Bulletin IISMM Juin 2012

Bulletin Juin IISMM

Rare Audio of Gershom Scholem

"In this 1975 lecture at Boston College the preeminent scholar in Jewish mysticism Gershom Scholem speaks of the Kabbalistic doctrine of the tselem, the astral body. The word “tselem” first appears in Genesis 1:26 when God creates man and says “let us make man in our image (tselem) and in our likeness.” In Hebrew “tselem” means “plastic image” and describes the individual essence of each human being. It constitutes an independent entity mediating between body and spirit. In mystical experience, the tselem could manifest as the perception of one’s own double, which revealed the deepest spiritual essence within man. Professor Scholem retraces the historical development of the doctrine of the tselem in Jewish mysticism and tells us how it is related to the principle of individuation in man."

& some useful commentary here.

ASE 2012 Conference Schedule

 

ASE Conference Schedule

Esotericism, Religion, and Culture
University of California, Davis
July 19th-22nd 2012

 

Gnosticism in Philip K. Dick & much much more...

full schedule HERE

 

 

In Teheran

Photo: Roxanne Varzi

 

On Materialism

In Sufism, matter is precious because it stands, it “thinks,” silently it traces everything. Consequently, while in “materialist” philosophy matter can be considered distant from metaphysics, in Sufism it is mysticism itself; matter is its secret identity. - Murat Efe Balikçioglu  

from “Godless Sufism,” as the Structure of Matter in the Turkish Poetry of Our Day in  Eda: A Contemporary Anthology of 20th Century Turkish Poetry edited by Murat Nemet-Nejat.

La mystique amoureuse mazdéenne par Henry Corbin

Henry Corbin évoque la mystique amoureuse mazdéenne et la figure centrale du fravarti dans cet extrait d'une radiodiffusion de 1959.

Thanks to Aymeric Chaïb for bringing this to our attention.

Portals

Portals: Opening Doorways to Other Realities Through the Senses

Lynne Hume, Berg 2006
(with scattered references to Corbin)
From the excellent Berg SENSES SERIES

Samir Mahmoud on Henry Corbin

I'm actually not sure that I have ever pointed out all three of these excellent essays at amiscorbin.com 

(all PDF files)

From ‘Heidegger to Suhrawardi’: An Introduction to the thought of Henry Corbin

‘Alam al-mithal or Mundus Imaginalis

Ta'wil and the Angel

 

The Color of Angels

The Color of Angels

Constance Classen

1998

A Modern Gnostic

Philip K. Dick, Sci-Fi Philosopher, Part 1 By SIMON CRITCHLEY

Philip K. Dick, Sci-Fi Philosopher, Part 2 

Philip K. Dick, Sci-Fi Philosopher, Part 3

This is a clear and incisive essay on the meaning and the dangers of a certain kind of Gnosticism, elements of which are clearly displayed in the contemporary world, perhaps particularly in the US. Thinking about these issues seems to me to be of some importance when considering the significance of Corbin's work.
 

