The Symbolism of Renewal

Author: Jean Grunfeld

May 11, 2023

As we approach the Vernal or Spring Equinox (First Day of Spring) once more, human beings today and over millennia have found various ways to note and celebrate the renewal of Nature’s cycle. The Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere takes place every year on or around 21 March. In 2023, the Spring Equinox will take place on 20 March at 9.24pm (Greenwich Mean Time).  The seasons on Earth [...]

Bill Viola / Michelangelo: Life, Death, Rebirth

Author: Miha Kosir

May 26, 2019

What is life, what is death, is there a rebirth? These are the big questions arising with the first spark of self-awareness. But what are the answers? A recent exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts entitled Bill Viola / Michelangelo: Life, Death, Rebirth displayed some of the finest drawings by versatile renaissance artist Michelangelo together with video installations of contemporary video [...]

Maypole Dancing

Author: Pinar Akhan

May 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 one of the May Day [...]

The Symbolism of the Scarab

Author: M.A. Carrillo de Albornoz & M.A. Fernández

February 22, 2014

The scarab is the most venerated, the most common and the most familiar of the Egyptian symbols. Its symbolism is twofold: with its folded wings, it represents the disciple, life that has not yet come into existence, that starts its journey trying slowly to unfold its wings until it can flap them quickly. Then, this heavy mass, stuck to the ground, this animal that crawls leaving tracks as if the [...]