The Kalevala
Author: Nataliya PetlevychMarch 27, 2019
A truly beautiful Finnish epic, in which words weave ancient stories of the world, its cycles of life and its heroes. Sung and passed on by word of mouth for centuries, it was recorded only in the 19th century by Elias Lönnrot. The word “Kalevala” means ‘land of heroes’, the abode of Kaleva, a mythical ancestor. The Kalevala’s picturesque verses are full of adventures, mostly of [...]
Dunkirk – To live or to survive?
Author: Gilad SommerMarch 27, 2019
"Those men who, in war, seek to preserve their lives at any rate commonly die with shame and ignominy, while those who look upon death as common to all, and unavoidable, and are only solicitous to die with honour, oftener arrive at old age and, while they live, live happier." (from Xenophon’s Anabasis) As production values go up, both in TV and cinema, it almost seems that content is getting [...]
Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth
Author: Miha KosirMarch 19, 2019
Just before his death in 1988 Joseph Campbell, a world-renowned author in comparative mythology and religion, was interviewed by Bill Moyers for the TV series The Power of Myth. The interview took place on the ranch of movie director George Lucas, where they discussed the nature and function of mythology and its relevance today. Campbell’s most celebrated work is probably The Hero with a [...]
Thought
Author: Julian ScottMarch 19, 2019
Thought: a female head emerging from a block of unhewn matter, her hair blown by the wind, her eyes fixed on the above, concentrated but free, grasping the essence of things. Not the thought of the anguished intellectual, the complicated reasonings of an empty being who wants to impress; but the grand imaginings of a soul emerged from the divine, a child of Zeus, born from his [...]
The Temples of Ancient Egypt (Part 1)
Author: Agostino DominiciMarch 19, 2019
Introduction The quality of a civilisation’s culture is most visible in its art and more particularly in its architectural accomplishments, for these are usually its most complex and long-lasting forms. It’s hard to conceive of a more awe-inspiring architecture than that found in ancient Egypt. The essence and message of Egyptian architecture remained unaltered throughout the millennia, [...]
The People are Rising up
Author: Sabine LeitnerMarch 19, 2019
All over the world, people are rising up and demanding change. Both in the Western and the non-Western world, they are taking to the streets, protesting against corruption, growing economic inequality and injustice. In Asia, there were the ‘Umbrella Revolution’ in Hong Kong and the Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan in 2014, protests in Myanmar last year and other student-led movements in [...]
Edward Burne-Jones
Author: Nataliya PetlevychMarch 19, 2019
Recently, the Tate Britain celebrated Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones with a grand exhibition, the first on such a scale in 40 years. It amazed visitors not only by the rich variety of works, including painting, tapestry and stained glass, but also by a special enigmatic beauty created by the artist. Born in industrial Birmingham, Burne-Jones witnessed the rapidly developing Britain of the 19th [...]
A New Model of Civilization
Author: Gilad SommerMarch 10, 2019
One of the most astounding things about ancient civilizations is the unity of their way of life. In the Art Institute of Chicago, for example, there is a beautiful stele from the Mayan ruins of Calakmul in Mexico. This stele presents a ruler in his task as a high priest, dressed in ceremonial garbs, holding ritual objects and clearly executing an important ritual. The ritual in question, we [...]
The Ice Rink
Author: Gilad SommerJanuary 25, 2019
During an attempt at ice skating at the Sculpture Garden in DC, I had one of these wonderful moments where life seems to speak to you through the so-called “ordinary” moments. Watching the happy faces - of every age, race and color - go round and round, I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of humanity and wonder why it is so hard for us as human beings to live together and share this [...]
The Masses in Modern Philosophy
Author: Istvan OrbanJanuary 25, 2019
In the last century, the role of the masses grew immensely in importance and affected both culture and politics. Philosophy has been using the term masses and mass societies since the 19th century, but we can find statements about masses of people earlier, even in the works of the classical Greek thinkers like Plato. He argued against the rule of the people as, in his view, it leads to chaos and [...]
Chinese Alchemy and Immortality
Author: Agostino DominiciJanuary 25, 2019
Chinese alchemy has two main branches: 'external alchemy’ (Waidan) and 'internal alchemy’ (Naidan). Both words are related to the word dan (elixir), which evolves from a root-meaning of ‘essence’ (the true nature and quality of an entity). In this brief introduction, I am going to concentrate on the tradition of external alchemy or Waidan. The mythical origins of Waidan are related to [...]
Philosophy of History – a Key to the Past, the Present and the Future
Author: Julian ScottJanuary 25, 2019
There is an old Eastern saying which states: “The Past Time is the Present Time, as also the Future, which, though it has not come into existence, still is.” In the Eastern view of time, reality exists beyond the temporal realm and what we experience as separate stages are actually part of a simultaneous reality. This is an interesting concept, implying that the past still exists, the present [...]