In our last post, we explored the magical, powerful, safe feelings conjured by being “home.” That home feels somehow more real than what’s around it. That our family home fills us with nostalgia. That your home feels like the center of the world. We explored how, when you lose a sense of home and place, you feel emptiness and loss of meaning, a sense of roaming and chaos. Today, we talk about how these feelings of home are related to home, as a sacred space– perhaps, as the original, and perhaps, the last, truly sacred space. A Spiritual Sense of … Continue reading The Spirituality of Home: the Original Sacred Space

Ofrendas and the “Reality” of Ghosts and Spirits Today’s topic is the reality of ghosts and ancestor spirits, as encountered in our ritual lives. I wrote in a post about ofrendas about the how their meaning relates to “ancestor worship.” Ofrendas allow our ancestors to live on, to inform and enrich our community, to preserve its moral and spiritual traditions and way of life. Today, speaking of the basis for these rituals, let’s talk about the “reality” of spirits. My purpose is to protect, and so further inspire, the practices of Day of the Dead. I do this by arguing … Continue reading The Reality of Ghosts and Spirits

Welcome to Primitive Ground. Our topic is spirituality in a living, cultural context. Our focus will be ancient, and indigenous world views– both in themselves, and as they live on in us. I begin with a story. Barrio Bubble World I was formed, like so many Mexicans-in-America– or Italians, or Poles, or Irish– in one of those always vanishing, always forming ethnic neighborhoods of great richness, depth and insularity. Our immigrant parents or grandparents came to this country full of hope for a better life for themselves, their families, and their cultures. Their little villages each and all grew and … Continue reading Spirituality and Culture On Primitive Ground