The path of bliss: 11 epic quotes from Joseph Campbell

The great mythologist reminds us that our bliss is part of our suffering.

  • The famous academic will forever be known for his message to "follow your bliss".
  • George Lucas admitted that Star Wars was heavily influenced by Campbell.
  • The Power of Myth remains one of the most popular public television series of all time.
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10 of the greatest ancient and pagan holidays

The ancients had a cornucopia of holidays and festivities.

  • A great deal of modern holidays derived from Ancient Roman festivities.
  • The changes of the seasons was a popular time to hold reverence for local gods and goddesses.
  • Nearly every culture in the past had a unique holiday in which they celebrated, venerated and worshipped.
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Why the Nazis were obsessed with finding the lost city of Atlantis

The Nazis actively searched for Atlantis, seeing it as important to their mythology.

  • The mythical city of Atlantis was first mentioned in Plato's writings.
  • Top Nazis, including Heimlich Himmler, tried to find the city through expeditions.
  • The island was key to Nazi thinking about the "Aryan race".
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How Christians co-opted the winter solstice

Christmas has many pagan and secular traditions that early Christians incorporated into this new holiday.

Saturnalia by Antoine Callet
  • Christmas was heavily influenced by the Roman festival of Saturnalia.
  • The historical Jesus was not born on December 25th as many contemporary Christians believe.
  • Many staple Christmas traditions predated the festival and were tied into ancient pagan worship of the sun and related directly to the winter solstice.
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Archaeologists unearth dozens of mummified cats in Egypt

Dozens of mummified cats were dug up this week. This isn't as shocking as you might think.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images
  • Archaeologists in Egypt have found dozens of mummified cats in the tomb of a royal offical.
  • The cats will join the ranks of hundreds of thousands of previously discovered ancient kitties.
  • While the cats are nothing special, the tomb also held well preserved beetles.
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