Jennifer's Alternative Religions Blog

The Tree of Life is an important symbol in nearly every culture. With its branches reaching into the sky, and roots deep in the earth, it dwells in three worlds- a link between heaven, the earth, and the underworld, uniting above and below. It is both a feminine symbol, bearing sustenance, and a masculine, visibly phallic symbol- another union.

In Jewish and Christian mythology, a tree sits at the center of both the Heavenly and Earthly Edens. The Norse cosmic World Ash, Ygdrassil, has its roots in the underworld while its branches support the abode of the Gods. The Egyptian's Holy Sycamore stood on the threshold of life and death, connecting the worlds. To the Mayas, it is Yaxche, whose branches support the heavens.

Continue reading: The Tree of Life

The word abracadabra is known universally as the "magic word" of stage conjurers. What little know is that it is a word of ancient origin, used by genuine magicians from about the third century.

The word abracadabra is derived from a Aramaic phrase (Avarah K'Davarah) meaning, "I will create as I speak." (Harry Potter fans might recognize this spelling; however, it is not a curse.) It has appeared in Kabbalistic and Gnostic texts alike.

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This is cute- it seems a particular Shinto shrine in Kyoto has earned a particular reputation for aiding adherents in severing ties with unpleasant people, especially exes. The Mainichi Daily News reports that the shrine ios so popular it has hundreds of thousands of prayers plastered to it- so many, in fact, that it resembles an igloo.

See also: Shinto

The UK's Telegraph asks following a poll in which half of all Britons believe the religion, along with Judaism, will have disappeared from the country in a century's time. The article also cites a decline in the church attendance. Obviously, the US would likely show more confidence in religion, but polls show similar slips in religious affiliation and church attendance. The question is, will this be a permanent effect, or is it simply a post-millennial slump? (One clue might be found in the increasing interest in Buddhism, a religion that focuses more on humanism and awareness than on faith in a deity.)

	Today is Midsummer, the Feast of John the Baptist, who in Christian tradition was the initiator of Christ. According to other traditions, such as the Gnostic Mandaean sect, John was the true Messiah (and Jesus a false prophet who misused John's secret teachings).
John's feast day is unusual in the Church, which usually honors Saints on their day of death; John's day is considered his nativity. Many have pointed out that the assignment of John's nativity to the Summer Solstice and Jesus' to the Winter Solstice are not coincidental, but a link to ancient sun worship.

A curious reference to this solar symbolism can be found in the NT gospel of John, where the Baptists says, "He must increase, but I must decrease." This is seen as a reference to the waning summer sun.

The Feast of John is also an important Holy Day in the Voodoo religion. John's feast is also a major day of celebration in Freemasonry.

Summer solstice calls for some sun-worshiping celebrations
Thousands due at solstice event
Ancient traditions, rituals
A war on the Summer Solstice
Summer solstice legends

Photo: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

The Witch's knot is a common symbol in folk magic. The witch's knot is a symbolic representation of the knot magic practiced by witches in the middle ages, and was used as a sympathetic charm against witchcraft, and usually scratched over doorways of homes and stables. One aspect of its efficacy as a protective charm lay in the ability to draw the complicated symbol in one continuous motion.

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Today marks the 127th anniversary of the death of New Orleans "Voodoo Queen" Marie Leveau. Marie was one of the nineteenth century's most powerful spiritual leaders, a much sought-after practitioner of magic who led a large flock of Vodouisants.

Her New Orleans tomb is the second most visited grave site in the US (after Elvis, natch). Visitors leave flowers, rum, and other gifts, often in hope that she will grant a wish.

More about Voodoo, African Religion

See also: Togo's Voodoo Market (Image Gallery)

Voodoo Priests and the World Cup

Rosicrucian means in Latin, "of the Rose Cross." The symbol of the rose cross is ancient and layered with meaning. The origins of the Rosicrucian fraternity are even more shadowed.

The first widespread publicity of the order came about in Germany in the early seventeenth century, when two anonymous Manifestos were published to great notoriety. According to the Manifestos, the Rosicrucian Order was founded a century earlier by a certain Christian Rosencreutz, a poor descendent of nobility who was cloistered at an early age with the Jesuit Order. After training with the Jesuits as a youth, he travelled to the Holy Land to learn the art of healing. He continued to travel, learning mathematics, alchemy, and magic from the Arabs, biology from the Egyptians, cabala from the Spanish. Then, according to the account in Fraternitas, he returned to his native land, where he formed a secret group ..Continue

At first look, it appears ghastly-a grotesque sphinx like creature, with the head of a goat, cloven hooves, and the body of a nude woman. It is the Baphomet, one of the most misunderstood religious symbols of all time.

The name Baphomet is derived from a figure first described at the trials of the Templars, an order of Crusading Monks accused of Heresy, witchcraft, and other crimes against the Church.

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