Alexandria (Was the Capital of Egypt and Gnostic Practices)

8/2/2019 Alexandria (Was the Capital of Egypt and Gnostic Practices)

1/12

Gods and Goddessesof Ancient Egypt

June 17th to 22nd

Journey to CyprusIsland o Aphrodite,

Crossroads o Civilizations

June 17th to 22nd

A N E S O T E R I C Q U E S T F O R

Ancient Alexandria:Greco-Egyptian Birthplace of the Western Mind

June 12th to 17th, 2011 Alexandria, Egypt

The New York Open Center and

The Alexandria & Mediterranean Research Center at The Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Present


2/12

Join us on a Quest for ancient Alexandria, for seven hundred years

the greatest center of learning and culture in the ancient world.

The city was a brilliant crucible in which the civilizations o ancient Greece and Egypt

intermingled and absorbed streams o wisdom rom throughout the known world.

Its legendary Library and Museum made it possible or many o historys greatest philosophers,

scholars, and scientists to lourish and or the city to become the cradle o Hermeticism, Gnosticism

and Neoplatonism. Alexandria is a city illed with compelling personalities, rom its ounder, Alexander

the Great, to Cleopatra, the last o the Ptolemaic Pharaohs. Its long list o inluential thinkers includes

the great Jewish philosopher Philo, the Gnostic Christian Clement, the Neoplatonists Ammonius Saccas

and Plotinus, and inally the noble and tragic Hypatia, last o the pagan lovers o wisdom.

The allure and ascination o Alexandria charmed countless generations o philosophers and writers

drawn through the centuries to this supreme meeting place o ideas and peoples. Alexandria was the

archetypal cosmopolis and it was here that philosophers gave shape to a more brilliant and complete

understanding o the world, illed with both science and mystery, to which we today are all indebted.

Our goal will be to bring vividly to lie the proound and beautiul ancient worldview that emerged

in antiquitys most inluential center o culture and esoteric wisdom, the authentic birthplace o the

Western mind.

The conerence also includes expeditions to sacred sites in and around Alexandria and evenings

eaturing music and poetry o the city. We meet each day along the Corniche at the Bibliotheca

Alexandrina, the contemporary successor to the ancient library, close to the site o its illustrious

predecessor and the perect starting point rom which to contemplate the genius and enduring inuence

o this extraordinary place.

The New York Open Centeris one o Americas leadingcenters o holistic learning and world culture. Since 1984 morethan a quarter o a million participants have attended itsprograms and cultural events which have earned the Center aworldwide reputation. Its conerences are renowned both ortheir exploration o ancient traditions and or their relevance tocontemporary society. Now in its 26th year, the Open Center

unctions as a beacon o holistic awareness in NYC and a platorm or accomplishedscholars and visionaries.

The Alexandria & Mediterranean Research Centeris one o the centers afliated with the BibliothecaAlexandrina, the new Library o Alexandria. Itsmission is to research, document and disseminate thetangible and intangible heritage o Alexandria, bothmodern and ancient. It also relates Alexandria to the

Mediterranean cultures, and by honoring its past, seeks to sustain the uture o the city.

With special thanks to the Cyprus Tourism Organization


3/12

All Roads Lead to AlexandriaLeonard George, Ph.D.

No better emblem o ancient Alexandriacould there be than the Lighthouse on

Pharos Island. An ambience unique inhistory made Alexandria the city thatquestioned everything, and seekers romar and wide were drawn by its brightbeacon to probe the nature o soul, bodyand world as never beore. They blazedspiritual and scientiic trails that havedeined the Western quest ever since. OldAlexandria lives on in the rising spirito the new, in the evocative physicalremnants o the past, and as an image ocompelling possibilities. For the pursuer odeepest truth, all roads led and lead toAlexandria.

Alexandria, the Cosmopolis:Global Community, Then and Now

David Fideler, Ph.D.

The Greek philosophers had spoken othe cosmopolis, the world-city in whichall individuals are related to one another,regardless o country, race, or religion. Butwith the coming o the Hellenis tic age, theidea o global civilization became a tangiblereality, and Alexandria its most signiicantexpression a meeting point between Eastand West, philosophies and religions, anddisparate cultures. Once again, we indourselves in a global community. But what

makes or a genuine world community,and how is the ancient idea relevant orour own times? And in a time o conlict,is there a higher unity that can osterharmony between dierent religions?

The Ancient Library of

Alexandria:Cultural Interchange and

Originality

Mostaa El-Abbadi, Ph.D.The ounding o the Great Library andMouseion in Alexandria by Ptolemy I begana period o intensive cultural interchangewhich coinc ided with the emergence oa concept o universal knowledge. Theoriginal achievements o the Ptolemaicperiod included the works o Euclid inmathematics, Aristarchus o Samos in theormulation o the heliocentric theoryin astronomy, and Eratosthenes brilliantmeasurement o the polar circumerenceo the earth. And the coexistence oboth Greek and Egyptian medicaltraditions led to a virtual revolution inmedical knowledge. Perhaps, as Straboobserved, the natural interchange odiverse backgrounds explains much o theoriginality o Alexandrian scholarship.

Hermeticism as a

Philosophy of HopeMervat Nasser, M.D., M.Phil.

