In the Sufi tradition of Islam, the role of Satan takes a very different direction than other Abrahamic traditions. Called Iblis, this angel is a true monotheist – unlike all the other angels, Iblis refused to prostrate himself to Adam. True, God had commanded the angels to do so, but whereas in most branches of […]
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Statue of Shiva from West Bengal, 1100. The vertical third eye and matted hair are typical features of the Hindu deity – his face on the right represents benevolence, on the left fierce protectiveness, and in the center his serenity – when this universal aspect of Shiva is emphasized his title is “Sadashiva.” From the
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The Hindu Goddess Durga was the original demon-slayer. As this sandstone carving made about 750 CE (from India) shows, she has a multitude of weapons that help her take down her opponents – in this case, the buffalo-demon Mahishasuramardini. The legend goes that the buffalo demon – who represents ignorance – was destroying the whole
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This drawing shows Jesus as a child, taking the birds he has just shaped out of clay and turning them into real sparrows. It is a sweet story, part of a passage from a (possibly late first century) text known as “The Infancy Gospel of St Thomas,” never accepted as cannonical by the Church. We
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Eighth-century Spain witnessed the conquest of the Christian kingdom of the Visigoths by Muslims and the fracturing of the Iberian peninsula into various kingdoms. It was in this era the Spanish monk Beatus of Liebana (d. 785) wrote a book called _Commentary on the Apocolypse_, and depicted here is an extremely rare painting from a
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What you see here is an example of the finest type of Anglo-Scandinavian sculpture known as “Hogbacks.” After the Scandinavian viking invasions, Hogbacks emerged in the tenth century as a style of grave marker that reveals the Celtic influences of the British Isles along with the Danish homeland of the recent settlers. You can make
Anglo-Scandinavian Hogbacks Read More »
A 17th-century wooden sculpture of Vishnu beginning the world. Symbolic features include the snake that Vishnu sleeps upon, the multi-headed Ananta, who has existed throughout the cycles of birth and destruction that permeate the universe. Also featured are seven sages so enlightened that they have transcended the episodic cycles of birth and decay, and nine
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In the environs of modern Iraq the Yazidi peoples have continuously practiced Sharfadin, an ancient and swiftly diminishing (because of horrific religious persecution) religion, for thousands of years. Although elements of the Abrahamic religions and Zoroastrianism appear in Sharfadin, it it a religion into its own self. It teaches monotheism, but also that seven angels
The “Peacock Angel” of Sharfadin Read More »
Structures known as Irish Round Towers, built from the late 8th-12th centuries CE, dotted the island in medieval centuries. The only monumental stone buildings in Ireland to come before the Normans invaded, the towers used to be thought to function as lookouts for Viking invasions. Historians now ascribe less martial functions to the buildings, thinking
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This painting from 1494 is possibly a depiction of the famed Lucrezia Borgia appearing as Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The oxymoronic nature of such a depiction is obvious if we have heard of the many legends (incest, poisonings, etc) of this _femme fatale_. Of course, many of the tales are completely unproven, and probably can
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When the artist Larry Harvey first set fire to a 9-foot wooden effigy of a man and began a ceremony now celebrated annually at Black Rock City, Nevada, he had never heard of the famous 1973 cult horror film, “The Wicker Man,” which took its cue from an alleged Celtic practice of human sacrifice. In
Human Sacrifice in Ancient Celtic British Life Read More »
Western History has no corner in the market for crazy leaders, as the example of Gao Yang (aka the Emperor Wenxuan) shows. Ruling for only nine years (r. 550-559 CE) in the tumultuous and short-spanned Northern Qi Dynasty, Gao Yang would have given Nero a run for his money. Known for his narcissistic, unpredidictable, and
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The writings of the Medieval theologian Peter Damian (d. 1072) reinforce the idea that the Middle Ages were an era with such religious devotion that all other sensibilities were eclipsed. In learning about the disdain for which Peter seemed to hold nearly everything unconnected to Christian doctrine, we can imagine that even his contemporaries would
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Maybe if you just ate you should skip on past this post, and don’t squint too hard at the image along the way . . . On the other hand (no pun intended), if you’ve decided to keep reading, then you might notice that the bright red figure on the bed is actually having his
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Five thousand years ago, ancient Middle Eastern Mesopotamian civilizations developed the written word, and this invention galvanized other areas of culture such as literature and the visual arts. And so we see seals — such as the one here made of shell from the Akkadian period (2334-2154 BCE) — which often showcased religious and political
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The smallpox vaccination has been one of the greatest contributions science has made to better the human condition. Although Edward Jenner has justly earned credit for his development of the vaccine, an 18th-century British aristocratic woman named Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) also deserves recognition. Montagu was a “Turkophile,” and published many writings critiquing the confining
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This is one of fifty copies left of the Gutenberg Bible, printed over 650 years ago. The volume symbolises a revolution in information transfer, because its movable type enabled the quick printing of books. Despite the forward-looking aspects of the Gutenberg Bible, it also symbolizes the Medieval culture from which it came. For instance, about
The First Mass Printed Medieval Book – The Gutenberg Bible Read More »
Original printing of _Leviathan_, published in 1651 and written by the English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (d. 1679). This classic pronouncement of human nature as basically selfish, competitive, and violent emerged during a period of civil war and corresponding endemic violence in Hobbes’ homeland. For him, humanity was doomed to a life that was “nasty,
Printing and Representation of The Leviathan Read More »
Slippery reasoning that produces horrible results is unfortunately a regular occurrence in human history. While the 17th century witnessed the Scientific Revolution in Europe, sloppy logic (mixed with lack of information) led to some gruesome human experimentation. William Harvey had recently discovered (for Europeans) that blood circulates in our bodies, pumped by the heart, but
Arthur Coga and Sheep’s Blood Transfusions Read More »
The use of magical amulets and charms was common in the Ancient Roman world, where most people didn’t think material causality determined their futures. Instead, more people considered the dangerous forces of fate, the daemonia who embodied those forces, or the Gods to be the primary agents in everyday existence. In order to gain some
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