‘Flashback Friday: Holy Texts at NYPL’

     
You’ve heard of Throwback Thursday? Well, this is Flashback Friday, the inaugural post of a hopefully weekly feature that will discuss topics from the past that I didn’t get around to writing about in a timely manner.

Three years ago, the New York Public Library hosted a magnificent exhibition titled Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, consisting of 200 religious texts. There were Torahs, Tanakhs, and Talmuds; Gospels and Epistles; Korans, Kabbalah, and keys to the unknown. Halahkah and Hadith; Midrash and medieval art; prayer books and legal interpretations; translations and commentaries. Calligraphy and illumination; woodcuts and bejeweling; scrolls of animal skins, and books of paper bound in silver, bound in gold. Possibly every expression of Abrahamic religious thought, from advice to Zohar, was on display, presented not in contrast, but in community. This is why I bring it here, albeit belatedly.

I didn’t even get to see everything, because it took so long to make my way around the Wachenheim Gallery of the Schwarzman Building—trying to take in the sites and sneak all this photography, which the library doesn’t permit—that closing time struck before I completed the circuit. (Although I did score a great parking spot right on 42nd Street, a personal best.)

Sorry for the blurred photographs; nearly everything was protected under glass, and—thanks to the photography ban—I had to be pretty quick. (Sorry NYPL, but there’s really no valid reason to prohibit non-flash photography.)

The captions below each photo contain solid information provided by the curator and, in certain cases, some of my own editorializing. Remember, if you want a closer look, click on the image for a larger portrayal.

Book containing the Gospels, in Armenian and in a silver binding with enameling, dates to 1623. The central panel on the front cover here shows the infant Jesus being presented to the High Priest in the Temple forty days after His birth. The dozen roundels surrounding the scene depict, in pairs, Hebrew prophets, with rays of revelation falling upon them. Enameling in blues and green.

Muslim prayer book from the 19th century Ottoman Empire. Such books often featured images with religious themes. This one caught my eye. The scales here, according to the explanatory card next to the book, serve to remind the faithful of the weighing of souls that will take place at the end of time. I'm no authority on the Koran, but the image also may remind one of Surah 55: "He has set up the Balance in order that ye may not transgress balance, so establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance." A concept familiar to all. Also, consider the Cardinal Virtue Justice.

Torah scroll, 18th-19th century Ottoman Empire. Pentateuch written by hand on specially prepared animal skins by a professional scribe. Moses penned the first Torah scrolls, thirteen in all; a dozen distributed to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, with the remaining scroll placed inside the Ark of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments. Shown here, appropriately, is Exodus 14:28-21:7, including the Decalogue.

Koran, on paper, 11th-12th century. This Koran's paper and penmanship reveal it originated in the region of today's eastern Iran/Afghanistan not long after paper began to replace vellum in Koran publishing. Its use of red dots is to indicate vowels, an archaic feature.

The Babylonian Talmud, printed by Daniel Bomberg, Venice, 1528. Although not Jewish, Daniel Bomberg was the most prominent printer of Hebrew books in the 16th century, and the crowning achievement of his career was his Babylonian Talmud, the first edition of which was published in 1519. The lengthy handwritten note at the bottom of this page was added in 1618 by a grateful scholar in Yemen, expressing his thanks for having this text available.

"That which is hateful to you,
do not do to your fellow;
this is the entire Torah.
The rest is but commentary.

Go and learn it."

Babylonian Talmud,

Tractate Shabbat 31a

Page of the Talmud dating to medieval Europe. Due to the mass killing of Jews and the burning of their holy texts by Christians in medieval Europe, only one complete copy of the Talmud dating to that period and continent is known to exist today. Some vellum leaves escaped the pyres by being reused for other purposes, as is the case with the page shown here, written by a scribe named Judah.

Ahmad al-Nayrizi's calligraphy. There was a famous calligrapher in the 18th century named Ahmad al-Nayrizi whose work was highly prized, but also embellished by owners of later generations. This manuscript had added to it a hadith, a statement attributed to Muhammad, about the revelation of the Koran. A marginal note says this book was endowed to an institution in 1891.

The Zohar. This is the central work of Jewish mysticism, and actually is a body of 20 works of literature grouped under this single title. (My own copy of the Zohar spans 23 volumes, including an index, and resembles a set of encyclopedias. Even the index has an index within it.) Traditionally attributed to Simeon bar Yohai, a cherished sage of the 2nd century, the Zohar is more rationally thought to have been authored by Moses de Leon (1240-1305), a kabbalist in Spain. The Zohar can be called a mystical midrash, an elaboration on the Hebrew Bible meant to impart lessons into God, the universe, and the role of humanity. This specimen dates to 1559.

And this is a vernacular Zohar. It's hard to believe today, when Kabbalah texts are printed in English and sold on-line, but during the Middle Ages there was potent disagreement over the wisdom of publishing esoteric works like the Zohar. In time, two competing versions would be available: the traditional, as shown in the previous photo, and the vernacular, shown here. Despite the existence of the printing press, the custom of transcribing by hand continued. This book was penned in the 19th century in Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish idiom.

