Indians 101: American Indian Religions in 1917
During the first part of the twentieth century, the United States continued in its efforts to assimilate American Indians into an English-speaking, Christian European culture. Traditional American...
View ArticleIndians 101: Spirituality and Jimsonweed Among California Indians
Throughout the world, different religious and spiritual traditions have used hallucinogenic drugs to enhance the mystical experience. These drugs can trigger the experience of flying or floating. In...
View ArticleIndians 101: Apache Spirituality
Bands or tribes known collectively as the Apache ranged widely throughout the (American) Southwest at the time of the first Spanish exploration and invasion. The Apache are Athabascan-speaking and...
View ArticleReligion 101: Shamanistic Ceremonies
Shamanism is not itself a single religion, but rather a practice found in religious traditions throughout the world. In its simplest form, shamanism involves a person having a mystical experience which...
View ArticleReligion 101: Religion and Ancient Civilizations
For most of human history, people lived in small, egalitarian food foraging groups in which subsistence was based on a combination of hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants. With transition from...
View ArticleWitches From All Around the World Will Cast a Spell on Donald Trump Tomorrow
Throughout much of history, the witch has been cast as a hooked nosed and wart faced harridan, whose primary intentions were to exact evil and cause harm. They skulked about in the dark corners of the...
View ArticleReligion 101: Ancient Mummies
Since the beginning, human societies have faced the problem of what to do with dead bodies. The many different ways in which bodies are disposed is often seen as a reflection of the religious beliefs...
View ArticleIndians 101: A Brief Description of Caddo Religion
The Caddo were an agricultural tribe living in what is now Louisiana and Texas when the first European explorers entered the region. The Caddo were a group of theocratic chiefdoms who were the cultural...
View ArticleIndians 101: America's Christian General vs the Nez Perce
As a Christian nation, the United States has never been comfortable with the idea that American Indians might have their own non-Christian religions or that Indian spiritual leaders could provide...
View ArticleIndians 101: Some Apache Ceremonies
Traditionally, Apache religious ceremonies focused on curing, hunting and gathering rituals, puberty ceremonies, and obtaining personal power and protection. While spiritual power is available to most...
View ArticleIndians 101: Plateau Indian Spirituality
The Plateau Culture Area is the area between the Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountains in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia, and Western Montana. From north to south it runs from the...
View ArticleIt’s Time to Give Blasphemy the Respect it Deserves
On Sept. 30, 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 editorial cartoons, most of which pictured the Islamic prophet Muhammad ― an act that is considered blasphemous under Islamic law....
View ArticleInternational Blasphemy Rights Day
In 2009, the Center for Inquiry helped to establish what would become International Blasphemy Rights Day. Ronald Lindsay, writing in Free Inquiry, reports:“Freedom of political speech is still...
View ArticleIndians 201: The Indian Shaker Church
In 1881, the Squaxin of the Puget Sound area in Washington would have described John Slocum has having a bit of an inclination toward alcohol and a well-known fondness for gambling. One day he became...
View ArticleWelcome to the War on Christmas, Year 59
It’s that special time of year ― when the criminally gullible buy into claims by conservative deity Bill O’Reilly and his cohorts that the United States is a Christian nation, and that subversive...
View ArticleIndians 101: The Northern California Jumping Dance
Throughout the world it is common to find ceremonies in which the participants seek to renew the world, its resources, and thus continue their prosperity and good fortune. Among the Indians of Northern...
View ArticleThere Is A Witch Hunt Against Trump, They Meet Once A Month To Cast A Spell
There’s all kinds of ways to resist Donald Trump. One of the most creative is being done by a coven of online witches who have come together on each waning moon since the inauguration to cast an...
View ArticleIndians 101: Suppressing Peyote in 1918
During the first part of the twentieth century, one of the primary concerns of the United States government, as well as state and local governments, was the suppression and eradication of American...
View ArticleIndians 101: American Indian Religions a Century Ago (1918)
In 1918, American Indian religions were still outlawed. Federal Indian policy viewed American Indian religions as barriers to “civilizing” Indians and emphasized the importance of Christianity....
View ArticleIndians 101: Christians and Indians in 1818
During the nineteenth century, the policy of the United States government was to encourage, and sometimes require, the conversion of American Indians to Christianity. Christianity was seen as a key...
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