Showing 434 articles
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 [...]
Is Morality Relative?
Author: Julian ScottMay 17, 2016
This is one of those philosophical questions that will probably always exist. There are no doubt many possible answers, but perhaps the best place to start is with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Kant’s position on this question was unequivocal. In a world of relativities, there is only one thing that can be considered [...]
The Mind – a parent who just can’t say no
Author: Gilad SommerMay 15, 2016
“Nature is enough for everything she asks of us. Luxury has turned her back on nature (… ) pressing man’s intelligence into the development of vices. First she began to hanker after things that were inessential, and then after things that were harmful, and finally she handed the mind over to the body and commanded [...]
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, [...]
What is Soul?
Author: Julian ScottMay 11, 2016
Last summer we were privileged to host a talk at our centre on the subject of ‘Soul’ by Matthew Del Nevo, a visiting philosopher from Australia. Matthew is Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Catholic Institute of Sydney, where he lectures mainly in the area of the history of ideas and modern continental philosophy. He [...]
Nemetona
Author: Natalya PetlevychApril 19, 2016
Many hundreds of years ago when the Romans ruled over vast territories in Europe, a man from Treveri (Trier, Germany) named Peregrinus embarked on a long journey to Aquae Sulis (Bath). The gods were merciful to him and, upon arrival, thankful Peregrinus erected an altar stone to Nemetona and Loucetius Mars, to the Mistress of a [...]
Alchemy
Author: Miha KosirApril 19, 2016
Alchemy has a reputation from the Middle Ages. We can imagine obscure medieval laboratories with alchemists driving themselves to madness by spending years trying to achieve the impossible – the transmutation of lead into gold. This is one side of the story… In fact, alchemy has been around for thousands of years. It was not [...]
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 [...]
How Can We Humanize the World We are Living In?
Author: Pierre PoulainMarch 23, 2016
When I was a child I was a fan of Science-Fiction books. I remember especially some classics such as the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, and books written by Van Vogt, Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein or Philip Jose Farmer, just to mention a few. While reading those books I was dreaming of the future. [...]
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 [...]