Tag Archives: Religion

On ‘The Other Side: A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World’

Jennifer Higgie is an Australian writer and former editor of frieze magazine. Her books include ‘The Other Side: A Story of Women, Art and the Spirit World’ (2023), ‘The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution and Resilience: 500 Years of women’s self-portraits’ (2021), the children’s book, which she also illustrated, ‘There’s Not One’ (2017), and the novel ‘Bedlam’ (2007) She was the guest curator of the 2023 exhibition Thin Skin at Monash University Art Museum in Melbourne and is the host of the National Gallery of Australia’s new podcast, Artist’s Artists.

From the mystery and majesty of the universe and beyond

Shanthi Chandrasekar is a multimedia and multidisciplinary artist from Maryland, USA, who has an academic background in physics and psychology, and has been trained in the traditional Indian art forms of Kolam and Tanjore-style painting. While many of her works are influenced by her Indian heritage, her true inspiration comes from the mystery and majesty of the world around her; her muse lives where the scientific overlaps with the spiritual.

Exploring Oneness

Sandra Lerner’s work celebrates the creative process of life in a universe that is constantly in flux. She explores the similarities between cosmology and Eastern philosophy, as well as the intersection of art and science.

“My most recent Cosmic paintings interweave the latest theories in astrophysics with the intuitive mysticism of Taoist philosophy, where the universe is seen as an inseparable reality, and in which there is an interrelationship of all things. My exploration of the fabric of the universe, its ever-changing patterns, give rise to and parallels my own creative development. I conceive my art as a spiritual, psychological, and philosophical journey.”

The Cosmos and the Zodiac: Contemporary Cosmology and a Traditional Representation of the Whole.

Alain Negre examines the thesis that the history of the universe, derived from contemporary cosmology, reveals the symbolic structure of the zodiac. While the 12 signs of the zodiac have retained the names of the constellations that stretch around the ecliptic circle, in reality, their essential nature is based on archetypal or qualitative numbers structured according to the four quadrants of a circle, each divided into three parts. This 4×3 numerical structure is a particular vibration of the world’s soul around an unknowable ordering center, about which a circle of archetypes forms. Signs are not archetypes but archetypal figures or symbols. Clothed in a rich symbolic fabric, they enable a new interpretation of the contemporary cosmological narrative. Naturally, the search for reflections and/or structural homologies between scientific and mythical discourse can only be understood by first distinguishing the various levels of reality.

Are near-death experiences hallucinations? Experts explain the science behind this puzzling phenomenon

Neil Dagnall is a Reader in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University.
“I am a cognitive and parapsychological researcher (Anomalous Psychology, Cognitive Psychology & Experimental Methods). I work closely with Andrew Parker, Kenneth Drinkwater, and Andrew Denovan. We are undertaking several projects centering on memory (eye movements), belief in the paranormal, mental toughness and anomalous throught processes.”

Ken Drinkwater is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Cognitive and Parapsychology, Manchester Metropolitan University.
“I completed my undergraduate BSc (2001 – Main study: Memory and Part set cuing effects) and a postgraduate MSc (2007 – 2 Main studies: 1. I.Q. Assessment of adults with learning disabilities, and the usefulness of the Ravens Progressive Matrices as a predictor of ability and 2. Focus groups (with Adults who have Learning Disabilities) in developing an accessible leaflet for clinical psychology at Oldham NHS penning care and at Manchester Metropolitan University.”

Friday essay: how the West discovered the Buddha

Philip C. Almond is Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland.
Philip Almond is an historian of religious thought who has been engaged in the study of religion for over fifty years. He has done so, not as a believer in any religion, but as an agnostic who is nonetheless committed to the belief that an understanding of religion and religions is crucial to our understanding of the past and the present.
His book ‘The Devil: A New Biography’ (London and Ithaca: I B Tauris and Cornell University Press, 2014) is available in paperback. His book, ‘The Afterlife: A History of Life After Death’ has been published by I B Tauris and Cornell University Press in 2016. His book: ‘God: A New Biography’ was published by I B Tauris in 2018.
‘The Antichrist: A New Biography’ was published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.
‘Mary Magdalene: A Cultural History’ was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022
He current book entitled ‘The Buddha: Life and Afterlife between East and West’ will be published by Cambridge University Press on 31 January 2024.

The Bride Stripped Bare: Esoteric Origins for Duchamp’s Large Glass

Hidden as it was for such a long time, Marcel Duchamp’s ‘The Large Glass’, is an esoteric work of art in two ways: first, its private nature, and second, its coded content. This essay by Jacquelynn Baas, a renowned curator, cultural historian, scholar and writer, contains groundbreaking research on Duchamp, Kashmir Shaivism, and Western Esotericism. Her aim is not to furnish a detailed key or step by step guide to Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Large Glass’, as others have attempted to do, but rather to provide a wider global context for interpreting ‘The Large Glass’ and assessing its cultural significance.

Talking about the Mind

Jack Symes is a public philosopher and writer. He is currently a teacher and researcher at the University of Liverpool and is best known as the producer of ‘The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast’. The podcast, in which Jack discusses philosophy with the world’s leading thinkers, has over 75,000 regular listeners. He is also the editor of ‘Talking about Philosophy’, a series of introductory philosophy books for the general public. Jack’s first book, ‘Philosophers on Consciousness: Talking about the Mind’, was published by Bloomsbury in February 2022.

Contemplatives in Conversation: Images in Contemplative Practice

Images in contemplative practice turn on a seeming contradiction: they can serve as guides on the mystical path but can easily become obstacles as well. On October 10th, 2021, I met with Don Salmon on Zoom, as the two of us shared our experiences and ideas about the promises and pitfalls of using images to deepen our connection to God. This piece, which is based on our conversation, explores the contradictions inherent in our use of images for spiritual guidance, along with questions related to the intersection of art and theology. We discuss whether abstract images or images of nature have the same power to inspire contemplation through devotion and love as sacred images of specific mystics, yogis, sages, and saints. Whether there is a difference in the state of consciousness achieved through religious tradition as compared to contemporary methods of spiritual practice that aren’t necessarily associated with a tradition, and the role of imagery in devotional practices vs non-devotional practices. We explore the relative value of image-based vs. non-image-based meditation, and the benefits of using digital images for contemplation. We also discuss the nature of apophatic and cataphatic methods and how different traditions approach images as vehicles for spiritual enlightenment.