Direct from Edinburgh, “Christmas Special — Only 60 Seconds!”
May I challenge the speaker if Rudolf Otto never actually used the term “the sacred”? Is speaking German a “deviation”?
“Far too many -isms going on here.”
A ‘Going Out of Civilization’ Sale
The local weekly newspaper arrived in my post office box today.
I see that a liquor store in my little mountain county is announcing a new 12/21/12 pricing plan:
Bud or Bud Light six packs will cost you two chickens or a goat . . . Canadian Mist 175’s will cost you 1,000 rounds of 12 gauge . . . All wine 750’s will be traded for five gallons of gas.
People up in the county seat must be well-armed and thirsty. I wouldn’t give more than a box (25 total) of shotgun shells for 175 ml. of blended Canadian whisky myself .
The Equinox Pagan Studies Series Continues
As I mentioned in November, the Equinox Series in Historic and Contemporary Paganism will continue, even though two books in the series will be published by Acumen, the result of the two firms’ merger and then de-merger. These are the titles:
1. Kaarina Aitamurto and Scott Simpson, eds. Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe.
2. Donna Weston and Andy Bennett, eds., Pop Pagans: Pagans and Popular Music.
Both are well worth reading. Unfortunately, the Central and Eastern European volume will be available only in high-priced hardback at first—one of the problems that my co-editor, Nikki Bado, and I had with Acumen’s approach.
So during 2013 we will be interested in seeing new proposals for the series.
The Knife Goes In, But You Don’t Feel It
Never underestimate the ability of senior academics to dismiss a book with what sound like words of praise.
Today’s example, Wendy Doniger’s (leading scholar of history of religion, particularly in India) blurb on a new book called The Origins of the World’s Mythologies.
“Not since Frazer’s Golden Bough, has anyone achieved such a grand synthesis of world mythology. Boldly swimming upstream against the present scholarly emphasis on difference and context, Witzel assembles massive evidence for a single, prehistoric, Ur-mythology. An astonishing book”
–Wendy Doniger, Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago and author of The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was
In other words, I think she is saying that it follows a solipsistic (“swimming upstream”) and out-of-date methodology (the Golden Bough reference), and what astonishes her is that Oxford actually published it.
Weirdest Google Search String Yet
This brought a visitor to the blog: “grizzly bears knowing Jesus Christ is coming.”
The truth is that I did have Jesus Christ and a grizzly bear in one blog post.
The Khan of the Winter
The King of the Winter — Sakha Republic (NE Siberian) ritual costume.
This man is costumed as the King (or Khan or Bull) of the Winter, as envisioned in the Sakha Republic of northeastern Siberia.
Here is the translation of the page about him in the Turkish Wikipedia, with a link to the photograph.
The Turkic people of Sakha were originally followers of shamanic traditions before being converted to Orthodox Christianity, and some are going back.
There seems to be a suggestion in the Wikipedia text that the bull horns might have been originally mammoth tusks, which would make more sense for that part of the world.
The website English Russia has a selection of photos of winter life there as well. “Yakutia has turned cold into brand!”
Why the Solstice Sunrise is not the Latest
The winter solstice is the shortest day, so why is the sunset is already happening later then than it is occurring now? And why does the sunrise keep on getting later after December 21st?
When Are You a Grown-up?
It’s a typical lifestyle piece on when men, in particular, become “adults,” but notice the sixth paragraph.
Once again, Wicca shows up as the (or a) default Other Religion. I am seeing this more and more.
Save Your Data Forever (More or Less)
Servers die, hard drives die, disks degrade, formats change. Paper still has its uses.
Your mother can help — and other hints.
Fields Books to Close on Polk Street and Move Online
The last time that I visited Fields Book Store, San Francisco’s long-time esoteric bookshop (older than the Golden Gate Bridge), was the last time that I was in the city. I can’t remember what I bought — something — and I spent a while skimming the last volume of Mircea Eliade’s journals.
Then I heard that it was closing, which was sad. But it will continue online after January 2013, says owner David Wiegleb:
So, we’ll need to pass the baton of “San Francisco’s oldest brick-and-mortar bookstore” to someone else, as it was passed to us. I think it goes next to that beatnik youngster over in North Beach, City Lights, founded in 1953 — certainly one of San Francisco’s treasures. While we hope that Fields can continue to serve you on our website for many years to come, I urge you to also support your local brick and mortar stores as well. Each time we lose one, we lose a bit more of the fabric and texture of our cities and towns. The low prices of the mega-stores — real and virtual — have a very high cost. Make your purchases consciously whenever you can.