On Some New Content Streams

Depicted above is the dig site at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, the remains of which is thought to be one of the oldest manmade religious structures in the world, dating to about 9500 B.C. I tell everyone I can about its existence. Work at this site began in earnest in the 1990s, but the momentous news has only crept into the public’s consciousness very slowly. At any rate, I chose the image only to demonstrate the ecumenical spirit of the latest category on Travalanche, which has the clumsy name of “HIGHER PLANES (Religions/ Cults/ Rituals/ Spiritualism/ Philosophy)”.

I’d been contemplating creating such a category for some time, for multiple reasons. One is that I have experienced some frustration in categorizing certain posts which seemed to fall through the cracks. These had to do with spiritual figures who I felt did not belong in my more theatrically germane categories having to do with Con Men and/or Stage Magicians or Gothic Horror. Unfortunately, there are some people who associate all religiously or spiritually affiliated people with one or more of those categories. But religion is one of humanity’s oldest cultural activities. For most of humankind’s history art and religion were the same thing, and for many (I am one) the two remain closely affiliated. I do not say WHICH religion, because honestly it applies to ALL religion. And I think it both a gross injustice and an easily refutable inaccuracy to refer to all religious people as some combination of dishonest or delusional. I do not take such things lightly. Attempt some quip about this in my presence and the odds are quite good that you’ll see me transform into just the sort of terrifying demon you profess not to believe in.

STILL! This is still a show biz blog! Or a theatre blog, or what have you. What this section covers is all sorts of related posts containing a thread that has kind of fallen through the cracks. The posts are about all sorts of things, among them the Pagan and Christian roots of theatre in the west; charismatic spiritual leaders and mystics (often with theatrical followers) who cannot be dismissed as unambiguous charlatans; clergymen and women who were authors or poets; and theatrical, cinematic or literary works about religion. Things like that.

I didn’t tag every single person I’ve written about who have some connection to religion, as that would be prohibitive. There are a couple of existing major categories that can help with missing areas. For example, so many African American performers come out of the black church that it would almost be redundant to tag them here (although I have tagged some especially significant ones, as well as more pointed topics, like Voodoo). The best we can do is advise browsing of the African American section, where you will find countless singers, musicians, and actors who started out in the church). Similarly, Judaism is at once a religion, a culture, and an ethnicity. Almost by definition, each person in the designated Travalanche section is connected to that religion (even if many are irreligious). Kabbalahism is the kind of thing that might conceivably make it into this new section.

The Sunday before Christmas seems the right time to do this; my first theatrical experiences were playing the role of Joseph in Christmas pageants at the Episcopal church I attended as a kid. I am an Episcopalian only by accident; it was the denomination of my mother’s ex-husband’s family, who were Canadian, though many of my American ancestors were of the same denomination. Most American protestants are religious mutts. By my calculation I have a finger in almost every pie. On my mother’s side (New England) I am descended from Pilgrims and Puritans, the denomination that became known as Congregationalist, and I am also descended from Roger Williams, a founder of the Baptist church, and am related to outliers like Anne Hutchinson. I have Quakers on both sides of my family. On my dad’s side (Tennessee) I am related to key historical players in the introduction of strange backwoods charismatic faiths involving things like foot washing and snake handling. I also have Presbyterians and Methodists in my American background, as well as some Germans and Scandinavians who were probably Lutheran. Before that, in the deep background, of course Catholicism, and the Pagan religions of Celtic and German ancestors. And of course, much of the above-named brings second hand influence from Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Greco-Roman Paganism. And through the Transcendentalists I so revere, Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. (I also dabbled in Buddhism for a while; my ex practices it). My brother converted to Mormonism. And my father in-law’s family was Muslim. And my father was agnostic.

My own personal beliefs come closest to Deism or Universalist Unitarianism, mostly as a result of this. And (I almost forgot!) I happen to be an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church! I’ve married four couples. I should trumpet this more often — hire me to marry somebody today!

Anyway, this is not all the bases, but it’s pretty close. I think you can trust an ecumenical spirit here. Expect a couple of additional posts related to this new content stream in the very near future.

I also should mention a couple another category that I have been steadily and quietly beefing up. That’s the one entitled “AMERICANA/ U.S. HISTORY“. I have been in the process of giving lots of older posts that tag, as it’s been neglected, but expect MUCH, MUCH more content there throughout 2025 and 2026 as we plunge into the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

Also, I recently recently folded in material that used to be stored at my other blog, the Travalog, which consisted of all my cultural travel posts, dozens of them. They now live back here at the Travalanche Ranch, in the section called TRAVEL AND TOURISM.

And again, the new section is here.