For thousands of years, human beings separated by enormous distances have described encounters with malevolent nonhuman intelligences. Christians called them demons. Ancient Mesopotamians described destructive […]
In the previous article, we explored one of humanity’s oldest spiritual ideas: Sexual desire can be restrained so that its energy and attention can be […]
Across thousands of years and across religions that developed largely independently of one another, one practice appears again and again: sexual restraint. Christian monks took […]
One of the most fascinating things about Saturn in astrology is that it keeps coming back. Saturn takes about 29.4 Earth years to orbit the […]
Confucianism is often described as one of the world’s least mystical major traditions. When people think of Confucius, they usually think about: respecting parents, education, […]
Buddhism is often imagined as a path of meditation, monasteries, silence and withdrawal from ordinary life. That is certainly one side of the tradition. But […]
When people hear the word meditation, they often think immediately of Buddhism, yoga or modern mindfulness. But Islam also developed a rich contemplative tradition, particularly […]
Throughout human history, people have reported hearing voices that nobody else around them could hear. Sometimes the voice was interpreted as God. Sometimes an ancestor. […]
There is an interesting pattern running through centuries of religious symbolism: evil frequently does not create something completely new—it takes something that already exists and […]
Anyone who has lived with a cat has probably experienced the moment. The room appears completely empty. Your cat suddenly freezes. Its ears point forward. […]
