New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit Since 1901
It seems like everyone knows that Hathor is the "goddess of love," and Isis the "goddess of magic," that Thoth is the god you pray to when you need help on your university exams and Sekhmet is our ride-or-maybe-literally-die for justice. But does every pharaonic deity (or Netjer in the ancient language) only have a single sphere of influence, or a small number of concerns that they can be appealed to with prayer or magic for help with? In ancient times as today, many people call upon various Netjeru (that is, "ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses") for the things that they need and want in life, or for help with daily concerns. Unlike today, however, in antiquity the average person might ...
As I write this, it is mid-February, a week or so past Imbolc, here in the Arkansas Ozarks; the weather is unseasonably warm today and the jonquils are starting to bloom. Spring is on its way. When I step outside, the air feels "troubled," as my grandpa would say. He meant that we were likely in for a stormy afternoon and evening. After a couple of meteorology classes, I know that "troubled" air means an unstable atmosphere, which does indeed mean the possibility of severe weather. Arkansas is not typically thought of as part of tornado alley, but I assure you we are. While we may not get the numbers of strong tornadoes that Oklahoma and Kansas see in a typical year, we have had our ...
Throughout most ancient cultures, people believed plants to be magical and, in many cases, used them as much for ritual as they did for medicine and food. Although plants had a wide range of mundane uses, people must have felt that there was something more, something mystical about them that touched their psyches. Witches, and anyone who takes time to slow down and observe, can see and sense that the green world is enchanting and powerful. Even plants that may seem so familiar and ordinary can be surprisingly magical. The witches, the wise women and men were the people to whom villagers went to for medicine, magic, and advice. In addition to knowing what to use, the wise folk knew when ...
Some 17,000 years ago, a human ventured deep inside Lascaux Cave in what is modern-day France, and painted a therianthrope (a human-animal hybrid) that some observers believe is a crow-headed shaman. It's the earliest evidence we have of how long crows and their cousins the ravens, part of the family of birds known as corvids, have enchanted humankind. Crows and ravens are the most intelligent animals that most people will ever encounter, given that they are far more ubiquitous and "accessible" worldwide than those very smart apes and dolphins, and far more intelligent than dogs or cats. Renowned wildlife biologist John Marzluff calls corvids, "feathered apes." And, crows and ravens are ...
