• Monthly Columns

    The Poetry of Author David Sparenberg

      WORD Before the written word, there was the spoken word. Before the chronicles of history, there were stories. Before tabloids and the messy spawn of scandalous gossip, ballads and epic poems sounded in mouths of bards and minnesingers. Against the blind furies of forgetfulness, arose high cultures of memory. Long before civilized humanity slumped into pulp fiction and sado-masochistic fantasies, myths were weaving threads of truth into archetypes, extending the dimensions of reality. Guiding words of fire’s intensity and eloquence resonate joyously through the alchemic laboratories of time! You who have befriended Tolkien and the Shire, Arthur, Merlin, and voyagers to the Isle of Women, far, far off in…

  • Monthly Columns

    She Who is All – Goddesses & The Divine Female

    Mira Bai/MiraBai (1498-1546 CE)   (Image Credit: learnreligion.com)   Mirabai, also known as Meera, is a Bhakti poet and mystic from India. She is the central poet of the Bhakti movement, a path of spirituality that focuses on a personal love for the Divine, and that one is able to have direct access to the Divine through this intense devotion. She became a symbol of the suffering and persecution of her people, of all castes. She was born into the Rajput aristocracy. Legend has it that when she was a mere four-year old, she and her mother witnessed a wedding procession. She seriously looked at her mother and asked who…

  • Monthly Columns

    GoodGod!

    Meet the Gods: Lugh     The Celts, who lived in central Europe, worshipped Lugh (or Lug) as their Sun god. He is one of the most prominent gods from Irish mythology with many skills including fierce warrior, master craftsman, harpist, poet, and king. Fulfilling a prophecy, he grew up to kill his grandfather, Balor, the god of the underworld. Lugh (pronounced Loo) is associated with the festival of Lughnasadh (pronounced Loo-NA-sah), which bears his name. It is celebrated as the first harvest – traditionally August 1 – by those who keep the tradition alive. Astrologically, it falls on August 6, 2020.     He is depicted as a tall,…