An Orchard of Pomegranates: the Sefirot. In Kabbalah, there are ten divine powers called Sefirot. Scholars have wondered whether they are expressions of the essence of God, or are vessels used to achieve God's earthly purposes. This book is from 1591 Krakow. Moses Cordovero (1522-70) was the scholar credited with reconciling the various beliefs concerning Sefirot.

Kabbalah for the layman — Kabbalah is a Jewish encyclopedia compiling ritual, ethics, and mysticism into a seamless whole. This book, from 1649 Amsterdam, is an example of a “popular” version of Kabbalah, deliberately intended to wrest control of the mystical text from rabbis and scholars. An abridged version published in 1693 put Kabbalah practically into the public domain as it was reprinted fifty times in the coming two centuries. Shown here, on the right page, is a poem in the form of an acrostic using the letters of the author’s name, a literary device used frequently by medieval Jewish poets.

Mafatih al-Ghayb (Keys to the Unknown) — Transcribed by Muhammad al-Mawhib in Syria or Egypt, 1364. This volume contains commentary on the seventh through ninth suras of the Koran, cited in short segments, often a verse at a time.

Koran with Persian translation from Iran, 1754. During a period of intense interest in the Koran, many manuscripts were refurbished, having added to them illumination, Persian translations, and marginal notations. This copy shows the religious merits of reciting particular passages of the Koran. Advice is offered about the time and manner such recitations are most appropriate, per the authority of the Imams, such as Ja’far al-Sadiq, who was believed to have had esoteric powers.

"The Iman Ja'far al-Sadiq has said: Whoever recites the Surat al-Rahman in their daily prayers, ... God will honor them ... and say to them: 'Enter Paradise and take your place wherever you like.'"

The Discoverer of the Truth About the Revelation, Vol. 3 (Syria or Egypt, 13th century) — This volume contains comments on suras 13 through 24 of the Koran, and is opened to the commentary on the 19th, titled Sura of Mary, and focuses on the life of the mother of Jesus and her submission to the will of God. Subsequent verses describe the birth of John the Baptist.

The Glossa Interlinearia — Bible, in Latin, from Strasbourg, c. 1480. The Christian standard commentary on the Bible enjoyed a long success throughout the Middle Ages but this, the 'Interlinear Commentary' first written by Anselm of Laon was a further development, and this edition in particular offers color illustrations. Shown on the right page is God as Creator dividing the land from the waters, as related in Genesis.

Christian Hebraism — There is a vast wealth of Christian mystical tradition that ought to occupy the self-described knights and such of chivalric Christian orders, but instead they sometimes seem to prefer tapping into Jewish tradition, thanks, I suppose, to what was called Christian Hebraism. This movement was an offshoot of Renaissance humanism, and was popular among the esotericists of Europe in earlier centuries. It involved the adaptation, often inaccurate, of Jewish texts and scholarship to achieve a better understanding of Christianity and its antecedents. On the plus side, this has led to modern disciplines like comparative religion and Jewish studies. Shown here is a Dutch picture book of the Mishnah, dating to 1698-1703. Willem Surenhuis (1664-1729) worked closely with contemporary Jews who helped him with translation and actually contributed the engravings used to make this book.

Questions and Answers: This is Halakhah, a comprehensive code of rules and regulations based on the 613 commandments in the Torah. Halakhah incorporates the Talmud, and has been the purview of rabbis exclusively because of its massive scope and highly specific commentaries. The questions answered in this volume were submitted from all over the Jewish world to Solomon ibn Adret (1235-1310) in Barcelona. It was published in Rome(!), 1469-72.

And speaking of Mishnah, here is a version with the Commentary of Maimonides from Naples, 1492. This is the first printed edition of the complete Mishnah, the compilation of Oral Law codified in six orders by Judah the Prince, c. 200. Maimonides began writing his Commentary on the Mishnah as a young man, penning for each order an extensive preface and expositions on eschatology, the afterlife, ethics, and Jewish dogma. The illustrations show on these pages depict his understanding of how public and private properties are distinguished, and were the standard concepts for later books of Jewish law.

Luther's New Testament — Translated into German by Martin Luther, Wittenberg, 1522. This is the first edition of Luther's translation, which he based on Erasmus' edition of the Bible in Greek. His translation of the complete Bible appeared in 1534. Shown here is the Gospel of Matthew. The woodblock historiated initial was colored by hand; it depicts St. Matthew and his Evangelist symbol, an angel. The opposite page is a kind of table of contents. Luther, with this translation, accomplished for the German language something akin to what the KJV did for English a century later.

The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New — What can you say? The King James Bible and the First Folio of Shakespeare's collected works are the foundations of modern English. The KJV was first published in London in 1611. It is the fruit of the labors of some fifty scholarly Anglicans, sometimes called 'God's secretaries,' who attempted to create a single authoritative English translation of the Scriptures. Here it is opened to Psalm 23.

New Testament in Middle English — Published in England at the end of the 14th century by John Wyclif, this is a vernacular translation, and after it gained some popularity it was suppressed by church and royal authorities opposed to vernacular Bibles. Wyclif (1330-84) was an Oxford scholar, diplomat, and reformer.

