Spica 3.2 PDF
Spica 3.2 PDF
regulars
The cover shows a detail from an 11th Century illustration of a labyrinth in a copy of
Boethius Consolation, produced at Abingdon Abbey
Rod Suskin
[email protected]
by Mai Lootah
Numerous verses in the Holy Qurn describe celestial phenomena such as the luminaries,
planets, zodiacal signs, constellations, stars and comets.However, in a srah (chapter) titled
an-Najm (the Star), what was believed by many Qur'n commentators to be al-Shi'r or
Sirius was singularly mentioned, thus suggesting its possible importance to pagan Arabia.
Therefore, this paper explores the theological and mythological significance of Sirius
through a critical comparative study of three primary sources belonging to different
cultures and historical eras, namely the works of Claudius Ptolemy (96-168 CE), ibn-
Qutaba al-Dnawar s (828-889 CE) and Bernadette Brady. While the mystical significance
of al-Shi'r to pagan Arabs was explored by al-Dnawar, Brady examined how certain
astronomical phenomena were reflected in 'Sirius-based' theology and calendars. In
contrast, the religious and magical elements of Sirius seem to have been deliberately
expelled from Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos in his attempt to secularise astrology.
The aim of this paper is to explore the names and characteristics attributed
to Sirius, focusing on its theological and mythological significance, comparing
and contrasting three texts; Claudius Ptolemys (96-168 CE) Tetrabiblos, ibn-
Qutaba al-Dnawar s (828-889 CE) Al-Anw fi Mawsim al-Arab or On Astro-
Meteorology of the Arabs , and Bradys Book of Fixed Stars by Bernadette Brady. 1
Noted Qurn commentators agreed that Sirius is the star referred to in Srat an-
2 Ab Jafar al-Tabar, Al-Tabar Qurn Commentary: The Complete Elucidation about the
Interpretation of the Verses of the Qurn, vol.22, (Cairo: Dr Hajr l al-Tiba wal-Nahsr wal-
Tawz, 2001), [hereafter al-Tabar]: p.85; Abu al-Fida Ismal ibn Omar ibn-Kathr,
Commentary on the Great Qurn, vol.7, (Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmya, 1998), [hereafter
ibn-Kathr]: p.433; Shihb al-Dn Mahmd ibn Abullah al-Als, The Essence of Meaning in
the Interpretation of the Great Qurn and the Seven Holy Verses being Srat al-Ftiha, vol.14,
(Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmya, 1995), [hereafter al-Als, The Essence of Meaning in the
Interpretation of the Great Qurn and the Seven Holy Verses being Surat al-Ftiha]: p.68.; al-
Als, The Essence of Meaning in the Interpretation of the Great Qurn and the Seven Holy Verses
of Surat al-Ftiha, p.68.
3 al-Tabar, p.5; ibn-Kathr, p.410; The Qur'n, trans. by Saheeh International (Birmingham:
Maktabah Booksellers and Publishers, 2010), [hereafter The Qurn]: 53:1; 53:49; al-Als,
The Essence of Meaning in the Interpretation of the Great Qurn and the Seven Holy Verses being
Surat al-Ftiha, p.44.
4 Ab Rayhn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Brn, The Chronology, (London: W. H. Allen &
7 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, trans. Wilson, I.XI; Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, trans. Ashmand, I.XI.
8 Richard Hinckley Allen, Star-Names and their Meanings (New York: G. E. Stechert, 1899),
[hereafter Hinckley]: pp.117-118.
9 Qu in ore fulgentissima est, et vocatur Sirius, et est subrufa.
Christian Peters, Friedrich Heinrich and Edward Ball Knobel, Ptolemy's Catalogue of Stars:
A Revision of the Almagest (Washington: Press of Gibson Brothers, 1915), [hereafter Ptolemy,
Almagest]: p.46.
10 Richard J. Evans, In Defence of History (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999),
Chronologie Orientalischer Vlker Von Albrun, ed. by Carl Eduard Sachau (Leipzig:
Brockhaus, 18780, [hereafter al-Brn, Chronologie Orientalischer Vlker Von Albrun]: p.226.
14Abd al-Rahmn bin Omar al-Sf, Book of Fixed Stars (Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmya,
FIG. 1. al-Shir al-Yammna depicted as the alpha star in the constellation of al-
Kalb al-Akbar or Canis Major. Abd al-Rahmn bin Omar al-Sf, 'Book of Fixed
Stars', Manuscript (Istanbul, 1130), 3493, fol.124v, Topkapi Sarayi Mzesi.
Like Ptolemy, Brady classified Sirius as the alpha star of the Canis Major
which is one of Orions hunting dogs; not a star in Orion or al-Jabbar, as stated by
al-Dnawar. 18 According to Brady, Egyptians called it the Shining One and the
Scorcher, and other civilizations called it The Dog of the Sun; its unmatchable
radiance capturing the imagination of ancients. 19 Hence, it could be assumed that
the Greek adjective , which translates to scorcher, was either of Greco-
York: NYU Press, 2012), [hereafter Campion, Astrology and Cosmology in the Worlds
Religions]: pp.84; 87.
22 Nicholas Campion, History of Western Astrology: The Ancient and Classical Worlds, vol.1,
(New York: Continuum Intl Pub Group, 2008), [hereafter Campion, History of Western
Astrology: The Ancient and Classical Worlds]: pp.208-211; Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, trans.
Ashmand, I.XI.
23 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, trans. Ashmand, I.XI.
24 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, trans. Ashmand, I.IV.
25 Campion, History of Western Astrology: The Ancient and Classical Worlds, p.209; Anthony
Long, 'Astrology: arguments pro and contra', Science and Speculation, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1982, pp. 165-92.
26 al-Dnawar, p.50; The Qurn, 53:49; al-Tabar, p.85; ibn-Kathr, p.433; al-Als, The
Essence of Meaning in the Interpretation of the Great Qurn and the Seven Holy Verses being
Surat al-Ftiha, p.68.
