One of the things that came out of my recent visit to Krakow, as a delegate to the 25th World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religion (doesn’t that sound grand, and rather nineteenth century?), was a clarity on what my next book (perhaps two books) might be. I spent much ofContinue reading “Coming to Terms with the Cognitive Study of Religion”
Tag Archives: Myth
Would the Fairies like Elon Musk?
As I was reading round material about myth, fairy stories and the use of story in religion I came across a comment that suggested one of the purposes of fairy stories was to ridicule the rich and powerful. One particular butt of the stories was the traditional figure of the miser. This is a character,Continue reading “Would the Fairies like Elon Musk?”
Facing a ‘Pandemic’ of Sexual Abuse
A speaker on the radio earlier last week, discussing the recent review of child sexual abuse across the UK and the recommendations contained in the report, claimed that we are facing a pandemic of sexual abuse. I was horrified by this statement, not because of the situation it purported to describe, but because of theContinue reading “Facing a ‘Pandemic’ of Sexual Abuse”
Suffering
In working through a very wide range of disparate material to write my book on the story in religion, I have been reading some of Michael Jackson’s work. He worked in West Africa, in Australia and elsewhere, as an anthropologist but much of his work, particularly his most recent work, draws on personal and individualContinue reading “Suffering”
The Trigan Empire
The surprise gift this Christmas was a copy of Tales from the Trigan Empire, a large comic, or graphic novel, volume published in 1989. This is clearly not the kind of thing that I would normally read, but it brought back so many memories of childhood. When I was eleven or twelve (1973-74) my parentsContinue reading “The Trigan Empire”
The Pleasure of Reading J G Frazer
Having just completed the third volume of J G Frazer’s thirteen volume version of the Golden Bough, I have to say that I am really enjoying it far more than I would ever have imagined. I don’t think I could read all thirteen volumes one after the other, but with a short break between themContinue reading “The Pleasure of Reading J G Frazer”
Is the Doctor a Vampire
The other night I woke up in the middle of a dream about Dr Who. I have no idea what the narrative of the dream was, but the question that stuck in my mind, as I woke up, was whether the Doctor should be seen as a vampire. This may not be quite as oddContinue reading “Is the Doctor a Vampire”
Snow White in the Age of Social Media
Snow White acts as something of leitmotif throughout my current book on the nature and use of stories in religion. In each chapter I provide a different analysis of the tale and a different perspective or way of telling the story. In the chapter on ‘Function’ (which begins with the theories of Malinowski) I suggestContinue reading “Snow White in the Age of Social Media”
Looking Back to when Religion was Golden
I am currently wading my way through J. G. Frazer’s multi-volume Golden Bough. I always tell my students about the importance of reading the original text, rather than relying on other people’s summaries or even the popular edited versions. So, I am now in the middle of many different examples of May Kings and MayContinue reading “Looking Back to when Religion was Golden”
A Sociology of the Story in the Study of Religion
My next writing project is to be a book on ‘myth’. This is part of the wider project to produce a ‘general theory of religion’ that I have been working on since the mid-nineteen-nineties. The overall structure of the project has hardly changed at all, the details of the individual elements continue to develop. AtContinue reading “A Sociology of the Story in the Study of Religion”
Martin Stringer Quartet 