Kabbalah for the masses?

A historic forum will take place in San Diego, December 18-19, 2006, entitled "Kabbalah for the Masses? The Promise and Problems in Mainstreaming Jewish Mysticism." Tiferet Institute, dedicated to excellence in the study and teaching of Kabbalah, will convene eminent scholars and rabbis to deliberate on the popularization of Kabbalah and its impact on the future of Judaism, Christianity and the emerging globalization of spiritual culture.

Read the rest at PR Web.

They must have heard the recent news about Geri Halliwell's interest in Kabbalah, and decided that enough is enough.


The Zohar

Science as Icarus

"Pope Benedict told scientists on Saturday that by believing only in "artificial intelligence" and technology they risked the fate of the mythical Icarus, whose home-made wings melted when he flew too close to the sun. "Letting yourself be seduced by discovery without paying attention to the criteria of a deeper vision could lead to the drama the myth speaks of," he told the Pontifical Lateranense University at the inauguration of a new academic year."

Story at Yahoo.

The Monastery

In TLC's new reality show five men of varied backgrounds go off to live at a Benedictine monastery for forty days and forty nights. Producer Sarah Woodfort says that "The point has not been to create traps for hapless people to fall into. We're interested in exploring how people like us can live a good and purposeful life and what the 1,500-year-old monastic tradition can teach modern people."

I guess that means they're not excommunicating a participant at the end of each week.

Visit the Monastery.


Saint Benedict

Happy Satanic Halloween!

"Devil worshippers who will gather in Brisbane for Halloween have promised to hold a series of "shock rituals", outraging church leaders and prompting police to step up patrols of cemeteries.

The Church of Satan has sent emails to members nationwide, urging them to attend a gathering at a secret "grotto" in the city on October 31. Details of the meeting emerged after a goat was beheaded on Friday the 13th this month at a church in Bellbowrie in western Brisbane."

Read more at Sunday Mail.

Two thoughts.

Firstly, the founder of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey, condemned the killing or harming of animals for ritual or magical purposes. He's been dead for nine years, but the church has not changed that policy, nor is it likely to.

Secondly, wouldn't Halloween be the worst night of the year for trying to shock people?

Pagan birds of the Summer Isles

"An artist has created several new species of unsual birds after holidaying in the area which inspired the occult thriller The Wicker Man. Mr Summerton said: The history and mythologies surrounding the Summer Isles and its relation to the Wicker Man somehow leaked into the images I had worked with, hatching some strange breed of pagan birdlife."

See some of Edward Summerton's birds at BBC News.

Occult fashion report

This winter's hottest accessory? The occult tome. (You don't actually have to read the book, just make sure you're seen holding it.)

"Pink is dressed in a straight black wig and plays a goth/vampire character who reads the mysteriously titled book A Suggestive Inquiry Into Hermetic Mystery, Mary A. Atwood's 1850 volume on the occult speculated that the goal of the dark arts is to reach spiritual perfection."

Read the rest of the story at VH1.

More mythological names

"It’s no secret that Google has long replaced Open Source as Enemy Number 1 within Microsoft’s Redmond HQ and beyond. In their quest to thwart Google, and given their appetite for mythological names, maybe Messrs Gates and co should consider Nemesis - the Goddess of Retribution and Vengeance – as its new name for the long-awaited Microsoft adCenter. That’s if they ever get round to a full launch."

Linus Gregoriadis offers some (mostly) helpful advice in What digital giants can learn from Greek mythology.