BEGINNING CONTENTS ---------------------------- SPICA 8
prophet Mohammad. 27 The Qurn commentator al-Zakhamshar (1074-1143 CE)
added that Mant, a pagan goddess mentioned in verse twenty of Srat an-Najm,
was worshipped because it was thought to be connected to stellar anw. 28 Hence,
the phrase And that is He who is the Lord of Sirius was meant to refute stellar-
religions and replace them with monotheism; only Allah is worthy of worship, for
he is the Creator God of stars; Sirius the brightly shining star included.29
On the other hand, the adamant preservation of the calendar of Sirius for
millennia reflected the supreme status of the star in Ancient Egypt. According to
Richard A. Parker and Campion, Egyptians occasionally added an intercalary
month to their luni-stellar year to ensure that the heliacal rising of Sirius; which
represented the goddess Sothis according to Parker; was synchronized to the
annual flooding of the Nile; a topic also explored by Brady. 30 Since heliacal rising
was perceived as an expression of Horus, Brady elaborated, great temples were
built in alignment to the heliacal rising of important stars. 31 A similar modern
view; which may lack accuracy; is mentioned by Hinckley who added that
astronomer and archaeologist Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer (1836-1920) may have
found seven temples in Egypt possibly aligned to the heliacal rising of Sirius. 32
Thus, preserving the Sirius-based calendar was crucial to maintain the
immortality of Isis as Brady believed; and to protect Maat, cosmic order
personified as Campion opined. 33
Likewise, Sirius had a significance role in the Arabic calendar and seasonal
changes of Arabia. According to Andalusian lexicographer and philologist ibn
Sdah (c.1007-1066 CE), as quoted by al-Dnwar, Arabs said, when al-Shir rises,
the sand becomes dry, the water becomes stagnant, and date palms bear fruit. 34
Al-Dnawar elaborated writing that Arabs linked the heliacal rising of stars,
27 Mahmd Shukr al-Als, The Fulfillment of Desire on Knowledge of the Affairs of Pagan
Arabs, ed. by Muhammad Bahgat al-Athar, Vol. 2 (Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmya, 1992),
[hereafter al-Als, The Fulfillment of Desire on Knowledge of the Affairs of Pagan Arabs]: p.239.
28 Abl-Qssim Mahmd ibn Amr ibn Ahmad al-Zakhamshar Jr Allah, xplaining the
Mysteries of the Revealed Verses of Qurn and its Interpretation, Vol. 4 (Beirut: al-Kitb
al-Arab, 1407 Hijri): pp.422-423; The Qurn, 53:20.
29 The Qurn, 53:49; al-Tabar, p.85; al-Als, The Essence of Meaning in the Interpretation of the
Great Qurn and the Seven Holy Verses being Surat al-Ftiha, p.68.
30 Richard A. Parker, 'Ancient Egyptian Astronomy', Philosophical Transactions for the Royal
43 al-Tabar, pp.6-7.
44 al-Tabar, p.6.
45 Brady, p.84.
46 Brady, p.84.
47 Brady, p.85.
48 Nicholas Campion, History of Western Astrology: The Medieval and Modern Worlds, Vol. 2
(New York: Continuum Intl Pub Group, 2008), [hereafter Campion, History of Western
Astrology: The Medieval and Modern Worlds]: p.253.
11 SPICA ----------------------------BEGINNING CONTENTS
channel for itself, as Campion quoted.49 Similarly, Brady believed that Sirius
activated in a horoscope triggers the manifestation of the universal theme of Isis
in the individuals life. 50 A comparable approach is seen in earlier modern
astrology literature, such as Vivian Robsons (1890-1942) The Fixed Stars and
Constellations, for Robson wrote that a prominent Sirius in a persons horoscope
indicates both great profit and reputation, and death by fiery cutting weapons
or from beasts, thus indirectly echoing the dramatic theme of the star. 51
On the other hand, al-Dnawar, who was also a respected scholar of Hadth;
the study of the prophets deeds and sayings; opposed the belief of pagan
mythology citing prophet Mohammad who said, Among my people there are
four characteristics belonging to paganism which they do not abandon; boasting
of high rank, reviling other peoples' genealogies, seeking rain by stars, and
wailing.52 Hence, al-Dnawar concluded that while it was theologically
acceptable to anticipate rainfall and other weather patterns in accordance to the
morning setting of stars, the pious Muslim should avoid believing in stellar pagan
mythology or attributing any influential power to star and planets, for that would
be blasphemous. 53 Furthermore, Al-Als added that belief in anwa was a trait of
pre-Islamic Arabic Sabaean tribes who did not travel or inhabit a land without
looking at the morning setting of stars.54
In conclusion, the evidence presented in this essay has suggested that while
the religious, magical and mythological elements of Sirius were deliberately
expelled from Ptolemys Tetrabiblos, they were richly present in the work of al-
Dnawar and Brady. Al-Dnawar investigated the significance of al-Shir
al-Ubr in pagan Arabia and its relationship to seasonal changes in the Arabian
Peninsula, exposing a lore of stellar worship and divination that was deep-rooted
in the Arabian Peninsula, and not neglecting to demonstrate his strong
disapproval of such practices being a scholar of Hadth. Brady in contrast
examined Sirius-based theology, mythology and calendars, revealing how these
reflected astronomical phenomena, particularly the precession of the equinoxes
49 C.G. Jung, Wotan in Civilisation in Transition, Collected Works, Vol. 10, para 395 as cited
in Campion, History of Western Astrology: The Medieval and Modern Worlds, p.253.
50 Brady, pp.85-86.
51 V. E. Robson, The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology (Maryland: Astrology Classics,
2005): pp.208-9.
52 Muslim ibn al-ajjj Ab al-asan al-Qushar al-Nasbr, Sahh Muslim, Mohammad
Fod Abd al-Bq ed., vol.2, book 11 of Funerals (Beirut: Dr Ihy al-Turth al-Arab,
1955), hadith no. 934 as cited in al-Dnawar, p.18.
53 al-Dnawar, pp.17-18.
54 al-Als, The Fulfillment of Desire on Knowledge of the Affairs of Pagan Arabs, Vol. 2, p.223.
Works cited:
Arabic Sources:
al-Als, Mahmd Shukr. The Fulfillment Desire on Knowledge of the Affairs of Pagan Arabs.
Vols.2 & 3. Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmya, 1992.
al-Als, Shihb al-Dn Mahmd ibn Abullah. The Essence of Meaning in the Interpretation of
the Great Qurn and the Seven Holy Verses being Srat al-Ftiha. Vol.14. Beirut: Dr al-Kutub
al-Ilmya, 1995.
al-Dnawar , Ab Mohammad Abdulla ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba. On Astro-Meteorology of
the Arabs. Baghdad: Dar al-Shon al-Thaqafa al-Amah, 1988.
