Metaphysics New England Transcendentalism History Assignment

Chapter 8 Metaphysics Image: enlightened mind Metaphysics is a Greek word which means beyond physics Physics is a Greek word which means nature Metaphysics is the study of what is beyond physical nature It is a study of the spiritual Image: angels Metaphysical Movements: 1. Astrology 2. Witchcraft 3. Rosicrucians 4. Transcendentalism 5. Spiritualism 6. Theosophy 7. New Thought 8. The work of William James 9. 20th century new metaphysical movements In this lecture, we will look at the roots of Metaphysics and the first two categories of Astrology and Witchcraft. Image: sun, moon, stars, planets The Roots of Metaphysics 1. Babylonian Astronomy 2. Greek philosophy 3. Gnostic Hermeticism Image: world and world beyond 1. Babylonian Astronomy: Babylon is in Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a Greek word which means between the 2 rivers The “rivers” are the Tigris and Euphrates. It is modern day Iraq. Babylonians were the first astronomers in western civilization beginning in the 8th century BCE Image: map of Mesopotamia The Babylonians astronomers were priests They were also astrologers There was no distinction. They predicted the future based on the movements and patterns of objects in the sky Predicting the future (divination) has always been a function of priests and prophets Image: Babylonian astronomer They observed the night sky from roof-top temples The Priesthood was hereditary They passed down planetary & stellar observations from father to son Image: Babylonian temple They noticed that when certain patterns of events happened above It corresponded to repeatable events on earth This is called correspondence. Image: sunrise Predictions made by Babylonians: time of sunrise & sunsets eclipses solstices equinoxes first frost of season plentiful harvests droughts & famines high tides, rising river levels, floods Such predictions are put in “almanacs” An Almanac is a book that gives weather forecasts for a year Image: historic Almanac cover Stars were classified into constellations The zodiac chart was invented in order to help chart the movement of planets through the night sky Image: zodiac chart Babylonians wrote encyclopedias on predictions Predictions went beyond the physical world to the social and personal life Astronomy becomes Astrology Astronomy-Astrology is one of the earliest sciences Image: books The Science of Astronomy-Astrology spreads to: Israel – the first century historian Josephus reports that the sign of the zodiac was inlaid on the floor of the Jewish temple Image: drawing of Jewish temple in Jerusalem, 1st century In the bible, in Genesis 1.14 It states: “the lights in the sky are for signs” Image: space, the final frontier☺ It also spread to Persia (Iran) Persian priests (the magi) came to witness the birth of Jesus due to a sign in the sky. Metaphysics New England Transcendentalism History Assignment

Image: 3 camels and star Astronomy-Astrology spread to Europe From England it spread to America through almanacs Image: cover of Farmer’s Almanac Almanacs predict weather patterns Such as floods, famines, disease, fires, first frost This is important information for farmers Image: flooding river Astronomy-Astrology was viewed as a good thing because it was reasoned that God was the one who set the planets in motion. Astronomy-Astrology was viewed as practical science Harvard published almanacs for years The almanac in colonial times was as popular as the bible and found in most homes because of its practical use for farming Image: Almanac published by Harvard, 1733 2. Roots of Metaphysics from ancient Greece Based on Babylonian astronomical data the Greeks constructed new models of the universe Before: the world was pictured as a 3 leveled universe Heaven above, earth in the middle, underworld below After: the world was pictured as concentric spheres with earth in the middle and the planets circling it This is the Geo-centric model of the universe The Greek philosopher Aristotle placed God, or what he called the Divine Unmoved Mover, beyond the last concentric sphere Image: geocentric model The Geo-centric model of the universe was the dominant view for 2,000 years until Copernicus put forth the solar-center model in the 16th century Image: solar system 3. The Gnostic Hermetic roots of Metaphysics Gnosticism was a religious movement which began in the 2nd century BCE It was an offshoot of Judaism The Gnostics believed The world was made of dark matter The spirit realm above was made of light Image: clouds with light above Exception: Humans have a divine spark of light within which desires to get back to its true home, the Spiritual Realm of Light above. Image: lighted human The Gnostics used Babylonian astronomy-astrology and Greek philosophy. They believed that: The movement of planets cause events to happen on earth The planets become the Rulers of Fate that control us We are trapped in an earthly prison Image: Geocentric model of universe There are different types of Gnosticism Egyptian Hermeticism: believes in the Divine light within uses Aristotle’s cosmology, but also Plato’s & Heraclitus’ cosmology Image: ancient magician In Plato’s view: The world is made of divine substance No divide between God and the world For Heraclitus: The Logos (divine, intelligent fire) is the Source of all creation and becomes creation. Image: globe of divine light In Egyptian Hermeticism God is both outside and inside of creation The material world is light The world is in God Image: light shining through trees In Metaphysical systems God is within creation, part of nature (and outside as well) Image: water, hills, sky, animals Hermeticism is Egyptian but also Greek. The name Hermeticism derives from the name of the Greek god Hermes. Metaphysics New England Transcendentalism History Assignment

