Ex Voto
Karen E. Park's thoughts and musings on American history, politics, material culture, and Catholicism and history
This is Ex Voto
Ex voto (pronounced ex VOH-toh) is a tangible gift—like a small metal milagro, a baby photo, a bouquet of flowers, or a pair of crutches—left at a shrine to petition for help or to thank the divine after an answered prayer. This newsletter is my offering of that kind: close reads and essays about how rituals, spaces, songs, and God-talk shape our common life.
Why?
Because metaphors make worlds. The language and practices we use for God—hymns, processions, altars, hashtags—don’t remain neatly “religious.” They train our imaginations about power, belonging, bodies, borders, and nationalism. I write to illuminate those often hidden frameworks.
What you’ll get
Essays & close reads of worship, media moments, memorials, sacred sites, and public rituals.
Field notes & guides for readers who want context (history, theology, material culture).
Themes: faith and politics, pluralism and migration, gender and devotion, mourning and meaning.
I write beyond Catholicism while keeping that tradition in view.
Who this is for
Curious readers, journalists, clergy, educators, and anyone who senses that “religion” is shaping public life even when we don’t name it.
How often
Three to four essays a month, plus brief notes when something timely needs a close read.
Why the new name?
I began as Second Vatican to lean into Catholic history; the conversation has since widened. Ex Voto better matches the work: offerings from the border of the sacred and the civic—meant to help us see more clearly and choose better.