Judaism in the New World — This is a prayer book for the Sabbath, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur, published in New York by John Holt in 1766, based on a translation by Isaac Pinto. While London in 1766 was home to the largest English-speaking Jewish community, this first English translation of the Hebrew prayer book was printed in British Colonial New York City. Translator Isaac Pinto writes: 'It has been necessary to translate our Prayers, in the Language of the Country wherein it hath pleased the divine Providence to appoint our Lot. In Europe, the Spanish and Portuguese Jews have a Translation in Spanish, which as they generally understand, may be sufficient, but that not being the Case in the British Dominions in America, has induced me to attempt a Translation in English.'

A Bible for Native Americans — Published in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1663, this Bible was intended for the conversion to Puritan Christianity of the native people near the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Algonquin Indians. It also served the purpose of showing the authorities back home in England how their funds were being used.

The Koran in Federal America — You may have noticed I have chosen to spell Koran thusly. It's just a preference for simplicity. In Federal America (c. 1790-1830) the standard English spelling was Alcoran. This book was published in Massachusetts in 1806, and is based on the London version of 1649. Shown here is Sura 22, concerning the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Illustrated Guide — To explain Jewish ceremonies of the Temple period to Christians, woodcuts were made, such as these depicting the Altar of Burnt Offerings and the High Priest in full ceremonial vestments. These pages are within the first Calvinist vernacular Bible printed in Poland, 1563. This particular copy was owned by Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773-1843), son of George III of England.

The Apocalypse of Saint John, from either Germany or the Netherlands, c.1465. Published for the illiterate, this book combines color pictures with text to allow a literate reader familiar with Revelation to share the story with those who could not read. The technology, frankly remarkable for the mid 15th century, is called blockbook. It derived from textile printing, and was used even after the invention of movable type. Words and pictures are transferred by manual pressure on the blank reverse of each page, the face of the page having been placed on an inked woodblock or woodblocks.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — One of 15 woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer, Nuremberg, 1522. The individual import of each horseman—War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death—is debated even today, but this is the image of them that permanently impressed itself upon the public imagination.

The Gutenberg Bible. Again, what can you say? The appearance of the Christian Bible in print marked the great achievement of the second millennium of the Common Era. The mechanical reproduction of St. Jerome's translation into the Latin Vulgate, the standard text in the language universally accessible to the literate of the period, heralded a new age and the wide dissemination of this version, from which so many others would flow.

Tetro Evangelie (Moscow, 1606) is a printed edition of the four Gospels in Church Slavic. Lavishly illuminated by hand in gold and colors, it reflects the "Orientalism" of 17th century Muscuvite design. This illustration, enlarged below, depicts St. John, inspired by divine revelation, dictating his Gospel to Saint Prochoros.

A wonderfully preserved copy of the Bay Psalm Book, Massachusetts, 1640. Named for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, it is the first book printed in English in America. To say its style is plain would be an understatement; in keeping with the monochromatic lives of its Puritan creators, the book uses types brought from England, but does so without any discernible order. However, it is the first to employ Hebrew type in America, denoting a scholarly motivation among the Puritans.

The Good News in Africa 

— 

Published by American missionaries in west-central Africa in 1879, this St. John's Gospel is printed in the Dikele language of the Bakele people. A Reverend Preston, in a letter dated January 1865, revealed how he had translated John's Gospel into Dikele years previously, but it is not known if this is a product of his work.

Title page of a small Jewish prayer book named Small Offering. The title alludes both to the book's own diminutive size and to its popularity as a parting gift to travelers. The text went through several print runs during the mid 19th century in America, as tens of thousands of Jews fled central Europe. This copy is dated 1860.

Found in translation: The word targum means translation in Aramaic, and usually is used to refer to the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible, known as Targum Onkelos. This small Pentateuch was designed specifically to allow for the fulfillment of the Talmudic dictum that each individual read the weekly Torah portion twice in the original Hebrew, and once in Aramaic.

The first Bible printed in Spanish, 1553. The Ferrara Bible was based on the Ladino version of the Tanakh used by Sephardic Jews at a time when Jews were not permitted to live as Jews in Spain. Their choices were conversion to Christianity or expulsion from the land. Many opted to keep their faith to themselves while living outwardly as Christians; one version of the Ferrara was printed for Christian readers.

A Hebrew-Yiddish glossary from 1604, titled A Good Lesson. It is arranged in order of the sequence of Biblical texts. Shown here on the left are terms from the opening of Proverbs; on the right is a polemical work by David Kimhi (c.1160-1235) refuting Christian interpretations of the Hebrew Bible.

The Bible in Japanese, published in 1955. Bibles in Japan and the rest of Asia were nothing new by the mid 20th century, although in Japan, toleration of Christianity varied between persecution and some acceptance between the 16th and 19th centuries. After the Second World War, with a national constitution penned by the American-occupation government, Christianity gained actual popularity.

Epithets of God — From 18th century Iran, this selection of texts was compiled for the use of religious students more comfortable with Persian than with Arabic. The traditional epithets of God, recited as a devotional exercise, are given in both languages, and also are rendered numerically.