The Hermetic philosophy represents theintellectual, philosophical and reectivetradition o ancient Egypt. It reached usthrough the Corpus Hermeticum, manuscriptscollected in the city o Alexandria in the

second and third centuries. Its enduringlegacy is reected in the work o majorEuropean fgures o science, philosophy, artand literature and its tendency to emergeat times when humanity is aced withdifculties and uncertainties. Its appealin our post-modern era stems rom ourdisillusionment with the reductionist view oscience and also our rejection o a religiousextremism that threatens humanistic values.Hermetism on the other hand preaches noreligious dogma but oers instead harmony,reconciliation and transormation.

Greco-Egyptian OraclesCrystal Addey, Ph.D.

For at least a thousand years, the peopleliving around the ancient Mediterraneanturned to oracles, oten located in ancienttemples, or spiritual, personal and civicadvice and guidance. The Egyptians hadmany oracular temples, including oracleso the gods Horus, Thoth, Serapis and thegoddess Isis. Oracles o Isis and Serapiswere part icularly common and becamewidespread throughout the Mediterranean.An oracle o Serapis was established inAlexandria by Ptolemy III. Egyptian

oracles, like their Greek counterparts, otenused dream incubation to obtain oraclesrom the gods and cult statues o the godsin their oracular practices.

Gnosticism and Hermeticism:Two Paths of Ascent

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, D.Phil.and Clare Goodrick-Clarke, M.A.

In Hellenistic Alexandria two radicallydierent world-views emerged over thefrst centuries CE. Although Hermetic andGnostic literatures have much in common,they propose dierent views o humanbeings, God, time, and the cosmos, and themeans to salvation. With Persian and Jewishroots, Gnosticism is complex and variousbut core ideas can be discerned in the

Gnostic religious systems and myths o thesecond and third centuries CE. The Greco-Egyptian Hermetica were brought romByzantium to the court o Cosimo de Mediciin 1460 and translated by Marsilio Ficinoin Florence. They were to become one othe most important ounding documents othe Renaissance and the whole subsequentWestern Esoter ic Tradition.

Alexandria:Crossroads of Judaism, Hellenism,

Gnosticism, and Christianity

Christopher Bamord

Alexandria around the time o Christopened a new age o ininite possibilitieso paths taken and not taken. During thisperiod, Jewish philosophers like Philo, so-called gnostics like Basilides and Valentinus,Neoplatonists like Plotinus, and Christiantheologians like Clement and Origenrubbed shoulders with Egyptian priests,Gymnosophists rom India, and alchemicaladepts. Out o this mix Rabbinic Judaism,Christianity, and Hermeticism wouldarise. This talk aims to evoke the amazingrichness, newness, and ruitulness o whatwas g iven birth and also considers thosespiritual impulses which still perhaps awaitgermination.

PLENARIES

Ptolemaic temple of Edfu dedicated to thefalcon god Horus

Great Library of Alexandria by O. Von Corven


4/12

Divine Women:Cleopatra and Hypatia

Marjorie Roth, DMA, Ph.D.

Cleopatra VII was the last Ptolemaicruler, and the one most attuned to Egypts

spiritual roots. She elt a deep link to thegoddess Isis, and doubtless took strengthrom this as she nearly managed to reviveEgypt as a super-power o antiquity. Fourcenturies later, another Alexandrian,Hypatia, drew seekers both pagan andChristian rom throughout the RomanEmpire to learn the mysteries o the sacredeye that lies buried in the soul. Bothwomen ell victim to the power struggles othe times, but their legacies transcend theirturbulent era, and speak to ours.

An Alexandria Quartet:Callimachus, Philo, Origen

and Cavafy

John Dillon

We will examine through the work o ourrepresentative Alexandrians - the Hellenisticpoet and scholar o the Library o Alexandria,Callimachus; the Jewish Platonist philosopherPhilo; the Platonizing Christian philosopher

Origen; and the modern poet ConstantineCavay - what might be considered anAlexandrian way o approaching the world,that is to say, allusive, multi-level, and (in thecase o the poets, at least) ironic.

Synesius and Alexandrian

SyncretismJay Bregman, Ph.D.

Ater Alexander the Greats adventureo conquest, the Greek world becamecosmopolitan and modern. Alexandria

was the Hellenist ic New York. The tolerantruling Ptolemies promoted syncretism,the combination o religious ideas andpractices. Mysteries o many traditionswere pract iced or example, RomanEmperor Severus Alexander diplayedbusts o Abraham, Orpheus, Jesus andApollonius. Synesius o Cyrene (ca. 370-413 CE) studied at Alexandria under the

philosophical martyr Hypatia. Primarily aNeoplatonic philosopher in outlook, hebecame a Christian Bishop. But only on thcondition that he continue to count Greekphilosophy as the real Canon o Truth!

The Alexandrian Sciences

in BaghdadAhmed Etman, Ph.D.

Inspired by a treasure trove o ancientGreek and Alexandrian learning andphilosophy, Muslims created a society in

Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle Agethat was the scientiic center o the world.The Arabic language was synonymous withlearning and science or 500 hundred yeara golden age that served as a precursor tomodern universities, algebra, and even thenotion o science as an empirical inquiry.Europe did not match the scientiic learnino the Islamic world until about 1600.

WORKSHOPS

PLENARIES continued

Cleopatra Hypatia

The Golden Thread

of the Muses:How the Museum and Library

Came to Alexandria

David Fideler, Ph.D.

