Showing 127 articles
The Way of the Warrior – Embracing the ‘Inner Battle’
Author: Agostino DominiciApril 18, 2022
I am imagining depicted on a Renaissance tapestry the scene of a ‘battle’. This tapestry is woven together by four threads or themes: war (and the warrior), initiation, Kali Yuga and askesis. War and the warrior Since the beginning of recorded history the theme of war has always occupied an important place in the minds [...]
Dionysus – The Mystical and the Heroic
Author: Svetlana KirutaMarch 28, 2022
“The myths about the god Dionysus tell us about the mysterious connection that exists between the mortal and the immortal in man. He is a symbol of the inner path, the return to the centre, to the throne of Zeus, a symbol of the heroic enthusiasm that inspires a disciple to walk the path, and [...]
ART AS A JOURNEY WITHIN – An Interview with Olivia Fraser
Author: The Acropolitan Magazine Editorial teamMarch 28, 2022
For centuries art has been a natural means to express one’s inner journey – be it as a community or as an individual search. So has it been for Olivia Fraser, who has used her art to uplift, to produce wonder and beauty, and to find the ‘inner essence’ of things. Olivia Fraser moved to [...]
Matrix 4 Film Review
Author: Pierre PoulainFebruary 24, 2022
The Movie The Matrix, released in 1999, and its two sequels (Reloaded and Revolutions), released in 2003, have together been an international phenomena. The first movie in particular, was known as a modern version of Plato’s Myth of the Cave, and the two subsequent parts are of the same universe – the real world and the [...]
Mastering the Bow
Author: Harianto MehtaNovember 7, 2021
Yogastha Kuru Karmani First establish being in yourself, and only then perform action. Introduction Amidst a series of mystical verses compiled in the Bhagavad Gita, this is one of the fundamental instructions that Krishna transmits to a distraught Arjuna, when faced with the prospect of killing his own cousins in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in [...]
The Story of Cinderella – An Inner Voyage
Author: Akanksha SanghiAugust 25, 2021
I recently had the opportunity to investigate my all-time favourite fairytale, Cinderella, in a new light. I realised that we can infact extract very practical principles to apply in our daily lives. But for this, we need to look at the story that we are so familiar with, through a new lens, leaving behind our [...]
Winter- Inspiration for the Inner Journey of the Philosopher
Author: Anand BaskaranJune 19, 2021
Winter is here! Across the northern hemisphere, winter has taken hold. Bangaloreans have brought out their warm clothes, there is a definite nip in the air. In many other parts of the country and the world, winters are harsher, and far more measures are required to counter the chill. To a greater or a lesser [...]
Ferocious Deities of Japan
Author: Nataliya PetlevychMay 12, 2021
Among the benevolent and peace- and goodness-emanating deities of Japanese Buddhism, one might be surprised to encounter the ferocious and mighty Myōō, the Wisdom Kings. Their appearance is mesmerising: faces filled with astonishing power and determination, clearly visible fangs and bulging eyes, impressive postures of true warriors equipped with different weapons to combat evil. The [...]
Mithras and the Mithraic Mysteries
Author: Agostino DominiciJanuary 23, 2021
The Mithraic Mysteries have their roots in the remote Vedic culture of India. Already in the Rig Veda, we find the god Mitra as regent and protector of a perfect cosmic order. Subsequently, in the Indo-European tradition of Iran, we find Mithra identified as the tutelary god of the pact (or oath), slowly assuming a [...]
Plant Lore – A Brief Insight Into the Mythology and Symbology of Plants
Author: Gareth KinsellaNovember 19, 2020
“And just as speech is invention about objects and ideas, so myth is invention about truth.” – Humphrey Carpenter You may not know it, but as a child, plant allegories may have left a bigger impact on you than first imagined. Vivid and captivating fables, like conceptual seeds that were sown in your mind through [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]