Customer Reviews

Parabola

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I first discovered Parabola about ten years ago. This is a magazine (more of a book, really) that is filled with meaning, and as well it should be, because the point of the periodical is to clarify meaning, in myth, in symbol, in language, in song, and in the essence of meaning itself.

Now, before you start thinking, 'My goodness, this is just too esoteric for me!' do ponder the various parts of your daily life. You are surrounded by meaningful symbols, that this magazine might possibly help you appreciate more.

Why do we stop at a red light, and go at a green light, rather than the other way round?

There is a symbolism inherent here. Our daily life is a fight for consciousness against the deadening factors of existence; this magazine can be one more tool in the arsenal of helping to stay awake.

'Whoa! Too mystical for me!'

Not really. At least, not always. In preparing my review of a book on Sufi practices, I pulled an issue off the shelf from 1997, whose theme is Conscience and Consciousness. This has a lead article on the Sufi way of understanding by Tim Winter, entitled The Saint with Seven Tombs -- in it, he combines reflection on poetry, calligraphy, geography and history to weave an interesting and enlightening story of Sufi practice. Beyond this article, it includes writings on social, cultural, and worship practices from across the world: Michael Tobias writes on Islands of Nonviolence, emphasising the ecological peacefulness in the philosophies in India; Roger Lipsey explores the thought and philosophy of Dag Hammarskjöld on matters of conscience, and others go off on tangents (there is even a section entitled Tangent).

Included in each edition are many book reviews which explore topics related to the theme of the issue, as well as the more general themes of Parabola, being thought and philosophy, myth and meaning, spirituality and humanity. This is an extraordinarily rich collection of essays that come regularly.

For over twenty-five years, Parabola has covered the spiritual and cultural traditions of the world in art, essay, and story. There are occasional interviews as well. They also publish books, one of which was recently chosen by a distinguished panel as one of the hundred best spiritual books of the century, And there was light, by Jacques Lusseyran, blind hero of the French Resistance.

This is a wonderful magazine. Search for it, and find some meaning.

Parabola is a quarterly journal that's one of the pioneering publications on the subject of myth and tradition. Every issue explores one of the facets of human existence from the point of view of as many of the world's religious and spiritual traditions as possible, through the prism of story and symbol, myth, ritual, and sacred teachings.

Why are we here? and What's the meaning of life? are two of the oldest questions posed by humanity, and Parabola covers the spectrum of the mystical, psychological, anthropological while exploring these age-old questions.

Parabola covers a specific topic theme every issue. For example, one issue's theme was Chaos and Order and featured articles like:

*A Celtic Mandala (which looks at an archetype of order)
*A Hymn by Thomas Moore (honoring the positive attributes of disorder)
*Monsters, Children of Chaos (about what lurks in the dark deep).

Past journal themes that have been explored include:

*Riddle and Mystery: Questions With Answers, Questions Without Answers
*Dying: Ending or the Beginning of Transformation?
*Play and Work: Struggle and Relaxion in the Search for Meaning
*The Knight and The Hermit: Heroes of Action and Reflection
*Prison: Inner and Outer Confinement.

The issue on Friendship features pieces such as:

*A gathering of Sufi and Medieval Welsh poems with commentary from Coleman Barks
*Gehlek Rimpoche describing the qualities of the sangha
*Hazrat Inayat Khan speaks on the spirits of agitation and of brotherhood
*Kate Chadbourne follows a Welsh prince into the Underworld and finds an unexpected friendship
*A tribute to the late Lakota elder and activist Tony Black Feather
*Retellings of stories from the Hindu, Jewish, and Native American traditions

If you enjoy the likes of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Clarissa Pinkola Estes--as well as myth, symbols, meaning, and culture--you'll find Parabola Magazine a feast for mind and spirit.

This magazine does a wonderful job of approaching myth from all fronts. From psychology to spirituality, there are many views presented. This makes for wonderful reading and insights. If you like Carl Jung or Joseph Campbell you'll probably enjoy this publication.

Anyone willing to enlarge their understanding of themselves and their place on a planet that urgently requires us all to listen to and appreciate each other, will find at least one, if not many offerings in any issue of this thought provoking and consistently well rounded publication that will illuminate a mystery, spark a quest, satisfy a deeply felt hunger for insight and meaning, or re-sanctify the common day. True, some might ask if we really need the unnervingly nebulous and impractical "nonsense" of myth and lore, of mystery, imagination, art and symbol. As Joseph Campbell is said to have remarked, any hound can live an apparently satisfactory life without the slightest need or desire for all this, and that is perfectly fine, but it is, after all, a hound's life.

a lovely magazine filled with insights that go beyond just about anything else. The spectrum of human mystical/spiritual experience is covered with eloquence and uniqueness.

I wish magazines like this were available when I'm waiting to have my teeth worked on or my car fixed. The human mind is polluted by so much sports and celebrity trash - that works like this end up soothing the soul and revivifying the mind.

Editors - you have done a brilliant job, indeed.

I am an open minded, thoughtful person, interested in new viewpoints if well argued. I received this magazine subscription as a gift, and thought that perhaps there might be some genuinely insightful creative thinking within it. What it actually contains, however, is a bunch of utter nonsense, which essentially teaches that it's OK to do whatever you want; that there is some type of 'spirituality' you can embrace to allow you to do what you wish, while simultaneously feeling good about yourself. If you are looking for substance go elsewhere.

This theme of self congratulatory, self esteem at any cost runs like a vein throughout these pages, a perfect example of spirituality without genuine commitment. I read through the latest edition, which claimed to be about marriage, but really was about how to destroy marriage as an institution. On the cover of the issue, for your further enlightenment, is a painting of a bride, groom, and giant rooster, with musical accompaniment by a goat playing a cello. It is actually a painting by Marc Chagall, titled `The Bride and Groom of the Eiffel Tower', and here evidently used to promote any variety of alternative marital arrangements. For badly reasoned doubletalk you can't get much worse than "Parabola." Here, for instance, is a direct quote, ostensibly on the subject of marriage, taken from page 17 of the Spring 2004 edition: "Sovereignty develops when two partners grow into a marriage wholeheartedly, with commitment. Conversely, marriage grows from the development of autonomy. This dynamic is subsumed within the persons of the triple goddess, with the crone meditating the information's passage."

So is that all clear now? Basically, what we have here is a bunch of self indulgent polytheists telling you to do what you want, that every religion is equal, and that every set of beliefs, no matter how preposterously based, is equal. If you actually believe that, than this is the PERFECT magazine for you. If you believe that there are standards of good, evil, right, and wrong this is not the magazine for you. You will also want to check out the sponsors of the magazine, one of which I just have to mention (even though most are worthy of a mention) here. On the back cover is a big, color advertisement for "Uniting Inner and Outer: A Sufi Conference" which contains this delicious, and enlightening line: "This container of love for different Sufi Orders will continue at this year's conference, with the theme of uniting the inner and outer. Through lectures, meditation, music, dance, dreamwork, and zikr we will share in this tradition of lovers." Please excuse my absence: I plan to be doing something productive those three days.

I am absolutely in favor of people being able to believe whatever they want, whatever they have reasoned for themselves. Likewise, when I see people printing preposterous propositions based on self indulgent egoism, I have the right to call it like I see it, so here is how I see it: This is nonsense.