Showing 250 articles
Habits and Automatism
Author: Natalia LemaMay 20, 2016
Amongst the many human conditions that characterise us, there is one that in a subtle way permeates who we are and what we do, not only on a physical level but also in terms of emotional and mental traits: habits or repetitive behaviour The very lack of awareness and the fact that we fall easily [...]
Maypole Dancing
Author: Pinar AkhanMay 20, 2016
This May, there will be celebrations across small villages in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire and many other places around England, with folk dances, local food, communities coming together, marking the time of spring being established and moving into summer. Most of the May Day celebrations in England have their roots in Celtic traditions. Maypole dancing is [...]
Invisible Egypt
Author: Sabine LeitnerMay 17, 2016
In our culture the word ‘invisible’ is often taken to mean ‘non-existent’. But for the ancient Egyptians, the invisible was the cause of the visible and therefore, in a sense, more important. They realised that the form of a person, what they wear and how they appear is only a reflection of something internal which [...]
Mozart and Freemasonry
Author: Julian ScottMay 13, 2016
Though some people are aware that Mozart was a Freemason and many know that his opera The Magic Flute is a Masonic allegory, it is less well known what Freemasonry is and how central it was to Mozart’s life and work. According to the great Mozartean scholar Alfred Einstein, however, “the consciousness of his membership [...]
Dance and Sacred Stillness
Author: Miha KosirMay 13, 2016
After a long dark night and a very deep sleep a sound like a ray of light ignited a dense inertia. The movement started and there was time and the beginning of the universe. And so the cosmic dance started, moving galaxies, stars, planets and our souls. Shiva Nataraja. Shiva’s dance is life and death, [...]
Could geodesic domes be the homes of the future?
Author: Istvan OrbanMay 13, 2016
They look weird, but cool. Even film-makers are inspired by them: in the famous James Bond movie You only live twice the world leaders gather in a building that has a geodesic dome shape. But what are they like? According to mathematicians, the geodesic dome is a triangulation of a polyhedron to form a close [...]
William Morris, a 19th century idealist
Author: Natalia LemaMay 11, 2016
Although perhaps most famous as an English textile designer, William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was also an artist, writer, translator and socialist activist. Inspired by the philosophy of John Ruskin (art critic and champion of the Pre-Raphaelites), Morris was against the tasteless industrial production of arts and promoted the hand-crafted art [...]
The Art of Creative Writing
Author: Natalia LemaApril 19, 2016
It is a common belief that writing is only for those who possess a talent and that creativity is something that some people have and others don’t. However, another way of looking at it is to see creativity as one of our human characteristics, and writing as a unique opportunity to nurture our mind and [...]
Chivalry
Author: Niamh GallagherApril 19, 2016
Today, the terms chivalry and chivalrous are used to describe unusually courteous behaviour, especially that of men towards women. At the mention of chivalry, many women will sigh that “chivalry is dead” and lament the declining opportunities of being rescued by the fabled “knight in shining armour”. However, what do most of us truly know [...]
Art for Enlightenment
Author: Miha KosirMarch 28, 2016
Masterpieces of Tibetan art found in the private temple of the Dalai Lamas have been reproduced and displayed for the first time in a special exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London. The Lukhang, or “Temple to the Serpent Spirits” was built in the late 17th century on a lake behind the Potala Palace in [...]
Philosophical Principles of Sanskrit
Author: Bhavna RoyMarch 23, 2016
“In the beginning was the word, and the word was God.” – John 1:1 “Om is everything; the past, the present, and the future is an expression of Om.” – Mandukya Upanishad As if echoing these ancient scriptures, quantum physicists state that creation began with the Big Bang – a first pulse of vibration; vibration [...]
Sacred Groves
Author: Ubai HuseinMarch 23, 2016
“The forest is not merely an expression or representation of sacredness, nor a place to invoke the sacred; the forest is sacredness itself. Nature is not merely created by God, nature is God. Whoever moves within the forest can partake directly of sacredness, experience sacredness with his entire body, breathe sacredness and contain it within [...]