Smells and Bells

           In my grandma's kitchen, back home in Baton Rouge, I listen to the sounds of cooking. Despite the rich flavor palate of southern Louisiana, it's not often that I get to be a part of the cooking. Still, I participate in other ways: watching my little cousins in the backyard, giving the dogs attention with free hands, gossiping about the latest family drama with my younger cousin (who is much more involved with that business), making hot chocolate during the winter season.         We all gather together, even those that have since left Louisiana for slightly more distant pastures. These rituals of connection keep us tied together, a family by blood and by choice. A lot of people don't realize the religiosity of sitting down together and enjoying a meal, making a meal, but simple mindfulness can lead to a greater understanding of how eating might be a practice close to God(s) (whatever God looks like to you).    ...

The Intimacy of Sight in Worship By: Bridget Dresser Celebrating the Hindu festival Holi    It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul, and this couldn't be truer for the practice of d arśan , meaning “to see” in Sanskrit. As Diane Eck describes it in her book, D arśan : Seeing the Divine Image in India, the act of d arśan in the Hinduist practice is done “to stand in the presence of the deity and behold the image with one’s own eyes, to see and be seen by the deity.” (Eck) This act of intimacy between deity and devotee is a voluntary act of vulnerability and submission on the part of the worshipper . This practice   isn’t a one- sided or sacrificial act of devotion  either, as the worshipper is taking time to indulge in the senses and take in the beauty of their murti , and the sensory aspects of the offerings and rituals the for their deity .        In most monotheistic religions, God is omniscient and that is supposed to reinf...

What is music? By: Bridget Dresser       Sound has always been considered one of the higher senses, required for fully interacting with our surrounding s . Our sense of hearing tells us if something is moving in our environment , it helps communication between members of our species, and it helps us identify threats. Much like our other senses, it also works to deepen the connection we have to the world around us and enriches our lived experiences. Harmony – Two Nymphs Singing, Another Playing a Lyre MET      Music is arguably as old as sound if you debate what constitutes music . W he ther or not the sound of an instrument and vocal cords is all music can be, or if music has always been the whistling of the wind, the mating call s of birds, the laugh of children playing, or the sound of crying . I argue that the definition of what is truly “music” or not music is entirely up to personal interpretation and taste . The Oxford Dictionary definition...

 Everyday Micropractices How ritual and religious experience can be found in the mundane By Josephine Mortrud SuperBowl snacks - dorm style Elizabeth Perez's book,  Religion in the Kitchen: Cooking, Talking, and the Making of Black Atlantic Traditions,  explores how everyday practices can demonstrate profound religious and spiritual devotion. These "micropractices" are often overlooked by religious scholars as less important than elaborate rituals, but how we speak and eat plays an enormous role in how we think and interact with others, including the divine or supernatural. Perez writes, Blueberry muffins for the 4th of July "Practitioners gradually learn to master these micropractices through  intensely sensory apprenticeships  to authoritative members of their communities. [...] Since micropractices inhere in the everyday routines of local institutions, they can become  difficult, if not impossible, to discern as anything other than unremarkable backgroun...