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Horde of Christian Evangelicals Swarming

• news • religion

If you don’t know what Christian Nationalism is, go look into it stat, because they’re in the White House, in the courthouses, in the legislature, and on your local school board. They have been working very energetically for decades now to get here, to this moment, where they might actually stand a real chance of getting what they want, at least for a few years. See, the tricksy thing is that Christian nationalists are not Christian. We are all using the same word but it doesn’t mean the same thing. Christ’s teaching are fundamentally incompatible with fascism, Jesus was not...

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When Angels Are Saints and Saints Are Angels

• ancestors • angelology • angels • canonization • catholicism • communion of saints • cosmology • folk catholicism • folk religion • hoodoo theory • intercession of saints • mystical body of church • ontology • purgatory • religion • saints • st. michael • st. thomas aquinas • theology

I very frequently see folks online say things like this: β€œThough technically speaking Archangel Michael is not a Saint [sic], sometimes this entity is venerated as one.” I’m not linking to the source for that because my goal is not to single anyone out for being wrong. Thing is, this is not an uncommon misperception. It’s pretty easy to find multiple websites and blogs that say something to this effect – even those of folks who are otherwise pretty well-versed in folk religion and/or folk magic. If this were just a couple of blogs and not a pretty widespread point...

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Erzulie Freda as equilibrist

• african diasporic religion • erzulie freda • folk religion • francophone culture • haiti • religion • social commentary • transpossession • vodou

While I will probably never stop making a little face when anybody refers to the lwa of Vodou as β€œgods” and β€œgoddesses,” this is nonetheless a pretty decent little bite-sized article touching on some aspects of Freda’s expressions of femininity. Β  Nwokocha, Eziaku Atuama. β€œAn Equilibrist Vodou Goddess.” Harvard Divinity Bulletin v. 31:3-4 (Summer/Autumn 2013). Harvard Divinity School. Accessed 7 Feb. 2021.

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recent reading roundup: poison, atchafalaya ethnology, faith healing in Louisiana

• alec sonnier • anthropology • archaeology • atchafalaya basin • bayou life • cajun • creole • ethnic identities • ethnology • faith healing • folk belief • folk magic • folk medicine • folk religion • folklore • francophone culture • gens de couleur libre • iberia • immigration • julia swett • louisiana • louisiana folklife • lower mississippi valley • native american • plaquemine culture • point coupee • poisons • prayer • religion • slavery • southern catholicism • st. landry parish • superstitions • traiteurs

[Remember, this blog here at the shop address is a mirror / backup of the real Seraphin Station blog here. Visit there to comment, ask questions, get responses, interact with others, see useful and interesting links and resources, and/or read all the blog posts, not just the highlights I repost here.] photo credit jclk8888, Pixabay I don't have time to summarize anything right now, but I'm hoping if I leave this here, it'll spur me to do so later. James H. Diaz. Atlas of Human Poisoning and Envenoming, 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2014. Hilda Roberts. "Louisiana Superstitions." Journal...

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Quick Little Catholic Iconography Lesson

• art • bs spotted on pinterest • catholic iconography • iconography • immaculate heart • jesus • religion • sacred heart • virgin mary

Ok, the Pinterest Pedant strikes again. Mary does not have a Sacred Heart. Mary has an Immaculate Heart. This is the Immaculate Heart of Mary: sword, flames, roses. No thorns. This is the Sacred Heart. Only Jesus has a Sacred Heart. Thorns, not roses. Pierced, but with a spear, not a sword. Flames but note the cross in the midst of them. Occasionally the Sacred Heart will be pierced by an arrow instead. This has to do with an idea that we wound Christ with blasphemy and profaning the Sabbath. The Golden Arrow Prayer said in reparation is said to...

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