Astrology in Time & Place

Greetings! Astrology in Time and Place The Tenth Annual Sophia Centre Conference Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th June 2012 BRSLI, 16-19 Queen Square, Bath Astrology in Time and Place Saturday 23-Sunday 24 June 2012 Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute, 16-19 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN http://www.historyofastrology.org.uk/conferences/TimeAndPlace/index.html £45 one day / £65 both days Sponsored jointly by The Sophia Centre, Culture and Cosmos and the Sophia Centre Press PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME (SUBJECT TO CHANGE) SATURDAY 24 JUNE 8.30     Registration and Refreshments 9.20     Welcome 9.30     Bernadette Brady (University of Wales Trinity Saint David) Aristotle's idea of 'place' within contemporary astrology   10.00               Gustav-Adolf Schoener (Leibniz University of Hanover) The Difference between Methods of Natural Sciences and Methods of Religious Studies on Modern Astrology. 10.30   Johann Hasler (Departamento de Música, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia) The sounding zodiacs in Western musical theory: an overview of proposals for musical interpretation of astrological data from Ptolemy to the late 20th century 11.00   TEA AND COFFEE 11.30   Charles Burnett (Professor of the History of Islamic Influences at the Warburg Institute of the University of London) Johannes Borotin as student and teacher of the science of the stars in fifteenth-century Prague 12.30   LUNCH (OWN ARRANGEMENTS 2.00     David Pankenier(Department of Modern Languages & Literature, Lehigh University) On Chinese Astrology's Impermeability to Western Influences 3.00     Kristina Buhrman (University of Southern California) Ptolemy and Sima Qian in 11thCentury Japan: Combining Disparate Astrologies in Practice 3.30     TEA AND COFFEE 4.00     Ulla Koch (Carsten Niebuhr Institute, University of Copenhagen) The Meaning of Time: Calendar Divination 4.30     Michael Grofe (Maya Exploration Centre) Eternity in an Hour: the astronomical symbolism of the Era as the Maya agricultural year 5.00     Christel Mattheeuws (Department of Anthropology, University of Aberdeen) The Journey of Calendars, Wind and Life in the Indian Ocean 7.00    CONFERENCE DINNER OPA RESTAURANT (Separate Booking) SUNDAY 25 JUNE 9.30     Micah Ross and Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum (Kyōto Sangyō University; University of Wales Trinity Saint David) Various renderings of pinax in Greek and Demotic in the Medînet Mâdi ostraca 10.00   Helen R. Jacobus (University College London) The Zodiac Calendar in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q318) in relation to Babylonian Horoscopes 10.30   David W. Kim (University of Edinburgh) A Sethian Iconography: The Astrology of Tchacos Judas: 11.00   TEA AND COFFEE 11.30   Micah Ross (Kyōto Sangyō University) A Study in the Early Iconography of Gemini 12.00   Matthew Kosuta (College of Religious Studies, Mahidol University, Thailand) The relationship between Theravada Buddhism and astrology with an emphasis on the modern period and Thailand. 12.30   LUNCH 2.00     Mario Friscia (University of La Sapienza, Rome) Astrology and its ritual applications: Propitiation of the planet Saturn within the Sun temple at Suriyanar Koyil (Tamil Nadu, India). A case-study from contemporary Tamil Shaivism 2.30     Audrius Benorius (Director of the Center of Oriental Studies, Vilnius University, Lithuania) Transformations of the Social and Religious Status of the Indian Astrologer at the Royal Court 3.00     Michael York (Former Professor of Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, Bath Spa University) Religion versus Science: Science versus Religion: Whither Astrology: Whithersoever? 4.00     CLOSE Nick Campion Sophia Centre

First English Editions

If I were a rich man I would have these rarities.

Persian Poets Tour - 2012 (UK)

PERSIAN POETRY TOUR

Our Persian Poets' Tour features the poetry of five acclaimed poets from three Persian-speaking countries - Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan - in a series of readings and events across the UK alongside their British poet co-translators Jo Shapcott, Nick Laird, Maura Dooley, Mimi Khalvati and Sarah Maguire.

The poets taking part include the London-based Afghan poet, Reza Mohammadi (translated by Nick Laird), as well as two poets new to the PTC, Azita Ghahreman (translated by Maura Dooley) from Iran and Shakila Azizzada (translated by Mimi Khalvati) from Afghanistan.

Article in the Independent here.

Illustrated manuscript of Persian mystical poetry (Subhat al-Abrar by Nur ad-Din `Abd al-Rahman Jami), ink, gouache and gold on paper. Bukhara, Central Asia, 972 AH/1564-5 CE. Folio 28.1 cm high; 17 cm wideInv. No: LNS 16 MS

The New Galleries for the Department of Islamic Art in Focus

Encounter the exquisite world of religious painting from the fourteenth century to the present day and hear classical music from Cairo, Aleppo, and Baghdad. Presented with the opening of the New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia.

The Praiseworthy One: Devotional Images of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Traditions Christiane Gruber, associate professor of Islamic Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

A Performance by Alwan Arab Music Ensemble

This program is generously supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

Discoveries Part VI: Sculpture in Islamic Art