Today would not be complete on the BoG without a look at Mardi Gras, the traditional celebration of indulgence held before the forty days of self-denial known as Lent. 

Mardi Gras is a fascinating holiday.  It's a form of holy hedonism that distills our moral complexity into a single day--eat, drink and be merry, because tomorrow you fast for the Lord.  Given that, I guess it's fitting that controversies arise over whether the festival is appropriate, from fundamentalist sermons against pagan practices to human rights concerns over the work conditions in Chinese factories where plastic beads are made.

What then shall we do?  To show that all are welcome here at the B of G, we offer a few Mardi Gras tokens that are workplace friendly in every sense of the phrase. Pictured here are nice vintage Mardi Gras beads, crafted in New Orleans from classic Czech glass.  If you're interested in more about the beads check out this article from National Geographic, which provides a lot of information without revealing why the magazine has remained popular among schoolboys for more than a century.

Want to learn more?  Wikepedia covers Mardi Gras across America, while the Times-Picayune has a nifty overview of the New Orleans MG celebration.  Should you be planning to cut back for Lent, remember that the City still could use our tourist dollars--if you're strategic about your Lenten self-denial (e.g., no chocolate-covered ants or young Cabernet), it's still quite possible to go there and have a great time!

Posted by jat at 03:50 PM | Permalink

Hindu devotion,
originally uploaded by Dey.

Posted by jat at 01:44 PM | Permalink

Mary and Gold Hindu Goddess,
originally uploaded by Adam and Mary.

Posted by jat at 01:26 PM | Permalink

While paying obeisance to the Caffeine God at Starbucks this morning, I embarked upon some technorati searches to follow up on my post on China exports of religious bling.  The result?  A number of blogs detailing persecution in China, a couple of which were particularly interesting in relation to the BofG.

One observant Christian blogger realized that his Bible was made in China & puzzled over the irony of pastors smuggling in something actually made there. 

Meanwhile, Cherry, a new teen blogger, writes an impassioned post on Falun Dafa in response to folks who call her a Nazi for wearing a swastika necklace.  As she correctly notes, the swastika had a long history as a religious symbol long before the Nazis appropriated it for their nefarious ends,  although the association with the Holocaust has indeed made the swastika rather controversial in the West. 

What happens when a religious symbol is tarnished due to actions that believers abhor?  That's one of many subjects we'll be exploring soon here on the Blingdom of God!

Posted by jat at 09:54 AM | Permalink

Did you know that China makes about half of the world's jewelry?  According to the linked report, this amounted to more than $650 million worth of goods in the first 3 quarters of last year alone, a fifty percent increase for year before. 

A wide selection of this jewelry will be on display at this week's China International Gold, Jewelry & Gem Fair.  While this one has quickly grown into one of the region's largest, here at the BofG the race does not go to the swift (or the large). 

Rather, what we find most intriguing about the China trade in jewelry & other assorted tchotchkes is that a fair amount of it is explicitly religious.  Diamond crosses, Jesus medallions, Hindu gold and Buddha figures--look around the web and local stores, and you'll soon find an endless supply of Chinese-crafted goods.

China, of course, is a communist nation.  Even as the government is imprisoning Chinese evangelical Christians in forced labor camps, American Christians are buying the cheap religious trinkets that such camps produce.  Moreover, even if the item in question isn't made by prisoners, a portion of the profits still goes to the support of the state's religious persecution.

Which brings us back to Karl Marx's maxim that religion is "opium of the people."  Many in the U.S. are now working hard to end religious persecution in China, whether it concerns evangelicals & Catholics or Tibetan Buddhists and Falun Gong.  Is China's burgeoning supply of religious trinkets a sign of positive change or our own willful intoxication?

Posted by jat at 12:26 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (3)

"The midriff is the message"--brilliant!

Posted by jat at 08:37 PM | Permalink

An article in today's Syracuse Post-Standard reminds us that the purveyors of spiritual bling live not only in the ethereal net, but the material realm. 

As the article relates, Seven Rays, a storied seller of new age books and jewelry, had announced that it would close this upcoming spring, but a couple entrepreneurial (and spiritual) employees are trying to keep it alive by opening a similar shop with the same name. 

The key to success, the employees believe is community--while anyone can buy things on the web, stores such as Seven Rays offer classes and meetings for spiritual seekers.  The new store would also have more things for kids.

If getting reborn in a new shell means we get more Buddha Beanies, I'm all for it!  Here's wishing everyone at Seven Rays all the best. 

