Post a Comment