‘Rosicrucian artist exhibit opens’

    

Tree of Knowledge No. 1 by Hilma af Klint, watercolor, et al. on paper, 1913.

An exhibition of watercolors, painted by a renowned pioneer of Abstract art, opens today in a UES gallery.

Tree of Knowledge features eight paintings by Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), the Swedish painter said to be inspired by Rosicrucian and Anthroposophist thought. The works can be seen by the public, by appointment, at David Zwirner 69th Street. Click here for more information and to schedule a visit.

From the publicity:

David Zwirner is pleased to present Tree of Knowledge, an exhibition of a rare set of Hilma af Klint’s groundbreaking 1913-1915 series of works on paper of the same title, on view at the gallery’s 34 East 69th Street location in New York.

This recently discovered group of eight watercolors is among the few works by the artist to exist outside of the holdings of the Hilma af Klint Foundation.

Though little known during her lifetime and for decades after, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint has come to be recognized as one of the most important and inventive artists of the twentieth century. When she began making vibrant, symbolic paintings as early as 1906, her work was radically unlike anything that had come before, and preceded the abstract work of artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Kazimir Malevich by several years.

In the early 1920s, af Klint gave the set of watercolors as a gift to Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the spiritual and philosophical movement known as Anthroposophy, which influenced her. Around 1927, the works came into the possession of Albert Steffen, who became president of the Anthroposophical Society after Steiner’s death in 1925.

It was not known that af Klint had made two versions of the Tree of Knowledge suite (the other is in the holdings of the af Klint Foundation) until the recent re-discovery of this set in the Albert Steffen Stiftung, Dornach, Switzerland. It is currently owned by a private collector.

On the occasion of the exhibition, David Zwirner Books will publish a fully illustrated catalog around this body of work with a newly commissioned essay by celebrated af Klint scholar Julia Voss, whose comprehensively researched af Klint biography is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press in September 2022.

Accompanying this exhibition, David Zwirner Online will present an Exceptional Works online viewing room exploring the history behind this remarkable set of watercolor works on paper.

I missed the Guggenheim exhibition a few years ago, but I don’t want to miss this. I’m going to alert the Anthroposophical Society too.

     

‘April, with aprons and without’

     
Today through Friday, April 28 – At Center Point, the headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society of New York City (138 West 15th Street), the art exhibit “Entry Point: Paintings,” featuring works by Martina Angela Müller and Tim Paholak, opens April 1 and will run through the 28th. From the publicity:

Martina Angela Müller is a visual artist practicing in a number of different fields. The main body of her work is abstract painting, but she also works in sculpture, environmental art, and installation. It has been seen in numerous galleries in New York and Massachusetts, and in private collections across four continents. She teaches at Alkion Center at Hawthorne Valley, and maintains a studio in Ghent, New York.

Tim Paholak: “I have painted with watercolors for many years and I explored and developed relationships with the primary and complementary colors and the many colors that lie in between. About six years ago I was introduced to oil painting and have primarily been working in this medium ever since. My focus has been the relationships between colors and what lies between them. I have developed an interest in using texture on the canvas to bring a textural component to these relationships. It seems to be an endless panorama that holds great wisdom, a journey from the soul to the canvas that goes from self-awareness to world awareness.”


Today through Saturday, April 22 – Art exhibit “A Fool’s Journey” at Booth Gallery, located at 325 West 38th Street in Manhattan. I have not seen Luke Hillestad’s art before, but I think this sounds interesting. From the publicity:

“A Fool’s Journey” is an explorative visual odyssey through the inner landscapes of human pathology and desire for meaning. The viewer is invited to wander, with the fresh eyes of The Fool, down an arcane path. Along the way, we encounter painted rituals, alchemical symbols, and a cast of archetypes bearing qualities of the old but not forgotten. An unpredictable wilderness is the backdrop for the paintings, where the power of the natural elements, the animal kingdom, and forest talismans imbue the narrative. Initiation, desire, and a struggle of will are among the themes explored in Hillestad’s large-scale works, painted with a harmonious Apelles palette.

