The incredible Chinese Ghost Festival (Ghost Month) in Taiwan~
If you’ve ever been to China or Taiwan or read about Chinese society, you’ve probably come to realize that Chinese culture abounds with the most unusual and macabre customs and […]
“Sokushinbutsu”: the self-mummification ritual and the myth of non-death
Although the Japanese climate is not exactly conducive to mummification, somehow a group of Buddhist monks from the Shingon sect discovered a way to mummify themselves through rigorous ascetic training […]
The Lost Town of Newtown Jerpoint, Ireland. Santa Claus is buried here?
We are just outside the Irish town of Thomastown, in Kilkenny. According to a local legend, the remains of Father Christmas lie within the medieval grounds of what’s left of […]
The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead at the ossuary of Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco.
In 1274 Purgatory was formally accepted as Catholic doctrine and defined by the Church as the place of purification through which souls pass on their way to paradise. Some decades […]
The cult of “Santa Muerte”: pre-Columbian deity venerated even today
“El que apura su vida, apura su muerte” “Who accelerates his life, accelerates his death“. This Mexican proverb describes the death, common and certain destiny of every living being. Yet, […]
Basilica of Saint Bernardino da Siena: the Saint is guarded here.
This church was built, with the adjacent cloister, between 1454 and 1472 in honor of St Bernardino of Siena…. In the year 1400, a twenty-year-old man came to the door […]