More from al-Nayrizi 

— 

The calligrapher of this book of prayers also was Ahmad al-Nayrizi. The book, from mid 18th century Iran, contains prayers for every day of the week, and is open here to Friday and Saturday.

Anthology of Suras and Prayers from Iran, 1732. The work of Ahmad al-Nayrizi again. Features prayers in Arabic partially translated into Persian. This duality offers the user prayers appropriate to a wide variety of personal circumstances.

Epithets of the Prophet, Medina, Arabia, 1847. Manuscripts devoted to praises of the Prophet were created for personal use in many parts of the Ottoman Empire. This copy of Dala'il al-Khayrat is a handsome example of such. It is open to a list of names by which the Prophet may be addressed, which often is recited as a litany.

Manual of Divination, from North Africa, 17th century. This contains two medieval Hebrew treatises on the geomantic arts. Geomancy is the practice of divination by means of interpreting a series of dots or points. In standard geomantic practice, 16 different configurations are arrived at by the construction of four horizontal rows, with each element consisting of one or two dots, based on the outcome of a particular chance procedure. The patterns are analyzed, often in conjunction with astrological charts, to allow the practitioner to ascertain the answer to a yes or no question, or to decide between alternatives. (The Biblical prohibition against divination is circumvented by the addition of a layer of mathematical calculation in determining the outcomes.)

Ashkenazic Mahzor — The spread of Judaism around the world results in different prayer rites for different Jewish communities. Ethiopia, China, India, Brooklyn. Though they share the same essential contours, the rites reflect local customs and traditions. Developed in France and Germany, the Ashkenazic rite spread across central and eastern Europe. The architectural gateway shown here frames the text "Who opens the Gates of Mercy," an especially resonant theme during the period between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

And an Italian Mahzor, from the late 15th century. Jews lived in Italy since at least the 2nd century BCE. Due to its geographic centrality, Italy served as a point of intellectual contact between Jewish communities as far east as Babylon and as far west as the Iberian Peninsula. Italian Jewry had the Roman rite, which combined several distinct modes of prayer, including the Ashkenazic rite, the Sephardic rite, and that of Greek-speaking Jews. The tree depicted here represents the bitter herbs of the Passover Seder liturgy, and is the only known use of a tree to depict the maror.

Altar Gospels, with gilt binding, from the reign of Catherine the Great. The binding is the work of French-influenced Muscovite craftsmen in 1795. It intentionally draws attention to the Word of God and signals the importance of the Gospels. This text would be placed on the church altar during divine liturgy, and would have been held aloft for the congregation to see prior to that day's Gospel reading, ergo its alternate name: Elevation Gospels. The magnificent binding is heavily gilded silver, with five enameled miniatures in surrounds of green semiprecious stones. Christ, at center, is depicted as a Russian bishop, and the four Evangelists occupy the corners. Not seen here are the clasps, which represent Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Phoenix and Sun: Beneath a crest evoking the phoenix and sun imagery associated with the Amsterdam Sephardic community is the signature of the artist: "Rephael Montalto created this in 1686." The emblem is supported by two mythical female creatures comprising a hybrid of human and plant forms similar to those depicted along the borders of the scroll. They also hold a fleur-de-lis, closely associated in the public consciousness with France, in recognition of Rephael's grandfather, Elijah Montalto, who served as physician and advisor to Marie de Medici, Queen of France.

I shot more than 150 photographs, but you get the idea. This was a once-in-a-lifetime (at best) opportunity to enjoy centuries worth of treasures. I hope you enjoyed this too brief pictorial.
     

‘New Year’s with Novalis’

     

Our word philosophy derives from the Greek philo and sophia, meaning love of wisdom. So, when I spot the name Sophie decorated with a heart that someone engraved in the once fresh cement of a Manhattan sidewalk, I have to smile. (That this graffito is found immediately outside the front door of the Anthroposophical Society's NYC Branch, I'm sure, has something to do with it.)

It was back to Centerpoint this evening for a very well presented lecture. I only wish I knew what it was about, but it inspires research. A first year student of Eurythmy at Spring Valley spoke thoughtfully for more than an hour on the subject of Novalis, with ample discourse (and here’s where I got lost) on Rudolf Steiner’s thoughts on Adam Kadmon, John the Baptist, and the linkages of King Solomon to St. Matthew and Nathan the Prophet to St. Luke. I hope I didn’t get that last part backward, but either way this is something I need to read up on.

Novalis—his government name was Friedrich von Hardenberg—is remembered as one of the fathers of German Romanticism. Not so much here in America actually, but in Germany, he is rated right up there with Goethe, Schiller, and other greats. Our lecturer read from Novalis’ journal to lay the foundation of his talk that would touch on the topics mentioned above, and even involve Raphael. (The painter, not the archangel.) The lecture began with the story of Novalis and his love for Sophie von Kühn, which makes my stumbling across the sidewalk graffito shown at top even more serendipitous.

I didn’t take notes, because I knew I’d be left in the dust, but Anthroposophy definitely is something I will be studying. A nine-day festival/conference is scheduled for August at Chestnut Ridge, New York to discuss the future of the movement. I’m very curious to hear what will come of that. Until then, I’ll continue visiting its New York City Branch and shopping in the bookstore.
     

