For anyone who may be curious about my religious beliefs, this transcript of an ABC radio doco, Pagans Among Us may offer some insight, for example, this explanation from Ronald Hutton: "The sources of authority lie very much in themselves. There are traditions in Paganism of how you work, but they don't depend upon sacred texts, they don't depend ( Read more... )

May heaven tell you: that's enough now.
May the great gods calm your mood.
May your throne say: sit down.
May your bed say: relax.

(After Enheduanna.)

With the greatest respect, Z Budapest, the Goddess made sexual diversity. She made it in the same playful, creative spirit in which she set off the Cambrian explosion. Why would a Goddess who could cook up ciswomen, transwomen, intersex women, genderqueer women, straight women, bi women, gay women, asexual women, fertile women, infertile women, ( Read more... )

"Devī, by her very nature as the embodiment of power, is both creative and destructive; dangerous, yet necessary for the dynamic maintenance of life. Life is won out of death. Accordingly, her violent, horrific side cannot simply be jettisoned or ignored, nor can it be wholly subdued through the process of domestication - a process that if fully ( Read more... )

The Indian goddess Durga is heavily armed, rides a man-eating tiger or lion, and is typically depicted in the midst of a butchering a demon. Despite this excitingly gory context, Durga's face is generally composed, calm, and smiling - not a hair out of place. This has long puzzled me. At LACMA earlier this year, I saw this stunning Javanese Durga; ( Read more... )

Frank's out of surgery and resting comfortably. They took lots of samples of his insides; we'll have results during the next week or so. I'm (a) relieved, of course, and (b) having horrible first year zoology flashbacks ( Read more... )

Finally got around to something I've wanted to do for years: compared Starhawk's splendid chant "Barge of Heaven" with the Sumerian original. (Yes, that's how exciting my life is. :)

The Symphony of Science. Watch and listen, in this order:

The Poetry of Reality

We Are All Connected

and then

The Real You

From Richard Dawkins to Alan Watts in three steps!

(These rather lovely works will tell you a lot about my own spirituality, especially the sheer exuberance of living in this clever universe of ours.)