Parabola's Fall 1993 issue: Crossroads Mythology and literature are rich with descriptions of the crossroads as a place of danger and risk for the unwary, from the story of Oedipus to modern accounts of confrontation and conflict. Yet all crossroads need not portend danger. In Maya tradition it symbolizes the common ground of power where two worlds meet. When approached with care, watchfulness, and sensitivity, the crossroads can be a place of promise and possibility, presenting a test that, once met, can lead to a renewed existence on another level. --from the editorial Focus Cover: Detail of Moki Serape Navajo, c. 1870 Courtesy of Joshua Baer & Company, Santa Fe, New Mexico In this issue:

• "The Cathedral as Crossroads" by William Bryant Logan
  - New York City's Cathedral of St. John the Divine
• "Walking on the Sacred Paths" by Black Elk
  - The Lakota vision quest
• "Baskets at the Crossroads" by Nouk Bassomb
  - Camaroonian rites of passage
• "Many Paths, One Goal"
  - The 1893 World Parliament of Religions as described by Swami Vivekananda, Christopher Isherwood, and Romain Rolland
• "Fingers Pointing toward the Sacred" by Frederick Franck
  - Signposts at the crossroads
• "Special Assignment" by Hiltgunt Zassenhaus
  - The courage to resist
• "Switching Roles and Crossing Paths" by Allan B. Chinen
  - How men and women discover new roads at midlife
• "In the Shelter of Each Other" by Mary Evelyn Jegen
  - At a historic turning point--war, or peace?
• "Where the Four Ways Meet" by J. R. R. Tolkien
  - A crossing of the roads from The Lord of the Rings
• "The Waverer's Tale" by Italo Calvino
  - Symbolism of the Tarot, from The Castle of Crossed Destinies
• "A Woman's Dream" by Helen M. Luke
  - Traveling to the crossroads
• "Why There Are No Straight Lines" by P. D. Ouspensky
  - The laws governing the movement of forces
• ARCS: "Two Ways Before Me"
• "The Corpse on the Crossroads" by Maya Deren
  - The meaning of the Voodoo symbol
• "Symbolism of the Cross" by Renv© Guv©non
  - Examining a universal image
• "An Infinite Number of Meanings" by Paul Bowles
  - The tragic consequences of pride
• "Where You Want to Be: An Interview with Dennis and Barbara Tedlock"
  - An investigation of the Popol Vuh

Tangents - Reviews

• "At the Altar of Decision" by Jo Milgrom
  - A workshop in handmade Midrash

Epicycles - Traditional stories from around the world

• "On the Road to Boeotia" / Greek - From Gods and Heroes"
• "Clever Eshu" / Yoruba - From Orisha: Gods of Yorubaland
• "The Fairy Wife" / Welsh - retold by Natalie Baan
• "City of the Dead" / Jewish - retold by Howard Schwartz