Purim: how a Jewish queen of Persia prevented genocide
The Jewish holiday of Purim is celebrated this week, commemorating Queen Esther’s saving her people from certain destruction.  During the festival Jews read from Megilat Esther (the book of Esther from the Bible), which is named after the fifth century BC Jewish heroine who helped protect her people [...]

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Mawlid, birthday of Muhammad
This Friday Sunni Muslims across the world will celebrate Mawlid, the birthday of the prophet Muhammad.  Though the celebration is centuries old, historically Muslims were divided over the issue of permiting the holiday and how it should be celebrated (maybe it appeared too similar to that religious birthday among Christian neighbors: Christmas).  Festive [...]

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If happiness equals slimming-down the ego, the Imposition of Ashes on the first day of Lent is a powerful and public ritual of spiritual self-immolation
I did confession (Ash Wednesday) and received the imposition of ashes. I’ve never felt so stripped naked in public as when I kneeled below the altar, and the priest made the [...]

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A ritual for Lent: make a daily list of what brings you joy, and what brings you closer to Spirit

No, we don’t mean our favorite song by the Psychedelic Furs, which was given a short second life a couple of years ago by the Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore vehicle 50 First Dates.
But now that we brought [...]

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Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down. How would ashes on your forehead translate into 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 [...]

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Ashes to ashes . . . this Wednesday
Christians this week celebrate Ash Wednesday in commemoration of Jesus’ sojourn in the wilderness where he faced demonic temptation.  Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, where Christians share a similar journey in a spiritual desert. Lenten practices usually involve fasting, penence, making confession, praying the stations of [...]

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The gospel of LOST: Steeped in mystical memes and Einstein’s deconstruction of time, here are 12 things that make LOST the most “enlightened” show on TV
BY PAUL KAIHLA — In the 2010 liturgical calendar that is American prime-time, The Hills is a joke and Desperate Housewives is an also-ran. Forget about Lent, we are in [...]

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Jay Leno walks Oprah’s Stations of the Cross

The Washington Post’s TV columnist, Lisa de Moraes, has a psycho-spiritual essay about Jay Leno’s appearance on the final Oprah Winfrey Show of January, 2010. Moraes’ brilliant metaphor for how celebs rehabilitate a tarnished public image by seeking on-air absolution from “the Queen of the Confessional”: the Stations [...]

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How to put the dynamic of hope into action. Case studies: Gandhi, Václav Havel, Goenawan Mohamad and other guide-posts
DAVID RICKEY — Hope is a great four-letter word, but it gets lost in the shuffle of our lives if it isn’t bonded with action. Václav Havel, the first President of the Czech Republic, said ‘Hope is not the conviction [...]

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8: The Mormon Proposition, a movie on spiritual politics
Utah not only hosts the annual Sundance Film Festival; in the 2010 edition of the film fest, the state’s (unofficial) church has a starring role in the line-up of movies.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is taken down in a documentary about the 2008 initiative that successfully banned [...]

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Old headlines, new knowledge
People around the world are reviewing the events of last year, particularly reported by the media.  How about reviewing  events reported over 100 years ago?  The British Library has made available, through subscription, millions of digitally scanned pages of British newspapers.  Nostalgic seekers can peruse articles on women’s football, political rallies, the abolition of [...]

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End of 2009 bash fest affects “pretentious prancer” Lady Gaga, rock ‘em sock ‘em Charlie, the Pope and even Kim Jon II
Fred Phelps not gaga over Gaga
According to Reverend Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, Lady Gaga has a “whore’s forehead” and is destined for Hell.  Are we to believe the “Reverend” [...]

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Brittany Murphy?! Yes, sweet and innocent and apparently-addicted Brittany Murphy
2009 just had its 2008 moment, in the sense of the loss of an ingenue who actually had talent, not just an external skin that God had smiled upon. Last year, it was Heath Ledger. In the days before the last Christmas of this decade: Brittany Murphy.
She [...]

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Immaculate Mary: fan of Luther

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, is celebrated this week by Roman Catholics. This holy day commemorates Mary’s being conceived without original sin.  Two surprising features of the holy day?  Historically many Christians believed that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin, yet this belief was not promulgated [...]

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On this First Day of Advent of Barack Obama’s presidency, The Great Litany has a new ring
That it may please thee so to rule the hearts of thy servants, the President of the United States, and all others in authority, that they may do justice, and love mercy, and walk in the ways of truth.
PAUL KAIHLA [...]

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Answer: the real Santa was a Byzantine monk. Yup, Old Saint Nick evolved from a bishop in present-day Turkey who treated opponents harshly but championed the cause of the powerless
BY KOHL GLAU — Santa Claus’ real story begins nearly 1,700 years ago as the powerful Roman empire was quickly becoming Christian. He lived in a moderate [...]

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“We are flying by the seat of our collective, cosmic pants around a relatively insignificant sun, that is in turn hurtling through the provincial backwaters of a massive galaxy, anchored by a hellishly ravenous black hole.”

GUEST COLUMN: H. C. Hummel — I was raised on a grape ranch in Northern California during the 1950’s in [...]

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Thanksgiving, more than turkey, football and the annual Macy’s parade . . . it’s a spiritual tradition
The Thanksgiving celebration is not uniquely American (or if you’re Canadian, an October thing). Festivities expressing gratitude for prosperity and abundance occur in practically every culture, dating back to ancient Greece and Rome, and beyond.
So if you need an escape [...]

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Worried about war, depression, global warming and the price of gas? No wonder everyone’s talking about the year 2012

BY VAISHALI, author of You Are What You Love® and Wisdom Rising
Everywhere I go I hear conversations — rumblings about 2012. As I watched the Dow zig-zag across 10,000 and Congress authorize trillions of dollars to rescue [...]

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Online Porn SEO owns “Carrie Prejean”
First it was gay marriage, then a “solo” sex tape (and apparently there are way more of these coming), then a hissy fit on Larry King Live.  Now former Miss California Carrie Prejean explains her views on how there is nothing in the Bible saying that sporting breast implants makes [...]

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