Photo taken by FBI agents in Jonestown following the Jonestown massacre of November 18, 1978.

One Woman’s Path to Jonestown

While the events that led to the Jonestown massacre included profound tragedy, the life—and death—of one of its residents offers lessons on community and resilience.
A dog in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, Mongolia

The Sacred and Profane Dogs of Mongolia

In Mongolia, dogs are close companions to humans and a key part of a cosmology with Buddhist and shamanic influences. But they’re also seen as unclean.
Detail of The Story of the Florentine Antonio Rinaldeschi, dated 1501/2

Tavolette: Paintings to Comfort the Condemned

Charged with saving the immortal souls of the condemned, comforters held tavolette showing the Crucifixion in front of the eyes of those facing execution.
The logo of the Christ Apostolic Church in Dublin, Ireland

Healing Dance at an African Church in Ireland

For congregants at the Yoruban-influenced Christ Apostolic Church in Dublin, sacred dance is a form of mental health care.
San Pier Maggiore altarpiece

When the Bishop Married the Abbess

When a new bishop was installed in the see of medieval Florence, he was also expected to marry—at least symbolically—the abbess of San Pier Maggiore.
Pausanias sacrifices a lamb to Greek and Roman pagan gods before fighting in the battle of Plataea

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: Animal Sacrifice and the Greek Gods

The ritual of animal sacrifice in ancient Greece brought humans closer to the gods even as it defined their differences.
Portrait of Ronald Reagan holding his mother Nelle's hand

Ronald Reagan’s Guiding Light

Having inherited his mother’s beliefs, Reagan was ever faithful to the Disciples of Christ, whose tenets were often at odds with those of the GOP.
Interior courtyard at the Thian Hock Keng Temple in the Tanjong Pagar area of downtown Singapore, a traditional Taoist temple established in 1839

Debating the Definition of Taoism

Taoism and Hinduism are two different spiritual systems, but one thing they have in common in Singapore is that they’re both very difficult to define.
Patrick White, ca. 1940

The Two Worlds of Patrick White

In writing and life, the Australian Nobel Laureate was ever preoccupied by the search for spiritual meaning and the fraught relationship between God and blundering humanity.
Three angels hosted by Abraham, Ludovico Carracci, c. 1610-1612

Xenophilia: Golden Rule of the Stranger

We may have heard enough about xenophobia, the fear of the stranger. But what of its opposite, the love for a stranger, better known as hospitality?