The Sky Meadow Folkways

A short philosophical video on the developing folkways – meaningful rituals, customs and mythopoetic traditions – at Sky Meadow, a nature retreat in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom mountains.  The Sky Meadow folkways can be considered as the vernacular praxis of a hyper-local, naturalistic spirituality, taking the real world seriously enough to create ceremonies of storytelling, memorial … Read moreThe Sky Meadow Folkways

In Memoriam: Steve Aydt (1963-2026)

Sad to learn of the recent passing of Steve Aydt, a longtime fixture, mover and shaker in the Texan counterculture scene and founder of the Eulessyinian Hot Tub Mystery Religion. I interviewed Steve on that subject in late 2024, and that interview is part of the second volume of the anthology Poetic Faiths: New Religions … Read moreIn Memoriam: Steve Aydt (1963-2026)

Sky Meadow 2026

Just returned from our much-anticipated, at-least-annual visit to the Sky Meadow Retreat in Vermont’s Northeastern Kingdom mountains. The Sky Meadow property was first developed as a working farm in the 1850s, later became derelict, was rehabilitated and transformed into a spiritual/nature retreat in the 1980s and sustains a more recent ambition to serve as the … Read moreSky Meadow 2026

The Egypt Game

In Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s The Egypt Game (1967), a group of children transforms a hidden yard into an improvised sacred world inspired by ancient Egypt. They invent names, costumes, gods, ceremonies, initiations, sacrifices, funerary rites and an oracle, gradually developing a shared mythology that feels consequential without requiring literal belief. As an example of cultpunk … Read moreThe Egypt Game

“Xenotheology and Personal Myth with [M] Dudeck and Javi Acevedo”

Coincident with the recent Metamodern Meaning Lab at Sky Meadow, Brendan Graham Dempsey interviewed [M] Dudeck and Javi Acevedo on their upcoming book Xenotheology: The Transmedial Scriptures and on the practice of creating one’s own religion as a work of art.

“Why raves are such a reliable source of spiritual experience”

Alexander Dillabaugh writes on the spiritual neuroscience of the rave scene: For these adherents, underground dance culture functions as a kind of spiritual technology. That is, a set of environmental and social conditions that reliably produce the kinds of experiences that humans have long called sacred. Viewed through this lens, rave culture appears less like a … Read more“Why raves are such a reliable source of spiritual experience”

New Eden: Science Fiction Mythologies Transformed (ArtScience Museum of Singapore, 21 Oct 2023 – 3 Mar 2024)

Click here for more information on this exhibition. “New Eden: Science Fiction Mythologies Transformed” offers fresh insights on science fiction, a genre built on envisioning alternative futures and imaginary realms. The lines connecting science fiction with Asian philosophy and mythologies are brought to light through the work of twenty-four Asian women artists and collectives. The … Read moreNew Eden: Science Fiction Mythologies Transformed (ArtScience Museum of Singapore, 21 Oct 2023 – 3 Mar 2024)