‘Viewing Joe’

     
One more movie in the news, and that’s it—I think.

Two years ago, I told you about “Finding Joe,” the documentary about the teachings of Professor Joseph Campbell. Well, it recently was announced that this film (which received a four-Magpie rating), now is available via the web. Buy it as a digital download. Rent it streaming. Netflix, iTunes. Whatever you crazy kids do today.

Check it out here.
   

‘A great night at Centerpoint’

     

A great night at the Anthroposophical Society Saturday. As advertised, it truly was a celebration of the Holy Nights in Music and Verse. The music of Debussy and many others in voice, piano, harp, and recorder; verse from Robert Frost, Robert Graves, Pasternak, and Steiner, to name a few.

The meeting place of the New York City branch is a welcoming little space. Artwork, oil on canvas and mostly abstract, by Rayén Millahual Vargas, is exhibited throughout. The meeting room itself is a great little performing arts space, with a small elevated stage and comfortable seating for probably around forty (and not so comfortable for maybe fifty). A third of the ceiling is open with a gabled skylight. It just strikes me as the perfect spot for lectures and other programs for small to medium-size audiences, in case you want to take note of that. It’s worth inquiring if it is available for hire.

And then there’s the bookstore: packed wall to wall, top to bottom with hundreds of titles on the meaning of Anthroposophy and its practical applications, by Steiner and others; biographies about Steiner; books on other philosophies for all levels of learning; and more.

I think I’m going back on New Year’s Day for Cliff Venho’s presentation “Where Darkness Is Light: The Hymns & Songs of Novalis.”

pqrspqrspqrspqrspqrspqr

Courtesy Fox 2000 Pictures

The event was over by about nine o’clock, and with nothing much else going on, I headed over to Second Avenue to catch a movie. “The Book Thief” takes place during the Second World War in Germany, and its title refers to the main character, a young girl who nicks The Gravedigger’s Handbook from the man who buries her little brother, who salvages another book from a local nazi bonfire, and eventually helps herself to the contents of the personal library in the home of the local head nazi. Anyway, it’s the only schoolmate who befriends her who embodies nearly all the virtue in the story unaided by any encourgement from others. A star track athlete who idolizes Jesse Owens, keeps inviolate the secret of a Jewish man in hiding, does what he can to protect the girl from the school’s most enthusiastic Hitler Youth—doing all this and more while his father, a party member, goes along to get along—and, in the end, perishes in an Allied bombing raid, is named Rudy Steiner.
     

‘Saving Mr. Banks’

     
And speaking of films, from Parabola magazine:

A remarkable film opened on Christmas Day called “Saving Mr. Banks,” about P.L. Travers, a founding editor of Parabola. Have a look at the trailer for the film here:





In honor of the occasion, Parabola will publish [on Facebook and the Parabola blog] material written by Pamela Travers that has appeared in Parabola over the years. Here is an excerpt from her essay “Remembering,” a lifelong pursuit of Something Else, from Summer 1991.


A Hebrew Myth, a potent element in the annals of the bees, tells us that when a child is born an angel takes it under his wing and recites the Torah to it. Having done that he puts his forefinger on the infant lip and says one word, “Forget!”

Clearly, every tradition has a similar angel, for where is the human creature who lacks indentation of the upper lip, that little valley of flesh where the same word has been so ineffaceably expressed? And, indeed, of necessity. For how, without forgetting, can remembering arise? And remembering leads to search.

Detail of painting ‘Tobias and the Angel’

by Raphael. National Gallery, London.

Maybe it needs another angel, though this time leaving no manifest mark, to set us on our way. Angels, anyway, thread through our lives, invisible presences, energies, messengers, bringers of dreams–not the hodge-podge of daily events–but those rare dreams of portent and revelation that can change the course of our lives. There are angels who walk beside us as Raphael walked with Tobias, pilgrim angels who carry bowls, not for begging at doors but to hold to our lips from time to time to refresh us with a taste of that emptiness which in their land is fullness. Such a draught–even the brush of an angel wing–can bring one to oneself, and thus to remembering; for without remembering we dream our life away and arrive at the end of it to find that there has been nobody there, the initiatory touch truly forgotten and never woken from. The way has been in us but we have not been on the way.

I cannot recall the time when I was not searching for a nameless unknown. Something Else, I called it as a child, and as that it is still known to me. The longing for it affected me most strongly at sundown, and I would weep, not allowing the grownups to comfort me, tenderly or testily, with assurances that the sun would surely rise in the morning. I knew that. But this unknown was clearly connected with it and seemed to depart with the sun.

As I grew, I learned to contain my sorrow, indeed–except at moments when an angel passed–entirely to forget it. Daily life needs its full share of the human creature’s two natures–the mind its inventions and imaginings, the heart its orchestra of feelings (oh, the drumbeats, the clarinets, the trombones!), flesh and blood their various feastings, in order to have the material to question and to know. Was it not this share that the Prodigal Son–and most of us are Prodigal Sons–set out with his portion to seek? And after, again like most of us, spending it–the revelings and the subsequent sufferings–he came at last to himself. Having forgotten, he had to remember, reminded, perhaps, by a passing angel, and knew he had to turn home.

