Tibidabo

Mountain where Jesus was first tempted by the Devil

A mountain overlooking Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, Tibidabo stands more than 500 meters tall. The highest peak anywhere in the Serra de Collserola range, Tibidabo is home to an amusement park, a telecommunications tower, and Sagrat Cor, a Catholic church.

Sagrat Cor is perhaps the most fitting of Tibidabo's attractions as this is the site where local legend says the devil tempted Jesus. The name Tibidabo derives from the Latin Vulgate Bible verses, Matthew 4:9 and Luke 4:6. The phrase, tibi dabo, means "I will give to you." It was supposedly said to Jesus by the devil as they looked down from a mountain on the kingdoms of the world. The name of Barcelona's hill, then, refers to how it is the tallest anywhere around.

Designed by Enric Sagnier, the church took about 60 years to build. At the top of the church, Sagrat Cor, is a sculpture of the Sacred Heart by Josep Miret Llopart.

Tibidabo can be reached by a funicular railway, by bus, and by car. The railway, built in 1901, was the first of its kind in Spain. The amusement park is also the oldest of its kind in the area. Constructed in 1899, the park offers more than thirty different rides, some of them dating back many decades. A few of the original attractions are also still operating, including the Museo de Automatas (Mechanical Museum).

Tengzug Shrine

Topless shrine of northern Ghana

The Talensis people of Northern Ghana require you to be topless to observe one of their sacred rituals. With the smell of animal blood and feces bombarding their senses, man and woman alike must bare themselves to the sub-Saharan heat to enter the Tengzug Shrine in the Tongo Hills.

The Tengzug Shrine, one of the most famous in the region, was once a hideout for slaves evading their captors. Now, it is used more traditionally for religious animal sacrifices for good luck and to please the ancestors of the Talensis. With a guide, visitors can scale the rocks up to the Tengzug Shrine, remove their tops and witness the sacrifice of birds and chickens.

In the shrine, among the remnants of the recently sacrificed, visitors get a panoramic view of the region and the surreal world of the Tongo Hills. Giant Baobab trees and boulders define the dry landscape that draws both tourists and religious pilgrims. The Tongo Hills comprise only twenty square kilometers, but are richly packed with history, religious significance, and fantastic hiking.

Along with the many shrines tucked away in the rock formations of the area, the local population has rebuilt a number of classic Talensis homes. Shaped like cylinders and grouped into neighborhoods, the homes have miniature doorways, followed by a short wall inside the home that allows for protection from intruders. Other than the doorway and a few holes for smoke to exit the structure, they are completely closed off to the outside world.

The Tongo Hills give visitors a window into the world of the Talensis, and visitors coming at the right times can experience one of the region’s vibrant festivals. In March, the Talensi celebrate the Golob Festival focusing on the sowing of the fields. With a bit more show to it, the Bo’araam Festival in October and November includes drinking traditional beer and the sacrifice of donkeys, goats, and fowl.

Awashima Jinja

A Japanese shrine to dolls

Awashima jinja is a shrine for women and is famous for its enormous collection of dolls. There are a lot of Japanese superstitions about dolls, and a good number of people in Japan seem to find them a little mysterious or frightening, believing that they have souls or the power to influence human lives. There are a number of shrines and festivals wherein people dispose of their old dolls and toys - they feel that if they just threw them in the garbage, the dolls' souls might come back to haunt them like ghosts.

Awashima jinja is mainly for hina ningyo, dolls that are given to young girls to be displayed every year on Girl's Day, March 3rd. The festival dates back to 1687 and is a time for praying for the health and happiness of a family's daughters. Awashima jinja's collection is not limited to hina ningyo, however. There are literally thousands of dolls here, and an even greater number of sculptures, figurines, carvings, and statues. You'll find tanuki, maneki neko, daruma, frogs, yoshitsune, shichi fukujin, and many more.

Every year on March 3rd, Awashima jinja is home to a doll festival called nagashi bina, in which boatloads of hina ningyo are launched into the ocean. As the boats are rocked by the waves, the dolls fall overboard and sink into the ocean. It is believed that the dolls will take away the sicknesses and bad luck afflicting their former owners, and the ritual has become very popular.

Summum Pyramid

In 1975, Claude Corky Nowell said he had an encounter with highly intelligent beings he called "Summa individuals" who revealed to him the true nature of the universe. Corky promptly changed his name to Summum Bonum Amon Ra -- though he goes by the more casual Corky Ra -- and founded the "Summum" religion.

Based out of Salt Lake City, the Summum (Summus is Latin "highest," and Summum is a play on that) religion has its own principles of creation and laws of learning. To an outside observer, Summum resembles a blend of science fiction (encounters with aliens and cloning), new age mysticism and a blend of ancient religions.

Summum draws many of its beliefs from Egyptian polytheism, with a particular emphasis on the Sun God Ra, hence Corky's new name, though it also relies on the teachings of "Gnostic Christians," such as those found in the Gospel of Thomas. Practice of the religion relies heavily on meditation, aimed at the Summum goal of "spiritual Psychokinesis."

A particular peculiarity of the church is that it practices modern mummification. They hold that mummification allows for a soul to smoothly depart from our world to the next. Additionally, they claim the modern mummification process they use preserves the cells and enables them to be cloned in the future. For Summum followers reincarnation is a scientific as well as as spiritual concept.

The Summum pyramid was built between 1977 to 1979 and serves as the church's main teaching space, mediation hall, and provider of modern mummification. The pyramid, like their religion, is "Sealed Except to the Open Mind." Curiously the pyramid itself, which incorporates the divine proportions into its measurements, is not zoned as a church but as a bonded winery. This is so the pyramid can produce what the Summum church calls "Nectar Publications," alcoholic drinks used during their meditation services. "Nectar Publications" serves another purpose as well. Since the organization doesn't keep formal membership records they base the number of people who have received the "message" of Summum on the number of wine bottles, or publications, they have distributed; some 250,000 so far.

In early 2009, the church attracted national attention during a legal scuffle with the city of Pleasant Grove, 35 miles south of Salt Lake City. Within the central city park stands a large monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments. The Summum church wrote to the mayor of Pleasant Grove with a proposal to erect their own monument inscribed with their "Seven Aphorisms", which are seen as restored extensions of the original Ten Commandments. The city said no, and the church sued on the grounds of free speech. In November 2008, "Pleasant Grove City vs. Summum went all the way to the US Supreme Court. In February of 2009, the Supreme Court sided with the City, with Justice Alito's written opinion stating that a permanent public monument is perceived to be a declaration of the intentions of the local government. Thus, the city can decide if they agree with the tenets set forth on a monument, or not.

To help make ends meet the Summum church offers mummification services to non-Summum members for those who "yearn for something more... something that appeals to our sense of care and lasting peace of mind, and with which we may feel secure." They offer the service to both humans and pets alike; prices range from $67,000 for a person to as low as $4,000 for a pet under 15 lbs.

The church is open to the public on Thursday evenings for philosophy discussion.