Our family had a sacred ritual we practiced every Friday night while I was growing up. We traveled to a video store called Movies and Sounds and paid homage to the higher forces that fired...

[caption id="attachment_19409" align="aligncenter" width="720"] At the Still Point (Pinwheel Galaxy by ESA/Hubble Telescope. Used under a Creative Commons license)[/caption] At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; Deleted: Neither from nor...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walter_a_aue/16247789898/in/photolist-qKLaSA-Bj4ZJo-2fhos8s-T3dQ1J-Btbgkh-2fbqfGT-2f5Q7UC-DwEJMr-4kAcnS-QnZ9xF-2fn519P-24DY7ue-2dYhr5q-2f5cubP-24AUNvT-2297SgV-DWstbP-24Qc7uB-SjNBJJ-R5jG3V-AnnEfX-qgTeyt-24Eoue8-2dHJLPz-2fcNbuV-24Eouka-2fn51eZ-T45dZS-T3dPT9-2dJQM7F-2fcNbDH-SXyTT3-2e4zDvJ-dZkGjg-24xYftM-2dYhr9y-2fcNbyH-24EouhV-24AUNBV-2e2M9DJ-T6jnfu-2ffuiFY-2dGSKJZ-T6jnm1-T45dMC-2dHJLHT-RtNcYF-2ffuiBu-2dHJLC2-RxtAZe The poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti once wrote that he was waiting for the rebirth of wonder (“I am Waiting”, A Coney Island of the Mind, 49). In an age where technology has simultaneously brought us...

[caption id="attachment_19386" align="alignleft" width="200"] Navaho sand painting to a Blessing Chant. New Mexico, c. 1950[/caption] In his 1986 publication The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, Campbell turns to a Navaho sand painting of a Blessing...

[caption id="attachment_19326" align="aligncenter" width="799"] "Enough is a feast" by Arul Irudayam. Used through a Creative Commons license[/caption] Here in America, November marks the celebration of Thanksgiving, and we at JCF have adopted the theme of...

[embed]https://www.flickr.com/photos/90171279@N00/6430417797/in/photolist-aNezbn-65Rpcg-6e1yMN-pFjraa-dmehbL-aB74tY-P5BHcR-dvsq59-9fx3N4-5F7Cfi-63L32B-71fj8u-q4B7YQ-znGDrp-FR3Psc-2bT7SNT-2cKpDc1-PgCU97-JB34E6-268a5nV-AM7gSA-6ujZ74-v8npZ5-XfhNbT-yqJHs4-9zf7Xf-5oaDKQ-wATXgB-2fNUepv-atatFC-PHDiqL-7gXG2-8aV7Nm-gusgXY-7dhAUv-8aRPwX-aESq3K-8aV7YA-SgYwYu-2gjYNxN-2ftK87T-4iqR3m-GMvRLB-2637cR7-rqt2W-BpAASR-2avxxbL-2gYC273-RKLSuC-2geYZFi[/embed] Gratitude........... (photo by smile7/flickr.com; used through a Creative Commons license) For me, it has been a challenging privilege to brush shoulders with this month’s theme of gratitude. Gratitude, to me, is simply appreciation, but...

[caption id="attachment_19286" align="alignleft" width="208"] Heinrich Zimmer, c. 1933[/caption] My life long, I’ve loved the relationship between a big mind’s biography and the themes and patterns of their oeuvre. The two mirror one another comparatively, opening...

On the 146th night of Scheherazade’s captivity, as told in Joseph Campbell’s edition of The Thousand and One Nights, The Story of the Birds and Beasts and the Son of Adam keeps her sovereign Sultan...

[embed]https://www.flickr.com/photos/cayusa/2962437091/in/photolist-5vMgkz-91LryK-cFsMvu-u4A1w-7J2Wrq-dtVqyU-93KMDv-91P1ZG-7UfHYK-7xMHRM-fD6s76-2eqHCFJ-91f1Rw-canp5y-cansVf-canoMw-canv9W-c8EALW-cantUj-canpSh-canrDh-canoFU-44WUB-canoRq-kxHtuo-canqAo-canmqj-cans4U-c8UcdE-c8EN7W-canteY-c8EAXA-cant1q-c8EMPL-c8x1YN-canuxW-canrVG-canqKL-cansiS-bCjBJi-c9N2L5-cansx9-cans8W-c8EEQU-canp9W-99PYrt-6uyCrD-canpFA-canse3-c8wtnh[/embed] One of my earliest memories is centered around a lit stage draped in a red velvet curtain, inside a small theater in Colorado, watching a magician named Max Hapner pour a gallon of milk...

[caption id="attachment_17969" align="alignright" width="300"] "Follow your bliss!" Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers (from Episode 4: "Sacrifice and Bliss")[/caption] What did Joseph Campbell mean when he said, “Follow your bliss and...

[caption id="attachment_19189" align="alignleft" width="300"] Scar (photo by Daniel Pasikov; used though a Creative Commons license)[/caption] Scars are curious things given an even more curious name: the word scar is derived from the Greek word eschara,...