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Curse of the Buried Pearl: Tomb Curses, Spirits and the Hunt for Ancient Treasures – Part I

Curse of the Buried Pearl: The Hunt for Ancient Treasures – Part I

In economics one hears talk of “the curse of oil” – and one might say wherever there is buried treasure there will be a curse, hyper-real or real. The most famous of all curses is of course that...
3: The Perfect Number - Trinity Symbolism in World Religious Traditions

3: The Perfect Number - Trinity Symbolism in World Religious Traditions

“In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...” The concept of a Trinity or triadic nature of the divine has been a part of our psyche for thousands of years, and has appeared in creation...
Haunting and beautiful Middle-Earth-like elves by artist

Icelanders Believed in Elves, But it is Probably Not What You Think

Icelanders believe in elves. They refuse to begin major construction projects unless they consult with elves first. They lobby their politicians on behalf of elf colonies. They run “elf schools” and...
Mount Shasta: Sacred Mountain and a Strange Destination for Many

Mount Shasta: Mystery Mountain and Sacred Destination

Mount Shasta is not the tallest or most beautiful mountain in the Cascade Range; but it is the most legendary. In terms of weirdness and strangeness, the unusual stories surrounding the mountain will...
Shakespeare’s ghosts meet quantum entanglement.

Shakespeare’s Ghosts Live! What Secret Messages do The Spirits Reveal about the Nature of Reality?

When one of us began studying psychology he was told that if the aim was to understand human relationships, it would be better served by studying literature—especially Shakespeare. Since then, at...
Biblical Tradition Of Chalking The Door Reappears In England

Biblical Tradition Of Chalking The Door Reappears In England

The ancient Christian custom of “ chalking the door ” has Biblical origins, stemming from the Israelites tradition detailed in the Old Testament where they marked their doors with chalked symbols...
The Cursed Amethyst: Trail of Misfortune and Misery Follows Ancient Gem

The Cursed Amethyst: Trail of Misfortune and Misery Follows Ancient Gem

The ‘Cursed Amethyst’, also known as the Delhi Purple Sapphire was incorrectly identified as a sapphire in the nineteenth century. This legendary gemstone remained hidden for three centuries beneath...
Sarcophagus of Tutankhamun with close up on the crook and flail. 	Source: Public Domain

Why Did the Humble Crook and Flail Symbolism Appeal to the Pharaohs?

Kings and queens, monarchs, emperors and rulers all over the world, through time immemorial, have had the responsibility of leading their people and defending their kingdoms. Monarchs are viewed as...
Camille Flammarion engraving, 188

Religion Isn’t The Enemy of Science: It’s Been Inspiring Scientists for Centuries

Take notice of any debate in the media and you’ll see that science and religion are, and always were, at loggerheads. Science is about evidence-based fact, religion is about faith-based belief. But...
Egyptian gods. Source: Catmando / Adobe Stock

Polytheistic Religion: How Pantheons Reigned in the Ancient World

Over the years there have been gods for creation, death, love, war, and everything in between. Zeus, Hera, and their companions on Mount Olympus, Odin, Frigg, and the rest of the Æsir, Osiris, Isis,...
A man alone in a faerie realm.

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

There are many accounts of a land of immortality and eternal youth in world myths and legends, as well as shamanic and indigenous spiritual traditions. Mysterious Worlds Writing in his recent work,...
A depiction of a tree of life or axis mundi.

The Axis Mundi: Sacred Sites Where Heaven Meets Earth

What do Mount Fuji in Japanese culture, the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, Mecca in Islam, and the Black Hills for the Sioux all have in common? They are all examples of a belief in the axis...
Deriv; A drowned land of Kasskara - Hopi.

Kásskara: Sunken Land of the Hopi Ancestors

There used to be a fable, commonly imposed as fact on schoolchildren in the United States, that in Columbus' time nearly everyone believed the Earth was flat. Fortunately, this untruth has been...
Aristotle's School, a painting from the 1880s by Gustav Adolph Spangenberg.

The Nicomachean Ethics: How to Approach the Ethical Musings of Aristotle

Aristotle spoke thoughtfully as he strolled along the natural pathways of the Lyceum and his companions were entranced by their teacher’s words. His philosophical musings seemed to intertwine...
Fire and Water Hands

The Relationship that Started it All and Changed the World: The Yin Yang & Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate

Chinese mythology and cosmology rest on the concept that the universe is shaped and maintained by two fundamental forces called yin and yang. They are opposite yet complementary forces that interact...
The Great Horned Serpent was powerful and magical in Native American mythology.

Drowning, Poisoning, and the Dark Underworld. Meet the King of all Snakes, the wise Great Horned Serpent in Native American Cosmology

Since longer than history can recall, the western mind has been locked in a pattern of dualistic thinking. In the course of our experiences, the world is defined by a series of opposites, which...
Sacrificial virgin on altar. (heywoody / Adobe)

Throwing Virgins into the Sea and Other Ways to Appease the Gods: The Ancient Reasons behind Virgin Sacrifice

When the going got tough, it was believed sacrificing a virgin to the gods—by throwing them into the sea, burying them alive, or leaving them for hungry monsters—was the best plan. Virgin sacrifice...
The 800-year-old skeleton found in Bulgaria stabbed through the chest with iron rod.

People Practiced Anti-Vampire Rituals in Bulgaria Until Three Decades Ago

Thanks to Bram Stoker’s Gothic horror novel Dracula, many people associate vampires with the region of Transylvania in Romania. However, it was only around 25 years ago that anti-vampire rituals...
From the Biblical tale, Jacob wrestles with an Angel

Flaming Swords and Winged Beasts: What Were These Ancient Creatures? The Origins of Cherubim – Part II

The word angel comes from the Old English engel , or ‘messenger’. Angels have an ancient and global tradition, but with belief in these powerful but elusive supernatural beings still going strong...
Guido Reni's archangel Michael (in the Capuchin church of Santa Maria della Concezione, Rome, 1636) tramples Satan.

Ancient Angels: Heavenly Messengers or Myths? The Origins of Cherubim – Part I

If one does a Google search and types in “movies about angels”, you will receive a plethora of films that feature angels or what could be angels. Of course, this list includes the fallen ones as well...
Sticker showing baby Krishna stealing milk from a cow.

Modern Hindus Forbidden From Eating Beef But Ancient Hindus Ate the Sacred Cow

Wendy Doniger / The Conversation Just this past June, at a national meeting of various Hindu organizations in India, a popular preacher, Sadhvi Saraswati, suggested that those who consumed beef...
A red devil.

Supreme Court Judge: Of Course I Believe in the Devil! ...Do You?

For Christians, the Devil is God’s opponent. He tricked Adam and Eve to eat the Forbidden Fruit, causing humanity to lose its place in the Garden of Eden. In Christianity, this being is the cause of...
Detail of two ancient Egyptian 'gate spells'. On the top register, Ani and his wife face the ‘gates of the House of Osiris'. Below, they encounter the 'mysterious portals of the House of Osiris in the Field of Reeds'. All are guarded by unpleasant underworld protectors.

Through the Twelve Chambers of Hell: The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt

Death, the ancient Egyptians believed, was not the end of our struggles. They believed in an afterlife and that the worthy would go on to paradise, but their dead didn’t simply pass over to the other...
God the Father (represented by an old patriarch with white hair) by Cima da Conegliano, c. 1515

Arguments Why God (Very Probably) Exists

The question of whether a god exists is heating up in the 21st century. According to a Pew survey, the percent of Americans having no religious affiliation reached 23 percent in 2014. Among such “...

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