Showing 76 articles
What the myths of Proteus and Janus tell us about Change and Transformation
Author: Sofia VenutiMarch 28, 2026
Our current sociopolitical climate can cause a fear of change and a want of permanence – of identity and ideology for example. The philosopher looks back and sees that the ancient world offers a sobering counterpoint: a reverence for change, mutability and the transient. This is vividly portrayed in the myths of Proteus, the elusive [...]
The Bhagavad Gita and the Inner Battle
Author: Siobhan FarrarMarch 28, 2026
The Bhagavad Gita is a philosophical treasure of the Indian wisdom tradition. A heroic tale which for the wisdom-seeker explains many spiritual truths about ‘the inner battle’ and the human condition. The name ‘Bhagavad Gita’ means ‘Song of God’. The story is about two branches of a single family descended from brothers Pandu and Dhritarashtra. [...]
In Search of Harmony: a Mythic Journey Across Cultures.
Author: Nataliya PetlevychJanuary 15, 2026
“Harmony is the source of manifestation, the cause of its existence, and the medium between God and man.” Hazrat Inayat Khan Throughout history and across civilizations, harmony has been an eternal companion to humanity. No age or culture has existed without its presence. It has taken form as a goddess – Harmonia, Concordia – or [...]
Romanticism or Realism?
Author: Julian ScottDecember 30, 2025
This question occurred to me as I was coming to the end of the 19th century novel Middlemarch by George Eliot (the pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans). As the characters’ lives and actions came to fruition I found myself thinking: would this person’s life really have ended like this (so happily), or would they have [...]
Traveling Beyond: Egypt Explorations with New Acropolis India Part 3 – The Myth of Osiris
Author: Gauri DhawanOctober 1, 2024
Traveling Beyond: Explorations with New Acropolis India, is an opportunity to travel with a philosophical lens, to visit places, not only as a tourist, but also as a seeker of truth and beauty. To try to uncover together, the wisdom that exists in the world, and to extract from it something that we can apply [...]
Traveling Beyond: Egypt Explorations with New Acropolis India Part 2 – The Egyptian Temple as a Metaphor for Life
Author: Rahil MehtaJuly 8, 2024
Traveling Beyond: Explorations with New Acropolis India, is active travel for the aspiring philosopher; to come closer to the rich human heritage of lands and cultures across the globe. The philosophical way encourages us to come closer to what lies “beyond” – the invisible causes of what we observe, such that we may recognize the [...]
The Ancient Tradition of Kalaripayattu: In conversation with Lakshmanan Gurukkal
Author: Axelle DefrasneJuly 8, 2024
Shri Lakshmanan Gurukkal hails from a traditional Kalaripayattu family. His father and guru, Shri Veerasree Sami Gurukkal who trained under Guru Govindankutty Nambiar, established the Hindustan Kalari Sangam in Calicut, in 1952, to preserve and promote this traditional martial art form. His children Shri Lakshmanan, Shri Shatrughnan and Smt Radhika are now carrying forward this [...]
The Hero, Life and the Creation of the Sun
Author: Siobhan FarrarJanuary 21, 2024
The wisdom tradition and religious thought of the ancient Aztecs is shrouded in mystery. Whilst we cannot completely ‘know’ how these people encountered life, we can intuitively enter an understanding of how they thought, using symbolic language to decipher what remains perceivable through the shifting sands of time. One such remaining treasure is the myth [...]
Tales from the Ramayana – The Abduction of Sita
Author: Miha KosirSeptember 8, 2023
In the world of literature there are a few well known epic stories in which the plot is built around the abduction of a woman. In the East one of them is the ancient Indian story of the Ramayana, and in the West, there is the ancient Greek story of the Iliad. These are not [...]
Theseus and the Minotaur: The Defining Human Image
Author: Siobhan FarrarSeptember 8, 2023
The image of Theseus, hero of Attica, standing at the centre of the labyrinth, holding a magical thread (called a clue) brandishing his sword, about to face destiny in a moment of reckoning with the Minotaur, is perhaps one of the most defining scenes from mythology with a symbolism both rich and complex. What this [...]
The Symbolism of Renewal
Author: Jean GrunfeldMay 11, 2023
As we approach the Vernal or Spring Equinox (First Day of Spring) once more, human beings today and over millennia have found various ways to note and celebrate the renewal of Nature’s cycle. The Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere takes place every year on or around 21 March. In 2023, the Spring Equinox will [...]
Heroic Symbols of the Feminine: The Myth of Eros and Psyche
Author:January 26, 2023
In this article I will look at the archetypal hero’s journey with particular reference to its feminine aspect and symbolism. Symbols resonate on all levels of nature, meaning that feminine does not refer only to gender or biology (although there might be some relevant keys) but rather the understanding that the feminine is a principle [...]