The Museum and Library at Alexandriawere the frst attempts to acquire andpreserve all human knowledge and advancethe development o knowledge in an

institutional setting. This made Alexandriathe worlds frst university town. Butlittle has ever been written about how theMuseum and Library were actually ounded.The surprising act is that these institutionswere ounded by a member o Aristotlesschool, to advance the kind o systematicresearch that had begun earlier in Athens.This workshop will explore the earlierGreek Academies o the Muses, includingPlatos Academy, and how they led to theormation o the Museum and Library

The Philosopher

Mathematicians of Alexandria:Euclid and Hypatia

Scott Olsen, Ph.D.

Euclid in his Elementsbrilliantly proceedsrom point, line, and plane to solid,culminating in Book 13 in the fve Platonicregular solids. Hypatia o Alexandria,the woman philosopher o antiquity whotaught Synesius how to build an astrolabe,endured the most savage martyrdom, andcan be considered to reect the highestideals and virtues o the divine eminine,beauty and Sophia or wisdom.

Geometry Lessons from the

Great LibrarySteve Bass, M.A.

The Library o Hellenistic Alexandriawas the greatest repository o intellectualtradition in the history o the West. Itsleading writers and thinkers set geometricapatterns that were ollowed by philosopheand designers or almost two millennia.We wil l consider the work o some o

the Librarys outstanding geometerssuch as Euclid, Ptolemy, Eratosthenes,and Hypatia, to reveal the Neoplatoniccosmological geometries that inormed themathematical imaginations. How was theradius o the earth measured with only astick? How did the Pythagorean Tetracktystransorm into the Tree o the Kabbalah?And how did Ptolemys instructions ormapmaking lead to the Renaissancerediscovery o perspective drawing?

One of the oldest and most complete diagrams

from Euclids E lements of Geometry

4


5/12

The Emerald Tablet of

Hermes TrismegistusBrian Cotnoir

The Emerald Tabletis a Hermeticalchemical text concerning the cycle ocreation. This workshop will explore theorigins and meaning o this short enigmatic

text. To tease out its meaning we will readseveral versions o the Tablet and compareit to early Alexandrian alchemical texts aswell a s to Gnost ic wri tings rom the NagHammadi library.

Alexandrian Alchemy and the

Ascent of the Soul.Brian Cotnoir

Alexandrian alchemy is an activemeditation on creation and the ascent othe soul. It sees substance and process assymbol. This workshop will examine actualalchemical processes and the materialsused and, through reading selectionsrom alchemical texts, gain insight intothis intriguing worldview and its possiblemeanings or today.

Nine Measures of Magic:The Papyri Graecae Magicae

Leonard George, Ph.D.

According to an old Hebrew saying, o theten measures o magic God gave the world,nine were delivered to Egypt. Nowhereelse in antiquity bore such magical reputeas the land o the Nile. A library o

magical texts ound in Thebes has given usan astonishing glimpse into the mentalityo ancient magicians. Known as thePapyri Graecae Magicae, these spell-booksreveal that practitioners aimed not just atmundane goals like avoiding crocodilesand winning at love, or ritual practicalitiessuch as gaining a spirit-helper and mutingtalkative skulls during ceremonies, but alsoat such loty ends as communing with godsand becoming immortal.

Egyptian Ways of Initiation:The Path of Initiation in

Iamblichus De Mysteriis and

the Hermetica

Crystal Addey, Ph.D.

In the Late Antique period, Greekand Egyptian philosophical, religious

and spiritual practices became deeplyintertwined in a syncretistic blend ocultural and spiritual praxis. Alexandriawas the greatest example o th is blendo spiritual cosmologies, mythologiesand religious practices. Initiation wasabsolutely central to ancient religious andspiritual praxis within Egyptian, Greek andRoman contexts and mystery cults. It haslong been recognized that some o thedialogues o the Hermetica deal with aninitiatory path thought to culminate in aproound philosophical and spiritual gnosis.Less well known is the initiatory aspecto Iamblichus dialogue with Porphyry

recorded in his work De Mysteriis.

The Hermetica:Wisdom of the Ibis

Leonard George, Ph.D.

The ibis was a common shore-bird othe Nile, oten seen on the murky strandbetween solid earth and lowing water.So it proved an apt symbol or Thoth,Egyptian god o liminality - the spacebetween certainties. Thoth was also lordo writing and magic. It seemed natural,then, in the Greco-Egyptian cauldrono ideas that was old Alexandria, thatThoth would merge with the GreekHermes, also a deity o trickery, messagesand marvels. This usion gave riseto the writings attributed to HermesTrismegistus. The Hermetic tomes laidout a path o esoteric remembranceand rebirth that has wound through thecenturies to the present.

Alexandria, City of the LogosDavid Fideler, Ph.D.

The central concept o Logos holds all theancient spiritual traditions o Alexandriatogether, but its meaning has been lost tothe modern world. While oten translatedas Word, the actual meanings o Logosare much deeper, reerring to the cosmicintelligence present in both the cosmosand the human soul. We will cover theorigins o Logos in the most ancientsources, and discuss its importance in theHermetic Writings, Philo o Alexandria,Alexandrian Christianity, Neoplatonism,and Plotinus. We will also discuss how theLogos was symbolized in myth and sacredwrit ings, including sele cted parables in theChristian New Testament.

Weighing of the heart scene from the book of the dead of Hunefer

WORKSHOPS continued

Thoth


6/12

Alexandria and the

Cult of SerapisAlan Cardew, Ph.D.

