When the hands pray. Rosaries, Mala and Tasbih
My grandmother, a rosary, and time standing still One of my childhood memories is of my grandmother and her sister praying the rosary together every afternoon. They would sit side by side and repeat the prayers, following the rhythm of the beads. Back then, I didn’t fully understand the meaning of that daily gesture. Over […]
What differentiates mythology from religion?
I bought this painting on vicuña hide in Cusco. It represents Pachamama, Mother Earth, one of the most profound figures in the Andean religious universe. When the Spanish arrived in the Andes, they found peoples who had spent centuries trying to answer the same questions that human beings had asked in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and […]
AMULETS: CARRYING THE SACRED WITH US
AMULETS: CARRYING THE SACRED WITH US I found these small amulets in China. The first two came from a night market in Beijing; the third, from the Taoist mountains of Yunnan. Sacred images designed to be worn close to the body: gods, protectors and masters who leave the temple to accompany us on our journey. […]
Vishnu. The Preserver of the Cosmic Order
VISHNU: THE GOD WHO TRIES TO PRESERVE THE WORLD I traveled to India twice. On one of those trips, I crossed practically the entire north of the country, from the border with Pakistan to Calcutta, catching endless train rides and watching the landscape, the cities, and the people change before my eyes. I especially remember […]
Primitive religions. Beliefs ans symbols
BEFORE THE GODS HAD FACES In this post I want to talk about the ancestral religions, the oldest and most primitive ways of relating to the sacred. A time in which the world seemed to be full of invisible forces and in which spirituality was often expressed through geometric figures, shapes and symbols. The two […]
The Buddha: Paths to Enlightenment
BUDDHA. FROM MAN TO GOD When we travel through Asia we find Buddha images everywhere. Some are austere and almost naked. Others are surrounded by gods, demons, bodhisattvas, and supernatural worlds. And I have always been fascinated by the same question: How could the same figure change so much? In the Museum of Religions I […]
Kali. The force that destroys to create
Kali. The force that destroys to create There are figures that one buys for its beauty. others, because they arouse a curiosity difficult to explain. And some come to us without knowing that, over the years, they will end up revealing a much deeper meaning. this image of Kali, made in bronze, belongs to that […]
Nataraja
Shiva Nataraja: the cosmic dance of the universe I have a very special affection for this image. I bought it with 27 years in Darjeeling (India), the city famous for producing one of the most appreciated teas in the world. It cost me 10 dollars, an amount that then seemed like a real luxury to […]
Shiva Meditator: The God Who Inhabits Silence
The Shiva Temple at Pokhara: a viewpoint among the Himalayas I took this photograph during my second trip to Pokhara, the second most important city in Nepal and one of the most beautiful places in the country. located on the shores of the lake Phew And with the impressive mountain range of Annapurna as a […]
Ardhanarishvara: When Shiva and Shakti are one
Ardhanarishvara: When Shiva and Shakti are one This image is an oil that was brought to me from Dehli, in India and represents the duality that is so important in Asia, ranging from the feminine-male, creation-destruction or ying and yang Sometimes we think that reality is made up of opposites: man and woman, strength and […]