Al-Nasbr, Muslim ibn al-ajjj Ab al-asan al-Qushar. Sahh Muslim. Edited by
Mohammad Fod Abd al-Bq. Vol.2. Book 11 of Funerals. Beirut: Dr Ihy al-Turth al-
Arab, 1955.
al-Sf, Abd al-Rahmn bin Omar. ook of Fixed Stars. Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmya,
1981.
al-Tabar, Ab Jafar. Al-Tabar Qurn Commentary: The Complete Elucidation about the
Interpretation of the Verses of the Qurn. Vol.22. Cairo: Dr Hajr l al-Tiba wal-Nahsr wal-
Tawz, 2001.
al-Zakhamshar Jr Allah, Abl-Qssim Mahmd ibn Amr ibn Ahmad. xplaining the
Mysteries of the Revealed Verses of the Qurn and its Interpretation. Vol.9. Beirut: al-Kitb
al-Arab, 1407 Hijri.
ibn Kathr, Ab al-Fida Ismal ibn Omar. Commentary on the Great Qurn. Vol.7. Beirut:
Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmya, 1998.
Ibn Sdah, Ab-l-Hassan Al ibn Ismal. Al-Mukhasas on the Arabic Philology. Vol.9. Bulaq:
al-Maktbaah al-Kobr al-Amra, 1319 Hijri.
55 Evans, p.78.
56 Varisco, p.25.
13 SPICA ----------------------------BEGINNING CONTENTS
English Sources:
The Qurn. Translated by Saheeh International. Birmingham: Maktabah Booksellers and
Publishers, 2010.
al-Brn, Ab Rayhn Muhammad ibn Ahmad. The Chronology. London: W. H. Allen &
Co., 1879.
al-Brn, Ab Rayhn Muhammad ibn Ahmad. Chronologie Orientalischer Vlker Von
Albrun. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1878.
Brady, Bernadette. Brady's Book of Fixed Stars. Maine: Weiser Books, 1998.
Campion, Nicholas. Astrology and Cosmology in the Worlds Religions. New York: NYU Press,
2012.
---History of Western Astrology: The Ancient and Classical Worlds. Vol.1. New York:
Continuum Intl Pub Group, 2008.
---History of Western Astrology: The Medieval and Modern Worlds. Vol.2. New York:
Continuum Intl Pub Group, 2008.
Hinckley, Richard Allen. Star-Names and their Meanings. New York: G. E. Stechert, 1899.
Liddell, H. G. and R. Scott. An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon. Connecticut: Martino
Publishing, 2013.
Parker, Richard A. Ancient Egyptian Astronomy. Philosophical Transactions for the Royal
Society of London, Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (1974): 51-65.
Peters, Christian, Friedrich Heinrich and Edward Ball Knobel. Ptolemy's Catalogue of Stars:
A Revision of the Almagest. Washington: Press of Gibson Brothers, 1915.
Ptolemy, Claudius. Ptolemys Tetrabiblos, Or Quadripartite. Translated by J. M. Ashmand.
Paris: Davis and Dikson, 1822.
Ptolomaeus, Claudius. The Tetrabiblos; Or, Quadripartite of Ptolemy, Tr., with Notes, by J.
Wilson. Translated by James Wilson. London: William Hughes, 1828.
Robson, V. E. The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology. Maryland: Astrology Classics,
2005.
Varisco, Daniel Martin. The Origin of the anw in Arab Tradition. Studia Islamica, no. 74
(1991): 5-28.
Image:
al-Sf, Abd al-Rahmn bin Omar. 'Book of Fixed Stars'. Manuscript. Istanbul, 1130. 3493.
fol.124v. Topkapi Sarayi Mzesi.
Introduction
The aim of this research project is to explore whether a labyrinth can be used
for divination - by establishing whether it is a sacred space, whether it has the
potential for divination and whether divination occurs when I walk the Abingdon
Labyrinth in St Michael and All Angels Church, Abingdon, Oxfordshire on 9th
and 16th December 2014 as part of the churchs Advent celebrations.1
Barbara Tedlock asserts that all people in all times and places have practised
divination as a way of exploring the unknown, making decisions, solving
problems and diagnosing ailments and identifies the labyrinth as one of
1St Michael and All Angels Church, Abingdon, Oxfordshire website - http://
www.stmichaels-abingdon.org.uk/ (accessed 6 January 2015).
hundreds of forms of divination. 2 Helen Curry claims that there is currently a
revival in labyrinth walking - with more than a million people walking the one
thousand plus labyrinths in the United States. 3 The World-wide Labyrinth
Locator, an online database of 4600 labyrinths in 75+ countries, shows that 72% of
the constructed labyrinths in England (with a date) have been built or restored
since 2000, which appears to support her claim. 4 One of these is the six-path,
seven-wall Abingdon Labyrinth, constructed by the Labyrinth Builders in 2008
from an illustration in Boethiuss Consolation of Philosophy produced in the early
11th century at Abingdon Abbey. 5
Methodology
My main primary source is the Abingdon Labyrinth and my
phenomenological experience walking it with the intention, as Christopher Tilley
suggests, of understanding and connecting with it through ordinary human
embodied experience. 6 I recorded my experiences in a journal. My other primary
7 Lauren Artress, Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Sacred Tool, (New
York: Riverhead Books, 1995), [hereafter, Artress, Sacred Path]; Janet Bord, Mazes and
Labyrinths of the World, (London: Latimer New Dimensions Ltd, 1976), [hereafter, Bord,
Mazes]; Helen Curry, The Way; Adrian Fisher, Mazes and Labyrinths, Oxford: Shire
Publications, 2012 [2004, 2008, 2011], [hereafter, Fisher, Mazes]; Jrgen Hohmuth, Labyrinths
and Mazes, (Munich, London, New York: Prestel Verlag, 2000), [hereafter, Hohmuth,
Labyrinths]; Herman Kern, Through the Labyrinth, (Munich, London, New York: Prestel
Verlag, 2000), [hereafter, Kern, Labyrinth]; Sig Lonegren, Labyrinths, Ancient Myths and
Modern Uses, Glastonbury, Gothic Image Publications, 2007 [1991, 1996, 2001], [hereafter,
Lonegren, Labyrinths]; Helen Raphael Sands, Walking the Healing Labyrinth, London: Gaia
Books, 2005 [2001], [hereafter, Sands, Walking]; Virginia Westbury, Labyrinths: Ancient Paths
of Wisdom and Peace, (London: Aurum Press 2001), [hereafter, Westbury, Labyrinths].
