Goethe’s Theory of Colors

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  that the colors referred to as physiological pertain to the subject, the organ of sight,

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The Art of Ostad Elahi

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 tanbur ”,  yet he only played it for himself. Occasionally, his relatives and visitors would

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Mystical Stories of the Rose

Rose, the mystical flower, has been taken as the symbol of love, beauty and divine perfection since ancient antiquity.  Rose essence has been used in Persia since Zoroaster (circa 1000 BC) in cooking, medicine and various ceremonies. Washing the hands and face with rosewater for purification, sprinkling rose water on one another, drinking rose syrup, burning rose incense featured the 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 that the finest rose water and oil is extracted from what is

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The Transcendent Spirit of Spring in Ancient Persia

“ 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 prophet known with his sacred book, Avesta and having founded the monotheist religion in ancient

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Divinity and Final Judgement in Ancient Egypt

  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 immutable unity : nature, state, society, the individual and all forms of existence are seen

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Universe from the Eye of the Artist and the Physicist

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. 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 physicists acclaimed his work and marked it as the simplest up-to-date picture of the universe. In the

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Legend of Poinsettia

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 to church, candles in hand, singing hymns. The villagers were bringing gifts to place before

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The Guest House

“ The words you speak become the house you live in ” said  Hafez, and life in this fleeting house is blessedly described by Rumi : This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door

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Cruising Life

A most asked question in the history of humanity is  “What is the meaning of life? What are we doing here?” For some, the meaning is finding food and shelter, for others it is success in work or a happy settlement, and for another, it is living on the impulse –seeking pleasure whatever that signifies individually (for example, going across town for the chocolate that I particularly like instead of finishing an important job for me and others, or perpetual travelling for somebody else who otherwise becomes restless and meaningless at home, seeking to supplant meaning by buying another house

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The Healing Power of Nature

  The little happiness in life is sometimes found in the backyard. Just as planting a seed may flicker hope, a walk in nature may change our ordinary mood to a state of awe, or we may overcome by delight at the sight of the first rose bud in spring. The appeasing quality of nature kindles the human spirit as the marine biologist Rachel Carson (1907-1964) wisely  emphasized it : There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature –the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. “Clearly, nature calls to something very deep in

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