Posted by jat at 12:53 PM | Permalink

Inquiries into the representation of Muslims in the government & military are leading many in India to be concerned that the future of their secular state is in peril.  As this editorial in Delhi's largest English language newsweekly notes, in the midsts of civil strife religious jewelry can seem like more than casual adornment--so much so that some people will even see it as a threat!

We cannot create divided loyalties in the armed forces. And that is why, it is the pride of India. . . .  This reputation as a secular institution has ensured the defence forces a higher status. During the NDA rule, the army directed its members to eschew all symbols of religious identity, like sindoor, tilak, bangle, pendant, ring and talisman to further reinforce this image. So why can’t we leave the army alone? Or is the UPA bent on dividing the country again?

Posted by jat at 09:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

Back when I was a religion graduate student I attended the first academic conference on theomusicology, the study of religion in music.  We talked about religious symbols in "Like a Prayer,"" the roll of the Rock in rock 'n' roll, and all sorts of other good things--somewhere out there, in fact, there's a little heard nor long remembered footnote with my name in it.    

But tonight Andrew Sullivan has linked to a music video that deserves to be seen:  Deeyah's What Will It Be?  It's a trenchant protest by a Muslim woman against the mistreatment of women by Islamic fundamentalists. 

Western dress, exposed flesh, a woman smoking a hookah in public--the images in this video break conservative taboos in a way that has far more cultural significance than transgression-for-transgression's sake in the liberal West. 

And then there's this conspicuous piece of jewelry worn by American rapper Young Maylay:  a Christian cross.

Which is one reason why the "Muslim Madonna" now has to guard against death threats.

Posted by jat at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Another Saturday, another Sabbath, and for today's we feature a striking piece of jewelry from a Christian denomination that unlike most others still regards the seventh day to be the day of rest.

To the left is a striking piece of . . .

of . . .

well, nothing.

You see, according to Seventh Day Adventist prophetess Ellen G. White, "The ornamentation of the person with jewels and luxurious things is a species of idolatry."  From such pronouncements--as well as certain Scripture passages--the SDA has formally forbidden wearing ornamental jewelry. 

A wedding ring?  That's (begrudgingly) OK, so long as it is primarily a signal of one's married status and not ornamental.  However, buying a booth to sell jewelry at an SDA church sale is not a good idea.  As one designer learned, God might even send a blizzard to keep you away!  

Posted by jat at 07:29 PM | Permalink

greg's engagement ring,
originally uploaded by Rather Salty.

Posted by jat at 03:42 PM | Permalink

Folks interested in spiritual tattoos might want to check out a few of the following resources.

• "Skin is a Language," an exhibit now running at the Whitney Museum in New York.
  
• "Skin Deep," an exhibit currently touring the UK
  
• Spiritual Tattoo by John Rush (plus a number of other interesting books that show up on the linked Amazon page) and of course,
  
• The Christian Tattoo Association (which I'm reeeeeaaaallllyyyy glad I didn't know about back when I was 16!)

Posted by jat at 03:13 PM | Permalink

A charity auction isn't the only measure the Pope could take to counter criticism that his lavish fashion sense is too materialistic.  He could also replace his expensive bling with a far cheaper tattoo. 

As this newspaper article observes, religious tattoos are on the rise in the U.S., from the Bible verses on Duke's J.J. Redick and to the Hindu lotus flower.

Just we have long worn clothing has as "an extension of the skin" both to warm our bodies and to define ourselves, many now freely using their skin as an extension of their soul.  This should not come as no surprise.  Back in 1964 Marshall McLuhan observed that

After centuries of being fully clad and of being contained in uniform visual space, the electric age ushers us into a world in which we live and breathe and listen with the entire epidermis.

The Bahai tattoo above represents the fundamental unity of all religions, but it could also symbolize what McLuhan referred to as the "all-at-onceness" created by electronic technology.  People, places, objects, time--everything now flows together, smashing the divisions and taboos of the literate West.  Which also brings with the supreme irony of our technological age--

by immersing us in a world in which every surface is a communications medium, computers and the Web have actually helped revive our tribal spirit.

Posted by jat at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (2)

A religion's devotion to opulent jewelry and designer fashion can raise serious questions about its spiritual commitment.  When Jesus bade Christians to take up their cross and follow him, did he really mean for it to be a gold cross studded with emeralds?  Would Muhammad have felt at home at the Taj Mahal?  Did the Buddha call us to seek enlightenment in a temple filled with gold adornments and a statue made of jade? 

