Heretical musings on religion and culture from a literary scholar
One of the reasons I've always loved "True Blood" is that - rather than ignoring the obvious religious associations in vampire and supernatural mythology - it plays them up and includes them into the diverse mix of plot and characters. But it's gotten a little ridiculous now, in Season 6, Episode 9. First there was Lilith, the originator of all vampire, whose sacred blood makes vampires impervious to light (just like Fairy blood does). Bill Compton, who can ...
One of the literary threads I hope to investigate in the future is the tie between vampirism and the ancient tradition of linking death and marriage together; many religions deal with death as an intimate reunion or marriage with a god of the underworld such as Hades or Dionysus. Much of this symbolism was later preserved in Christianity. The following is a paper I wrote recently for a PhD course on Antigone (by Sophocles) Death, Marriage ...
Did Jesus Christ really resurrect from the grave after three days? Probably not, it turns out. In 2008 archaeologists found a stone tablet that tells of a Jewish rebel hero who died and came back to life after three days. Jesus? No! His name was Simon, and he lived decades before Jesus. What we learn from this is that the Jews already had a template of the messiah that they expected, and they began applying ...
I'm up late, procrastinating, Greek class tomorrow morning. Enjoy.
What are your Easter celebration plans for Sunday, April 24th? Will you go to a church service? Will you paint and decorate Easter eggs? Aren't you curious about where Easter comes from, or how we went from the resurrection of Jesus to a magical, chocolate egg-bearing rabbit? The relationship is actually not as dissimilar as it first seems; in ancient times people would decorate, hide and find eggs which represented the body of vegetative gods like ...
According to a new facebook test called "What does Jesus Think of You?", which has 6 short and hardly related questions, Jesus thinks I'm a Sanctimonious Prick. Moreover, He's tired of your shit. Nobody thinks you're different, or interesting, or cool. Certainly not the Saviour of all Men. Jesus wants you to quit being such a tool. Frankly, I think that's awesome on many levels. There is a natural conflict between somebody who loves you so much ...
If you're interested in religious mythology, astrological symbolism, or supernatural folklore, grab my book Gods of Myth and Man. You can go buy it on Amazon.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Be Social