The Long Path to Enlightenment
The ancient Indian ascetic practice of detachment from worldly goods looks a little like modern simplicity—but appearances can be deceiving.
Religion
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How Tourism Reinvented Jesus’ Baptism Site
Pilgrims and tourists are flocking to a baptismal site in the Holy Land in search of religious experience—and souvenirs.
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The Perennial Power of Ritual
Rituals soothe, excite, and unite people throughout the world. But how exactly do they work, and what makes them so meaningful?
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The Paradox of Donald Trump’s Appeal
How can a political candidate as offensive and outrageous as Trump be so popular? Fifty-year-old insights into how religion works may hold the key.
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The Right to Own Living Memorials
Hundreds of memorial statues stolen from Kenya and Tanzania have ended up in U.S. museums. Should the principle of informed consent be applied to (apparently) inanimate objects?
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![The ladder acts as a central axis holding the universe together. According to anthropologist Elsie Clews Parsons, for the Acoma, “the Earth Mother is held in position by the Galaxy arching overhead, and a stick-image of the Mother is called [a] center pole; it holds the four stratified skies and the four stratified earths together, so to speak, a pole of gravity.”](https://www.sapiens.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/4-Acoma-Pueblo_3-1200x628-480x262.jpg)
Ladders to Other Worlds
For many Pueblo Indians, the ladder is at once a practical tool and a powerful metaphor. The ladder is used to descend and ascend—and to cross multiple worlds.