History of Ideas: Rituals
The School of Life offers insight into the history, meaning and value of ceremonialism, concluding that a sane and kind future will require the creation of new rituals.
History
The Monument Lab
Philadelphia’s Monument Lab is a public art and history studio working with artists, students, educators, activists, municipal agencies, and cultural institutions on participatory approaches to public engagement and collective memory.
Perspectives on Death: Crash Course Philosophy
Philosophical approaches to mortality from Socrates, Epicurus, and Zhuangzi, considering whether it’s logical to fear your own death or the deaths of your loved ones, with sidebars on Thomas Nagel and the Fear of Missing Out.
“Monuments to Unbelief”
Leigh E. Schmidt’s essay for Aeon.com examines the phenomenon of public memorials representing humanism, freethought and atheism: American freethinkers had long been preoccupied with the public memorialising of their incredulity and anticlericalism. They wanted to enshrine their commitment to scientific rationality over biblical revelation, their strict construction of church-state separation, and their worldly focus on … Read more“Monuments to Unbelief”
Lindsay Ellis on Death, Personified
Critic, author and video essayist Lindsay Ellis offers a survey of the many personifications of Death in Western art and culture.
The Oscar Wilde Temple
Artist Peter McGough explains the Oscar Wilde Temple, a secular “celebration of the creative process through which experience is transformed into art and reality abstracted into revelation.” For more information on this project, please see the Oscar Wilde Temple website.
A Pocket History of Tucson’s All Souls Procession
Established in 1990 and on hold (in its full form) until the abeyance of the COVID-19 crisis, Tucson’s All Souls Procession remains a grassroots community festival of memorial and celebration. This short video offers a glimpse back into its history.
Unboxing an Antique Ghost Show (Plus an Illustrated History of Spookological Fakery for Fun and Profit)
On the evening of November 16 (US time), Morbid Anatomy will be hosting a live Zoom presentation of the antique seance/ghost show props I inherited from my dad’s magic collection: The eschatological crises of the First World War and the 1918 influenza pandemic sparked a massive revival of the practice of Spiritualist séances. Whereas some … Read moreUnboxing an Antique Ghost Show (Plus an Illustrated History of Spookological Fakery for Fun and Profit)
Death is Nothing to Us: The Epicureans on Death
A concise presentation on the subject of mortality from the Epicurean philosophical perspective, from the Society of Friends of Epicurus.