Ritual
Attempts to commercialize wind phones spark controversy
Hmmm … The nonprofit in question appears to be https://www.littlewindphoneproject.org and while I see no reason to doubt their sincerity nor competence, I think they’re fundamentally missing the point. Wind phones gain from the DIY model; frictionless is not always better.
“Why you should talk to your dead ancestors”
Mariam Vahradyan writes for Psyche: Many cultures around the world actively maintain relationships with the dead through storytelling, prayer and ritual. In Japan, for example, the spirits of the dead are welcomed during the Obon festival. For four days each year, families remember their ancestors by tending to graves, lighting small fires, and making offerings. … Read more“Why you should talk to your dead ancestors”
“Mail Between Heaven and Earth: On Japan’s Post Office For Letters to the Dead”
Sally Hayden writes for the Literary Hub: The road wound upwards, past a sloping graveyard and cedar trees. We passed another hamlet of houses, and I started to spot various signs pointing towards the drifting post. Through a final flurry of trees, it at last became visible. There was a rectangular yellow post box—the “real” … Read more“Mail Between Heaven and Earth: On Japan’s Post Office For Letters to the Dead”
“Threshold: the choir who sing to the dying”
‘Let it be like a lullaby that holds you.’ Threshold Choir is an international charity that provides people who are dying with soothing, non-religious songs of peace and comfort, sung by three-person volunteer groups. This short documentary profiles one Threshold Choir chapter in Devon in south-west England.
Floralia 2026
Living in the future … the first wildflowers are appearing in the park and along the riverbanks, trees are budding or starting to leaf, and so another Floralia has arrived. I’ve repositioned the skull on my vanitas shrine – facing to the right, symbolizing “looking forward” – and re-dressed the flowered caplet in honor of … Read moreFloralia 2026
Memento Mori Religion in “28 Years Later”
In the 28 Days franchise, much of the world is laid to waste by an accidentally-released pathogen called the Rage Virus, which reduces human beings to almost mindless biting and eating machines. The third installment is set 28 years after the original movie and takes place in a radically re-wilded England. Nature has largely reclaimed … Read moreMemento Mori Religion in “28 Years Later”
“After the Rain”
Japanese conceptual artist Aya Kichi describes “After the Rain”: (…) incorporating a series of optical prisms into the centres of tombstones, which as a result, create a spectrum of light on the ground where the grave would be situated. Influenced by rainy days and the grieving process, the project takes these elements and translates them … Read more“After the Rain”
Hamnet (2025)
A new addition to the canon; adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague, Hamnet is a heartbreaking, inspiring study of love, spirituality and the redemptive power of art in the face of tragedy and grief.