Compelling arguments can be made against adornment in excess, and we can even find devotees of almost any religion who argue that all bling is an offense.  One line of argument derives from the otherworldly nature of a system of belief--believers are simply not supposed to care for such materialistic indulgences.  Another line of argument is ethical--a community defined by its charity betrays its sacred trust when it accumulates wealth as the less fortunate suffer. 

Nonetheless, there's a rich tradition of delirious diademic display, and the persistence of such practices reminds us of the intimate connection between religious sentiment and our fashion sense. 

As the anthropologist Ellen Dissanayake has observed, human beings display a predilection for "making special."  The resonance between religion and art reflects their common roots in our desire to transcend mere existence; for many people across the globe religion needs style to soar. 

The problem, of course, is one of proportion.  Finding what the Buddha called the "middle way" is a dynamic process, which is why within any given faith we'll find a yin and yang--or a Benedict XVI and a Benedictine monk.   Still, as Almostgirl aptly reminds us, perhaps it would be in order for Pope Benedict to follow the example of his more humble counterparts. 

My own pick for a model would be his most immediate namesake, Pope Benedict XV, who replaced the gems in his papal tiara with glass after selling them to benefit veterans of World War I.  After all, if PBXVI wants to dispel the allure of liberation theology & charismatic evangelicalism among the world's poor, wouldn't a public charity sale be more influential than abstract theological debate?

EXTRA:  You can see Benedict XV's famous faux tiara at the Milwaukee Public Museum, which is hosting the last stop of a U.S. tour of Vatican treasures.  For an excellent write-up of "Saint Peter and the Vatican:  The Legacy of the Popes," check out this article from the Milwaukee Sentinel Tribune, the source of tiara pic above.

Posted by jat at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (2)

With regard to papal bling, Almost Girl raises the excellent point that the lavish celestial stylings of Pope Benedict are not exactly consistent with the humble saintly stylings of Saint Benedict.  This taps into an eternal tension with spiritual bling, one on which I'll have more to say later today when I'm not running the good race out the door.

However, a pop-up just now miraculously hijacked my computer with an ad for a piece of heavenly bling that I think all can agree raises no deep moral quandaries, since, in the end, we all live in his world:

Posted by jat at 08:27 AM | Permalink

An article in Sunday's New York Times picks up on the buzz as to the new pope's fashion sense.

The Gucci sunglasses, the lavish ceremonial dress-the article touches on the themes ubiquitous in all such news stories.  But as the Times' story indicates but does little to explain, there's much more at work here than Pope Benedict's fashion sense or questionable materialism, and it has to do with the messages sent by these new clothes.

One is patently political.  Prada shoes, sunglasses by Gucci & Serengeti, the red Gammarelli "santa hat"--by linking himself so openly with Italian designers,  Ratzinger   Benedict is diverting attention from his German roots and making a subtle play for support from the Italian populace, press and Vatican hierarchy.

The other reason for the shift is theological.  According to Roman Catholic theology and canon law, the Pope is "vicarius christi"--that is, he stands in for  Christ on earth.  Believed to be Christ's designated representative, the pope exercises all of Christ's power and fulfills all of Christ's functions on His behalf. 

On the one hand, it seems that Benedict believes that the Pope, as the earthly manifestation or agent of Christ, should get honored with the best of the everything.  But it's also apparent that the Pope's new groove is meant to reinforce the image of the Pope as Christ on earth.  Consider the following now worn by the pope:

• a wool stole representing the sheep that Christ the shepherd carries on his shoulders
• an extra-tall gold miter:  the size emphasizes the pope's supremacy, and the color--gold--is a traditional color of the divine
• red shoes, an ancient symbol of imperial power
• and of course, the elaborate gold cross encrusted with emeralds--emerald being the color of the rainbow surrounding God's throne as well as a medieval symbol of healing.

All of which goes to show, I guess, that if someone were to ask the pope, "Who do you think you are?  Jesus Christ?", he just might answer yes!

EXTRA:  For more on the Pope's new clothes, check out the extensive set of notes provided to the Times by Vatican blogger Rocco Palmo.  Even if his blog didn't provide tantalizing insider info on the Vatican & papal fashion, it would have won a place on my blogroll simply for its reference to the pope's "Bling Box." 

