By Holy Watermelon
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The podcast currently has 104 episodes available.
New Age religion is a lot more than a scheme to sell books and crystals, it's a belief that a new age of enlightenment is dawning--or did so centuries ago--or is centuries away. It might be something to fear, or something to celebrate.
Astrology is all trash, and we're happy to point out the best reasons why. But, it can also be wholesome entertainment.
The people who make your star charts don't care about what's actually happening in the sky, the signs haven't been adjusted to reflect the reality of our sky for thousands of years, and the even the best minds vary wildly on the meanings of things.
Most astrologers won't even admit that the constellation Ophiuchus is now a more relevant part of the sun's path than Scorpio.
Despite the Christian mainstream opinion that occultism and witchcraft are incompatible with their faith (a claim that is unreasonable, to say the least) a massive chunk of American Christians are into New Age ideas that come from these occult teachings. Even atheists buy into the New Age, approximately one in five in the United States of America.
In spite of ridiculous claims made by Paul le Cour and others, this movement has brought some interesting diversity to the global religious landscape, and influenced the world's secular culture in odd ways, too.
All this and more....
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Latin America has managed to preserve some of its pre-Columbian religious heritage, so we're going to explore the traditions of the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca nations.
We explore cocaine, purification rituals, human sacrifice, gods from throughout history, and Catholic syncretism.
All this and more....
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It's time to take another look at religion in popular culture, in particular, cults in film, and why we love telling these stories.
The Wicker Man (Either Christopher Lee's 1973 classic, or Nicolas Cage's 2006 remake) is a fantastic story about a man trying to save a girl who doesn't want to be saved from the cult of her little island town.
The Ritual (2017) takes some liberties with Norse paganism, but so do more popular franchises, telling us a great reason to be careful in the woods, and avoid unfamiliar shortcuts.
The Ninth Gate (1999) is a bold story of a book dealer who gets in deep with dangerous people, and brushes too close to hell.
Midsommar (2019) tells us how people are attracted to cults, and shows us how tricky it can be to see danger when distracted by grief.
The Village (2004) is a brilliant tale of authoritarian control, with a typical early M Night Shyamalan twist.
Rosemary's Baby (1868) and Apostle (2018) are horrors of what many Christians fear of their neighbors, and it makes good storytelling.
The Mist (2007) shows us how a cult can rapidly emerge when fear is the most powerful currency in the wake of disaster.
Marvel's Runaways (2017-19) was a fun exploration of how a powerful person comes to be the foundation of a cult.
All these stories help us to understand ourselves a little better, and explore the fear of losing control.
All this and more....
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Dr. Sean Hannan did his post-graduate studies at the University of Chicago before joining the faculty of MacEwan University in Edmonton Alberta. His studies revolve around St. Augustine of Hippo, and the medieval mystics like Meister Eckhart von Hochheim.
Augustine of Hippo was a profoundly significant character in the development of early Christian theology. It is said that (since Augustine was African), Catholicism is African. Augustine's ideas of salvation, and the nature of time are of particular interest.
Augustine occupied himself with some of the deepest and most important theological questions, all informed from a well travelled series of religious investigations and conversions. What is the cause of evil? Can a traitorous priest perform a valid sacrament? Does God exist within time and space? Is the veneration of martyrs and saints valid practice within Christianity?
Sean also teaches us about the women of mediaval mysticism, and the (maybe derivative) work of Meister Eckhart in that field.
Since Dr. Hannan teaches classes on Humanism, we had to connect all this to his use of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, too.
All this and more....
You can WATCH this interview on YouTube.
Find the rest of the interview on Patreon.
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You can find Dr. Sean Hannan on Twitter (aka X), Humanities Commons, and Academia.
Sean is also an editor for Religious Studies and Theology, which has been running for 40+ years.
Sean's published works include:
On Time, Change, History, and Conversion (Bloomsbury)
Mysticism and Materialism in the Wake of German Idealism (Routledge)
The Camp of God: Reimagining Pilgrimage as Migrancy in Augustine’s City of God (Political Theology)
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After ragging on people who surely don't deserve the veneration they receive from faithful Christians around the world, for their questionable morality, or even dubious historicity, it's time for us to look at a heptad of saints who are genuinely good role models--at least on the surface....
For these saints (as opposed to Teresa of Calcutta), poverty was an obstacle to be overcome, rather than a virtue to perpetuate. We preach power through education, and so did these seven reasonably good saints.
Angela Merici was a Venecian with no recorded miracles, but people insisted that she was a saint because of the work she did to support the public education of young people.
Elizabeth Seton was a big fan of public education, and used her great fortune to support young people in their pursuit to better their lives. Seton was the first American Saint.
Vincent de Paul has a wild story of slavery and alchemy, and he went on to do everything he could to raise people out of poverty, and support young people to get vocational training.
Father Damien (Jozef de Veuster) was a servant of the people in a Hawaiian leper colony, where he gave his life in service of his fellow men.
Katharine Drexel, the second American Saint, spent her fortune setting up schools for BIPOC students all over the United States of America.
Elizabeth of Hungary was a princess with some wild and dubious miracles, but she spent her short life in her own hospital where she cared for the poor and the sick.
