Showing 131 articles
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 [...]
Many Seeds, One Garden: Learning from the Sacred Groves of India
Author: Manjula Nanavati (compiled by)July 8, 2024
This is a write-up based on an event celebrating International Mother Earth Day held at New Acropolis, Colaba, Mumbai. UNESCO has designated April 22nd as International Mother Earth Day to raise public awareness of the challenges to the well-being of our planet, and to recognize our collective responsibility to promote harmony with nature. At an [...]
Travelling Beyond: Egypt Explorations with New Acropolis India
Author: Sukesh MotwaniMay 1, 2024
Part 1 – Upper Egypt. New Acropolis India’s ‘Travelling Beyond’ initiative curated its inaugural exploration, a 10-day journey to Egypt in January 2024. Led by a senior instructor on Egyptian Symbolism and a very good local Egyptologist guide, the trip immersed its 32 participants in the culture, history, mythology, and philosophy of ancient Egypt. While [...]
Zen Gardens As A Portal To Contemplation
Author: Manjula NanavatiMay 1, 2024
“To study Zen is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be awakened by all things.” – Dogen Zenji. It is said that the founder of Buddhism in Japan, the monk Mahakashyapa, received his illumination directly from Shakyamuni t [...]
On Marsilio Ficino’s Magic
Author: Agostino DominiciJanuary 21, 2024
Marsilio Ficino was a prominent figure in the Italian Renaissance, making significant contributions to the study and revival of Magic. His magical teachings were an amalgamation of Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, and Christian thought. Before delving into Ficino’s magical doctrines, it is essential to explore some of the key themes underlying Renaissance magic. – Religious and Cultural [...]
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 [...]
‘To be or not to be’ Today
Author: Ana Luisa LellisSeptember 8, 2023
‘To be or not to be, that is the question’. How many times have we heard, seen, or read this sentence? From Laurence Olivier to Bugs Bunny, so many have tried their hand at interpreting what is quite possibly the most famous soliloquy in literature. Hamlet’s themes, characters, and iconic lines have permeated various forms [...]
The Symbolic Dimension of Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Author: Ana Luisa LellisSeptember 8, 2023
“Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life.” Friedrich Schiller Over two hundred years ago, the brothers Grimm published the first edition of their “Children’s and Household Tales”.Little did they know how important their work would be and for how long [...]
Alchemy and its Mute Language
Author: Agostino DominiciSeptember 8, 2023
To spread and transmit its teachings, Western alchemy has often resorted to the visual arts, with their symbolic and imaginative language. This fact should not surprise us if we take into account that ‘working according to nature’ is the modus operandi of the alchemist. In other words, if one sets out to discover the hidden [...]
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 Wonders of the Mineral World
Author: Agostino DominiciMay 11, 2023
The mineral world, and more specifically the world of precious stones and metals, has always been invested with an aura of awe and mystery. Throughout the ages, kings, magicians, priests and alchemists have often surrounded themselves with special objects born from the mineral world. Objects like magic rings and swords, sacred statues and amulets have [...]