Last Sunday, a group of committed Greek Pagans braved rain and scorn to pray in a fashion not seen at Greece's Acropolis in almost two millenia. Members of the Greek Reconstructionist group Ellinais defied a government ban to perform a purification and protection ritual for the site, in opposition to a new museum proposed for the site.

Greece's government is theocratic, and followers of religions outside of the Greek Orthodox Church have fewer religious freedoms.

"I have discovered the secrets of the pyramids, and have found out how the Egyptians and the ancient builders in Peru, Yucatan, and Asia, with only primitive tools, raised and set in place blocks of stone weighing many tons!"

So declared Edward Leedskalnin, a Latvian eccentric, who concocted a method of single-handedly erecting massive quarried stone resulting in the enigma that is Coral Castle. .

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What Is Occultism?

This question we may very well ask if we intend to devote time and trouble to its pursuit. Are we to content ourselves with tales of haunted houses, accounts of telepathy among primitive peoples, and research into the esoteric literature of the past? These things certainly have their value; all available occult phenomena should be carefully investigated, not only for the sake of obtaining knowledge, but also for the sake of unmasking charlatans; and the results obtained by investigators in the past are of the greatest value for counter-checking the results we are obtaining at the present day.

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I get fairly frequent emails in response to my inclusion of Freemasonry on a site about religion. The usual comment is that Freemasonry is not a religion, which is a valid grievance, I suppose- but then, there is no category for "spiritual but not religious." Freemasonry, while not espousing any particular dogma, does espouse some doctrines that are clearly religious or spiritual in nature, and much of the symbolism employed in Masonic ritual is drawn from religious sources. A few nights ago I was invited to discuss these questions and more with the folks over at Masonic Central. I'd meant to mention this before the show aired, but it would seem the internet was malfunctioning that day. In any case, if you like you can listen to the podcast here.