Tag Archives: garden of eden

Mourning Announcements

Posted on March 25, 2023 by Nathan

Today is the anniversary of Jesus’ crucifixion. Okay, it probably really isn’t, and we don’t even know what year that happened, let alone the specific date. While Easter does sometimes fall this early, it’s rare. And if these first century … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Catholicism, Christianity, Christmas, Easter, History, Holidays, Islam, J.R.R. Tolkien, Judaism, Middle Ages, Passover, Religion, rosh hashanah | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Changing in the Telling

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Nathan

The Unkindest Tide, by Seanan McGuire – This book deals with the Roane, the aquatic children of the Luidaeg who had been mostly killed off centuries earlier, their skins then being used to create Selkies. The sea-witch vows to revive … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglicanism, Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, British, Catholicism, Christianity, Fairy Tales, German, History, Islam, Magic, marissa meyer, Middle Ages, Mythology, Norse, Nursery Rhymes, october daye, Relationships, Religion, seanan mcguire, Urban Legends, Welsh | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

An Apple Was the Cause of It All

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Nathan

Comfort Me with Apples, by Catherynne M. Valente – It’s hard to say anything about this book without spoiling it, as a twist is integral to the plot. At the same time, though, there are some things about the twist … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, Catherynne M. Valente, Christianity, Fairy Tales, Food, Humor, Judaism, Korean, Magic, Mythology, Names, Relationships, Religion, Rick Riordan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Birds of a Feather (and a Few Without)

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Nathan

I don’t think I’ve ever really written specifically about the birds in the Oz series, and there are quite a few of them. When Dorothy first arrives in Oz, she sees “birds with rare and brilliant plumage” in the Munchkin … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Arabian, Characters, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Language, Marcus Mebes, Monsters, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What a Piece of Crap Is Man

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Nathan

It’s interesting that Satan’s rebellion against God has become such a significant part of the mythology of the Abrahamic religions, when there isn’t a whole lot of support for the idea in the Bible. It’s described in Revelation, but the … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Focus on the Foes, Islam, Judaism, Mythology, Religion, Snobbery, Zoroastrianism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Half-Civilized

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Nathan

When Dorothy first comes to Oz, the Good Witch of the North tells her, “In the civilized countries I believe there are no witches left; nor wizards, nor sorceresses, nor magicians. But, you see, the Land of Oz has never … Continue reading →

Posted in Environmentalism, Fairy Tales, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Science, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Simple Life

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Nathan

Something I’ve been looking into recently is the idea that the book of Genesis has, at least in parts, a bias against civilization. I don’t mean so much in the sense of polite behavior, but as in the more historical … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Ethnicity, Food, Gender, History, Judaism, Middle East, Mythology, Religion, Semitic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Baum vs. the Bible

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Nathan

When we discussed John R. Neill’s Lucky Bucky in Oz on the old Nonestica mailing list, J.L. Bell mentioned how Bucky recalled the story of Jonah and the Whale when riding inside Davy Jones. Biblical allusions are uncommon in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Splitting the Adam

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Nathan

There are quite a few things I don’t really get about the Adam and Eve story, but one that I thought of recently involves the notion of being fruitful and multiplying. Actually, this isn’t part of the same story, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Etymology, Gnosticism, Judaism, Language, Relationships, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Exceptionalism That Proves the Rule

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Nathan

The phrase “American exceptionalism” has become a rather confusing one, in that it gets tossed around a lot, but it’s not entirely clear what it means. It’s sort of like “political correctness” in that respect. Does it mean general politeness … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Communism, Economics, History, Mormonism, Politics, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment