As Variously As Possible

A few words to listeners plus a bit more commentary on Henry Corbin's relation to historicism and Traditionalism.

As Variously As Possible - Episode 7 - Some Notes on Traditionalism - Part 1 by Tom Cheetham

To approach the question of "writing," both legible and illegible, along with the more basic question of signification, we need to greatly expand our sense of what reading is. One way to do that is to think about its history. How has the experience of reading changed since people first began doing it? Why is this important for us?

While you’re imagining you can’t believe or disbelieve. Imagination crosses out all this business of knowing and not knowing. When you get news in the imagination it doesn’t [bother you whether you] know it or don't know it. - Robert Duncan

Why we need the notion of Angels to keep us from idolatry and egotism - why God is such a dangerous idea, but necessary nonetheless.

Henry Corbin’s work was devoted to illustrating deep connections between the mystical traditions within Christianity and Islam and Judaism. He thought of this as similar to the attempts of early Christians to reconcile the stories in the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The traditional name for the underlying unity of the Gospels is the Harmonia evangelica. Corbin thought that Judaism, Christianity & Islam were all united by an underlying Harmonia Abrahamica: the harmony of the religions of Abraham.

A meditation on ignorance and humility and what they are good for: a gift of freedom to live and imagine richly in the mystery at the heart of things. It may seem like an odd time in America to be arguing for the necessity of ignorance - in part 2 we'll explain why this is dangerously wrong.

A meditation on ignorance and humility and what they are in the end good for, which is a gift of freedom to live and imagine richly in the presence of the mystery at the heart of things.

The phrase "poetic basis of mind" comes from the psychologist James Hillman (1926 - 2011). We'll explore the psychology of creative imagination, some of the ways language both controls and liberates our thought, the difference between literal truth and metaphoric or provisional knowledge, and why this matters in our individual lives and in the culture as a whole.

The phrase "poetic basis of mind" comes from the psychologist James Hillman (1926 - 2011). We'll explore the psychology of creative imagination, some of the ways language both controls and liberates our thought, the difference between literal truth and metaphoric or provisional knowledge, and why this matters in our individual lives and in the culture as a whole.