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Matt Ragen

  2. Spirituality

Spirituality - Life

A portfolio of images related to religion and spirituality with examples of life and death from cemeteries, graveyards, and other places. These topics are entwined together as life's major events move us along a timely progression.
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Incense sticks burning within an ash-filled urn in a Japanese Shinto shrine. The air is blue with smoke.
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Incense sticks burning within an ash-filled urn in a Japanese Shinto shrine. The air is blue with smoke.

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  • A representation of St. Columba in a cloak and with a shepherd's crook in an old stained glass window in St. Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh castle. He was one of the 12 apostles of Ireland and, in his journeys, visited Scotland in the 6th century.
  • Untitled photo
  • Four metallic ladles full of water are waiting to be used to purify worshippers' hands near a Shinto shrine in Tokyo.
  • A water ladle at the purification pavilion (a chozuya or temizuya) that is used to clean one's hands as a ritual cleansing (misogi) before entering a Shinto shrine in Japan.
  • Incense sticks burning within an ash-filled urn in a Japanese Shinto shrine. The air is blue with smoke.
  • Stone foxes (kitsune), dressed with red capes, act as guardians to Japanese Shinto shrines. The foxes also act as messengers to Inari, the goddess of agriculture.
  • Carved characters in stones in the main courtyard at Deoksugung in Seoul. Also known as Gyeongun-gung, Deoksugung Palace, or Deoksu Palace, this popular tourism stop is a walled compound of palaces that was inhabited by various Korean royalties until the Japanese occupation of Korea around the turn of the 20th century.
  • One stone carving with a large crack forms the first of a series of stones in the main courtyard at Deoksugung Palace in Seoul.
  • Details of patterns in the roofs at Deoksugung. Also known as Gyeongun-gung, Deoksugung Palace, or Deoksu Palace, this popular tourism stop is a walled compound of palaces that was inhabited by various Korean royalties until the Japanese occupation of Korea around the turn of the 20th century.
  • A candle on an altar is lit, illuminating a Friday morning service at St. George's cathedral in Cape Town. In the background, a Bible is open next to a second burning candle.
  • A handmade cloth saying God Is Love. This covers the altar of a make-shift church in the township of Kayamandi, South Africa.
  • Two hands holding an old, well-used prayer book at a Methodist church service on Sunday are symbolic of faith of South African people. Note: shallow depth of field is focused on just the thumb and the nearby text.
  • A basket being passed around at a Methodist Church in a South African township to collect donations.
  • A group of priests are lined up into five rows of five people each, receding into the shadow of the inner sanctuary of the temple. This was viewed at a traditional Shinto temple in Japan.
  • A traditional Shinto temple in Japan viewed from across a courtyard. Inside, a group of priests are lined up in the sanctuary for a morning ritual.
  • A 150 year-old vintage torah scroll tied with a faded purple ribbon to keep it from unrolling.
  • A part of the Hebrew text fomr a portion of a Torah scroll. This scroll is estimated to be 150 years old and is wrinkled and spotted with age. This view has very tight selective focus on just one line on the page with the foreground and background moving quickly to be out of focus.
  • A part of the Hebrew text from a portion of a Torah scroll. This scroll is estimated to be 150 years old and is wrinkled and spotted with age.
  • An old Torah scroll being read at a bar mitzvah with a traditional yad which is required. This ornate pointer has a finger at the end that points to the word that is currently being read.
  • Reading a Torah scroll during a bar mitzvah ceremony with a traditional yad pointing towards the text on the parchment.
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