Other than criminals, the elderly are the only people who are routinely kept in residential custody in the post-industrial world. The massive, brick edifices of the nineteenth century that housed the parentless, the impoverished, the mentally ill, and the disabled…
Read MoreOn March 27, George and Shirley Brickenden died holding hands in bed after dining on lobster, salmon, and champagne. George, 95, and Shirley, 94, married since the final year of the Second World War, “flew away” (their words) to the…
Read MoreA thousand years of Christianity separate Uncle Odin and us. The minds behind the words could not have imagined lost luggage or traffic jams or office parties, yet there is comfort and inspiration in the Havamal. To me, Odin’s poetry is the collective voice of the wise elders of pre-Christian, Pagan northern Europe. Through the Havamal and the Poetic Edda, Pagan teachings stand shoulder to shoulder with the literature of other ancient religions and philosophies.
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