8 Helen Curry, The Way, pp. 38-99.
9 Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, New York: Harcourt Brace,
1959, [hereafter, Eliade, Sacred]; Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life,
1982, [hereafter, Durkheim, Elementary]; Aristotle, Physics Book IV, Part 4 [hereafter,
Aristotle, Physics]; Patrick Curry, Divination, Patrick Curry, Enchantment in Tolkein and
Middle Earth in Stratford Caldecott and Thomas Honegger (eds.), Tolkiens The Lord of the
Rings: Sources of Inspiration (Zurich: Walking Tree Books, 2008), [hereafter, Patrick Curry,
Tolkein]; Tilley, Landscape; David Abrams, The Spell of the Sensuous, New York: First
Vintage Books, 1997 [1996], [hereafter, Abrams, Spell]; Anthony Thorley and Celia Gunn,
Sacred Sites, An Overview: Report for the Gaia Foundation, 2007, The Gaia Foundation, 2008
[2007], [hereafter, Thorley, Overview]; Anthony Thorley, Chantal Allison, Petra Stapp and
John Wadsworth, Clarifying Divinatory Dialogue: A Proposal for a Distinction between
Practitioner Divination and Essential Divination [hereafter, Thorley, Divinatory] in Curry,
Divination; and Artress, Sacred Path.
10 Kim Etherington, Becoming a Reflexive Researcher: Using Our Selves in Research, (London:
11 Russell T. McCutcheon (ed.), The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion: a Reader,
(London: Cassell 1999), [hereafter McCutcheon, Insider/Outsider], p. 10 and David J.
Hufford, The Scholarly Voice and the Personal Voice: Reflexivity in Belief Studies in
McCutcheon, Insider/Outsider, p. 294.
12 Charlotte Aull Davies, Reflexive Ethnography: A Guide to Researching Selves and Others,
Labyrinths, p.8; Kern, Labyrinth, p.23; Lonegren, Labyrinths, p. 15; Sands, Walking, p. 24;
Westbury, Labyrinths, p. 8.
BEGINNING CONTENTS ---------------------------- SPICA 18
literary references to labyrinths for example, Ariadnes labyrinthine dancing
place in Homers Iliad and Ovids Ariadne and The Minotaur myth in his
Metamorphoses - as evidence to establish this timeline for early labyrinths. 17
Individual accounts of labyrinth walking vary. Helen Curry says that her first
labyrinth walk was life-changing. 18 David Willis McCullough has never
experienced a Saul-on-the-road-to-Damascus revelation but has recalled
good/bad memories and gained a sense of moving through a design as old as the
human imagination...19 One woman reports that when her husband walked a
17 Bord, Mazes, pp. 9-10 and 15-36; Helen Curry, The Way, pp.9 and 21-23; Homer,
Chapmans Homer: The Iliad, Volume 1, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998, [1956],
eighteenth book, line, line 536, p. 387; Kern, Labyrinth, pp. 23 and 67-75: Ovid,
Metamorphoses, London: Penguin, 2004, pp. 301-303; Jeff Saward, Foreward in Lonegren,
Labyrinths, p. 1; Virginia Westbury, Labyrinths: Ancient Paths of Wisdom and Peace, (London:
Aurum Press), 2001, pp. 23-29.
18 Helen Curry, The Way, p. 9.
19 David Willis McCullough, The Unending Mystery: A Journey Through Labyrinths, New
20 Guest BBB, Gender Differences, Readers Respond: Experiences Walking the Labyrinth,
Holistic Healing, About.com http://healing.about.com/u/ua/labyrinths/walking-
labyrinths.htm (accessed 26 December 2014).
21 Mike Oppenheimer, Enter the Labyrinth, Let Us Reason Ministries - http://
www.letusreason.org/Nam30.htm (accessed 26 December 2014) and Greg Griffin, Stand
Firm is Ten Years Old Today, Stand Firm in Faith - http://www.standfirminfaith.com/?/
sf/page/31207 (accessed 26 December 2014).
22 Eliade, Sacred, pp. 20 and 26.
23 Durkheim, Elementary, p. 129 cited in Thorley, Overview, p. 31 and Aristotle, Physics on
26 P.J. Heather, Divination, Folklore 65, number 1 (1954), p. 10 and Patrick Curry, Divination,
p. 4.
27 Anthony Thorley, Perceptions of Divination in the Astrological Consultation: A Pilot
Study, Correlation 24 (2), 2006/7, p. 6 and Carmen Blacker and Michael Loewe, Oracles and
Divination, Boulder: Shambhala 1981, p. 1.
28 Thorley, Divinatory, p. 253.
29 Eliade, Sacred, p. 21.
30 Eliade, Sacred, p. 21 and Thorley, Overview, p. 31.
31 Thorley, Divinatory in Curry, Divination, pp. 254, 255 and 261.
32 John W Rhodes, Commonly Reported Effects of Labyrinth Walking, Labyrinth Pathways,
2nd Edition, June 2008, The Labyrinth Society website [hereafter, Rhodes, Effects] - https://
zdi1.zd-cms.com/cms/res/files/382/Commonly-Reported-Effects-of-Labyrinth-Walking-
Labyrinth-Pathways-July-2008-3.pdf (accessed 26 December 2014).
33 Lonegren, Labyrinths, p.7
felt like being in the holy of holies, the place which Eliade posits as the imago
mundi, the true world and quoting Flavius Josphesuss symbolism of the
Jerusalem Temple, equates with heaven. 37
My second hierophany was towards the end of my first walk when, not
wanting it to end, I felt the labyrinth tug at my ankle to stay within its boundary
who wants to come and see on the final Tuesday of every month (except December) and
include group prayers/meditations, shared silences and labyrinth walks.
45 Authors journal.
page.