Ancient Alexandria was the Open Centero Antiquity, bringing together the religious

traditions o the Ancient World, andattempting to ind a spiritual worldviewunderlying all systems o belie. Chaldean,Egyptian, Greek, and Hebrew systems andphilosophy were used together in thelibraries o Alexandria. At the heart othis process was the Serapeion, a libraryand temple devoted to the worship oSerapis, a god who was an amalgamo dierent metals, dierent times anddierent religions. We will examine the culto Serapis and its relationship with otherelements o the Alexandrian synthesis.

Alexandrian Allegory:Finding the Soul

John Dillon

We wil l take a number o representativepassages o the great Jewish and Christianteachers Philo and Origen on the exegesiso the Old and New Testaments andconsider how they illustrate a distinctiveapproach to the text. The written textbeore us is merely the body, whileallegorical exegesis, proceeding accordingto certain ixed procedures, is that whichinds the soul. In this way we can see adistinctively Alexandrian approach to the

discovery o meaning.

Synesii and Comparative

ReligionJay Bregman, Ph.D.

We can speak o Synesii, mirror imageso the philosophical bishop Synesius who

developed a wide ranging Syncretism.These include Neoplatonists Ficino and Picoin Renaissance Florence with their interestsin Platonism, Kabbalah, and Hermeticism;the seventeenth century CambridgePlatonists in England; nineteenth centuryRomantics such as Coleridge; and theAmerican Transcendentalists (Emersonthought Synesius magniicent). In thetwentieth century, Mircea Eliade did muchto academicize this outlook, and syncretistJoseph Campbell helped to bring it to abroad audience.

The Teaching of Jesus in the

Gospel of ThomasYasmin Hussein

The Gospel o Thomas is one o the52 manuscripts written in Coptic anddiscovered in 1945 in Egypt. It comprisesan anthology o 114 logia spoken by Jesusand collected by Thomas. The text isregarded as part o the Gnostic knowledgebased on the evolutionary development oconsciousness, and raises various questions.Can Gnosticism be taught to others,and i so what is the role o the Savior?Which path would lead the disc iple toenter the stage o living experience? What

could the role o Didymos Judas Thomashave been in this process o Teaching theUnteachable?

Tarot as the Book of ThothEllen Goldberg, M. A.

Thoth, the Egyptian God o wisdom,writing and magic was recognized by theGreeks to be analogous to Hermes. Theirsynthesis became Hermes Trismegistus,or whom the western esoteric tradition isnamed. The Tarot is a living oracle basedin this tradition. It is a river o wisdom into

which the streams o Kabbalah, Alchemy,Astrology and Hermetic philosophy havelowed. In this workshop we will look atthe major themes o the Hermetic Traditionas they are expressed in the Tarot. Ourquest or Sel-realization can be radicallyenhanced by engaging the archetypalimages in the Tarot. This workshop willinclude lecture, inner journey and anoracular experience. It will leave you withan ability to use the Tarot or your innerdevelopment.

The Red Book of C.G. Jung anthe Lion-Headed GodRichard Noll, Ph.D.

In his visionary diary known as The RedBook, C.G. Jung lost his soul and ound itagain through the intercession o entitiesassociated with the Gnostic cosmos oAlexandria. Jungs proound experienceslead to the question o how does oneind ones soul? Jungs apotheosis as theLeontocephalos the lion-headed god,a variant o Abraxas gives us clues tothe perennial path open to all who seekunderstanding.

Sufism in the Atmosphere of

Alexandria:From Dhul-Nun al-Misri to the

Brethren of Purity

Christopher Bamord

Our ocus will be on the legendary Sufsaint known as Dhul-Nun al-Misri (796-859) who was an alchemist, a thaumaturgea reputed reader o hieroglyphs, and aHermetic/Neoplatonic philosopher, called bSuhrawardi the leaven o the PyrthagoreansDhul-Nun is regarded by many as the

ounder o Sufsm, and is credited withintroducing the concept o Gnosis into IslamWe will also explore the transmission andabsorption o the wisdom o Alexandria including Platonism, Hermeticism, Alchemy,and Pythagoreanism in the Suf andmystical Jewish traditions. We will end ourquest with the Brethren o Purity, who werepossibly a medium o transmission o thiswisdom back into the West

WORKSHOPS continued

Pompeys Pillar and the ruins of the Serapeion

A page from Jungs diary, The Red Book

Serapis

6


7/12

The Church of the EastNicholas Goodrick-Clarke, D.Phil.

History as taught today tends to orgetthat once the largest and most inluentialChristian churches existed to the East othe Roman Empire, with a reach extendingto Central Asia, China and India alongthe Silk Road. Oten dubbed Nestorian,

they played an important role in thedispersal o Hellenism to Islam. In Syria andMesopotamia, Hellenism was a continuousand powerul cultural orce, and Muslimtheology, philosophy, and science grew onsoil saturated with Hellenistic culture. Indue course, Constantinople would declarethe Churches o the East heretical, butthey essentially mediated Hellenistic andChristian thought, alchemy, science andmedicine to the Arab culture in these lands.

The Quest for Alexandria:G. R. S. Meads Quest Society

Clare Goodrick-Clarke, M.A.

During the 1890s, G. R. S. Mead (1863-1933) set about translating works oGnosticism, Hermeticism, Neoplatonism,and early Christianity, revealing a rich, buthitherto almost unknown, metaphysical

literature stemming rom Alexandria. Inthese texts there could be discerned, Meadbelieved, a common metaphysical groundrom which to promote the reconciliationo religions. Meads works sparked a minorrevolution in art and letters. His QuestSociety and Journalattracted many eminentintellectuals, including the mystic EvelynUnderhill, Rumi scholar Reynold Nicholson,Ananda Coomaraswamy, SarvepalliRadhakrishnan, Martin Buber, GustavMeyrink, and a circle o writers in Londonincluding Laurence Binyon, W. B. Yeats, EzraPound, and the composer Gustav Holst.