The parable does not tell us much more. But can we suppose that he spent the rest of his life making merry and feeding on fatted calves? Would he not, after such an awakening, such a realization of his own unworth and at length such a welcome home, feel the need to search within for his essential self? Prodigal in all things, would he not submit himself to the fire of self-question, pursue the reparation of the past through the process of metanoia, and with this new energy stirring in him, apply himself to working in the patriarchal fields along with his elder brother who, significantly, never left him?

There is much to be said for that elder brother who is so often maligned. Clearly, having been told to forget he had very soon remembered that what he was searching for was to be found nowhere but at the father’s side.

Most of us have to go far before we find what is nearer than the neck vein, but the very distance draws one closer. For myself, Something Else no longer sets with the sun. Rather, the sun goes down in myself and I am lost in the twilight. O Forgetting, sustain my Remembering! Stay my feet, angels, upon the way, so that the seeker becomes the sought, and I, too, may be spied from afar as someone comes running to meet me.
     

‘The Holy Nights at Anthroposophy’

     

The Anthroposophical Society’s New York City Branch begins its Holy Nights season this evening. Runs through January 4, except New Year’s Eve, every night at seven o’clock. No fees, but donations are welcome.

From the publicity:


Tonight: Walter Alexander on “In the Spirit of Truth.”

Friday: Albert Spekman on Rudolf Steiner’s The Fifth Gospel.

Saturday: Dorothy Emmerson and Joyce Monges—“Experiencing the Holy Nights through Music & Verse.”

Sunday: Joyce Reilly and Doug Safranek on “Madonna & Child: Images from Byzantium to the Present.”

Monday, December 30: Gisela Wielki on “The Holy Family is You and I.”

Tuesday, December 31: Rachel Maldonado on “The Gift of Seven Trees.”

New Year’s Day: Cliff Venho on “Where Darkness is Light: The Hymns & Songs of Novalis.”

Thursday, January 2: Dan Mackenzie and Eva Ingolf—“Singing in the New Year.”

Friday, January 3: Linda Larson on “The Dream Song of Olaf Asteson,” with selections from Rudolf Steiner’s Eurythmy forms for all to move together.

Saturday, Jan 4: Ted McGlone on “Magi and Shepherds Streams as Heart—Thinking Social Forms.”

Sunday, January 5 (from 4 to 7 p.m.): Epiphany/Three Kings Festival & Potluck. Presentation by Joyce Reilly;
music by Dorothy Emerson, Joyce Monges, Natasha Guruleva, David Anderson, and Dan Mackenzie.


The New York City Branch is located at 138 West 15th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, in Manhattan.
     

‘Get into the mystic movie business!’

     

Erik Paulsson

There’s an interesting project in the works, and “we’re all very excited about it.” Mr. Erik Paulsson, a film-maker with Red Storm in British Columbia, endeavors to produce a 13-part documentary on the history of mysticism. Titled “The Mystics: A Journey into the Mysteries,” the series is in the hands of Alchemergy Films, the California-based production company that creates content, in a variety of media, on the arts and sciences of personal and social transformation. They are seeking donors to contribute toward the costs of producing what promises to be a beautiful piece of work.

From the publicity:

The mystics are shamans, druids, and philosopher sages of ancient China and Greece. They are the gurus and vedic philosphers of India, and the oracles of ancient Egypt. They are the prophets and magi of the Middle East. They are alchemists, hermeticists, and theosophists. They are the Buddhists, Gnostic Christians, Jewish Kabbalists, Sikh Masters and Muslim Sufis.

The mystics all believe that there is more to reality than we can perceive with our limited five senses, and that through training, all human beings can transform their minds in order to experience higher states of consciousness. To mystics, the ultimate goal of life is enlightenment or gnosis, Greek for “knowing.” They believe that attaining these states leads to a profound understanding of the mysteries of the Universe, and thus their methods are known as the mystery teachings.

As this gripping story unfolds, we will journey through 5,000 years of history, from the Shamanic traditions of hunting gathering societies, through the emergence of Eastern and Western mystical philosophy, to the modern spiritual integration movement, which seeks the parallels that connect all mystery teachings, and their correlation with modern scientific theory.

Here’s a trailer:





Gifts can be made incrementally, from $10 to $25,000—and there are recognition considerations for each level of giving, including a thank you credit in the film, and Executive Producer credit for the most generous of benefactors.

To get involved, click here.

The Magpie Mind averages a few hundred visitors daily, and if each of us kicked in $25; and encouraged family and friends to give, maybe, $10 each; and then prevailed upon our respective esoteric orders to kick in, hopefully, $100 apiece, then the producers will come very near to their $50,000 goal. At this point, they have not reached the $10,000 mark.
     

‘Schiffman lecture on Wednesday’

     
Professor Lawrence Schiffman, certainly the pre-eminent scholar in America on the subject of the Dead Sea Scrolls, will speak Wednesday morning on “Judaism and Christianity: How They Differ and Where They Parted.”