57 Eliade, Sacred, pp. 42-43.
58 Tilley, Landscape, pp. 13-14 and Abrams, Spell, pp. 50-53 and 262.
59 Thorley, Divinatory in Curry, Divination, pp. 254, 255 and 261.
60 Patrick Curry, Tolkein, pp. 99-100 and on Patrick Currys website, pp. 1-2 - http://
In the article"What do Japanese Astrologers Believe about the Astrology that they
Practice?" featured in: Spica, Vol. II No. 2 AUTUMN 2014, page 43 of the publication
states that the respondent:
"Miraa had actually undertaken experiments where divinatory readings generated
using arbitrary non-traditional methods were compared to ones produced authentically
using astrological charts. He found that when the diviner tries to create answers from
nothing, just make them up, its very difficult to get it right; whereas with readings based
on traditional astrological methods its quite easy to apply, and get right answers."
Similar claims are made on page 45 of the same article.
Upon seeing this content Miraa contacted me because he wanted to clarify his
position on two points:
- Miraa has never conducted experiments of this kind. His comments about the
differences between astrological content that is based on traditional methods of symbolism
and content that is arbitrarily made-up were based on observation and intuition and not
on experimentation.
- Miraa feels that traditional methods of divination are not specifically more
accurate than alternative or arbitrary methods. However, in his experience the consumers
and clients exhibit greater satisfaction and resonance with readings and content which
originates from a traditional basis.
Neither the interviewer nor the respondent used the term experiment during the
interview. In attempting to summarise the interview content experiment and similar
terms were applied as I wrote.
These complications seemed to arise from within the nature of language and
expression: the difference between what one person thinks they are saying; what the other
thinks they are hearing; and how these differences are then at risk of being magnified when
interview content is written up.
Review of three source documents on the astrological planet Mars.
by Akindynos Kaniamos
The following textual analysis of three primary source documents on the astrological
planet Mars seeks to elaborate how the range of meanings and functions ascribed to this
planet has evolved throughout the history of western astrology. Beginning with Ptolemy's
scientific and naturalistic approach in the second century CE, followed by Marsilio Ficino's
Neoplatonic and magical frame of reference in the Renaissance, and finally leading to the
exploration of Liz Greene's psychological perspective in the early twenty-first century, the
astrological interpretation of Mars varies. In spite of the established consensus among
astrologers on the energising aspect of the planet, each interpretation appears to be rooted
in the philosophical and cosmological context favoured by the astrologer in question, to
such an extent that the nature of the 'Red Planet' can be radically transformed and
reinvented throughout each document.
Introduction
This paper reviews three source documents on the astrological planet Mars,
each one anchored within a different philosophical and cosmological context. In
the first place, Mars will be examined in the scientific and principally naturalistic
perspective of the Tetrabiblos (meaning 'Four Books' in Greek), also known as the
Apotelesmatika, written in Greek around 120 CE by the Graeco-Egyptian
mathematician, geographer and astrologer Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria (c.80-
c.158 CE).1 The Stoic and Aristotelian dimension of his interpretation of Mars will
be put forth, as well as Pythagorean and Platonic aspects of it. Secondly, Mars will
be explored within the Neoplatonic, Hermetic and magical frame of reference of
The Book of Life (Liber de Vita), composed in Latin in 1489 by the Florentine scholar,
1' Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, ed. and trans. by F. E. Robbins (Cambridge, MA and London:
Harvard University Press, Loeb Classical Library, 2001 [1940]. [hereafter, Ptolemy,
Tetrabiblos]
priest, astrologer and magus Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499). 2 Finally, Mars will be
viewed in its psychological and archetypal dimensions within the framework of
the seminar 'Thugs and Warriors', given by the contemporary American-British
astrologer and Jungian analyst Liz Greene, and held on 18 March 2001 at Regents
College, London as part of the seminar programme of the Centre for
Psychological Astrology. 3
The primary concern of this analysis is to gather insights into the perceived
nature of the astrological Mars in different philosophical and cosmological
traditions. Mars, often described as the 'Red Planet' because of its reddish
colouring, was named after the Roman god of war. The mythological association
of the planet with warlike divinities, such as the Babylonian Nergal and the Greek
Ares, matches the prevailing astrological interpretation of Mars as the planet of
energy and aggression. In the twentieth century, the eminent British astrologer
Alan Leo qualified Mars as 'the Energiser', while the influential Australian
astrologer Bernadette Brady has suggested that the key principle for this planet
lies in 'focused action, directed motivation, [and] drive'. 4 In spite of the
established consensus among astrologers on the energising aspect of Mars, the
range of meanings and functions ascribed to this planet throughout the centuries
can be quite extensive.
Claudius Ptolemy
Acclaimed by Owen Gingerich as 'one of the major figures in early science',
Ptolemy can be viewed as a genuine observer who managed to reconcile
discordant philosophical and cosmological models into one unified astrological
theory. 5 Ptolemy adopts in his astrology the naturalistic perspective set out by
Pliny the Elder in Naturalis Historia (first century CE) and transposes it within an
Aristotelian cosmos in which, as Nicholas Campion argues, 'nature, through such
2 Ficino, M. The Book of Life, trans. by Charles Boer (Dallas: Spring Publications, 1980).
[Hereafter Ficino, The Book
of Life]; Ficino, M. On obtaining Life from the Heavens, ed. by Angela Voss, trans. by
Carol V. Kaske and
John R. Clark in Marsilio Ficino (Berkley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2006). [Hereafter
Ficino, 'On obtaining Life from the Heavens'].
3' Bell, L., D. Costello, L. Greene and M. Reinhart. The Mars Quartet: Four Seminars on the
Astrology of the Red Planet (London: Centre for Psychological Astrology Press, 2001). p.
167-249 [Hereafter, Liz Greene, 'Thugs and Warriors'].
4' Leo, A. The Art of Synthesis (Edinburgh: International Publishing Company, 1949 [1912])
p. 5.
5' Gingerich, O. 'The Trouble with Ptolemy' in Isis, Vol.93, N.1 (March 2002), pp. 71.
6' Campion, N. A History of Western Astrology Vol.1: The Ancient World (London and New
York:
Continuum, 2008), p.207-9.[hereafter Campion, A History of Western Astrology Vol.1]
7' Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, I.4.18, p. 37. [The order of the heavenly bodies followed by Ptolemy
is Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon: see Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, p.37, n.1].
8' Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, I.5.19, p. 39.
9' Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, I.6.20, p. 41.
10' Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, I.7.20-21, p. 43.
11' Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, I.7.20-21, p. 43.
