undertakingnoun Synonyms of undertaking 1a: the act of one who undertakes or engages in a project or businessb: the business of an undertaker2: something undertaken : ENTERPRISE3: PLEDGE, GUARANTEE I suspect that, had the technology been available, the ancient Shugenja of Japan might well have devised an experience akin to the drop tower towards training … Read moreDrop Tower Shugendō
On the afternoon of September 17th, nine participants gathered in the Morbid Anatomy Library in Brooklyn, NYC to undertake an experiment in ritual space and time, guided by artists Bridget Carey, Tony Wolf and Virgil Wong. The main gates of Green-Wood Cemetery, just a few minutes’ walk from the Morbid Anatomy Library. Note the large … Read moreVR Near-Death Simulation and Memento Mori Rituals (New York City, September 2023)
In the weeks leading up to the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, National Public Radio set up a vintage telephone booth across the river from the new World Trade Center and invited people to leave a voicemail for the people they’d lost that day.
I’ve just returned from the first annual Sacred Harvest event at Sky Meadow, an idyllic 115-acre spiritual retreat in the mountainous Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The Harvest was a wonderful three days of wholesome work, exploration and soul-talk, and provided me with the opportunity to fulfil my long-term ambition of creating and installing a wind … Read moreThe Sky Meadow Wind Phone
YouTube documentarian Tom Scott presents this item on the revival of long barrows; Neolithic constructions that might have been churches, graveyards or landmarks, but which are now used as commercial columbaria and as ritual spaces. More at The Soulton Long Barrow and via the Sacred Stones website.
I ducked out of the annual Glenwood Avenue Arts Fair in our old Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park today to visit the Black Lives Matter shrine, which I had started to document back in July of 2020, when it was brand new. By April, 2021 the simple shrine area had been elaborated with the addition … Read moreThe Rogers Park Black Lives Matter Shrine, revisited
Readers interested in my philosophy of Poetic Faith and in the many and varied potentials of “rational, anti-authoritarian, artistic religion” could do worse than to check out Alt-death.com’s new sister site, Cultpunk.art. The site aims to serve as an intersection for Poetic Faiths of all stripes as well as to foster a more popular appreciation … Read moreCultpunk
A fascinating documentary on the folklore of the Accabadora (’Lady of Kind Death’) in Sardinia, Italy, where – according to rumor – there existed a tradition of compassionate euthanasia carried out by a special class of women.
I came across this small vernacular shrine dedicated to those lost to the Covid pandemic on my riverside walk this evening. The shrine features simple dedication messages in English and Spanish as well as bouquets of flowers, scatterings of flower petals and some candle jars.
As part of my annual Memoria activity during late October and early November, I enjoy attending the Día de Muertos exhibition, staged each year by the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen. Here’s a gallery of some of the 2022 displays: