This article was published in New Dawn 135 (Nov-Dec 2012) For most of us, the dream world is the most immediate and pressing of all alternative realities. Its bizarreness, its sheer otherness, which presents itself to us every night, constantly […]
Richard Smoley
The Way of the Sly Man: The Teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff
This article was published in New Dawn 131 (Mar-Apr 2012) It has happened to everyone. You go into a room only to find you have no recollection of why you went; someone reminds you of a promise you made but […]
Gematria: The Link Between Numbers & Letters
Count the numerical values Of the letters in Nero’s name, And in “murdered his own mother”: You’ll find the sum is the same. This piece of doggerel, written on a wall in Rome around 60 CE, points to a widespread […]
What Is Consciousness?
One of the central themes of our age is consciousness. Mystics, scientists, philosophers alike have cast their eyes on this elusive entity, but no one seems quite able to say what it is. If you look up “consciousness” in a […]
Revisiting Joseph Campbell: The Power of Myth
Perhaps myth first arose out of the answers parents give to their children’s questions. Many of these are unanswerable: Why is water wet? Why is fire hot? Where does everything come from? Who is God? Because people like to tell […]