Posted by jat at 09:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Jesus/Darwin fish wars perpetuate the image of a war between science and religion.  Nonetheless, the Jesus fish did play a key role in the evolution of modern science fiction--and with it, aided in popularizing its underlying science of complex adaptive systems.*

To the left are panels from Robert Crumb's adaptation of "the religious experience of Philip K. Dick."  (Hat tip:  Boingboing.net)  As you can see, the object that set it all off was a Jesus fish necklace, worn by a girl bringing him some pain medication.  A beam shot off of it into his eyes, unveiling a hidden truth:  that we are actually living in New Testament times.

When PKD had his vision in March 1974, he already had written a sizable body of work dealing with alternate realities.  The experience that you see described here, however, led PKD to see the modern world itself as a fictional skein obscuring the reality beneath.  For PKD, the reality hidden by dark forces was the real world of around 50 AD, plunged into a mythic struggle between Christian enlightenment and satanic deception.

For the remainder of his life PKD wrote fiction and gave talks spreading his gospel of a real world hidden by fictional forms.  As he himself observed, it was a theory that would have made Plato proud.  His writings also helped popularize a neo-gnostic vision of hidden reality behind the deceptions of so-called modern day existence. 

Sound familiar? 

PKD's vision of a deeper reality behind our current fiction helped spawn a new generation of speculative fiction, Philip Dick's own Valis to William Gibson's landmark concept of cyberspace to Baudrillard's Simulacra to Grant Morrison's influential graphic fiction series, The Invisibles. 

The first Matrix film arguably represents the high watermark of this movement, not only for its special effects but its imaginative integration of the science of complex adaptive systems with a host of memorable metaphors from philosophy and religion.

And it all goes back at least in part to a delivery girl's Christian fish sign pendant. 

Posted by jat at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When denizens of ancient Roman catacombs sketched images of fish, little did they imagine that the role their piscine sketches would play in later culture wars. 

Today, though, I want to turn swords into mindshare and without strife or judgment take a look at how the fish has become an all-purpose symbol for belief. 

What is this last one, you ask?  Why, it's the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which emerged as an object of worship worldwide at the height of the recent Kansas controversy over intelligent design!

Posted by jat at 03:52 PM | Permalink

Earlier this morning, I wrote about the Japanese symbol of the seed of life & its relation to the spiral patterns throughout life.  Here's a little more.

The image on the left is a sketch of the Japanese seed of life taken from the encyclopedic Symbols by Carl Liungman (most of which is also viewable online at symbols.com).  Next to it is another image that further illustrates the power of the spiral archetype.  If you don't recognize what it is, click it! 

EXTRA:  In one of those weird coincidences that Aquinas would no doubt say is the sixth proof for the existence of God, I found the image of Superman linked above on a Japanese blog--http://blog.yam.com/momoshu/, where I found myself diabolically hypnotized by the singing dogs featured on February 10, 2006.

Posted by jat at 09:52 AM | Permalink

Our pendant today combines both of this week's themes of love & creation.  It's the Japanese symbol known as the seed of the universe, and it's available from the good folks at Gems & More in Mooloolaba, Australia, a town at which I'd never shake the dust from my feet for no other reason than I love the name..

This image conveys a sense of dynamic creation and growth.  If it reminds you of something you've seen already this week, praise yourself for your heightened degree of spiritual enlightenment--this symbol is one of many that echoes a spiral, and in so doing it echoes the spiral swirls in our Valentine's Day nebulae.

Why the fascination with spirals?  We'll talk about a lot more as the Blingdom grows, but if you want a little taste check out this uplifting site. 

Posted by jat at 12:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Second set of Kansai pics 006,
originally uploaded by dammit905.

Posted by jat at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

In the 1980s, a Hollywood prop-maker had an idea.  Wouldn't it be funny, Chris Gilman joked, to promote evolution by putting feet on a fish?  His friends thought it was hilarious, and thus a fad was born.

The inspiration for this bumper bling was, of course, the Christian fish, a symbol now ubiquitous in Christian cars & jewelry.  Why a fish?  Supposedly the inspiration comes from the use of the Greek word for fish--ichthus--as a acronym for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior:

Iesous CHristos THeou Uios Soter

However, in recent years the Darwin fish has become so ubiquitous in popular culture that some people think that the fish was itself originally a symbol for Darwin's theory of evolution! 

Posted by jat at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a rose, and the Blingdom is no exception.  But as inspiring as hand-crafted jewelry can be, we should not ignore marvels of the heavens!

The above Valentine's commemorative photo depicts a cluster of newborn stars "found in a rosebud-shaped (and rose-colored) nebulosity known as NGC 7129."  This striking photo was taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope and is one of many spectacular images found on NASA's Planetary Photojournal.  