Luke Hillestad has exhibited his works in Dubai, Paris, Munich, Barcelona, Los Angeles, and Miami. He paints from life, employing friends and loved ones as models, as well as using taxidermy animals, and found natural objects to create his mythologies. Hillestad is currently illustrating “Shakespeare’s Macbeth,” a limited edition collectors’ book collaboration.


Monday, April 3 through Friday, April 7 – The Rosicrucian Order will host “Increasing Your Capacity to Live, Love, and Learn” at the Rosicrucian Cultural Center (2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. in Manhattan) at 6:30 p.m. From the publicity:

Have you been trying without success to become a better “you?” If this is true, the Rosicrucian Order has many tips and tools that are capable of transforming every aspect of your being. Join us as we examine a different aspect of our lives each day, and work together to improve and enhance the way we “show up” in the world.

Facilitating the discussions will be long-time Rosicrucian Patricia Downes, OD/HRD Specialist, Relationship and Organizational Systems Coach and Certified Life Coach.


Wednesday, April 5 – “The Gift of Happiness,” Open House at the School of Practical Philosophy. Click here.


Wednesday, April 5 – New York Theosophical Society hosts weekly meetings for both members and non-members alike. Honestly, I’m not sure what my opinion of the Society is, but I don’t hesitate suggesting Magpie readers would enjoy checking it out. The topic for Wednesday will be “The Absolute.” Click here for the month’s schedule.


Wednesday, April 5 – Table Lodge with Andrew Hammer:

Wednesday, April 5 – One of the very few educational opportunities in “New Jersey Freemasonry” is the Book Club. Check it out:

Thursday, April 6 – New York City Chapter of Rose Croix (AASR) will host the annual Feast of the Paschal Lamb. Open to the public.

Friday, April 7 – Introductory Event: “Seeing: Self-Awareness and the Search for Inner Freedom” at Gurdjieff Foundation of New York. Quest Bookshop at 240 East 53rd Street.

Monday, April 10 through Friday, April 14 – The Rosicrucian Order will host “Bringing Your Whole Self to the Workplace” at the Rosicrucian Cultural Center (2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. in Manhattan) at 6:30 p.m. From the publicity:

Have you often wondered whether it is safe to be the real you at work? Or whether you can have autonomy and a sense of control in your work environment, or do you fear rejection or misunderstanding? In order to do this one must be aware of one’s values and beliefs and have a clear life purpose.

We will explore how and why bringing your whole self to work increases your capacity to reach your potential as well as improve the environment and energy of your workplace.

Facilitating the discussions will be long-time Rosicrucian Patricia Downes, OD/HRD Specialist, Relationship and Organizational Systems Coach and Certified Life Coach.


Thursday, April 13 – The Passing of Arthur. Click here.


Monday, April 17 through Friday, April 21 – The Rosicrucian Order will host “Tips for Giving Heartfelt Service During Turbulent Times” at the Rosicrucian Cultural Center (2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. in Manhattan) at 6:30 p.m. From the publicity:

We become easily distracted when life events do not turn out the way we would like them to. A crisis in our lives can change our predominant mood and energy in an instant, yet we want and need to continue to contribute, care, and serve even though our energy levels may be affected, and we just do not feel quite up to it. This is the time, more than ever, that we need to energize ourselves, regain our equilibrium, and fulfill a significant part of our life purpose–contributing to what Matthew Fox describes as “the great work.” Join us as we share tips and ideas for re-energizing ourselves and moving bravely forward.

Facilitating the discussions will be long-time Rosicrucian Patricia Downes, OD/HRD Specialist, Relationship and Organizational Systems Coach and Certified Life Coach.


Tuesday, April 18 – Institute of Classical Architecture & Art to host “George Hadfield: Architect of the Federal City,” with Dr. Julia King. 20 West 44th Street, Suite 310. Reception at 6:30/Lecture at seven. From the publicity:

Theatre of Marcellus by George Hadfield.

The ICAA is pleased to present a lecture with Dr. Julia King in which she will be discussing her recent book George Hadfield: Architect of the Federal City.

