Programme Summer/Autumn 2008
GENIUS OF BEETHOVEN
Edi Bilimoria - Theosophical Society
Highcliffe Castle, Near Cristchurch
Wednesday 7.15 – 9.00pm, 4 June - Free refreshments
This lecture will show how Beethoven sacrificed every personal necessity to the cause of his Art. His inspiration drew directly from the highest fountain of religious feeling, philosophical insight and spiritual wisdom. His personal trials and tribulations were the stepping stones to his ultimate triumph over adversity.
Tickets:
£7; Members free
INTRODUCTION TO MEDITATION
Alan Perry – The Dhyana Centre
Thomas Hardy Suite, University of Bournemouth, Talbot Campus, Wallisdown
Saturday, 2.00 – 6.30pm, 14 June – Free refreshments
A practical introduction to meditation as a spiritual discipline. The workshop will cover the basic theory and mechanics as presented by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali followed by a progression of exercises aimed at achieving stillness and inner peace, including techniques involving yogic breathing, chakras, devotional visualisation and mantra. This
interactive workshop is aimed at absolute beginners but covers a lot of ground that would also be suitable for existing meditators.
Alan Perry is full-time director of the Dhyana Centre in London and has been teaching meditational yoga for the last 17 years.
Tickets:
Free entrance (donations welcome) admission by ticket only; places limited
Please telephone 0800 612 7282 to reserve your place
QUANTUM UNIVERSE & MODERN METAPHYSICS
John Gordon – Theosophical Society
Cobham Lecture Theatre, University of Bournemouth, Talbot Campus, Wallisdown
Saturday, 2.15 – 4.15 pm, 28 June
The understanding of our world by modern science is based upon a number of materialistic paradigms, the majority of which are open to question. One of these relates to the way in which the 'quantum world' of the scientist interacts with consciousness itself. This talk will look at this issue and some of the other related paradigms to demonstrate how and why modern metaphysics can help to explain what science itself cannot.
John Gordon holds an MA degree in Western Esotericism from the University of Exeter and has been a member of the Theosophical Society for over 30 years. He has had four books published on subjects ranging from Ancient Egyptian Esotericism to Esoteric Astrology and Theosophy. His latest work "The Rise and Fall of Atlantis" is due to be published by Watkins Books in April 2008. John is also the President of the Blavatsky Lodge in London.
Tickets:
£7; Members Free; Members Friends /Guests £3.00
WESTERN ESOTERIC TRADITION
Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, University of Exeter
Allesbrook Theatre, University of Bournemouth, Talbot Campus
Saturday, 2.30 – 4.30, 20 September
The Western esoteric traditions represent a distinct form of spirituality extending from Hermeticism, Neo-Platonism and Gnosticism in the early Christian era up until the present. Diffused by Arab and Byzantine culture into medieval Europe, these esoteric currents experienced a marked revival through the Florentine neo-Platonists of the late fifteenth century. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, esoteric spirituality was carried by Renaissance magic, Christian Kabbalah, astrology, alchemy, German Naturphilosophie, theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry until the modern occult revival in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in which the Theosophy of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky played an important role. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke presents a historical survey showing how esotericism combines spirituality and natural philosophy to place the individual soul in the context of nature and the universe.
Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke BA, DPhil (Oxon) is Chair of Western Esotericism at Exeter University and Director of the Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO) in the School of Humanities & Social Sciences. His numerous publications include studies of Ramon Llull, Paracelsus, John Dee, Cornelius Agrippa, Emanuel Swedenborg and Helena Blavatsky. His new book The Western Esoteric Traditions is published by OUP this September 2008. Prof. Goodrick-Clarke convenes a distance-learning Master’s programme in Western Esotericism at Exeter University, details of which can be found on-line at: http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/research/exeseso/index.htm
Tickets:
General Public £8; Members Free; Concessions/Students/Members friends/Guest, Staff (University of Bournemouth) £3; Students (University of Bournemouth) £2
SHANGRI-LA AND THE QUEST FOR UTOPIA
Christopher McIntosh, University of Bremen
Cobham Lecture Theatre, University of Bournemouth, Talbot Campus, Wallisdown
Wednesday 7.30 – 9.15pm, 22 October
Christopher McIntosh is a famous international author whose books The Rosicrucians and Eliphas Levi and the French Occult Tradition are highly regarded in esoteric and freemasonry circles.
Thanks to James Hilton's classic novel Lost Horizon (first published in 1933) and the highly successful film of the same name (1937, remade 1973), the name Shangri-La has passed into our language, evoking the idea of Utopian place of exotic beauty and bliss, far from the madding realities of the everyday world. Hilton's Shangri-La was derived partly from the notion of Shambhala, the legendary Utopian kingdom with its spiritually advanced rulers, hidden away in the Himalayas or the mountains of Tibet or China.
This theme has fascinated explorers such as the Russian artist and writer Nikolai Roerich. A different but related legend is that of Agharti (sometimes spelt Agharta, Agarttha etc.), a subterranean kingdom, often placed in Mongolia. The notion of Agharti can be traced back to the French esotericist Saint-Yves d'Alveydre, who linked it with his political philosophy of Synarchy involving rule by an elite of initiates.
Others who picked up on the theme of Shambhala included Madame Blavatsky, Alice Bailey, the Polish-Russian scientist Ferdinand Ossendowski, who wrote about it in his book Beasts, Men and Gods (1922). Also the French traditionalist René Guénon wrote about Utopia in Le Roi du monde (The King of the World, 1927).
This talk will explore the various antecedents and ramifications of the legend, examining its connections with the later outgrowths and offshoots of theosophy and similar movements.
Tickets:
General Public £8; Members Free; Concessions/Students/Members friends/Guest, Staff (University of Bournemouth) £3; Students (University of Bournemouth) £2
ASTROLOGY AND THE SPIRITUAL QUEST
Simon Bentley, White Eagle Lodge
Cobham Lecture Theatre, University of Bournemouth
Saturday 1 November 2.15 – 4.15 (Approx)
Astrology is an old and ancient approach to understanding who we are, the nature of the Universe and where we are going in our lives. It can be used as superficial entertainment for a mass audience or as a serious study by scholars. Simon has studied the secrets of astrology for many years and leads conferences on the subject. Today he brings his considerable knowledge and experience to both explain some of the elements of true astrology and how it can be used to further the spiritual search.
MEMBERS AND MEMBERS GUESTS ONLY
ANGELS AND HUMAN DESTINY (to be confirmed)
Eric McGough – National President; Theosophical Society
Allesbrook Theatre, University of Bournemouth
Saturday 29 November 2.15 – 4.15
MEMBERS AND MEMBERS GUESTS ONLY
Other lectures, talks, seminars are also planned and will posted on the website soon
If you are interested in joining the Bournemouth Society of Art, Philosophy and Theosophy please click: Membership & Contacts and download our Membership Application Form or Telephone 0800 612 7282