Wednesday, December 25

Morning Prayer at 8:30

Lecture/Breakfast at 9:15

Synagogue of the Suburban Torah Center

85 West Mt. Pleasant Avenue

Livingston, New Jersey

No matter what your concentration(s) in the Western Mystery Traditions may be, I think it is urgent to understand the history of the relationship of Judaism and Christianity. It’s not just a matter of knowing there would be no Christianity without Judaism; it really is crucial to have a working knowledge of the who, what, when, where, and why of how the two faiths connect and disconnect.

Click here to read a bit about Dr. Lawrence Schiffman.

I have no idea of what Professor Schiffman will say—and I do not expect a word on Western Hidden Wisdom and initiatic societies—but I imagine he will provide the factual background to explain away the ideas of what is called Christian Hebraism, that Renaissance period movement wherein Judaism was explored by Christian theologians for the purpose of better understanding Christianity. The findings of Christian Hebraism mostly were wrong and have been left behind, but it is to Christian Hebraism that I attribute the use today of Jewish thought (e.g. the mysticism of Kabbalah) in certain Christ-centered esoteric societies.

I had the pleasure of meeting Schiffman during my university days, interviewing him for a newspaper story on his role in Dead Sea Scrolls scholarship at New York University when the DSS finally were shared with scholars outside Israel nearly a quarter-century ago. Brilliant doesn’t satisfactorily describe him, and I’m very much looking forward to hearing him speak.

85 West Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Livingston.

Obviously the lecture lands on Christmas morning, but if you are available and desire to learn fundamental facts at the root of what would give form to the esoteric movements we hold dear today, do yourself a favor and visit this synagogue. (No offense, but if you think the Essenes have something to do with your secret society, I would think it essential that you hear this talk.) Call (973) 994-2620 to be added to the guest-list. Livingston is reached easily from routes 10, 24, and 280; and is near many other major highways.
     

‘Every problem has a spiritual resolution’

     
The Rosicrucian Order will present Dr. Lonnie C. Edwards, author of Spiritual Laws that Govern Humanity and the Universe, this week at the Rosicrucian Cultural Center in New York City. The program is described below, but here is a video shared on Facebook yesterday by Mark at the Institute for Hermetic Studies. One of those weird “coincidences.”

Lonnie C. Edwards, MD

Rosicrucian Cultural Center

2303 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.

New York City

December 9 through 13

3 to 7:30 p.m.

It is important for students of mysticism to become acquainted with the tremendous resources that are available to make our lives more harmonious. These resources are necessary for us to cope with the many and varied experiences that come to us. Once we learn to tap these inner resources, living will be more of an invigorating affair. We need to keep foremost in our consciousness certain principles, conditions, and laws in order to gain access to spiritual and permanent solutions. We have the ultimate choice to align with and attract the higher Energies or to align with and attract the lower short-lived manifestations. The higher choices, those of the spiritual self, reveal to us that all problems and challenges are illusions and are nothing more than mistakes in our thinking, and like every human error they dissolve when we but seek the higher frequencies–the truth. Evolution demands us to work through these. They are “normal” happenings, whose purpose is to urge us to endure and move toward transformation and on to regeneration and reintegration. Through lectures, meditation, and visualization exercises, we will be given an opportunity to uncover the composite self, and learn how to approach the future.

Participants also will have the opportunity to experience discussions and exercises designed to give a stronger recognition to the inner intelligence and how to utilize it in everyday experiences. These Rosicrucian methods show how every problem has a spiritual resolution.

Considerable attention will be given to how to view the world of appearances, and how you create your world of realities. Cosmic will and its role and influence will be explained.
     

‘Enter the Secret World of the Freemasons’

     
Another exciting crosspost with American Creation:


It’s an exciting day for Freemasons in the United States, thanks to a long-awaited Mo Rocca package broadcast on the CBS News program Sunday Morning several hours ago. The point of the segment is to dispel the untruths, malicious and benign, with the simple, calming facts that make the fraternity much easier to comprehend.

It is fun seeing a number of friends on television, but I bring this to American Creation because it is quickly, but clearly, stated by UCLA history professor Margaret Jacob, an author of several books on Freemasonry and a favorite on the fraternity’s lecture circuit, that Masonry was not the engine driving the American Revolution. Yes, plenty of individually famous Freemasons were involved—from Continental Congress to conflict to Constitution—but the Masonic Order as an organized body of men was not where policy was debated nor pamphlets printed nor battle plans formulated.

The segment, which takes us inside the Grand Lodge of New York and Saint John’s Lodge No. 1 in New York City; and the House of the Temple and Colonial Lodge in Washington, DC; and sites elsewhere, runs eight minutes, is here:



The text of the segment can be read here, and “9 Things You Didn’t Know About Freemasonry,” also from Sunday Morning, can be read here. (And for Rocca’s humorous self-promotion of the piece, see his Twitter feed here.)

     

‘You’ll Find Mathematics in the Darnedest Places’

     
First, an observation: Can you imagine Hollywood trying to teach Sacred Geometry to children today?