Plotinus

The Kom al-Shoqafa Catacombs and Pompeys PillarAlexandrias evocative catacombs, known as Kom al-Shoqaa, consist o a multi-levellabyrinth eaturing dozens o chambers adorned with sculpted pillars, statues, and othersyncretic Romano-Egyptian religious symbols, burial niches and sarcophagi, as wellas a large banquet room, where memorial meals were conducted by relatives o the

deceased. In addition, the most extensive ancient excavation currently being conductedin Alexandria has revealed what is known as Kom al-Dikka, the ancient citys well-preserved theater. Our visits to these sites will be led by Dr. Kyriakos Savvopoulos.

The Alexandria National MuseumThis impressive museum displays some o the most extraordinary archeological indsmade in and around the city during the past decade. Artiacts rom the Pharaonic,Greco-Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras can be seen. These include a diorite sphinx,a priest o Isis carrying a Canopic jar, the head o Briniky, wie o Ptolemy II, andCoptic stellae and riezes carved with lions, sheep and grapevines.

A Tour of Lawrence Durrells AlexandriaDurrellsAlexandr ia Quarteto novels immortalized the city in its cosmopolitanprime between the World Wars when a vast, multi-ethnic, international community

was integrated into a vibrant and sophist icated Egyptian and Mediterranean culture.Follow in the ootsteps o Justine, Balthazar, Clea and other characters rom theQuartet, one o the most unorgettable conjurations o the soul o a city in twentiethcentury literature.

The Monastery of Abu MinaThe monastery o St. Menas, an hour outside Alexandria, was one o the mostimportant sites or pilgrims in the Byzantine era. The saint was an Egyptian-bornRoman legionary martyred in 296. Ruins o the ancient monastery and pilgrim townremain, while the belry and high walls o the current monastery are visible rommiles around.

AFTERNOON ACTIVITIES


8/12

EVENING EVENTS

PRE-CONFERENCE DAY IN CAIRO

The Poetry of Constantine CavafyConstantine Cavay (1863-1933) is the great poet o Greek Alexandria,where he lived or most o his lie and where he died. Considered by manyto be the inest modern Greek poet, his intimate evocations o igures andmilieuxcentral to Greek and Alexandrian culture have inspired writers

rom E.M. Forster to Leonard Cohen. This evening we will enter ully intoCavays work and legacy.

An Evening of Egyptian Folk Music with

Atiaf El-MawlaweyaThe ancient Egyptians credited Thoth with the invention o music, andpercussion instruments, lyres and lutes were an integral part o theorchestras o the Middle Kingdom. Egyptian olk music today, includingthe traditional Sui dhikrrituals, is the closest contemporary music genre toancient Egyptian music, having preserved many o its eatures, rhythms andinstruments. This evening brings alive this vibrant tradition.

Cavafy

The Pyramids of Saqqara and the

Museum of Egyptian AntiquitiesJune 11, 2011

With Normandi Ellis

I you are new to Egypt or i you want to glimpse its ancient splendor, westrongly recommend a day in and around Cairo prior to the conerence.In the morning, we will visit the pyramids and tombs o Saqqara, theoldest necropolis continuously used during dynastic times in LowerEgypt. Even Plato made a pilgrimage to Saqqara to see the tombs othe sage Ptahhotep at this architectural wonder, which is now the largestarcheological site in Egypt. This vast burial ground served the ancientcapital city o Memphis and contains numerous pyramids, includingthe amous Step pyramid o Djoser, whose chie vizier, Imhotep, wasthe master builder behind Saqqara. Saqqara is also home to the irsthieroglyphic text, the Pyramid Text o Egypt, the oldest known religiousbook, whose passages eventually evolved into the Egyptian Book o

the Dead. In the aternoon we will visit the incomparable Museum oEgyptian Antiquities in Cairo, with its 136,000 exhibits, a must or anystudent o the mysteries o Ancient and Ptolemaic Egypt. We will havedinner at an outdoor restaurant, spend the night at our ive-star hotel nearGiza, and depart by bus the ollowing morning or Alexandria by way othe Coptic monasteries o Wadi El-Natrun.

Cost: single accommodations $530, shared accommodations $400

Includes airport transfer, two nights hotel (the 10th and 11th ofJune), all meals (beginning with dinner on the 10th), and full-day

guided tour, entrance fees, and ground transport

8


9/12

POST-CONFERENCE JOURNEYS

Journey to Cyprus: Island of Aphrodite,

Crossroads of CivilizationsJune 17-22, 2011

With Kyriacos Markides and others

During the Ptolemaic Era, the island o Cyprus ell within Alexandrias sphereo inluence and reached a cultural apex in the time o Cleopatra. Renownedas the birthplace o the goddess Aphrodite, Cyprus proximity to Asia and theMiddle East has a led to a long and ascinating history at the crossroads o Easternand Western civilizations. Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans and Venetians haveall passed through and let their mark. During our time on this resplendent andascinating island, we will visit ancient archeological sites in Kourion and Paphos,meditate in the serene and beautiul monasteries o Mesopotamos and Kykkosin the Trodos Mountains, surrounded by peaceul and pristine orests, enjoytraditional villages with their warm hospitality, and ind plenty o time to relish theblue Mediterranean waters and the unspoiled nature o the Akamas Peninsula onCyprus ar western tip. Our last three nights will be spent by the sea near Polis inan atmosphere o resh breezes, sunlight, and the calm, steady rhythm o breakingwaves . We wil l be joined on our Quest by Kyriacos Markides, author oMountain

o Silenceand The Magus o Strovolos, whose many books on the spiritual culture oCyprus bring alive the path o Eastern Mystical Christianity and also describe howmore syncretic esoteric streams continue to evolve amidst this ancient culture.

Cost for those traveling with us from main conference:single accommodations $1990, shared accommodations $1870 per personIncludes one-way air travel from Cairo to Larnaca, airport transfer, all

accommodations, meals, entrance fees, and air-conditioned coach transport

Cost for those meeting us in Larnaca on the 17th of June:single accommodations $1765, shared accommodations $1645 per person

Gods and Goddesses of Ancient EgyptJune 17-22, 2011

With Normandi EllisOn this journey to Upper Egypt we will investigate the ancient sites linked to thearchetypal goddesses Isis, Mut and Hathor and the gods Osiris, Amun and Horuswith Normandi Ellis, author oDreams o Isis, Feasts o Light and Awakening Osiris, thelast o which has been called an ecstatic and poetic translation o hieroglyphs romthe Egyptian Book o the Dead. We will y rom Cairo to Luxor on the 17th and theollowing day walk through Karnak, the largest temple complex in Egypt, contemplatingthe mysteries o creation, the serenity o its lake, and the might o its pharaohs. AtLuxor Temple we decode the hidden symbolism frst revealed by Schwaller de Lubiczand discover its relationship to the divinity o the pharaohs and queens who ruledEgypt. The ollowing morning we visit the Temple o Osiris at Abydos and explorethe mysterious Osierion and the chapels dedicated to the mysteries o the death andresurrection o Osiris and the divine conception o the god Horus. We then travel tothe temple o Hathor, goddess o joy, love and beauty, ruler o sun and moon, and

take time to observe the astrological ceilings at Dendera. The next morning, we passthe Colossi o Memnon, the statue o a God who once sang to welcome the dawn,on our way to the mortuary temple o Hatshepsut, a woman pharaoh as ascinating asCleopatra. In the Valley o the Kings we will see the beautiul painted tomb o Siptahand learn the sacred hours o the night through which all souls must pass. On our fnalday, we sail Lake Nasser to the Greco-Roman Temple o Isis on the Island o Philae toexperience the last temple o Ancient Egypt which closed in 642 CE. Throughout thisproound journey there will be an emphasis or those who wish on transorming ourimpressions into memoir writing.

Cost: single accommodations $2135, shared accommodations $1885 per personIncludes air travel leaving from and returning to Cairo, airport transfer, all

accommodations, meals, entrance fees, and air-conditioned coach transport


10/12

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATIONCrystal Addey, Ph.D., is Tutor in Religionand Late Antiquity at Cardi University andpart-time Tutor or the Sophia Centre or theStudy o Cosmology in Culture, Departmento Archaeology and Anthropology at theUniversity o Wales, Lampeter. She wrote herdoctoral thesis on the role o oracles, divinationand theurgy in the writings o the Neoplatonist

philosophers Porphyry and Iamblichus.

Christopher Bamford is the editorial directoro SteinerBooks and Lindisarne Press. He is theauthor oAn Endless Trace: The Passionate Pursuito Wisdom in the West, and has written numerousintroductions to the works o Rudol Steiner.A speaker at all nine o the Esoteric Questconerences, he co-authored most recentlyGreen Hermeticism: Alchemy and Ecology.

Steve Bass, M.A., has practiced as anarchitect in New York City since 1974. Heholds a Master o Arts degree rom the RoyalCollege o Art, London, where he studiedunder the direction o Keith Critchlow, and hasbeen visiting assistant proessor o architecture

at Notre Dame University. He is a ellow o theInstitute o Classical Architecture and is authoro the orthcoming Proportion in Architecture.

Jay Bregman, Ph.D., is Proessor o Historyand Religious Studies at the Unversity o Maine,USA. He has written on the ourth century CENeoplatonists Synesius and the Emperor Julian.He also continues to research Neoplatonismin North America, especially the work othe Transcendentalists. He has a musicalbackground and an interest in recent inuenceso Pythagoreanism on Jazz and Minimalistcomposers.

Alan Cardew, Ph.D., is Director o theCentre or Interdisciplinary Studies and amember o the recently ormed Centre or theStudy o Myth at the University o Essex. Hehas recently written on Jung and Heidegger,Hermeneutics, and Nietzsche, is currentlypursuing research on the interpretation o myth,and is working on a book on the archaic andthe primordial.

Brian Cotnoir is an independent researcher.He has been studying and experimenting withalchemical procedures or 35 years and isauthor oThe Weisers Concise Guide to Alchemy.

John Dillon was Regius Proessor o Greekin Trinity College, Dublin, between 1980 and2006. He is director emeritus o the DublinCenter or the Study o the Platonic Tradition.His books include The Heirs o Plato: A Study

o the Old Academy, The Heirs o Plato, Salt andOlives, and most recently a novel, The Scent oEucalyptus.

Mostafa El-Abbadi, Ph.D., is ProessorEmeritus o Classical Studies at theUniversity o Alexandria and President o theArchaeological Society o Alexandria. Hispublications include The Lie and Fate o theAncient Li brary o Alexandr ia, The Isle o Pharosin Myth and History, andAlexandr ian Hellenism.

Normandi Ellis is the author o fve books,including the acclaimedAwakening Osiri s,translations rom the Egyptian hieroglyph.Her nonfction work includes Dreams o Isis

and Feasts o Light. Two more books on Egyptare orthcoming in 2011: A Field Guide to theEgyptian Mysteriesand Remembering the DivineWithin: Writing Spiritual Autobiography Basedon the Egyptian Book o the Dead. A writer andeditor, she leads trips to Egypt and owns andoperates the PenHouse Retreat Center orwriters and spiritual seekers.

Ahmed Etman, Ph.D., is Proessor o Classicsand Comparative Literature in the Faculty oArts at Cairo University, and Chairman o theEgyptian Society o Greco-Roman Studies.He has written a number o plays includingCleopatra Worships Peaceand The Blind GuestRestores His Sight.

David Fideler, Ph.D., studied Hellenisticphilosophies and religions and was editor othe journalAlexandr ia: Cosmology, Phi losophy,Myth, and Culture. His other works includeJesus Christ, Sun o God: Ancient Cosmology andEarly Christian Symbolism, Loves Alchemy: Poemsrom the Suf Tradi tion , and Natures Intelligence:A Litt le His tory o the World Soul and the Living

Universe(orthcoming).Leonard George, Ph.D., is a Canadianpsychologist, educator, author and broadcaster.His academic afliations include CapilanoUniversity, Simon Fraser University and theUniversity o British Columbia. Author o twobooks, Crimes o Perception andAlternativeRealities, he has ocused or many years on thespirituality o antiquity and as an advisor to theEsoteric Questconerences.

Ellen Goldberg, M.A., is a psychotherapistwho has been working within the HermeticTradition or thirty fve years. She has been onthe aculty o the N.Y. Open Center since 1985and taught at six previous esoteric conerences.Ellen is the ounder and director o the Schoolo Oracles and has a private psychotherapypractice in New York.

Clare Goodrick-Clarke, M.A., is theauthor oG. R. S. Mead and the Gnostic Quest,Alchemical Medicine, and The Hermetic Art oAlchemy, orthcoming rom Oxord UnviversityPress. An honorary ellow o the Universityo Exeter (UK), Clare teaches modules on theesoteric body and the history o alchemy in theMA program in Western Esotericism.

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, D.Phil., isProessor o Western Esotericism and Director othe Exeter Centre or the Study o Esotericism(EXESESO) at the University o Exeter. Heis the author oThe Western Esoteric Traditions

and various studies o Ramon Lull, Paracelsus,John Dee, Emanuel Swedenborg and HelenaBlavatsky. He is general editor o the WesternEsoteric Masters Seriesand joint-editor oAries:Journal or the Study o Western Esotericism .

Yasmine Hussein is a researcher at theAlexandria & Mediterranean Research Center,afliated with the Bibliotheca Alexandrinain Egypt. Her research writings, articles andpresentations specialize in issues relatedto religious philosophy, history and thearcheology o the ancient world. Her interestsalso concern perceptual and conceptual shitsin religious history.

Kyriacos Markides, Ph.D., is the authoro many books includingMountain o Silence,Riding the Lion, Gits o the Desert, and The Mago Strovolos. A proessor o sociology at theUniversity o Maine, he is a native o Cyprusand remains deeply connected to its cultureand history.

Mervat Abdel Nasser, M.D., M.Phil., wasborn and educated in Egypt and is currentlya visiting research ellow at the Institute oPsychiatry, Kings College, London. The authoo several books in Arabic on ancient Egypt,ancient Egyptian thought, ancient civilizationsand the history o ideas, she is chairperson oThe New Hermopolis which aims to establisha cultural village near the ancient site oHermopolis.

Richard Noll, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist,is Associate Proessor o Psychology at DesalesUniversity in Pennsylvania. He has conductedfeld work among the Siberian Tungus shamano northeast China, and has written two bookon Jung. His next book,American Madness:

The Rise and Fall o Dementia Praecox, will bepublished by Harvard University Press in 2011

Scott Olsen, Ph.D., is a Proessor oPhilosophy and Comparative Religion at theCollege o Central Florida and the authoroThe Golden Section: Natures Greatest Secretwhich was awarded frst place or design by thBookbinders Guild o New York. Scott lecturewidely on the Perennial Philosophy withspecial emphasis on the Divine Proportion andTransormative States o Consciousness.

Marjorie Roth, DMA, Ph.D., is AssociateProessor o Music at Nazareth College inRochester, NY, where she teaches Music HistorStudio Flute, Womens Studies, and directs theHonors program. She has recently published in collection o essays on Music & Esotericism andin August 2009, gave a presentation or the NYOpen Center on Spiritualism & Feminism in19th Century Upstate NY.

Kyriakos Savvopoulos, Ph.D., is aresearcher at the Alexandria & MediterraneanResearch Center and lectures at the AlexandriCenter or Hellenistic Studies.

Ralph White is co-ounder and creativedirector o the New York Open Center, oneo Americas leading institutions o holisticlearning, and editor oLapis Magazine Online.He has directed and organized a series onine international conerences on WesternEsotericism, o which this is the latest.