12' Riley, M. 'Science and Tradition in the Tetrabiblos', Proceedings of the American
Philosophical
Society, Vol.132, N.1 (Mar. 1988), pp. 70.
13' Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, I.17.37-38, pp. 79-83.
14' Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, I.17.38, p. 81.
15' Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, I.18.41, p. 87.
16' Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, I.19.42, p. 91.
BEGINNING CONTENTS ---------------------------- SPICA 32
Throughout the Tetrabiblos, Mars is viewed principally as a malefic planet
producing calamitous effects by means of its destructive hot and dry nature in
various fields of life. When he assumes rulership of the predicted event alone, the
planet brings about wars, capture, fevers, violent deaths, murder and robbery. 17
Similarly, under certain astrological configurations, Mars is mainly or partially
implicated in weakness or loss of the father, sickness or sudden death of the
mother, the birth of monsters, or of children who do not survive. 18 Mars can
equally shorten the length of life, render foreign travel dangerous, kill by means
of fever, sudden strokes, haemorrhages, miscarriages, or pestilences, and is
associated with the fifth age of life, between 41 and 56 years of age, introducing
misery, severity and troubles in the soul and the body. 19 Besides the fatalistic
character of his views that link Mars to unavoidable external events or situations,
Ptolemy was further influenced by the Stoics through their concept of cosmic
sympathy, the organic interrelation of all phenomena in the universe.
Consequently, he associated Mars with diseases resonating with violence and
heat, such as 'blindness from a blow, a thrust, iron, or burning'. 20 Furthermore, in
his chapter on the quality of action, Ptolemy maintained the room is now so that
Mars 'sympathises' with professions whose essence relates to fire, mines, iron, the
military, and various crafts. 21 Last but not least, the Platonic legacy of an ensouled
cosmos is indicated in the connection of celestial mechanics with the quality of the
soul. 22 As Campion suggests, 'when Mars dominated the soul, Ptolemy argued,
the individual would display the planet's qualities, whether positive or negative,
either blind aggression or great courage'. 23
Marsilio Ficino
During the High Italian Renaissance, Marsilio Ficino's principal inquiry
throughout The Book of Life was the harmonisation of physical and spiritual
existence within the divine heavenly order. Following Ptolemy, Ficino often
groups Mars with Saturn as mostly malefic. As Thomas Moore remarks, '[Ficino]
warns against the influence of Mars and relatively few times this planet is
24' Moore, T. The Planets Within: The Astrological Psychology of Marsilio Ficino (Great
Barrington:
Lindisfarne Books, 1989 [1982]), p.183.
25' Ficino. 'On obtaining Life from the Heavens'], p.117.
26 Ficino. The Book of Life, p.93, 118.
27 Ficino. The Book of Life, p.105, 113.
28 Ficino. The Book of Life, p.134.
29 Ficino. The Book of Life, p.134.
30 Ficino. 'On obtaining Life from the Heavens', p.118.
31 See respectively; Ficino. 'On obtaining Life from the Heavens', p.118; Ficino. The Book of
Life, p.119.
32 Ficino, 'On obtaining Life from the Heavens', p.133.
43' Curry, P. and R. Willis. Astrology, Science and Culture: Pulling Down the Moon (Oxford
and New
York: Berg, 2004), p.73.
44' Liz Greene, 'Thugs and Warriors', p.168.
45' Liz Greene, 'Thugs and Warriors', p.169-170.
46 Barbault, A. De la Psychanalyse a l'Astrologie [From Psychoanalysis to Astrology]. (Paris:
Seuil, 1961), p.114-
117.
47' Liz Greene, 'Thugs and Warriors', p.175-176.
48' Liz Greene, 'Thugs and Warriors', p.177-186. [For the notion of the archetype; Jung, C.G.
52' See respectively Liz Greene, 'Thugs and Warriors', pp. 189-191, 217-217, 225, 230.
53' Liz Greene, 'Thugs and Warriors', p.235-237.
54' Jung, C.G. The Shadow in Aion [CW9ii], trans. by R.F.C. Hull (New York: Princeton
University
' Press, 1969), p.17.
55' Liz Greene, 'Thugs and Warriors', p.242.
56' Liz Greene, 'Thugs and Warriors', p.249.
57' Curry, P. and R. Willis. Astrology, Science and Culture: Pulling Down the Moon (Oxford
and New
York: Berg, 2004), p.74.
37 SPICA ----------------------------BEGINNING CONTENTS
put forward, along with Ptolemy's syncretism combining equally Stoic,
Pythagorean and Platonic influences in the astrological interpretation. Mars has
subsequently been explored in the Neoplatonic and Hermetic context of Marsilio
Ficino's Book of Life, not only as a malefic planet but primarily as a divine entity
mirrored in the soul. Also, he importance of astral magic through which one can
obtain celestial gifts has been additionally examined here. Finally, Mars has been
regarded as a Jungian archetype of self-assertiveness and autonomy. In the
psychological and mythological perspective of Liz Greene's seminar, 'Thugs and
Warriors', the analysis has focused on the pathologies related to the planet on
individual and transpersonal levels, which constitute its so-called 'malefic' aspect
when Mars is in difficulty for the planet to emerge as a solar ally. The richness of
the primary documents, their similarities and their cosmological and
philosophical divergences on the nature of Mars can highlight the passionate
temperament of the Red Planet in western astrology.
Works cited
Primary Sources
Bell, L., D. Costello, L. Greene and M. Reinhart. The Mars Quartet: Four Seminars on the
Astrology of the Red Planet (London: Centre for Psychological Astrology Press, 2001).
Ficino, M. The Book of Life, trans. by Charles Boer (Dallas: Spring Publications, 1980).
Ficino, M. On obtaining Life from the Heavens, ed. by Angela Voss, trans. by Carol V.
Kaske and
John R. Clark in Marsilio Ficino (Berkley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2006).
Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, ed. and trans. by F. E. Robbins (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard
University Press, Loeb Classical Library, 2001 [1940]).
