Music is the mediator between the life of the senses and the life of the spirit. – Beethoven “ We surrender to music when we listen to it – we allow ourselves to trust the composer and musician with a part of our hearts and our spirits. We let the music take us somewhere outside ourselves. The power of music is that it can connect us to one another, and to larger truths about what it means to be alive and what it means to…
Everything is connected to everything by secret knots. Numerology and number magic has fascinated humanity throughout millennia. From African tribes, American Indians, and Mayas to Mesopotamia, China and India, numbers are attributed mystery and meaning. Annemarie Schimmel (1922-2003), Harvard University professor known for her vast knowledge and distinguished books on Sufism and Islamic culture, offers a rare resource in numerology with her book The Mystery of Numbers. She demystifies the meanings of numbers in the religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam with…
“Music gives such pleasure that human nature cannot live without it, ” said Confucius. Music is essential says Victor Hugo because “ it expresses what cannot be put into words and what cannot remain silent.” The acclaimed neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist and musician Daniel Levitin explores the mystery of music and how music affects our brains, thoughts and our spirit. He says : The moods that music creates are part of its mystery. What most of us turn to music for is an emotional experience. Because…
Goethe’s theory of colors, and how the eye sees and simultaneously creates its own color The great poet and savant Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) passionately explored the phenomenology of light and colors witnessed by the human eye, and collected his findings in Farbenlehre (Theory of Colors). His innovative doctrine of “physiological colors,” though dismissed by some due to lack of empirical data in his epoch, would later lead to wide repercussions in the centuries to come in art, physics and philosophy. He proclaimed…
A master musician, an influential thinker and jurist, Ostad Elahi ( 11 September 1895 – 19 October 1974) said : “Music has countless properties, most of which have yet to be discovered.” Born in a small remote village in Iran, he grew up in a spiritual milieu where mystical traditions reigned everyday life. He was devoted to music very early on in his quest for meaning, self-knowledge, and transcendence. By the age of nine he was recognized as “ a peerless master of the…
Rose has been considered the symbol of love, beauty and divine perfection since ancient antiquity. Rose essence was used in cooking, medicine and various ceremonies at the time of Zoroaster (circa 1000 BC) in Persia. Washing the hands and face with rosewater for purification, sprinkling rose water on one another, drinking rose syrup, burning rose incense featured various ethnic, cultural, religious ceremonies. During the middle ages, the rose was cultivated in monastery courtyards and was used for incense and medicinal purposes. It is been said…
“ Do good, say good and think good. ” – Ahura Mazda The Persian poet and author Ferdowsi (940 – 1020) renown with his masterpiece Shahnameh – The Book of Kings, illuminates the ancient history of Persia dating back to 1500 BC. He recites the myth of creation, the personas of ancient kings and heroes, and the combat of the good against the evil through the march of history. The stories take stage in the backdrop of Zoroaster, who is said to be the Persian…
Kindness is a man’s memorial For the years after the burial. Ancient Egyptians (3100 BC) believed in the immortality of the soul, and in life after death. The journey of the soul to the other world and the scenes of divine judgement are colorfully illustrated on the Papyrus of Ani (1250 BC). The hieroglyphs highlight the deeply seated knowledge of ancient Egyptians and their strong belief in the divine order of creation which they name – Maat. It governs the entire universe in an…
To solve the mystery of creation, the eye of the physicist should look for what really is out there, not what he thinks there should be. – Einstein Pablo Carlos Budassi born in Argentina (1980), a talented mathematician, musician and artist with many award-winning spatial design works, made a simple drawing of the cosmos for his son’s birthday. He used the logarithmic maps of the physicists, photographs taken by Nasa and his photoshop app. His logarithmic illustration of the observable universe became globally famous. The…
Pepita was a young girl who lived in a small Mexican village. Her parents were poor farmers barely able to feed their family. When Christmas was near, they both fell ill, and it was up to Pepita, the eldest, almost 9 years old, to take care of her little brother and sister, and to maintain the household. In the village church, the nativity scene of the newborn Jesus was set up for Christmas. It was the traditional Christmas Eve procession, where the whole village went…