CONFERENCE STAFF:

Director: Ralph White,New York Open Center

Coordinator: Carrie Wyko,Events That Matter

Registrar: Andrea Lomanto,New York Open Center

Director of Finance: Nancy Rotger,New York Open Center

10


11/12

CONFERENCE REGISTRATIONConference FeeCourse Code: 11SQUEST

Registration through:

December 30, 2010: $1635

February 15, 2011: $1795

April 11, 2011: $1945

The conerence ee includes the ullconerence program, aternoon activities,evening events, all meals, airport transer,and round-trip coach between Cairo andAlexandria.

Accommodations FeeAccommodations are provided inAlexandria or the ive nights o Sunday,June 12, through Friday , June 17.Participants spend the night o Saturday,June 11, outside o Cairo to t ravel with theOpen Center by coach to Alexandria thenext day. Please see below or details.

June 12-17 (ive nights) in AlexandriaSingle rooms: $575 Double rooms:$330 per person, per room

Sea view single rooms: $630 Sea viewdouble rooms: $375 per person, perroom

Upgraded sea view single rooms:

$850

Upgraded sea view double rooms:

$540 per person, per room

June 11 outside o Cairo

Single rooms: $160 Double rooms:$95 per person, per room

This ee includes dinner on the evening oJune 11.

For booking double rooms, please speciywhether you wi ll be attending as a couple,sharing a room with a riend, or wish tohave a roommate arranged or you by theOpen Center (pending availability).

RegistrationThe Open Center invites you to registeron our website at www.EsotericQuest.org,where you will fnd our complete reg istrationinormation and payment orm. Payment isrequired to secure your registration.

PaymentAll payment is in US dollars. Please pay bycredit card, international money order orpersonal check (US bank accounts only).Prices do not include travel to and romCairo, Egypt. An aordable payment planor the conerence is available. Please contactAndrea Lomanto at 212.219.2527 ext. 101,or at [email protected] or details.

Travel ArrangementsParticipants must make their own travelarrangements to and rom Cairo, Egypt(or home rom either Paphos or Larnaca iyou are joining us or the Cyprus post-

conerence trip).

Arrival in CairoParticipants begin their journey by lyinginto Egypts Cairo International Airport(CAI) where they will be met by aconerence representative and travel totheir accommodations or the evening.Participants taking advantage o the Pre-Conerence Day in Cairo will arrive onJune 10. Others wil l arr ive on June 11. Anair-conditioned coach meets us on themorning o Sunday, June 12, or the 3-hourride into Alexandria.

About the ConferenceThe conerence begins with our ride intoAlexandria on the morning o June 12.That evening, we meet or an orientationand dinner reception. Each day, we willhave morning plenary sessions ollowedby lunch at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.Aternoons include activities exploring

ancient and modern Alexandria, as well asa choice o workshops to attend, ollowedby dinner. In the evenings we will gather ora variety o cultural events. The conerenceends with our late morning coach ride backto Cairo Airport on Friday, June 17.

RefundsA ull reund, less a $200 processing ee,will be o ered or cancellations madeby February 15, 2011. Travel insuranceis strongly recommended in the evento unexpectedly having to cancel orchange your travel plans either beoreor during the conerence, losing yourluggage, needing medical assistance, or ithe program is aected by circumstancesbeyond our control. You can purchaseit online or rom your own travel agent.Travel insurance options are availableat www.globaltravelshield.com orwww.worldnomad.com.

Offsetting our Carbon FootprintOur Esoteric Queststake us to many wonderulplaces around the world, and the OpenCenter is committed to caring or this planetand its climate. Our brochure is printedon recycled paper and this year we will beosetting the carbon ootprint generated bysta air travel. We invite you to do the sameby visiting www.sustainabletravelinternational.org so you can fnd out how manygreenhouse gases are produced by yourjourney and then purchase Green Tags tomake your travel 100% climate-neutral.

Scholarships / Work StudyA limited number o partial scholarshipsare available. Anyone awarded ascholarship will be expected to assist onsite at the conerence. Please see ourwebsi te or a scholarship applicat ion orm.These requests will be reviewed on a irstcome, irst serve basis.

The generous nature o this

world teaches all beings.Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius


12/12

22 East 30th Street

New York, NY 10016

NONPROFIT O

U.S. POSTAG

PAIDHOLLISTON, M

PERMIT NO.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM INCLUDESAll Roads Lead to Alexandria Leonard George, Ph.D

Alexandria, the Cosmopolis: Global Community, Then and Now David Fideler, Ph.D

Alexandria Quartet: Callimachus, Philo, Origen and Cavafy John Dillo

The Alexandrian Sciences in Baghdad Ahmed Etman, Ph.D

Hermeticism as a Philosophy of Hope Mervat Nasser, M.D., M.Phi

The Philosopher Mathematicians of Alexandria: Euclid and Hypatia Scott Olsen, Ph.D

Divine Women: Cleopatra and Hypatia Marjorie Roth, DMA, Ph.D

The Church of the East Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, D.Phi

Greco-Egyptian Oracles Crystal Addey, Ph.D

Alexandrian Alchemy and the Ascent of the Soul Brian Cotno

POST CONFERENCE JOURNEYSGods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, June 17th to 22ndwith Normandi El l

Journey to Cyprus Island of Aphrodite and Eastern Mystical Christianity, June 17th to 22n

with Kyriacos Markides and othe

Documents

Alexandria (Was the Capital of Egypt and Gnostic Practices)