John Bosco wrote an awful lot, but he also worked with young men to help get them reliable and profitable work.
All this and more....
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The Church of Rome doesn't represent all of Christianity, but it is a major portion of the global population, so it's time for us to look at their foundation, and what makes them distinct from other groups.
We explore the history of the Catholic Church, including the history of apostolic codenames, and the trouble with apostolic succession. The long history of Anti-Popes and "Lucky" Popes is fascinating.
We navigate the spreading chasm between early Christian-Judaism and the non-Christian Rabbinical tradition, coinciding with the development of new heresies with the influx of non-Jewish converts.
Councils with and without Imperial support helped to form the post-Messianic theology, and brought us, step-by-step to the Church of Rome we know today.
We also explore the tradition of imperialism, and the structure of the organization today.
All this and more....
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Gods of the underworld are not the same as gods of death, nor are the guides the same--not even the Grim Reaper.
Hades is the minder of the subterrestrial realm, just as Zeus and Poseidon are the minders of the Mountain (... and the sky) and the Sea (tough to argue for pluralizing those realms). Pluto is the same figure, adopted by the Romans AFTER he got his new stage-name.
Osiris is the keeper of the dead in Kemetic (Egyptian) lore, and one of the judges at the table.
Hel is the Norse keeper of the dead, though she was a giant, and not a typical god.
The Grim Reaper is a psychopomp: a guide for the recently deceased. The Valkyrie, and the Shinigami are old variants on this idea.
Yama was the first to meet death, and after finding heaven, has made it his mission to guide others.
Anubis, anciently a simple jackal, has morphed into the commanding protector of the dead in Egypt.
Xolotl is the Aztec guardian of the freshly entombed, symbolizing the dog to guide people into the afterlife.
Mercury is the Roman response to the Greek Hermes, and he is said to guide the dead to the docks where they should find Karon, the ferryman. The Etruscan version of Karon is perhaps a little less friendly. Vanth is a more benevolent guide to the Etruscans, though you might not guess it from her appearance.
Personifications of death--the true gods of death, if there can be any--are simply named "death" in the various tongues of the ancient world: Thanatos, Mors, Mot, etc. They may be among the most anciently feared gods in human history.
All this and more....
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Religious clothing is as varied as any other kind of fashion, but there are a few common themes that we will highlight:
Chastity is encouraged in modesty, and it's weird that covering your hair is more important that loose-fitting tops; weirder still when covering your hair with more hair has religious pressure on the cultural misstep.
Fancy hats are everywhere, in a wide variety of styles remind us to think of our gods, and tell others that we're focused on what's important to our grandparents.
Temples and priesthoods are also associated with specific clothing, including Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Catholic, and Latter-day Saint (Brighamite Mormon) traditions.
All this and more....
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If sin were ugly, the world would be a paradise. Sin has a lot of faces in religious traditions around the world, some more consequential than others.
Hamartiology is the study of sin, and it looks like some folk only want to define the line so they know how close they can stand. Sin is simply the misstep or error that divides people. Some people are more interested in listing sins than in uniting people. Ther principle that defines sin even exists in atheist philosophy, when appropriately defined.
Buddhist thinkers differ on the value of discussing sin, some deny the principle altogether, others recognize that harm begets harm.
In Shinto doctrine, sin (or tsumi) is the idea that bad things have lingering effects, this even includes personal ugliness in cultural manifestation. Harae is the process of cleaning up those things that get in our way.
Thinking about karma too much is bad, but doing bad things gives you more bad karma, so that's even worse.
The Decalogue (Ten Commandments) is a terrible misnomer, built on the cultural obsession with round numbers. There are in fact 14 individual commandments in the decalogue, that's why different traditions give different lists. The Torah actually lists 613 commandments, but they don't have the weight of the decalogue, not being written by the finger of God.
The Seven Deadly Sins are great, but poorly understood by many, we'll give you the short version.
As the Doctor says, "Good men don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many."
The sacrifice of Christ as taught by most Christians was a lot more than a rough weekend of not being alive, it included intense suffering beyond the comprehension of most, all to empower his demand that we orgive one another, just as we need forgiveness.
All this and more....
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What is a church? How does a religious society really differentiate itself from any other kind of society? What does it take to become a priest of the Holy Watermelon?
Some people join self-help groups without realizing they've been trapped in a cult. We'll be up front about it: this is a church.
How can we be a church while also being secular and academic? Easy, the rules that define religion are extremely soft. Emile Durkheim and Clifford Geertz weigh in with their definitions, which are variably useless; James Martineaux is just wrong about what counts as religion when we look beyond the walls of the Abrahamic tradition; Friedrich Schleiermacher makes some sense of the matter, but it's hard to agree with him, too, even to the point that we have to agree with Sigmund Freud in pointing out the obvious flaws in his reasoning....
Church, worship, piety, and reverence each get a little bit of attention in this pursuit of useful definitions, too.
Ultimately, the San Lanatus Fellowship stands for humanity, education, and critical curiosity, welcoming people of all spiritual inclinations under the banner of undefined agnosticism.
All this and more....
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The podcast currently has 104 episodes available.