Summer 2022: Ancestors
“Our ancestors are always with us. They reside in the color of our eyes, in our religious and social practices, in how we treat our fellow humans. They are to some extent our fate, but not necessarily our destiny.”
Current Issue
- Prophets without Robes or Staffs
Hammarskjöld, Havel, Mandela, Thunberg - A Good Start
A Dutch Village, ‘Guernica’, and the power of remembering - The Gates of Paradise
Shamanic memories from an Indian visionary - “Because of You! ”
Among fields of lavender, understanding comes - Meeting Remarkable Trees
What our arboreal friends can teach us
Online Exclusives
In my mid-thirties I found myself in Dante’s dark wood, where my way was entirely lost. My marriage was falling apart. My primary mentor, Reynolds Price, seemed to be dying of a weird spinal cancer that was slowly paralyzing him. …
Story editor Betsy Cornwell shares excerpts from the Fall 2021 issue of Parabola Magazine, Fire, including the lead essay by Sufi master Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, “Fire Season.” Read the full issue by subscribing to Parabola. Parabola Magazine · Parabola Podcast Episode…
Our younger selves seed what we become and, as we age, we carry our earlier years with us. A sage elderly woman once told me, “some things you can only understand when you’re old”; yet equally true is that the…
First Wake-Up Call When I was in my early twenties, I had the opportunity to explore the west coast of South America with my partner. I was already a young scientist, working on a master’s degree at medical school and…
The word “holistic” is rooted in the ancient Greek word ὅλος (holos), meaning “all, whole, entire.” It is cognate with the English adjective “whole,” a concept which, before modernity, had always been bound up with health and wellness. Tragically, humanity…
Four times a year for over 40 years Parabola has gathered the wisdom of the world’s spiritual traditions to illuminate the central questions of life.
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Upcoming Issues
Fall 2022: BELONGING (submission deadline: June 01, 2022)
Winter 2022/2023:
DARKNESS & LIGHT (submission deadline: September 01, 2022)
Spring 2023: TRANSFORMATION (submission deadline: December 01, 2022)
Please note that these deadlines apply to editorial submissions; our schedule for advertisers may be found here.