Mary Stewart, 97

Mary Stewart, British Writer Who Spanned Genres, Dies at 97
by Anita Gates, The New York Times, May 15, 2014

Dreaming the porous boundaries

When the anthropologist Eduardo Kohn arrived in a small village deep in the Amazon, people slept largely outdoors in an open thatch house, surrounded by other people. They would wake at night to drink tea, because it was cold, or because of the calls of animals. "Thanks to these continuous disruptions," he writes, "dreams spill into wakefulness and wakefulness into dreams in a way that entangles them both."

To my mind, the intriguing question is whether different sleep cultures encourage different patterns of spiritual and supernatural experience. That half-aware, drowsy state is a time when dreams commingle with awareness. People are more likely to have experiences of the impossible then.

--from "To Dream in Different Cultures" by T. M. Luhrmann, The New York Times

Read more from Luhrmann's essay here.

Candace Pert, 67

Candace Pert, 67, Explorer of the Brain, Dies
by John Schwartz, The New York Times, September 19, 2013

Marina Warner's "Stranger Magic"

Gardens of Unearthly Delights: ‘Stranger Magic’ by Marina Warner 
by Harold Bloom, The New York Times, March 23, 2012

James Hillman, 85

James Hillman, Therapist in Men’s Movement, Dies at 85
by Benedict Carey, The New York Times, October 27, 2011

Taxing problem for Goddess folk upstate

Goddess Worship and Tax Dispute in Upstate Palenville

by Peter Applebome, The New York Times, February 9, 2011

Offensive beer label gets witch's attention

Witch’s Wit Ale to Change Label After Complaints
by Mark Oppenheimer, The New York Times, October 22, 2010

The magic of numbers

The Magical Properties of Everyday Numbers

by Daniel Gilbert, The New York Times, October 17, 2010

At home in both worlds

Weekdays, the Adman Worked. Sundays, the Shaman Healed

by Samuel G. Freedman, The New York Times, July 23, 2010

Now, where was I?

Discovering the Virtues of a Wandering Mind

by John Tierney, The New York Times, June 28, 2010

My "Moment in Time"

(c)2010, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

At 11am EST today, I took this photo and submitted it to the New York Times's A Moment in Time project. It contains images of Mary of the wounded sacred heart; Yemaya, the Afro-Atlantic goddess of the sea; and endangered animals. Mindful of the oil spill tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico, I call this assemblage The Wounded Heart of Mother Earth.

Mary Daly, radical feminist theologian, 81

Mary Daly, a Leader in Feminist Theology, Dies at 81
by Margalit Fox, The New York Times, January 6, 2010

Forever Jung

Dreamy Sales of Jung’s ‘Red Book’ Surprises Book Industry
by Motoko Rich, The New York Times, December 24, 2009

Innovative novelist Milorad Pavic, 80

Milorad Pavic, Serbian Author of Unusual Novels, Dies at 80
by Margalit Fox, The New York Times, December 19, 2009

In the round

The Circular Logic of the Universe
by Natalie Angier, The New York Times, December 7, 2009

The Holy Grail of the Unconscious

The long-concealed mystery of Carl Gustav Jung’s “Red Book” is about to be revealed. Read The Holy Grail of the Unconscious by Sara Corbett, The New York Times Magazine, September 20, 2009.

Magickal Day addendum--wow!

It was astonishing to write and post that previous Magickal Day post and then read the following:

Mind - Why the Imp in Your Brain Gets Out
by Benedict Carey, The New York Times, July 7, 2009

Magickal Day of Independence and Coming Out!

This Magickal Day is powered by the Ace of Cups.

Your first assignment is to read the following New York Times piece:

U.S. Nuns Facing Vatican Scrutiny
by Laurie Goodstein, July 1, 2009

Thank you for taking the time to read that. It sets the stage for what follows here.

Yesterday, I drew the Ace of Cups for today's reading and puzzled over it for a very long time--that puzzlement having little to do with the card itself and everything to do with the challenge of coordinating it with the "secret sauce" with which I now interpret and work our daily Tarot cards.

But when I woke up this morning, I had it. The Ace of Cups, and its secret sauce, led me right back to Goodstein's article which--having been raised in a Roman Catholic household and educational system--I had read with interest and alarm.

So, here is today's message:

The tender and determined Ace of Cups asks us to take a stand for love.

In the face of oppression, stand up and come out for love.

If your understanding of faith leads you to social justice, stand up and come out.

If you are a healer--Catholic or non-Catholic--remember the example of the healer Jesus. Bring forth that which is within you. Bring forth that which is given to you.

If you are queer--within or outside of religion--stand up and come out.

If you are a woman priest in your heart and soul, come out.

If you believe a woman's body is her own and its well-being, her right to direct, stand up; come out.

If you are a heretic, come out. If you are a pagan, come out.

If you are a survivor of mental, physical or sexual abuse by clergy, stand up and come out.

Come out, in big or small ways, on this Day of Independence and on all days from now through the 4th of August.

Let's make this a month of independence, a month of resistance, a month of standing up for one another and coming out as who we are.

Blessings,
Eva

(c)2009, Eva Yaa Asantewaa, http://hummingwitch.blogspot.com

Environment as healer

The Puzzle of Spaces That Soothe by Esther Sternberg, M.D.
reviewed by Abigail Zuger, M.D., The New York Times, June 30, 2009

Writer engages with real-live archetype

What the Doorman Sees
Her Tales of the City - My Doorman, My Oracle
by Valeria Luiselli, The New York Times, May 17, 2009