Hermes is the god of communication, wisdom, and boundary crossing Witchcraft: An important concept in Hermeticism is Correspondence: All levels of reality – physical and spiritual—are interconnected And what happens on one level affects other levels Image: interconnected dots The many levels are replications: The cell becomes an organ which becomes a person The person is in the world The world is in God Action in one part affects the other levels because all levels are inter-related This is the mechanism behind Magic. Image: wand An important text in Hermeticism is The Emerald Tablet Quote: “That which is below corresponds to that which is above, and that which is above corresponds to that which is below to accomplish the miracle of the one thing.” Image: cover of Emerald Tablet in Greek In Hermeticism alchemy, astrology, and rituals were practiced and used as aids in attaining unity with the Divine because the Divine is believed to be in Nature. Image: bottles of potions Alchemy is the early science of chemical changes from one substance to another Image: laboratory bottles Alchemy is Chemistry in its early stages but Hermetics regard it as religious practice because material substances were considered to go through a process from death to re-birth, growth, and resurrection, rather than the transference of ions as modern chemistry describes. Image: growing plant Rituals are symbolic action. In Hermetic rituals a miniature replica is made with elements from the real thing that you want to cause change in. Then special words are spoken over it. Image: figure with megaphone over matter, priest speaking blessing over bread. This is an example of correspondence: What is done in one level of reality will affect another level. In this way, matter is changed. Hermetic Alchemists were religious scientific practitioners who researched the power in matter. They spoke ritual words over matter and matter was changed. This power of change was viewed as magic. Image: alchemists Alchemists were persecuted by the Church: In 1317, Pope John 22 issued a decree against the practice of alchemy. In 1403, in England, King Henry 4th banned alchemy. Both Catholics and Protestants persecuted the practitioners of magic, who were called witches. Image: woman arrested for witchcraft One of the areas of alchemical research was the powers in plants to heal Image: pot of boiling herbs In medieval Europe, It was often the midwives (those who assisted in childbirth) who were knowledgeable in the healing powers in plants and herbs. Image: herbs These women were viewed as practicing magic and accused of being witches Image: witch with cat Over 100,000 Europeans mostly women were put on trial and executed for being witches in the 16th and 17th centuries Image: gallows Anyone who could change or affect matter such as alchemists and midwives were thought to be in league with “the devil.” Images: alchemist and woman gathering plants Since the devil is part of Christian (Catholic) theology and not part of Hermetic theology, no one was in league with the devil. Metaphysics New England Transcendentalism History Assignment

It was just a label put on them by the Church. The Spanish Inquisition tried & executed thousands. A witch hunt craze Spread throughout Europe And into America to the colony of Massachusetts. (See Lecture on Salem Witch Trials) Metaphysical movements Believe in a strong connection between above and below, the outer world and the inner mind, the spiritual and the physical. In the next lecture, we will look at the metaphysical movements of the Rosicrucians and New England Transcendentalism. Image: sky above, water below Lecture by J. Corey, Victor Valley College, 2019 Chapter 8 Metaphysics (continued) The Rosicrucians & New England Transcendentalism Image: enlightened mind In Metaphysical systems God is within creation, part of nature (and outside as well) Image: water, hills, sky, animals Alchemists were Chemists working on changing one form of matter to another. But because no one understood the inner workings of matter, Alchemists and scientists were regarded with suspicion. The Spanish inquisition censored and threatened scientists who made new discoveries on matter. Galileo was a prime example Image: Galileo If any scientist’s discoveries contradicted Church belief they were labeled as heretics. Image: astronomers A group of scientists got together in 1407 and formed a secret society to exchange and advance ideas free from the Church. They called themselves the Rosicrucians. They were both religious and scientific. Image: Rosicrucian symbol – cross, roses, star In the 17th century Johann Zimmerman was a Rosicrucian and a millennialist, a Lutheran priest, and professor in Germany. He lost both his jobs because he was teaching new ideas Image: Johann Zimmerman Zimmerman planned to go to America and start a Utopian society founded on freedom of intellectual ideas Image: releasing butterfly This utopian, Rosicrucian society called themselves The Woman in the Wilderness based on the woman in the Book of Revelation (11-13) who flees a leader: a beast who arrogantly speaks lies and deceives the nations. Zimmerman gathered together a group of well-educated, religious, radical thinkers. They planned to leave in 1694. Johannes Kelpius was in the group Kelpius was a Rosicrucian. He had several degrees in science and religion. His doctoral thesis was titled: Natural Theology and Metaphysics. It is about the outer world and inner mind being connected. image: Kelpius The night before the ship was to sail Zimmerman died. The group then elected Kelpius to be their leader. Image: ship The group sailed to America, and settled near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Image: map of Pennsylvania They built a common house used for worship while the individuals lived in separate little cabins and some lived in caves The city people were suspicious Image: women in the woods The group consisted of: teachers preachers healers alchemists and pharmacists astronomers theologians book binders and a business manager. Metaphysics New England Transcendentalism History Assignment

