In Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), a group of mutated, telepathic humans who survived nuclear holocaust have retreated into underground bunkers and evolved a new religion – the worship of the atomic bomb.
Synopsis: A psychiatrist must save his daughter from a cult after she falls in love with a boy whose mother is its charismatic leader.
A short documentary on Edinburgh’s annual Beltane Fire Festival, a revival of the ancient Celtic custom whose more recent roots dates back to the 1980s, when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attempted to crack down on rave culture in the United Kingdom.
Brendan Graham Dempsey of the Sky Meadow Institute interviews Swan Frayne-Dao, director of the Institute of Devotional Arts. The Institute plans to hold its first American gathering at the Sky Meadow Retreat Center in July.
The Church of the Flying Saucer follows Carol Klodie, a former film school student who has hit a slump in her life. By happenstance, she finds a pamphlet under the windshield of her car advertising what seems to be a support group for UFO abductees and alien conspiracy theorists. She finds the pamphlet ridiculous and … Read more“Church of the Flying Saucer” (May 2024)
John Vervaeke and Christopher Mastropietro explore a change of perspective from ‘the religion that is not a religion’ to the philosophical Silk Road. How do we create a meaningful passage between the religions and those who have fallen out of religion? A heartfelt dia-logos and the start of a longer conversation on the subject. Personally, … Read moreThe Philosophical Silk Road
Inspiration from Brendan Graham Dempsey, caretaker of the Sky Meadow retreat center and principal of the Sky Meadow Institute: Despite the recent uptick of high-profile conversions to traditional Christianity, metamodern spirituality remains centered in progressive developments of and radically novel innovations to religion. Here I foreground and recall these efforts in the desire to reconnect … Read more“Metamodern Religion is Just Getting Started”
A trailer for a 2023 retreat with the Institute of Devotional Arts, whose manifesto reads: We believe we are both actors and spectators of the divine comedy we call life. As spectators, we cultivate our sense of wonder and reverence. As actors, we find ever new ways to give expression to the human experience. Devotion … Read moreThe Institute of Devotional Arts
The good people of Cicely, Alaska enjoy their eccentric, Day of the Dead-inflected version of Thanksgiving in this scene from Northern Exposure (1992). As explained by Marilyn Whirlwind (Elaine Miles), the indigenous people of Cicely do not regard the orthodox Thanksgiving as a day of celebration. In fact, they carry a lot of ancestral anger … Read moreThanksgiving/Day of the Dead in Cicely, Alaska (Northern Exposure, 1992)