FOCUS | From the Editor
This is Parabola’s 150th issue. Publishing four times a year, it has taken more than thirty-seven years to reach this milestone, achieved through the contributions of countless writers, artists, editors, publishers, designers, printers, and those who work with them. Above all, it has taken the steady support of the magazine’s readers, year after year, decade upon decade.
To celebrate this anniversary, we picked a theme dense with meaning. Heaven and Hell are extraordinary concepts. For many of us they are, as THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION defines them, “symbolic expressions in various religious traditions.” Expressions of “a state of bliss ... or an abode of deity” and “a state of spiritual impoverishment and ... an abode of evil.” For others they are places, as real as earth and sky. And even nonbelievers acknowledge them: “My vacation was heavenly”; “That job was pure hell.”
We all know the taste of Heaven and Hell. And occasionally we are given a deeper understanding. This issue’s leadoff piece shows how the sacred can manifest in unexpected places and ways. Further in the issue you’ll encounter insights from Mark Nepo, Huston Smith, and other experienced seekers, an ancient story from India and a modern fairy tale from Denmark, a memoir of growing up with fire and brimstone, and some exceptional poetry and art.
You will also find an essay by Diane Wolkstein, Parabola’s epicycle editor, who died suddenly earlier this year. There is a tribute to Diane here by the magazine’s first epicycle editor, Paul Jordan-Smith. We will miss her.
To mark the magazine’s 150th issue, we have also included a portfolio of Parabola covers from over the years. The magazine’s covers have always tried to evoke the wisdom of the issues they represent. We at Parabola hope to explore that wisdom with you for another 150 issues. For now, may you enjoy and benefit from this issue’s journey into Heaven and Hell.
—JEFF ZALESKI