Op 1 en 2 juli vond in Bath (UK) de jaarlijkse conferentie plaats van The Sophia Centre. Dit centrum is opgericht om de studie van antieke kosmologie mogelijk te maken in een academische context. Het thema van de conferentie van dit jaar was: The Talking Sky. Op deze conferentie heb ik een lezing verzorgd over de rol van lucht in de watercyclus. Ik gebruik het beeld van de fysieke watercyclus om iets te zeggen over zieleprocessen. Daarbinnen lag de focus, conform het thema van de conferentie, op de rol van het element lucht.
Abstract
The bible is full of references to weather phenomena, as are many other religious and mythical writings. The nature myth of the water cycle plays a central role in many of these stories. It refers to elemental cycles in life, like the cycle of life and death and the recurring cycles the soul goes through during a life time.
In this paper we examine the functions of the sky (or air) in this cycle: the uptake of water from the earth, the conversion through condensation, the distillation, the storage (in clouds), the moving (through wind), and finally the returning through precipitation. Drawing mainly on early (neo-)Platonic sources such as Plotinus, Phorphyry and Iamblichus, we investigate how the natural functions of air relate to the soul functions of air in early Greek theories on elements and soul.
The talk starts with an exploration of early Western myths on the water cycle, it then shifts to (neo-)Platonic theorizing on the role of air in the cosmological cycle and the translation to soul processes. It will be demonstrated how air plays a pivotal role at the intersection of spirit and matter.