During his lifetime, the work of the neoclassical architect George Hadfield (1763-1826) was highly regarded, both in England and the United States. Since his death, however, Hadfield’s contributions to architecture have slowly faded from view, and few of his buildings survive. In order to reassess Hadfield’s career and work, this talk draws upon a wide selection of written and visual sources to reconstruct his life and legacy. Dr. King will examine projects including the Capitol, Arlington House, and Old City Hall.

Dr. Julia King holds her Ph.D. from Birkbeck College, University of London, as well as a Master’s in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University and a BA in the History of European Art from the Courtauld Institute, University of London. She was a Fellow of the United States Capitol Historical Society, as well as the Royal Society of Arts, and served as the Executive Director of the Mills Society from 1984-87. She has taught at East Tennessee State University, the University of Reading, and the Newport College of Art and Design, among other colleges. At present, Dr. King is a consultant historian and author of many works including, The Flowering of Art Nouveau Graphics, Equestrian Monuments, and George Hadfield: Architect of the Federal City.

Cost/Reservations: Free for ICAA members; $30 General Admission.


Friday, April 21 – Mariners Lodge 67’s Charity Gala:

Saturday, April 22 – In concert: Marcus Macauley, Piano; and Claude Gilbert, Cello.

The planned program includes Bach’s Suite No. 3 in C Major for unaccompanied cello, and selections from Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto on E Major, Op. 85.

Location: Anthroposophical Society’s Threefold Auditorium, 260 Hungry Hollow Road in Chestnut Ridge, New York.
Suggested donation: $20 / $10 students and seniors / $5 children
Information here.


Saturday, April 22 – North West Mounted Police Lodge 11’s Degree Team to confer the Master Mason Degree in Delaware.

Monday, April 24 through Friday, April 28 – The Rosicrucian Order will host “What Is Your Teachability Index?” at the Rosicrucian Cultural Center (2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. in Manhattan) at 6:30 p.m. From the publicity:

Are you willing to let go of what you think you already know? Are you able to learn with a child’s mind? Have you become an “expert” in a particular area, and thus are unwilling to examine new information and the opinions of others?

One writer says “experts are the slowest learners.” Another points out that “you cannot travel within and stand still without.”

Come and be part of this challenging discussion series as we examine long held beliefs and ideas about the world and its people.


Friday, April 28 – The annual re-enactment of the first inauguration of President George Washington, as performed by New York Freemasons. 11 a.m. at Federal Hall, where the 1789 ceremony actually took place. I assume the George Washington Inaugural Bible will be present (weather permitting).

Saturday, April 29 – Hudson River Lodge 309 will confer the Master Mason Degree, but this will be a degree unlike any other.

Sadly, the lodge is vacating its building, but the brethren will make it a celebration by raising Fellow Crafts to the Sublime Degree. New Windsor Masonic Hall (18 Snake Hill Road in New Windsor) at 10 a.m. RSVP here. Breakfast at 9 a.m. and lunch will be served.
     

‘Cultivating an Enlightened Mind’

     
New York Theosophical Society will host a national lecturer Sunday at its headquarters in Manhattan. From the publicity:

Cultivating an Enlightened Mind

Presented by Pablo Sender

Sunday, November 23 at 2 p.m.
New York Theosophical Society

240 East 53rd Street in Manhattan

(Enter through Quest Bookshop)

In some of her writings Mme. Blavatsky described a state of mind (manas) that is illumined by the spiritual wisdom (buddhi). She called this the radiant mind (manas taijasa). In this program we will explore the philosophical foundations of the subject as well as some practices geared towards stimulating the union of our mind and the principle of divine wisdom in us.

Pablo Sender, Ph.D., became a member of the Theosophical Society in his native Argentina in 1996. He has worked at the International Headquarters of the Society in India, and currently is a staff member at the National Center of the Theosophical Society in America, in Wheaton, Illinois. He has presented Theosophical lectures, workshops, and classes in India, several countries in Europe, and the Americas.
     

‘Exeter nixes EXESESO’

     

The Spring issue of ESSWE Newsletter, the periodical of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, reports the closure of Exeter University’s Centre for the Study of Esotericism. The text of the article is reproduced below.
(h/t Mark Stavish.)

