Soul’s Code

The gospel of LOST: Steeped in mystical memes and Einstein’s deconstruction of time, here are 12 reasons that LOST was the most “enlightened” show on TV

BY PAUL KAIHLA — In the 2011 liturgical calendar of American TV, what have we got? Jersey Shore ?! Millionaire Matchmaker? They make Sarah Palin look seriously spiritual. And they strip all shame from the vapid Lloyd Braun-Marc Cherry content called Desperate Housewives. Also an ABC product.

In this 2011 season of Lent, we still long for LOST. Why bring up religious matters?

LOST was a religious experience. Here are 12 reasons why:

In the words of Nelly Furtado, I’m like a bird. It took an aboriginal healer to tell me why it’s perfectly okay to fly.

BY MICHELLE MORRA-CARLISLE – Being corralled like cattle in a crowded subway underground, I always wonder where everyone is going. And my own destination was a mystery to them, one gray slushy day, as I held onto a steel pole and got jostled about. What would they think if they saw what was in my purse – a small bundle of tobacco wrapped in red polka dotted cotton and tied with string?

That, amazingly, is the “fee” they charge at Dodem Kanonhsa, an Elders’ Cultural facility created by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. It’s in a highrise office building, on a busy street with no trees in sight. To step out of an elevator, down a hall and into a peaceful “lodge” is surreal to say the least. I was sure I felt some kind of magic, even though I knew the magic was government funded.

Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down. Ashes on your forehead can begin a reorientation of your heart.

BY DAVID RICKEY — In the Judeo-Christian tradition, ashes are a symbol of penitence and mortality. In the Old Testament, Job sits in ashes both because he has lost his children and all his livestock and because he is suffering severly from boils, apparently with God’s approval.

The demonstration of penitence was also intended to persuade God not to punish a people or an individual. In the story of Jonah, the people of Ninevah put on sackcloth and sit in ashes to demonstrate penitence in the hope that God will have a change of  mind and not destroy the city.

This Ash Wednesday millions of Christians will participate in a ritual that involves having ashes put on their foreheads to symbolize their attitude of penitence and their intention to repent.

Online dating Islam style; celebrity death hoaxes; Jews versus Snickers; hacktivist threats to intolerant church

Old polygamist seeks hot virgin: What to expect from a Muslim online dating site

Fighting hate with hate: An anti-gay, fundamentalist church is the latest target of hacktivist threats.

Whine and dine: Was the Super Bowl Snickers ad antisemitic?

The Secret‘s wishful thinking, versus the reality of 7 million American jobs lost. Soul’s Code introduces its own guide to balancing job security — and inner security

BY PAUL KAIHLA —  Oprah’s endorsement helped make a viral, online video called, The Secret, a mainstream hit a couple of years ago.

The theme of The Secret is that the good or bad you see in your life situation is a reflection of the contents of your consciousness. No, not your intellectual property — your intention. The producers of the indie Internet phenomenon co-opted the phrase, “the law of attraction” — as in, you have what you believe in.

Or more to their point: your affluence equals your attitude.

By that measure, many Americans — and good people all around the world — must have been thinking some very, very bad things, indeed, since September, 2008.

Korean Christians dig religion apps; video game creator denies mocking Scientology; Dalai Lama hosts online spiritual retreat

Jesus endorses Doritos? Sacrilegious ads that didn’t make the Super Bowl’s cut

Crossover to culthood: One man’s religion is another’s extremist sect

Katy Perry blasts Material Girl; celebrities fall from grace; African-Americans breed faith from horror; clergy embrace evolution.

Cross with Madonna: The daughter of two pastors, singer Katy Perry wants other stars to clean up their acts.

Seven years on a yacht: An aristocrat’s film ‘Beheading Buddha’, created after his ocean quest for the meaning of life, says don’t call enlightenment; it’ll call you.

Pastors make peace with apes? The American Christian Clergy invite their members to accept the theory of evolution and allow schools to teach it.

‘Divine light’ a government scam; philosophers fail to walk the talk; Brits want celebrity-fashion funerals; Zodiac gets a shake-up

Who am I? Horoscope buffs are furious that a wobble in the earth’s axis may have thrown the Zodiac all out of whack and changed their astrological signs.

Oy, not that shikse! New website helps Jewish moms meddle into their kids’ dating lives.

Don’t shoot: A United Church minister makes the case for a god-fearing and gunless America.

Celebrity-style funerals: Brits are opting for colorful sendoffs inspired by Princess Diana and reality TV star Jade Goody, even doing away with sermons and black clothes.

False miracle kills 102 people: Traditions and faith aside, the government of Karala’s fake “divine light” went too far when a hillock crumbled under the weight of devotees.

Big sandals to fill: New book Examined Lives: The Secret Lives of Philosophers says none of Socrates’ followers have attained the life he advocated.

Looking out for number one; pro-Islam blogging; failing Army spiritual test; Celebrity Rehab’s tall promises

All hail Hollywood: In his own battle against genocide, George Clooney has appointed himself International Advisor with authority to spy on Sudan.

Selfish mathematics: What “number one” means to numerologists, mystics and ourselves.

Freedom of nothing: Saudia Arabia’s new Internet rules say non-citizens can’t write the news, and that bloggers must promote Islam and disclose their hosting company to the government.

Black Swan shows the best and worst extremes of art and letting go

BY MICHELLE MORRA-CARLISLE – As the closing credits for Black Swan started rolling, the woman I was sitting next to turned to me and said, “Weird, eh?”

Yes, the darling ballerina who first graced the screen had gone off the artistic deep end. There comes a point in Black Swan where everyone in the theatre realizes it’s more than just a movie about an angst-ridden dancer. We fidget, uncomfortably bracing ourselves for what’s next.

Natalie Portman’s character, Nina Sayers, is a disciplined dancer whose entire focus is on keeping it together. That means being sweet enough to keep her unstable and manipulative mother (Barbara Hershey) from unraveling, quiet enough not to elicit the wrath of her catty fellow dancers, and having full control over her every ballet move. That self-discipline makes her the ideal White Swan for Swan Lake – her big break – but her choreographer Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) doubts her ability to embody the sensual darkness of the Black Swan. In a grueling rehearsal, the sexy and cruel Thomas says, “Perfection is not just about control. It’s also about letting go.”