Image: men working They believed in universal spiritual laws: The layers of the world are all spiritual, connected, and the world is in God. The movement of the stars affect us. Plants were considered part of the divine world and had divine healing powers. They had an herbarium to make medicines and the first observatory in America Images: herbs and female astronomer They also opened a school for the local children. Image: inside schoolhouse Kelpus died in 1737 and the group disbanded. A monument exists in Philadelphia memorializing this utopian group which represents freedom of ideas and freedom from religious persecution. 6 + 37 = 43 years Transcendentalism a.k.a American Transcendentalism or New England Transcendentalism Image: individuals of New England Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a 19th century intellectual and spiritual movement which existed from 1836-1860 originating in Massachusetts with Ralph Waldo Emerson. To “transcend” means to go beyond Image: Ralph Waldo Emerson Transcendentalism began as a protest movement against empiricism which was being taught at Harvard and the doctrines of the Unitarian (Congregationalist) Church. Empiricism is the belief that only what is observed with our senses and can be tested is true. Images: microscope, heart, protecting angel The Transcendentalists believed in a spiritual reality in nature: humans, animals, plants – all levels in nature, have a spiritual core. Image: rainbow light in forest This spiritual reality surrounds and transcends us, & can be accessed through intuition or experience, according to the Transcendentalists. Image: hand and sparkling lights The Transcendentalist Club was started by Emerson. Emerson was a Unitarian minister who became a writer. Image: Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson wrote a book entitled Nature, which was published in 1836. It describes his view that God is not separated from us, and does not rule in a top-down manner. image: book cover – “Nature and Selected Essays” by Emerson We do not need to find out about God through knowledge passed down through the Church, said Emerson. Rather, God can be known to us directly through our own experiences. God is in Nature, and all the levels of Nature. Image: tree and rainbow Emerson calls his readers to transcend traditions in religion and EXPERIENCE God Image: woman on beach Emerson started the Transcendentalist Club at Harvard Members included: Elizabeth Peabody Margaret Fuller Walt Whitman Henry David Thoreau (and others) Elizabeth Peabody Started the first Kindergarten in America She spoke before Congress stating how important early education was for the developing young mind. Education helps children transcend their environment Images: Elizabeth Peabody, peas, kindergarten Margaret Fuller wrote a book entitled, Woman in the 19th Century This was the first major book on feminism in the U.S. Image: book cover, Woman in the Nineteenth Century Fuller was the first woman allowed to use the library at Harvard. Metaphysics New England Transcendentalism History Assignment

She calls society to transcend normal social conventions regarding gender roles. Walt Whitman Wrote a book of poems entitled Leaves of Grass He self-published it. The book would then go into several printings and has become a classic. Image: book, Leaves of Grass, and grass One of his most famous poems in Leaves of Grass is “I Sing the Body Electric” In Puritan America where body was regarded as something sinful, Whitman poetically explains how The body is the soul and the soul is the body In the poem, Whitman describes how he is out on the street watching passersby. He starts by describing the male body as only an artist can do – showing genuine appreciation for this god-made instrument and what it allows us to do. Image: Whitman Then he goes on to describe the female body Its supple beauty and its amazing life-giving ability All in an appreciative sense of the artist Image: woman in nineteenth century He then moves his gaze to the Auctioneers block Where a black man is being sold into slavery. Again in the same fashion, he describes the Form and beauty of this body that is being sold image: nineteenth century African American man Next, he sees a black woman on the Auctioneers block He describes her in the loving eye of the artist And he asks, I wonder if she has children And does she know where her mother is? Image: African America woman Throughout the poem, the refrain repeats “the body is the soul, and the soul is the body” It is a very moving poem about The inhumanity and blindness of the slave trade Image: workers in a field Whitman calls the reader to transcend the normal social conventions and see African Americans as individuals not with just a body for working, but with a beautiful body and a soul. Image: African American women As America was becoming more industrialized and commercial They called for us to appreciate and take care of nature Images: industry and nature Henry David Thoreau Wrote Walden: Life in the Woods Walden Pond Images: Thoreau and book cover for Walden This book is about his experiences living at Walden’s Pond in order to gain spirituality by living a simplified lifestyle Image: Walden Pond The book, Walden’s Pond is a social critique on 19th century Consumerism and materialism, and its destruction of nature. It was the time of the industrial revolution. image: industrial pollution The purpose for his stay at Walden’s Pond was to live a simpler agrarian lifestyle getting in touch with nature This would allow him to EXPERIENCE the transcendent divine in nature Image: Walden’s Pond Throughout the book, Thoreau uses the Dialectical Method of Thesis, Anti-thesis, and Synthesis. In this method one puts forth a main point = thesis Then the opposite point = anti-thesis. Out of the two, a creative compromise is found that takes the best from both points = synthesis This method leads to a higher transcended concept. At the end of this work, Thoreau states: If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears the beat of a different drummer. Image: drum All the Metaphysicists emphasized God’s spirit in Nature and in all parts of the natural world, including people – children, women, and African Americans. What is above and below are connected. The outer world and inner mind are connected. The spiritual and physical are connected. Lecture by J. Corey, Victor Valley College, 2019