Tag Archives: nephilim

The Secret Lives of Stars

It’s kind of an odd inspiration, I suppose, but I got an idea to write a post about star mythology from this tweet, for which I’m honestly not sure how serious the original posters were. There is some basis in … Continue reading

Posted in Astronomy, Babylonian, Christianity, Greek Mythology, Judaism, Mythology, Religion, Science, Semitic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Bible Says a Lot of Things

One thing I’ve found is that, when someone discusses the Bible from a secular perspective, there will be devout believers who get angry about it, even though no one is actually attacking their faith. I guess part of the problem … Continue reading

Posted in Christianity, Fundamentalism, Greek Mythology, History, Judaism, Middle East, Mythology, Norse, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Please Don’t Feed the Ghosts

Hungry ghosts are a Buddhist concept, but they’ve spread into other East Asian religious traditions as well. The Sanskrit term for this kind of spirit is preta, which basically means “departed.” The Chinese name for them, èguǐ, means “hungry ghost,” … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Chinese, Greek Mythology, Halloween, Holidays, Japanese, Judaism, Monsters, Mythology, Pac-Man, Religion, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tesser Action

Many Waters, by Madeleine L’Engle – I’d read L’Engle’s original Time Trilogy back in my younger days, definitely in elementary school for at least the first two and probably the third. I remember A Wrinkle in Time pretty well, and … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Christianity, Language, madeleine l'engle, Mythology, Religion, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Your Noose Is Gonna Break When I Am There

Frank Black and the Catholics is the first release to use this name for the backing band, although the performers are actually the same as on the previous record. I’ve heard that the name was sort of a joke on … Continue reading

Posted in Albums, Frank Black, Music, Pixies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Splitting the Adam

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 Virgin and the Houri

It’s a popular notion these days that Islamic terrorists believe they’ll be rewarded with seventy-two virgins in Paradise. Why seventy-two? There’s somewhat of a justification for this, but as usual the meme only tells part of the story. The Quran … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, Discworld, Islam, Religion, Terry Pratchett | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments