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Month: July 2012

Bruno and the Cosmic Mind

Bruno and the Cosmic Mind

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Blick auf den Genfer See, 1852, August Ludwig Erhard Boll (1805–1875) We cannot discuss Giordano Bruno’s theory of matter without including how it is related to his idea of a cosmic mind. Inundated by the overwhelming complexity of emerging patterns in Nature, Bruno refused to adopt the position that all was brought about by chance. In this, he would have agreed with Albert Einstein, who rejected the argument of Niels Bohr and the probabilistic theories of quantum mechanics. Bruno rejected…

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O Death, Where is Thy Sting?

O Death, Where is Thy Sting?

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Beard, William Holbrook ~ Phantom Crane, 1891, oil on canvas This spirit, being persistent along with matter and these being the one and the other indissoluble, it is impossible that anything should in any respect see corruption or come to death, in its substance, although in certain accidents everything changes face, and passes now into one composition, now into another, through now one disposition, now another, leaving off or taking up now this now that existence. Aristotelians, Platonists, and other…

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Musings On Consciousness

Musings On Consciousness

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Singularity Utopia What is consciousness? It is the state of being aware. For example, we are conscious of ourselves as Ego. Many times, we are unconscious (unaware) that we are also Shadow, Mother, Father, Wise Old Man, Child, and many others. These are archetypes of the unconscious. Most humans are not aware of themselves as being these Persons (and They are Persons). What is the origin of consciousness? How do we become aware of unconscious things? First of all, we…

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The Unus Mundus

The Unus Mundus

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When he created the concept of synchronicity, Jung laid a foundation which might lead us to see the complementary realms of psyche and matter as one reality. … Synchronistic events … seem to point towards a unitary aspect of existence which transcends our conscious grasp and which Jung has called the unus mundus (Psyche and Matter, by Marie Louise von Franz). Jung’s idea of synchronicity involves an acausal interconnectedness that is meaningful between matter and Soul.  This idea of the…

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The Importance of an Optimistic View of Matter

The Importance of an Optimistic View of Matter

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Big Reichenbach, by JMW Turner In my article, Two Kinds of Gnosticism, I distinguish between a pessimistic Gnosticism and an optimistic Gnosticism. We are most familiar with the pessimist type, the kind that portrays matter as a prison for the Soul. In this view, matter, including the human body, is tainted with evil. It is sinful and in need of redemption. This view is to be rejected. Matter, including the human body, is divine. God permeates every fiber of our…

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Bruno’s Theory of Matter

Bruno’s Theory of Matter

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Terrasse sur le lac Majeur, by Théodore Caruelle d’Aligny This will be the first of several articles on Bruno’s theory of matter and the cosmic mind. They are more my personal notes than formal essays.  Giordano Bruno formulated the most impressive theory of matter of any European philosopher, perhaps to this day. Using only his powers of speculation, Bruno formulated an amazingly powerful ontological theory that rejected Platonic dualism in favor of a strict monistic view of the universe. Of…

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Aurora, A Tragedy of Soul

Aurora, A Tragedy of Soul

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Old Man Grieving, by Vincent Van Gogh When I think of Aurora, I always think of the Roman goddess of dawn. After today, that beautiful image will be forever marred in the Psyche. The same kind of thing occurred with the wonderful image of the Columbine (from Latin columba “dove”), that indescribably lovely flower that flourishes at higher altitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. After April 20, 1999, the image metamorphosed into two insane monsters with guns. Today, something occurred in…

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Psychological Ideas

Psychological Ideas

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As a precursor to this article, it is suggested you read my articles, Ficino’s Idea of Soul and More on Ficino’s Idea of Soul. Just as a hammer “hammers” or a shovel “shovels,” a Soul “souls.” In other words, Psyche psychologizes. Soul is inextricably linked to its ideas, or its ideation. There is no separation between the action and the ideation of Soul. We have been conditioned to think that action and ideation are two distinct phenomena, but this is…

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Success and the Acorn

Success and the Acorn

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We hear so much about success! So many of us are striving for it, dressing up for it, climbing it’s ladder, hoping to attain it, aspiring for it, and a host of other upwardly mobile metaphors. On the web, there are personal development resources, life coaches, entrepreneurial tool kits, resources galore! And who doesn’t want to be successful in life, have “things,” be affluent, be respected. Success is certainly a worthy goal. But is wealth, fame, and honor what makes…

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Two Kinds Of Gnosticism

Two Kinds Of Gnosticism

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Author Peter J. French writes,  The texts themselves actually outline two opposing ways of achieving gnosis. ‘Optimist’ gnosticism accepts the universe as divine; God reveals himself in everything, and through his intellect, man can become like God in order to comprehend him. By a religious approach to the universe and by inscribing a representation of the universe within his own mens, man can ascend and unite with god. ‘Pessimist’ gnosticism, on the other hand, rejects the world as evil, and…

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