If you want to bring the stars into your love life, advanced perfume technology has enabled us to capture a sensation literally not of this earth:  the unique space rose scent created when astronauts took a rose into space.  You can experience this yourself in "the fragrance of the spirit," Shiseido ZEN.

EXTRA:  Looking for other items inspired by nebulae?  Here are a few pieces to contemplate:

Blue Nebula

Orion's Nebula Light

Nebula Goddess & Vortex

Jesus Nebula & Card

EXTRA EXTRA:  Did you know that some believe a NASA photo of a "rose nebula" proves the Quran to be the word of God?  At the turn of the millennium, many Muslims celebrated the following Hubble photo of the Cat's Eye Nebula as the fulfillment of Sura 55:37-38, "When the sky disintegrates, and turns rose colored like the paint, which of your Lord's marvels can you deny?"

Posted by jat at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

"A bug necklace for Valentine's Day?  Are you JOKING??????"

Sure, that may be your (or your sweetheart's) initial reaction to this Pharoah's Scarab Valentine Necklace, but work with me for a minute.  In ancient Egypt the scarab was the symbol-of-all-trades:  new life, best wishes, strength, eternity--from tablets to seals to the scarab heart amulet placed on the dead, this hearty little beetle said it all. 

And why not?  The egyptian dung beetle is a nifty metaphor for renewal and rebirth, as it rolls, um, junk up into a large ball from which baby beetles emerge.  It's the rising of the sun, the tree from the seed, the birds and the bees, all rolled up in one. 

Still not convinced?  Well, just think of it as an ancient version of the bear, which can be a mark of power or a token of affection & good will. 

Although I gotta admit, I'm not sure that I've ever seen a hieroglyphic scarab in boxer briefs.

Posted by jat at 11:57 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

I don't care if the holiday is named after him--giving your loved one this St. Valentine pendant is not a good idea. 

Posted by jat at 09:32 AM | Permalink

Of the making of Christian books against evolution there may be no end, but adaptation and natural selection are everyday realities in the world of Christian booksellers.  As this article notes, one of the themes emerging from the annual convention of the Christian Booksellers Association is the need to adapt to Walmart and big box stores, who are taking away a sizable portion of the Christian book trade.

What is keeping the booksellers in the black?  Yes, they are beginning to emphasize their more informed selection & ties to local churches, but statistics tell the real tale:  "Books now account for only 40 percent of sales in Christian retail stores." 

Jewelry, tchotchkes, gifts--that's where the profit center now lies in the Christian market.  But if mainstream merchants continue to expand their range of Christian and other religious products, look for more traditional Christian bookstores to go the way of all flesh.

Posted by jat at 01:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

Valentine's Day is tomorrow, so in addition to commemorating the complexities of Darwin Week, the Blingdom of God will go on a sacred pilgrimage to holy shrines of love.

We begin our travels at the heart of European civilization:  the pagan Roman Empire.  The week of love actually began yesterday, February 12, with an ancient Roman holiday dedicated to the goddess Diana. 

Like the Norse god Ullr, Diana was a divinity associated with hunting, but she also was also something more:  an eternal virgin.

Goddess of chastity, Diana was immune to Cupid's arrows. Nonetheless, she was a protector of women in all aspects of their lives, from warding off undesirable suitors to enduring childbirth.

What does an ancient holiday for the goddess Diana have to do with the present celebration of Valentine's Day?  Ask your local Wiccan!  Diana is a central figure in the growing Wicca movement, especially in the younger generation.  While Venus may rule over love, Diana the Huntress provides a model of a woman who will not let her loves rule over her.

Posted by jat at 09:23 PM | Permalink

Yesterday parishioners in hundreds of churches around the world gathered together to praise . . .

Charles Darwin?!?!???

Yes, it's true.  As one of the most clicked stories on the web notes, several hundred churches did indeed participate in Darwin Day, held annually to commemorate Darwin's birth on February 12, 1809.  In fact, the celebration still continues in many towns, churches and universities, as Darwin Day has evolved into Darwin Week.

To mark this event, this week in our devotionals we'll take a look at a heavenly host of bling emerging from the holy war over creation, from the Fish Wars on car bumpers to Pastafarian jewelry and beyond.  

Of course, if you buy all the bling pictured in the coming days you'll need somewhere to put it, so to start I suggest that you pick up a new jewelry box--but exactly which intelligent design I'll leave up to you.

Posted by jat at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (5)