Showing 455 articles
The Philosophy of Climbing
Author: Eddie SelbyOctober 1, 2020
“I am a wanderer and mountain-climber, said he to his heart, I love not the plains, and it seemeth I cannot long sit still. And whatever may still overtake me as fate and experience a wandering will be therein, and a mountain-climbing: in the end one experienceth only oneself.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche Nietzsche (1844–1900) [...]
Myths of Africa: Deepening our Understanding of Life and Death
Author: Siobhan FarrarOctober 1, 2020
Africa is a vast continent with many different peoples and a diverse diaspora whose cultural and spiritual heritage has often been misunderstood and misrepresented through colonial and Western perspectives. The ability to move past assumptions and conditioning always presents a challenge, which requires that we aim to see the essence of human life and experience. [...]
Aesthetic Intelligence
Author: Sabine LeitnerOctober 1, 2020
We have probably all heard about different types of intelligence: kinaesthetic, verbal, logical-mathematical and lately also emotional and even spiritual intelligence. Recently I came across the term aesthetic intelligence and it inspired me to think about what this could mean in a philosophical and metaphysical way and why it might be important. From a philosophical [...]
Why Philosophy Matters in Times of Crisis
Author: Sabine LeitnerOctober 1, 2020
We seem to be living more and more in times of permanent crisis: terrorism, armed conflicts, unprecedented waves of desperate refugees, crises in practically every field of public life, including financial and economic, environmental, political, cultural, educational, institutional, (mental) health, etc. There is hardly any area which is not affected by some crisis in one [...]
The Magical Function of Rituals and Ceremonies
Author: Julian ScottOctober 1, 2020
From an esoteric point of view, a ritual is dependent on the existence of the invisible dimension. This invisible dimension consists of a spiritual-mental aspect, which is the domain of the archetypes or ‘living idea-beings’ spoken of by the Platonists; and an ‘astral’ aspect, which is an intermediate world between spirit and matter, just as [...]
Terra Preta, the Black Earth upon which Civilisations were Built
Author: Gareth KinsellaJuly 30, 2020
“Agriculture is the noblest of all alchemy; for it turns the earth, and even manure, into gold, conferring upon its cultivator the additional reward of health.” – Hebrew proverb In 1542, a Spanish conquistador named Francisco de Orellana set sail along the Amazon river with a group of his fellow countrymen, looking high and low [...]
Anne Conway: the Ultimate Unity of Spirit and Matter
Author: Siobhan FarrarJuly 30, 2020
Seventeenth century England was a time of conflict and rapid change, and it is under such conditions that Countess Anne Conway, one of the few female philosophers of her time, developed her clarity of vision and influence. From her home at Ragley Hall and mostly through letters, Anne Conway was in continuous dialogue with the [...]
The High City of Troy
Author: Nataliya PetlevychJuly 30, 2020
Long ago at the dawn of history, on a distant seashore near the sacred Mount Ida, stood a marvellous city, the walls of which were built by the gods themselves. It was there that Poseidon and Apollo did their penance labouring for king Laomedon on the orders of the great Zeus. The city was Ilium [...]
Post-lockdown Values?
Author: Sabine LeitnerJuly 30, 2020
“There are decades where nothing happens – and there are weeks where decades happen.” This Lenin quote might sum up how many of us feel regarding the events of 2020. Not that nothing happened before – in my view the last few decades contained quite a lot of events on a mega scale – but [...]
The Noble Spirit of Competition
Author: Markus EdinJuly 21, 2020
With the 2020 Olympic Games being cancelled we may seize the opportunity to reconnect with the spirit of this most famous and prestigious sporting event. For it has not always existed in the format we know it today, the ancient Olympics serving a vastly different purpose than the modern day Olympic Games. Just how far [...]
To Be Or Knot To Be
Author: Aidan MurphyJuly 21, 2020
The Legend of the Gordian Knot tells us of an ordinary man named Gordias who rode into the centre of the Phrygian kingdom on his simple ox-driven cart, unaware that a recent prophecy would announce him, as the newest arrival in town, to be declared King. So the capital was renamed Gordium and Gordias went [...]
Stepping Back into The World of Heroes
Author: Rahil MehtaJuly 20, 2020
A child’s journey to adulthood is often a mixed bag. It’s a time of learning and challenges. Skills and abilities are developed, as are likes and dislikes. He quickly learns the rules of the world that he lives in. And facing a new world for the first time, his simplest obstacles look like gigantic monsters. [...]