Congolese Pygmies tell travelers about some creature that appears to be a cross between a zebra and a giraffe. Ridiculous, they say. Do we have another kongamato on our hands? Well fortunately for us, Sir Harry Johnston took them seriously. That’s why today most every zoo around the world has an okapi. That’s right, this month I am writing about a creature that definitively exists!

Mommy bails out daring, handsome, Finnish hero. That would be Lemminkainen, one of the heroes of the Kalevala. The Kalevala is an epic Finnish poem; it is considered the national epic of Finland. It is 50 chapters, runes, or cantos (depending on who you ask) of epic adventures. Today, we’re taking a little peak at Lemminkainen.

It’s big. It’s yellow. It can do neat stuff. It makes you smile. No, I’m not talking about Big Bird, although he is pretty cool. I’m talking about the sunflower.

Check out the Vanessa Tarot!

10 questions with author Christopher Penczak.

Please take a moment to learn about The Pluralism Project.

An actual final report from a North-Eastern Alabama Paranormal Society investigation.

Just like with most religions of a certain size and scope, Judaism has many different denominations. All denominations within their religion are about how best to interpret the faith, and each denomination does so as they see fit. The denominations in Judaism tend to form a sliding scale of conservativeness, or of traditionalism. Sliding from Orthodox, considered to be the more traditional and conservative, to Reform, generally viewed as the most progressive or liberal of the denominations. Obviously there are many denominations that fall in between those two and a few that are outside the sliding scale all together.

The Magical Buffet was created with the idea of helping foster religious tolerance. I’m sure one day it will grow and evolve, but at this point it’s almost a direct representation of my thoughts and views (that’s what happens when one person generates at least half of the content). Sometimes I get so caught up in my chosen format for expression that I forget that there are many ways for an individual to express their views on the subject of religious tolerance. Today I stumbled across someone else’s thoughts on the topic, and it was big. In fact, it’s 16 door panels of big!

Beginning in mid-August roughly 425 Wal-Mart stores will be selling a faith-based toy line in their preschool aisle. The line includes Ester, Moses, Noah, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and more. This is being billed as the first time Wal-Mart has offered a full line of faith-based toys.