Reading Nibley Z: OER 6 “What is a Hypocephalus?”

Click below for pdf file of my notes on this chapter.

RN-OER6 Hypocephalus

Esoterica 5: Esoterica and Oral Tradition

Click for a pdf file.

Esoterica and Orality

Reading Nibley Z: OER 5, “Abraham and Year Rite”

My notes on chapter 5 in pdf form.

RN-OER5 Year-Rite

Photos of al-Hussein’s mosque in Cairo

Photos of the mosque of al-Hussein (grandson of Muhammad) in Cairo, traditional site of the burial of the head of al-Hussein after his beheading at the battle of Karbalah in 680 CE.

Photos of the “Alabaster” mosque of Muhammad Ali in Cairo

Photos of the “Alabaster” mosque of Muhammad Ali in Cairo. Built in late Ottoman style, it was finished in 1848.

Esoterica 4: Esoteric vs. Esotericizing

My continued musings on Esoterica.  In Esoteric vs. Esotericizing I examine the important distinction between an esoterica text and esotericizing readings of an exoteric text.

New Book Notice: “The ‘Mysteries’ of Qumran

Thomas, Samuel I. The “Mysteries” of Qumran: Mystery, Secrecy, and Esotericism in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Society of Biblical Literature Early Judaism and Its Literature 25.  Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009. Pp. xvii + 311. Paper. $39.95. ISBN 9781589834132.

Reviewed here.

Reading Nibley Zb: OER 4, “Myth, Ritual and History”

My notes on chapter four of Nibley’s One Eternal Round.

RN-OER4 Ritual

Exploration on John 8:1-20

My new exploration on John 8:1-20 on Patheos.

A full version of this column, with extensive references and notes, can be found at DropBox:

Or Academia.edu.

Apotheosis of Washington

My photographs of the famous “Apotheosis of Washington” from the rotunda of the Capital in Washington DC.