Sacred Trees in Japan
In the modern city of Tokyo, mature forests and trees form a spiritual bridge between past and present.
Mumbai, Where Indian Ocean Diasporas and Cosmopolitanisms Meet
The sacred and emotional geographies of two Indian Ocean diaspora communities intertwine with elements of New Age spirituality in the megacity of Mumbai.
How Queer Jews Reclaimed Yiddish
Queer Yiddishkeit challenges the notion that Yiddish is inherently heteronormative or conservative.
Scientific Seances in Twentieth-Century Iran
Spiritism appealed to Iranian intellectuals who sought to reconcile their commitment to science with their pursuit of moral reform.
The Hidden History of Black Catholic Nuns
The lives and roles of African-descended women who joined predominantly white Catholic convents was deliberately hidden by congregational historians.
Meet Eva Frank: The First Jewish Female Messiah
Was this revered female figurehead an empowered leader or a tragic victim in her father's wake?
A Passover Tradition to Promote Jewish Unity
Freeing a prisoner—a gesture of generosity and benevolence—may have been a way to bring together a fractured spiritual community.
Muslim Women and the Politics of the Headscarf
For many women, wearing the hijab was—and is—an element of piety, but it's been coopted into a political symbol.
Behind the Curtain of the Heaven’s Gate Cult
On the 25th anniversary of UFO cult Heaven's Gate's mass suicide, a religion scholar examines its theology and doctrines in the context of the New Age Movement.