Tag: Religion
-
Faith and business
Faith and business According to catholic doctrine Maria wasn’t deflowered before she conceived. In her case the Church speaks of the Virgin Birth of Christ and so Maria remained a virgin even while being a mother. Virgin and mother at the same time, that’s what makes her special. Maria is often depicted as a beautiful, virtuous young…
-
Via crucis
Via crucis or: the missing fingers Religion can be a true source of inspiration for Art with a capital A – countless examples can be found across the centuries in all the various religions.It can also provide inspiration for living folklore and the religious kitsch that goes hand in hand with it – of which…
-
Yak horns
Yak horns Turning prayer wheels, as mentioned in last week’s post, and prayer flags fluttering in the wind, as mentioned in an earlier post, are effective ways of amplifying and spreading the positive effects of the sacred texts they contain. Another very ancient custom is the use of engraved stones or animal skulls and horns…
-
As the world turns
As the world turns Praying whilst chatting with friends in the square … for Tibetans, this is possible thanks to their prayer wheels. Sacred mantras such as ‘om mani padme hum’ can be written repeatedly on paper in large numbers and placed on a scroll inside the wheel. It is believed that turning the wheel…
-
Mind your step
Mind your step Everyone who has moved around airports must be familiar with this phrase “Mind your step”. Seeing it, I immediately hear the proper voice with the right intonation warning me: “Mind your step!” But what is it supposed to mean here? Can it be a warning to those who are on the verge…
-
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas In Holland, that tiny country by the North Sea where I grew up, a white Christmas is a very rare occurrence. One can dream of it, but the reality is generally one of cold and grey gloominess. Maybe favourable for a state of mind that makes one long for the coming of light…
-
Threatened with extinction
Threatened with extinction Nuns openly on the street, that truly isn’t a common sight anymore in Europe! With the exception maybe of places like Rome, or – as in the photo above – Krakow. Rome because of the Vatican and the Papal throne; Krakow as the place from where Archbishop Wojtyla was called in 1978…
-
The raising of the flag
The raising of the flag I was born after the Second World War in a liberated Netherlands. The country had just emerged from five years of occupation by Nazi Germany. I still remember very clearly the annual celebrations during my childhood on 5 May, the day in 1945 on which the country was liberated from…
-
The friendly army
The friendly army What an impressive army of identical little figures! That was my first reaction when I came across them on the grounds of the Buddhist Hase-dera Temple in Kamakura. On closer inspection, however, some of the faces do display slightly different features. So there must have been a few different moulds used to…
-
Wishful thinking
Wishful thinking I wonder if I should reconsider my stand on religion somewhat. In earlier posts of this blog I have spoken – illustrating my point with pictures – of the ‘folklore of faith’, implying that apart from its popular forms, there is also a more serious and fundamental side to religion. The latter would…
καιρός remembered 