Exeter MA in Western Esotericism

and EXESESO Close

By Mark Sedgwick

Exeter University has announced the closure of the Exeter M.A. in Western Esotericism and of the Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO). Both were started in 2005 by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, whose early death in 2012 triggered the closure of the program and of EXESESO.

The program and EXESESO opened in 2005, with Goodrick-Clarke as professor and a number of part-time lecturers, including Peter Forshaw (who now teaches in the Amsterdam M.A. program), Hereward Tilton, Clare Goodrick-Clarke, and Christopher A. McIntosh. It was the third European program of the kind, joining Paris and Amsterdam, from which it differed in that it was a part-time distance-learning program, taken over two years. It was supported financially by the Blavatsky Trust, a British charity set up in 1974 “to advance education in and promote or further the study of or research into religion, philosophy, and science” in cooperation with the Theosophical Society in England.

The program started with eight students, and within five years had admitted more than ninety M.A. students and several Ph.D. students. By 2012, five Ph.D. dissertations had been completed (one on Theosophy), and eight were in process (two on Theosophy). A small cloud over the program’s success was cast by occasional rumors of lack of rigor and of some students failing to distinguish clearly enough between academic study and their own personal practice, however, and according to a senior researcher who preferred to remain anonymous, Exeter was not entirely happy with the program. It consisted of a number of optional modules and two required modules before the thesis, one on “The Western Esoteric Traditions: Historical Survey and Research Methods” and one on “Theosophy and the Globalization of Esotericism.” This perhaps gave Theosophy a slightly more prominent position than some would see as appropriate, but only slightly, as the role that Theosophy has played in the development of modern Western Esotericism has certainly been major.

Goodrick-Clarke’s early death in 2012 marked the beginning of the end. According to Exeter’s press office, the decision to close the center and program followed “an internal review and discussions with the [Blavatsky] Trust,” and Goodrick-Clarke’s death “sat alongside consideration for the program as a whole.” Exeter’s press office was unable to comment on the conclusions of the internal review, but there were suggestions that it was not entirely positive. Exeter has made arrangements for the centre’s remaining Ph.D. students to complete their projects in the history department, where there are still scholars working on related subjects, such as Richard Noakes, whose research interests include Victorian psychical research, and Catherine Rider, who recently published Magic and Religion in Medieval England. But Europe now once more has only two M.A. programs in Western Esotericism, not three, which is an unfortunate setback for the development of the study of Western Esotericism in Europe.
     

‘Theosophical Society to host Mitch Horowitz’

     
I still haven’t gotten around to reading Horowitz’s book Occult America, but I do have this lecture on my calendar. His new book, which will be released January 7, appears to be another take on Kabbalist thinking. I’ll report back after the lecture.

From the publicity:

The Secret History of Positive Thinking

A Presentation by Mitch Horowitz

Sunday, January 26

2 p.m.

New York Theosophical Society

240 East 53rd Street

Manhattan

Can the power of our thoughts shape our lives? From the essays of Emerson to the mega-sensation of The Secret, Americans have long wondered about the hidden potentials of the mind – particularly whether “the power of positive thinking” can bring us wealth, health, and happiness.

Mitch Horowitz

Most serious people view positive thinking as an immature or unrealistic response to life. But award-winning author and lecturer Mitch Horowitz asks us to look again. In this lively and intellectually substantive presentation, Mitch explores themes from his new book, One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life (“brilliant” – Deepak Chopra), to seriously consider the remarkable history, astonishing impact, and compelling possibilities of positive thinking.

Rather than being a soft-headed philosophy based in bromides and page-a-day calendars, positive thinking, which began with mental-healing experiments of the mid-nineteenth century, has shown remarkable foresight in contemporary advances in neuroscience, addiction and OCD treatment, stress and recovery programs, and in today’s most intensely debated findings within quantum physics.

