The evil eye is irrational. Abandon it at your peril
So many of the world’s superstitions have been supplanted by rational thinking. Why does one of the oldest beliefs persist?
by Timna Abramov
Transcend
Finding meaning, wonder and spirituality
The softness of metal
Watching a seated Ozzy play his final gig, my ankle broken, I’m in tears – this couldn’t be more metal
by Keith Kahn-Harris
Why women’s laughter has long been treated as a threat
Traditional patriarchy has always told women not to laugh. Today, female laughter still disturbs a male-dominated world
by Abílio Almeida
Guides
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Jung’s archetypes are a mirror that shows who and what we are
Psychedelics and neuroscience seem to support his ideas about ancestral dreams and fears – but with an evolutionary twist
by Hugh McGovern
Absence of presence and presence of absence
Mindfulness experts teach us to be present in the moment. I suggest an antidote – a meditation that’s focused on absence
by Nigel Warburton
Why you should talk to your dead ancestors
The simple act of communicating without expecting anything in return can bring you closer to your family – and to yourself
by Mariam Vahradyan
Sometimes, the road to virtue comes by way of vice
To work your character into better shape, be like a carpenter who fixes warped wood by bending it the opposite way
by Sabrina B Little
Writing letters is a spiritual practice for our age of speed
Handwritten letters seem like a remnant of pre-online life, but they connect us to ourselves and each other like nothing else
by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein
Why women’s laughter has long been treated as a threat
Traditional patriarchy has always told women not to laugh. Today, female laughter still disturbs a male-dominated world
by Abílio Almeida
Don’t let nature slip out of reach
Research on the ‘extinction of experience’ suggests many of us are losing vital connections to the natural world
by Hannah Seo
The joy of falling down together
My reluctant participation in a line-dancing class showed me how moving as one promotes feelings of group unity – and joy
by Amy Arthur
Popular
View allJung’s archetypes are a mirror that shows who and what we are
Psychedelics and neuroscience seem to support his ideas about ancestral dreams and fears – but with an evolutionary twist
by Hugh McGovern
Absence of presence and presence of absence
Mindfulness experts teach us to be present in the moment. I suggest an antidote – a meditation that’s focused on absence
by Nigel Warburton
Why you should talk to your dead ancestors
The simple act of communicating without expecting anything in return can bring you closer to your family – and to yourself
by Mariam Vahradyan
Sometimes, the road to virtue comes by way of vice
To work your character into better shape, be like a carpenter who fixes warped wood by bending it the opposite way
by Sabrina B Little
Notes to self
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Videos
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For a gay Catholic priest, coming out was its own leap of faith
Directed by John Haley
Whimsy and tragedy exist side by side in Liliana Porter’s art
The Japanese dance tradition that finds beauty in weakness
The groundbreaking film that rejected plot to embrace the irrational
A writer sets out to clarify what is, and what is not, poetry
A musical experiment inspired by crowdsourced secrets
A poet-botanist’s lifelong pursuit of discovery
Sometimes, the road to virtue comes by way of vice
To work your character into better shape, be like a carpenter who fixes warped wood by bending it the opposite way
by Sabrina B Little
Writing letters is a spiritual practice for our age of speed
Handwritten letters seem like a remnant of pre-online life, but they connect us to ourselves and each other like nothing else
by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein
Two actors, no director, one dreamlike play
After a painful breakup, I found myself agreeing to perform in a surreal play, dressed in my pyjamas
by Melissa Matthewson
Mother Teresa was virtuous, but she was wrong about virtue
There’s more to virtue than how we treat other individuals. ‘Structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture
by Michael Brownstein & Alex Madva
Why we should learn to embrace the middlebrow
Stranded between ‘low’ and ‘high’ art, the middlebrow is unfairly condemned. It’s a ‘both/and’ mode capable of greatness
by Aaron Meskin & Jonathan Weinberg
Jung’s archetypes are a mirror that shows who and what we are
Psychedelics and neuroscience seem to support his ideas about ancestral dreams and fears – but with an evolutionary twist
by Hugh McGovern
Same art, different name: would you see or hear it the same way?
A mislabelled concerto and other errors and tricks show that reputation affects how art is perceived, sometimes radically
by Rikki A Wolpowitz
Why you should talk to your dead ancestors
The simple act of communicating without expecting anything in return can bring you closer to your family – and to yourself
by Mariam Vahradyan
The thinking style that makes people vulnerable to extremism
The people most drawn to ideological thinking and authoritarianism aren’t aware of what makes them so susceptible
by Leor Zmigrod
The city that rewired my brain
I arrived in New Orleans feeling fractured and dislocated. Then I started haunting the jazz clubs
by Henrick Karoliszyn
Your daydreams know something you don’t. Look closely
Noticing the patterns in mind-wandering can reveal important needs that have yet to be addressed in real life
by Vardah Bharuchi
Why raves are such a reliable source of spiritual experience
Amid the pounding bass, ravers achieve a transcendence long associated with sacred practices. Neuroscience explains how
by Alexander Dillabaugh
Music speaks louder than words through what it leaves unsaid
The ineffable in music resides in the gap between saying and not saying. Music neither states nor conceals. It hints
by Elena Gigante
She found the Mother Tree
Her science revealed that trees look after one another in the forest. Now, Suzanne Simard says, the only way to save the Earth is to put Indigenous ecological knowledge first
by Erica Gies
What could have been?
Counterfactual history explores what could’ve been: the paths not taken. What do we gain by applying this to our own lives?
by Sam Dresser