The End is Near! I Hope There Really is an Afterlife

Friday is the final day of my RELS1 class.
In my head I am saying Wait! There's more! I got this!
But now I know where to look when I want to know more—thanks to that wily instructor, the list of books I want has grown exponentially with each assignment.

I feel like I have been to a giant party and met a whole lot of people who I never knew existed.
Each of them has invited me to their house, but all on the same day! This semester went so fast I did not have time to assimilate all the new information.

In the mean time, I realize I may have learned more than I thought.
for instance:

• Women in religious studies often have biblical names; Mary, Sarah, etc., (I don't know how Hillary got in, but it may be a fluke)

• Sometimes those women marry dudes who look like Jesus and they name their children Faith—I love that!

• Frequently women who Defy this male dominated subject have last names that begin with D; Doniger, Daly, Douglas. 

• There is no Emily Durkeim, it's Emile Durkhiem and I did not invent the term collective consciousness

• Max Weber sounds a lot like that guy I was trying to look up on our first day of class: http://leakelley.blogspot.com/2014/09/introduction-to-religious-studies.html

• Religion is a subject that anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, and philosophers need to participate in to find their way through the maze of Humanity but many of them never find Religion.

• If a mushroom turns blue when you touch it, a Jaguar may have left it for you.

• Sufis are just as good at poetry as they are at dancing in the halls of a Grateful Dead concert. They study Whirling, Writing, and Rythmatic in Sufi School

• The Dao is not dependent on the stock market but when it rises it does make a sound, "Chi Ching"

• A person can be born more than once, but the second time the Father gives birth

* My irreverent tone should in no way reflect my absolute appreciation for the genuine knowledge and scholarly information I have recently acquired through my introduction to religious studies. It's just that sometimes I learn by associating absurd puns with new information.

I have referred to the wily instructor, which may sound like she represents Coyote Medicine (according to Native American lore) in which the trickster learns and teaches—and I did get kinda cleverly tricked into learning a lot. But, I also think there is Hawk Medicine involved here and I am thankful for the Messenger.

The Messenger