Secondary Sources
This essay discusses whether the Kumik lodge is a sacred space. Built inside a skyscraper
that headquarters Canadian government aboriginal affairs administration, it overlooks the
sacred waterfalls Asticou also known as Great Kettle of Boiling Water or Chaudire Falls, in the
Ottawa River landscape. French explorers met Algonquin hunters and gatherers here four
centuries ago. Indigenous cosmologies are complex but typically held all nature as
animate. Today the dominant paradigm of scientism is evident in the surrounding office
towers and hydro turbines. In researching the sacred, Eliade recommended the
phenomenological approach, he thought sacred space could occur naturally or could be
human-built. From the evidence, the Kumik is a human constructed space made sacred in
the acknowledgment and repetition within it of ideas from Algonquin spirituality. New
trends are emerging where individuals are claiming back the landscape and small
installations like the Algonquin lodge inside a workplace seem to be re-establishing this
connection.
Introduction
This essay looks at an area inside a skyscraper and discusses whether it is
sacred. Kumik, meaning lodge in Algonquian, was built inside Les Terraces de la
Chaudire, a public service workplace adjacent to a bend in the Ottawa River,
which straddles Hull, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario. 1 This landscape was the
home of the Algonquin when French explorers first referenced the geography in
describing their explorations in 1613. 2 The subsequent four centuries had
European settlers from France, then England, moving into the landscape. Today
the area is dominated by Canadian Parliament Buildings and hydro turbines
girdling the circular waterfalls in the river at the bend. The essence of the Kumik
will be examined referencing the work of religious historian Mircea Eliade
(1907-1986), philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961), ecologist and
philosopher David Abram, theologian Belden C. Lane, an interview with
1 Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC), Kumik Council of Elders,
Information <https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100013748/1100100013749>
[accessed 11.12.2014] [hereafter AANDC, Information]
2 Samuel de Champlain, Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, Trans. by Charles Pomeroy Otis,
Vol. 3, 1611-1618, (Boston, The Prince Society, 1882) p.83 [hereafter Champlain, Voyages]
BEGINNING CONTENTS---------------------------- SPICA 40
aboriginal author K. Dumont and photographs taken from inside the Kumik. 3 The
regional landscape, the cosmology of the Algonquin, and spirituality in the
workplace are discussed in exploring the sacredness of the Kumik space.
Sacred Space
A phenomenological approach is recommended by Eliade in researching
religious subject matter like the sacredness of space. 4 For Merleau-Ponty the study
of essences involved ones perceptions and re-achieving a direct and primitive
contact with the world. 5 Abram found the study of direct experience with the
landscape to reveal the centrality of the earth in human experience, something
that has been lost in the electronically-generated vistas that claim our spaces.6
The Kumik essence will be evaluated with themes found by Lane to be present in
American spirituality. 7 Reference is made to Dumonts experience both assisting
Elders in the Kumik and working on the eighteenth floor in the skyscraper, and
also to photographs taken from inside the lodge. 8
Space and place were commonly interchangeable words imbued with
complex interwoven ideas that are difficult to define, according to Robert
Trubshaw. 9 Used frequently in everyday speech they seemed to connect to the
specific culture and landscape of the individual. Sacred was also found to be
difficult to define by Anthony Thorley and Celia Gunn in their research on world
sacred sites for the Gaia Foundation. 10 Linguistic roots for sacred revealed wide
usage that meant a dedication to the divine and a crossing between the earth and
the sky. Eliade viewed the sacred and its opposite, the profane, as co-existing but
Eliade, Sacred]
5 Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Phenomenology of Perception (London: Routledge, Keyes and Paul:
Abram, Spell]
7 Belden C. Lane. Landscape of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality
(Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002[1988]), p.74-93 [Hereafter Lane,
Landscape]
8 Dumont, Interview
9 Robert Trubshaw. Sacred Places: Prehistory and Popular Imagination (Wymeswold: Heart of
20 R. Douglas Francis, Richard Jones and Donald B. Smith, Destinies: Canadian History since
Confederation, Fourth Edition, (Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2000), pp. 450-451 [hereafter
Francis et al, Destinies]; Government of Canada, Les Terraces de la Chaudire in Directory
of Federal Real Property <http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/sn-ns/103699-eng.aspx>
[accessed 27.12.2014]
21 Kahentinetha Horn, The Confusion Between the Great Law and the Handsome Lake
<http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/Ci95-1-2000E.pdf> [accessed
29.12.2014], pp. 31-32; AANDC, Elder Information
22 Dumont, Interview; AANDC, Elder Information
23 Dumont, Interview
24 AANDC, Elder Information
25 Lane, Landscapes, p.74
26 Lane, Landscapes, p.74 in Chapter 3: Seeking a Sacred Center: Places and Themes in
Sacred Earth
A second theme common to first American cosmologies was respect for
the earth. The Algonquin were hunters and gatherers in a territory defined by
natural resource boundaries and organised by family groups. 34 Indigenous
cultures experienced a sense of oneness with all nature mentioned by Abram and
Lane who attributed the idea to scholar Lucien Lvy-Bruhl (1857-1939). 35 There is
no longer a balanced relationship with the earth, something Abram found sad and
massive in scale.36 Employees in Les Terrasses went to the Kumik space for solace
from the bad energy that can accumulate in the surrounding offices.37 Dumont
experienced increased tension going upwards in the elevators approaching the
Ministers headquarters at the top. Looking down into the landscape from the 18th
floor windows, the Kettle is visible at the river bend. Dumont thought the
proximity of the Kumik to the sacred site was important and that they
communicated with one another.