Surveying the history and growth of positive thinking, and the myriad forms it has taken, Mitch squarely considers the all-important question: Does it work? As he shows, a thoughtful consideration of the background, methods, and results of positive thinking make a blanket dismissal virtually impossible. He also looks critically at the internal contradictions and ethical dilemmas of positive-thinking philosophy – and considers how these shortcomings can be fixed or reformed to remake positive thinking into a persuasive and mature approach to life.

This journey through the positive-thinking revolution also highlights:

• How the now-familiar injunction to “think positive” bubbled up from occult and mystical subcultures of the mid-nineteenth century before becoming the closest thing America has to a national creed.

• How this once-outsider philosophy has revolutionized mainline faith – including today’s evangelical culture.

• The remarkable personas that shaped positive-thinking, such as philosopher William James, the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, and French therapist Emile Coué (who coined the world-famous but misunderstood mantra: “Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better.”)

• The iconic figures whose lives were impacted by positive-thinking philosophy, including suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Black Nationalist pioneer Marcus Garvey, and President Ronald Reagan.

This unforgettable presentation will give you a wholly new outlook on the history – and possibilities – of a belief system you only thought you knew.

Mitch Horowitz is the author of One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life (Crown, Jan. 2014). His previous book, Occult America (Bantam), received the 2010 PEN Oakland/ Josephine Miles Award for literary excellence. Mitch is vice-president and editor-in-chief at Tarcher/Penguin, the division of Penguin books dedicated to metaphysical literature. He frequently writes about and discusses alternative spirituality in the national media, including CBS Sunday Morning, Dateline NBC, All Things Considered, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, BoingBoing, Time.com, and CNN.com. He appears in recent mini-documentaries on the history of positive thinking; Ouija Boards; and occult New York.

Visit him at www.MitchHorowitz.com; on Twitter @MitchHorowitz; and on Facebook at Mitch Horowitz. He and his wife raise two sons in New York City.
     

‘Birthday: W.B. Yeats’

  
“Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.”
- William Butler Yeats

Courtesy The Paris Review

Thoor Ballylee in County Galloway, once the home of William Butler Yeats.

On this date in 1865 was the birth of William Butler Yeats, of great poetry and proud Irishman fame. He also was co-founder, in his youth at art school, of the Dublin Hermetic Society, at which time he also became a passionate student of Irish mythology and folk stories, which would become evident in his poetry later.

In esoteric circles, he perhaps is best remembered—that is, aside from his occult poetry—as a co-author of the rituals of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn. Prior to that, he had been a known member of the Theosophical Society, where study and synthesis of religion, philosophy, and science is pursued; Yeats proceeded into the Society’s then new Esoteric Section, which was devoted to concepts and practices of magic. Unsatisfied by the fruitless experimentation of that work, Yeats’ search for spiritual work continued. One brief biography on-line says:

William Butler Yeats

The Golden Dawn satisfied Yeats’ need to dig into his very core, and unleash what has been buried for so long. As Yeats soon discovered, the Golden Dawn incorporated traditional European cabalistic magic and astrology, as opposed to the wisdom of the East. In addition, the Golden Dawn encouraged exploration and wielding of power (over the material universe, unlike [Theosophical Society founder Helena] Blavatsky who constantly warned students against the practice of phenomena and oftentimes discouraged it altogether.) This highly pleased Yeats, and allowed him to open his magical aspirations to as high as he would go.

It was ninety years ago when Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In his award ceremony speech, Per Hallström, Chairman of the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy, said of the poet:

The soul of nature was to him no empty phrase, for Celtic pantheism, the belief in the existence of living, personal powers behind the world of phenomena, which most of the people had retained, seized hold of Yeats’ imagination and fed his innate and strong religious needs. When he came nearest to the scientific spirit of his time, in zealous observations of the life of nature, he characteristically concentrated on the sequence of various bird notes at daybreak and the flight of moths as the stars of twilight were kindled. The boy got so far in his intimacy with the rhythm of the solar day that he could determine the time quite exactly by such natural signs. From this intimate communion with the sounds of morning and nighttime, his poetry later received many of its most captivating traits.

