Paganism
How were personal altars used in ancient Pagan traditions?
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SianLuc Heart surveys the different forms of personal altars found in a variety of religious traditions, with a focus on ancient paganisms.
agnosticism
Column: Hanging Garden
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The din had been loud inside the house, but outside, I felt like I was being buffeted by it, surrounded on all sides by argument. I felt a guilty weight in the pit of my stomach. I knew what the sound was now. I looked up and without any joy found what I expected to find.
There were exactly two black crows sitting in the branches of my tree, facing my house, yelling at me.
“What do you want?” I sighed. But I knew.
baking
Column: Cider Bread, a Devotion
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“It is midnight on a Wednesday evening, which is the time I like to bring gifts to the gods. I tear the cider bread into nine pieces and leave it there. In the morning the bread is gone, taken by the gods or the squirrels, who in any event share much in common.”
Living
Sidewalk shrine by homeless family sends a powerful message
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PORTLAND, Ore. – Stumbling across a spontaneous shrine is a common experience in the United States. It may be a cross on the side of the road marking the place where a loved one died in a car accident, or a photos, card, and flowers stuck in the links of a fence where a recently passed celebrity lived. Throughout history, humans have created these shrines to remember and reconnect with the dead. On Sunday, Alley Valkyrie passed a sidewalk shrine that was very similar, yet very different, than most spontaneously created shrines.