Author: Ms. R.

It’s springtime in the Scottish Highlands and a bonfire blazes against the night sky. A group stands before the flames, passing around a hat containing slices of bannock, or griddled oatcake. Each person plucks out a piece, until one unfortunate soul unfurls his fist to reveal a charcoal-daubed morsel. Fate has declared him the cailleach Bealtaine, a scapegoat who must be sacrificed. Some of his companions grab him, pulling him toward the fire. For good measure, they might even……

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In the 20th century, Egyptian architect Hasan Fathy became well known for his work rooted in traditional craftsmanship. Instead of following the modernist works of his contemporaries, Fathy wanted to develop a style of architecture rooted in local traditions and built with local materials.He called it “architecture for the poor,” and even wrote a book of the same name.  One of Fathy’s most famous projects was New Gourna Village near Luxor, Egypt. Designed and built between 1946 and 1952, the……

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Just a short trip from the small town of Raiano, in the Abruzzo region of Italy, the narrow and spectacular gorges of the Aterno river carve their way through a valley where rugged mountains rise far above. Nestled on a rocky outcrop lies a medieval hermitage named after Saint Venantius, martyr and patron of the university town of Camerino. Like other such sites in the Italian region of Abruzzo, hermits and religious figures, inspired by the life of Pope……

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If you decide to pursue a degree in geology, be prepared to spend some time in the wilderness, where you will be asked to find and analyze rocks that will help teach you how the planet works. You will sketch curious outcrops, smash stone to pieces, peer at crystals through a hand lens, and, every now and then, even lick rocks, if it comes to that, all under the watchful, judging eye of your instructors. When the pandemic kicked……

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Slightly off the beaten path of Sedona’s busy areas lies this park. Established in 2004, the park is a favorite of those seeking to tap into their spirituality, or who wish to have a quiet place to reflect in a beautiful setting. People of all faiths are welcome. The park offers a 36-foot stupa (Amitabha, the site’s namesake) and a smaller stupa where visitors can pray, meditate, or just enjoy a sense of peace. A stupa is considered a……

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This story was originally published on SAPIENS. The Sarayaku territory in Ecuador is a 500-square-mile roadless jungle reachable only by helicopter, small aircraft, or a full day’s canoe trip on the Bobonaza River. For outsiders, opportunities to connect with this community of about 1,200 people are rare. So, when anthropologist Eduardo Kohn received a shaky Skype call out of the blue from Sarayaku President Félix Santi, whom he’d never met, Kohn dropped everything. Santi said he was on his……

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La Trobe’s Cottage is the former home of Victoria’s first Lieutenant-Governor, Charles Joseph La Trobe. The former governor has a river, university, and other locations named in his honor around the region. His early residence, a prefabricated building, was shipped from Britain and constructed in 1839. This unique cottage was first constructed in Jolimont, not far from where the Melbourne Cricket Grounds now stand. Today, the cottage can be found in Kings Domain near the Royal Botanic Gardens and the……

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Originally known as the Continental Trust Company Building, One Calvert Plaza in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, was erected in 1901 as a multistory office building. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by famed Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham, the Continental Trust was constructed of steel encased in terracotta. At 16 stories and 276-feet in height, the building is recognized as Baltimore’s first skyscraper. It remained the city’s tallest building until eclipsed by the Bromo-Seltzer Arts Tower in 1911. The building’s decorations……

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