There isn’t much on the record to support any claim of Masonic membership for Yeats. He certainly kept company with Freemasons, MacGregor Mathers may be the best known. Researcher and author Marsha Keith Schuchard, speaking in 2010 at the Livingston Library, says:

When the Yeatses resided in Oxford in 1921, they may even have attended a Masonic lodge. If so, it would be an Écossais or Rose Croix rite, which admitted women. In 1987, when my husband and I were living in Oxford, the eminent Yeats scholar Richard Ellmann confided to me that he had discovered a note in which George Yeats mentioned their Masonic attendance. Unfortunately, Ellmann became terminally ill and could not locate the note among his voluminous papers. He wanted me to examine her note, because I had been helping him with information on Oscar Wilde’s earlier initiation into a Rose Croix lodge in Oxford.

In his poem Meditations in Time of Civil War, Yeats seemingly writes to tantalize the Masonic ear. Excerpted:

An ancient bridge, and a more ancient tower,

A farmhouse that is sheltered by its wall,

An acre of stony ground,

Where the symbolic rose can break in flower,

Old ragged elms, old thorns innumerable,

The sound of the rain or sound

Of every wind that blows;

The stilted water-hen

Crossing Stream again

Scared by the splashing of a dozen cows;

A winding stair, a chamber arched with stone,

A grey stone fireplace with an open hearth,

A candle and written page.

Il Penseroso’s Platonist toiled on

In some like chamber, shadowing forth

How the daemonic rage

Imagined everything.

Benighted travellers

From markets and from fairs

Have seen his midnight candle glimmering.

And later:

I climb to the tower-top and lean upon broken stone,

A mist that is like blown snow is sweeping over all,

Valley, river, and elms, under the light of a moon

That seems unlike itself, that seems unchangeable,

A glittering sword out of the east. A puff of wind

And those white glimmering fragments of the mist sweep by.

Frenzies bewilder, reveries perturb the mind;

Monstrous familiar images swim to the mind’s eye.

‘Vengeance upon the murderers,’ the cry goes up,

‘Vengeance for Jacques Molay.’ In cloud-pale rags, or in lace,

The rage-driven, rage-tormented, and rage-hungry troop,

Trooper belabouring trooper, biting at arm or at face,

Plunges towards nothing, arms and fingers spreading wide

For the embrace of nothing; and I, my wits astray

Because of all that senseless tumult, all but cried

For vengeance on the murderers of Jacques Molay.

“Soon after writing these lines,” Schuchard says, “Yeats learned in November 1923 that he had won the Nobel Prize in Literature.”
  

‘Hidden Wisdom’ rendered in plain sight

  

He’s still on the road, in Canada now. Bro. Tim Wallace-Murphy is on a speaking tour, promoting his new book titled Hidden Wisdom: Secrets of the Western Esoteric Tradition. He had been in New Jersey and New York these past few days, drawing more than 100 Masons to Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge Friday night, and following that triumph the next day with an intimate afternoon at the Theosophical Society’s Quest Bookshop in Manhattan, and his final stop in the area at the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library at the Grand Lodge of New York last night. You’d never guess he’s 80 years old.


It’s the prolific author’s 12th book, and while it covers material quite familiar to his regular readers, what I take to be the point of Hidden Wisdom is not ancient Egypt or the Israel of antiquity or medieval Europe or any point in history, but is the future. Our future.


To be sure, the author writes for new fans, and indeed leads a tour beginning... well, at the beginning of esoteric thought, namely the cave paintings in France depicting shamanistic ritual believed to be more than 10,000 years old. From there, hidden wisdom evolves. Neolithic spirituality, Egyptian temples, Israelite covenant, the Greeks, the Romans, the Celts, the Grail, the Templars, the Renaissance, the Masons, and many more points of interest are made.


But it is the book’s conclusion that gives us pause because it could be understood as an urgent warning from one who has lived long and seen much. Wallace-Murphy exhorts us to “live our beliefs and turn our world around. For if our world cannot be transformed into a global, just and equitable society, stripped of violence, greed and poverty, why should it survive? We have the spiritual answers to our problems in the hidden wisdom of the ancient sages and mystics. The real question is: Have we the wit, the humility and the courage to apply them?”