Respect for the sacred earth is apparent inside Kumik through the use of
imagery including wolves and ravens, natural fabrics and carved wooden objects,
animal hide and feathers, stones and hanks of fresh greenery as well as rituals
that mimick celestial movement and give thanks to the grandmother earth. 38 The
spirits of the ancestors inhabited the natural world for the Algonquin. The lodge
Vision Space
The Kumik is a lodge symbolically set apart from the surrounding work
space, something Eliade thought necessary for communing with the sacred and
Lanes third theme for aboriginal spirituality.42 For Hughes, we are challenged to
find the places where we can connect with the divine. 43 For the Algonquin, the
sweat-lodge experience was central in healing and vision questing.44 In there,
careful preparations were repeated in an individuals life on those occasions when
spiritual direction was needed. 45 Merging the purifying qualities of smudged
earth medicines with rites and sun-wise movements around the interior circle,
39 Dumont, Interview
40 Frank Gouldsmith Speck, Medicine Practices of the Northeastern Algonquians Primary
Source Edition, (Washington: Nabu Public Domain Reprint, 1917), pp. 303, 308 [hereafter
Speck, Medicine]
41 Dumont, Interview
42 Eliade, Sacred; Lane, Landscapes, p. 83
43 Hughes, Spirit, p. 247
44 Dumont, Interview
45 Lane, Landscapes, p. 83; Dumont, Interview
50 Lane, Landscapes, p. 85
51 AANDC, Kumik Information; Dumont, Interview
52 Eliade, Sacred, p. 32
53 Abram, Spell, p. 175
54 Lane, Landscapes, p.87
55 Dumont, Interview
56 Campion, Nicholas, A History of Western Astrology, Volume I The Ancient World (London:
Continuum, 2008)
Campion, History, pp. 12-13 [hereafter Campion, History]
57 Charles G. Leland, Algonquin Legends, (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1992 [1884],
58 Horace P. Beck, Algonquin Folklore from Maniwaki in The Journal of American Folklore,
Vol. 60, No. 237 (Jul. - Sep., 1947), pp. 259-264 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/536379>
[Accessed: 25 12 2014] [hereafter Beck, Algonquin Folklore]
59 Beck, Algonquin Folklore
60 Robert Bringhurst, Interviewed by Matthew Spellberg, in Guenica Online Magazine,
<https://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/myth-is-a-theorem-about-the-nature-of-
reality/>[accessed 27 12 2014] [hereafter Bringhurst, Guenica]
49 SPICA ----------------------------BEGINNING CONTENTS
Figure 4: Inside Kumik by window
Silence
The Kumik was established as a space for quiet meditation and repose
from the hectic work spaces above it.61 The Eskimo in northern Manitoba and
Nunavut found silence to be the appropriate response to the harsh and extreme
landscape, according to Lane. 62 Abram agreed that silence was important to
humans, but was missing from modern life; what some call silence is for
aboriginals a listening stance.63 There is much to hear in silence, the roar of the
rapids, birds and animals, wind and trees or spirits of the ancestors in visions and
dreams. Abram thought that sacred space revealed synchronization between my
own rhythms and the rhythms of the things themselves, their own tones and
texture. 64 He argued that the phenomenal world was remarkably stable and
65 Abram, Spell, p. 35
66 Graham Harvey, Contemporary Paganism: Listening People, Speaking Earth, (New York:
New York University Press, 1997) p. 120-122
67 Jibb, Photographs; AANDC, Kumik Information Sheet
68 Abram, Spell, p. x
69 Neil Postman, Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, (Toronto: Random
Society of Organizations in Journal of Business Ethics, (2006) 66: 357-375 < http://
www.jstor.org/stable/25123841>[Accessed: 10 12 2014], pp. 357, 372 [hereafter Sheep,
Nurturing]
51 SPICA ----------------------------BEGINNING CONTENTS
ONeil and Laura Stephens found there to be a dearth of theories on spirituality in
non-religious organizations. They argued that craft versions of sacred authority
was important because from the seedbeds of spirituality in the workplace there
could emerge new sacred structures within secular bureaucracies. 75
Conclusion
To consecrate and make space sacred, for Eliade, required transforming it
into an image of the cosmos, achievable by projecting the four horizons from a
central point. This is apparent in the sacred hoop that first announces the entry to
Kumik and thrives throughout.76 The five themes observable in most native North
American spiritualities, according to Lane, were evidenced in the Kumik: an
essence of transcendence was present from the scores of circular representations
in form and ritual; the earth was honoured throughout; vision quests were
discussed but it was not a sweat-lodge experience; in there, stories were told,
songs sung and teachings given; and silence was respected in this lodge.
Problems such as the break in the circle, the entryway, not being true to the east
were taken in stride by presiding aboriginal Elders. New trends have emerged
that are claiming back the landscape and small installations like the Algonquin
lodge inside a workplace seem to be re-establishing this connection. From the
evidence it can be concluded that the Kumik is a human constructed space made
sacred in the acknowledgment and repetition within it of ideas from Algonquin
spirituality.
Works cited
Unpublished Sources
Dumont, K. Interviewed by J. Jibb, Ottawa Canada, 4 December 2014.
Primary Sources
Beck, Horace P. Algonquin Folklore from Maniwaki in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol.
60, No. 237 (Jul. - Sep., 1947), pp. 259-264 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/536379>
[Accessed: 25.12.2014].
75 Don Grant, Kathleen ONeil and Laura Stephens, Spirituality in the Workplace: New
Empirical Directions in the Study of the Sacred in Sociology of Religion, Vol. 65, No. 3
(Autumn, 2004), pp. 265-283 [hereafter Grant et al, Spirituality] <http://www.jstor.org/
stable/3712252> [Accessed: 25 11 2014]
76 Eliade, Sacred, p.52-3; Dumont, Interview; Jibb, Photographs
Secondary Sources
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) Kumik Council
of Elders, Information < https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/
1100100013748/1100100013749 > [Accessed 11 12 2014].
Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous (New York: Vintage Books, 1997).
Bringhurst, Robert Interviewed by Matthew Spellberg. Guernica Online Magazine
<https://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/myth-is-a-theorem-about-the-
nature-of-reality/> [Accessed 27.12.2014].
Campion, Nicholas. A History of Western Astrology Vol.I: The Ancient World
(London: Continuum, 2008).
Douglas, Francis, R., Richard Jones and Donald B. Smith. Destinies: Canadian
History since Confederation: Fourth Edition (Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2000).
Douglas, Francis, R., Richard Jones and Donald B. Smith. Origins: Canadian History
to Confederation: Fourth Edition (Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2000).
Government of Canada, Annual Report on the Canadian Multiculturalism Act
1999-2000, < http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/Ci95-1-2000E.pdf >
[Accessed 29.12.2014].
Government of Canada, Les Terraces de la Chaudire in Directory of Federal Real
Property <http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/sn-ns/103699-eng.aspx> [Accessed
27.12.2014].
Grant, Don, Kathleen ONeil and Laura Stephens, Spirituality in the Workplace:
New Empirical Directions in the Study of the Sacred in Sociology of Religion, Vol.
65, No. 3 (Autumn 2004), pp. 265-283 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3712252>
[Accessed: 25.12.2014].
Harvey, Graham. Contemporary Paganism: Listening People, Speaking Earth (New
York: New York University Press, 1997).
offered by the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture located
within the school of Archaeology, History and Anthropology.