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Since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, political debate in Scotland has continuously highlighted a commitment to the ideal of a ‘fairer society’ (Mooney and Scott, 2012, p.2). Perceived as something of a cornerstone in the grand narrative of Scottish national ‘identity’, this notion of ‘fairness’ is one often identified alongside that other …
Continue reading "Identity, Belonging and Justice: Learning to be Scottish"
Abstract: In the following paper I intend to illustrate the inherent importance of Plato’s 'Allegory of the Cave' in the Western Esoteric Tradition. Plato's Allegory has for centuries been read as representing the idea of a process in increased hermeneutical understanding; as a turn towards to the Sun, to the alchemical 'unus mundus', as it were - in other words, …
Continue reading "The Many Sacred Veils: Language, Text and Esotericism in Initiation"
'And did those feet in ancient time'..... A photographic essay from a recent trip to Jerusalem, Israel. These pictures were taken days before the escalating Israeli-Palestinian tensions turned into violence that killed six people: three Palestinians in street clashes in Jerusalem and three Israelis in a stabbing attack at a West Bank settlement. Three Palestinians …
It was with great pleasure that we found ourselves spending the week on the top floor of a beautiful old sixteenth-century house in the heart of Tübingen. Situated in the footsteps of Hohentubingen Castle (Schloss), our apartment looked out over the old school house of Hegel and Joseph Schelling. Known as the Tübinger Stift, the …
Continue reading "Nietzsche Wept: Stiftung Weltethos (The Global Ethic Foundation) of Tübingen"
Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown God’. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. Acts 17. 22-34 Unknown: God …
Continue reading "Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite: De coelesti hierarchia (c.500)"
The habit of describing the Renaissance in terms of Platonic progression and the Middle-Ages as Aristotelian status quo should be avoided. The eminent scholar James Hankins illustrated that there is no doubt Plato’s contribution is both seminal and evident, even more so with Marsilio Ficino's (1433-1499) efforts, but Aristotelian thinking was ever present throughout the …
Continue reading "Renaissance Syncretism: Plato, Christ, Hermes & Aristotle"
When the Fama Fraternitatis (Fame of the Fraternity) first left the printing presses of Wilhelm Wessel in 1614, the resulting ‘furore’ ignited a flame right across the cultural mindset of Europe. Such was the extent of the controversy it later came to be labelled by the historian Francis Yates as the ‘Rosicrucian Enlightenment’. 2014 marked …