And closing the cartoon with Galileo’s quotation: “Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe.” Impossible.




Donald in Mathmagic Land was produced by Walt Disney Productions in 1959. It would become Disney’s first cartoon ever televised in color, in 1961, in “The Wonderful World of Color” series on NBC. It can be bought today on DVD for less than $10.

Three errors in this short, as pointed out by IMDB:


Despite this being a mathematical education film, a character incorrectly recites the value of the mathematical constant pi. The character states, “Pi is equal to 3.141,592,653,589,747, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.” The correct value of pi (to the same number of digits) is actually 3.141,592,653,589,793. (The last two digits are different.)

During the “imagination” segment toward the end, the Spirit says to put a triangle in a perfect circle, and then turn the triangle. The image that results is a straight line that reaches both the top and bottom of the circle. There is no possible orientation that the original triangle could have to reproduce this visual effect in real life.

During the “slice the cone” scene, the Spirit says, “A slice like this, and you have a searchlight. A slice like this, the mirror of a giant telescope.” The actual cut made in the cone is a hyperbola, meanwhile both a searchlight and a telescope’s mirror are both parabolas. (The difference is that a parabola is made by making an exactly vertical slice in the cone, not an angled slice as depicted.)

But don’t let these detract from the fun.

(Trivia: Uncle Walt was born on this date in 1901.)

     

‘Solstice Ritual at Observatory’

     
I was so impressed by the Fall Equinox evening that I want to spread the word about this event also. From the publicity:

Winter Solstice Ritual Workshop

with Pam Grossman

Presented by Phantasmaphile

Friday, December 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Admission: $20

at Observatory

543 Union Street, #1E

Brooklyn

You must RSVP to phantasmaphile [at] gmail.com if you’d like to attend, as space is limited.

December is full of holy days that honor the cycle of birth, death, and resurrection. They all culminate in Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, and the beginning of the sun’s return. This evening, we will focus on welcoming light back into our lives.


We’ll do spellcraft for peace and cleansing for the new year. There will be a special focus on tree magick, and herbs that invite warmth into our bodies on cold, dark days. And we’ll give gifts, of course!

Please bring:

• Any altar objects you like. These can be decorative (Yule or winter decorations of any kind are welcome), and/or personal objects which you’d like to have charged;
• A candle and holder;
• A wrapped gift that will be given to someone in circle (no more than $5-10 in value, or free/homemade is fine, too!); and
• A cushion, pillow, or fabric, as we will be sitting on the floor (chairs will be available for those who need).

Note-taking is welcome. This workshop is open to men and women, novices and advanced practitioners alike.

Pam Grossman is a writer, independent curator, and teacher of magical practice and history. An initiate in the wise woman tradition, she is a graduate apprentice of the green witch, Robin Rose Bennett. She is the creator of Phantasmaphile, a blog which specializes in art and culture with an esoteric or fantastical bent, and Associate Editor of Abraxas Journal. She lectures on such topics as “The Occult in Modern Art 101,” teaches classes on herbalism and ritual, and is the co-organizer of the Occult Humanities Conference at NYU.

Her writing has appeared in numerous mediums, including the Huffington Post, MSN.com, the Etsy blog, Sciences Occultes magazine, and various Fulgur press publications. As a featured guest on The Midnight Archive web series, Expanding Mind radio, and the C-Realm, Psychonautica, and Labyrinth podcasts, she has discussed the role of magic in contemporary life. Her group art shows and projects have been featured by such outlets as Artforum, Newsweek, New York magazine, Art & Antiques magazine, Boing Boing, CREATIVE TIME, Time Out New York, Reality Sandwich, Juxtapoz, Arthur, 20×200, UrbanOutfitters.com, and Neil Gaiman’s Twitter. She is a co-founder of Observatory, where her programming aims to explore mysticism via a scholarly yet accessible approach.
     

‘The Story of the Snake’

     
If your schedule permits you a weekday lunchtime lecture, try to get to the C.G. Jung Foundation today for “The Story of the Snake in Jung’s Red Book,” presented by Ami Ronnberg. From the publicity:

The snake appears in the very first illustration in Jung’s Red Book and becomes a familiar image in many of the paintings that follow. Sometimes Jung comments on the snake—or snakes—and sometimes they are simply present. All the while, as we follow Jung’s story, the image of the snake keeps changing.

In this talk, we will look at the snake as an evocative underground companion in our own creative efforts and personal transformation. Fascinating and feared, the snake guides us into the unavoidable depths and deaths of our own snakeskin-shedding times, from which we will (hopefully) return, reborn with our own glimpse of the eternal.

Tuesday, December 3 at 12:30 p.m.

C.G. Jung Foundation

Eleanor Bertine Auditorium

28 East 39th Street

(between Park and Madison avenues)

Manhattan

Bring a brown bag lunch - coffee, tea, and cookies will be provided. No reservations required. All are welcome. For further information, call the C.G. Jung Foundation offices at (212) 697-6430.

Ami Ronnberg, M.A., is Curator of the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism, and is Editor-in-Chief of The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images, published by Taschen in 2010 as the third volume of the ARAS publication project. She teaches widely on art and symbols.