Other journals seeking new home

Following the successful re-housing of Études Traditionnelles, 1960-85, two other journals are looking for a new home. They are Symbolos: Arte, Cultura, Gnosis, 1990-2007, and Studies in Comparative Religion, 1970-84.

• Symbolos: Arte, Cultura, Gnosis: Complete run of nos. 1 (1990) through 32 (2007: ceased publication) in 20 volumes. Page counts from 190 pp. (no. 1) to 576 pp. (double no. 31-32). 
• Studies in Comparative Religion: Unbroken run from vol. 4, no.1 (1970) through vol. 17, nos. 1-2 ("1984"; actually some years later, and therewith ceased publication). Bound as six volumes in red library buckram. Plus loose numbers as follows: 1/1, 1/4, 2/1, 2/2, 2/4, 3/1, 3/2.

 On Symbolos, the anonymous donor writes:

Symbolos: Arte, Cultura, Gnosis was a Spanish-language periodical of Traditionalist (Guenonian), Hermetic, and Masonic inspiration, edited by Federico González. Published from Guatemala City and printed in Barcelona, this was the chief vehicle for Traditionalist scholarship, speculation, and controversy in the Spanish-speaking world, and González himself its most authoritative spokesman in that world, with many separate publications to his name. Symbolos carries extremely rich and serious articles and reviews by Spanish, Latin-American, and (translated) foreign authors, especially on historic (cyclical), artistic, symbolic, and geographical topics. The editorial approach is non-dogmatic, more sympathetic to Hermetic, Pythagorean currents than to the monotheistic religions, and more respectful of Guenon's than of Schuon's example. 

Would those interested in giving either or both of these journals a new home please email me (mjs@teo.au.dk) a few sentences describing the proposed new home--that is, who you are and what you will do with them. I will then pass your name and those few sentences to the donor, who will make the final decision.

Études Traditionnelles 1960-85 finds new home

The complete set of Études Traditionnelles, 1960-85, that was looking for a new home (see earlier post) has now found one.

It was interesting, if not surprising, to see the number and variety of people who offered those numbers of the journal a new home.

Those who are interested in buying individual copies of Études Traditionnelles 1950-92 might consult the website of the publisher, Éditions Traditionnelles.

Études Traditionnelles 1960-85 seeks new home

A complete set of Études Traditionnelles, 1960-85, is looking for a new home.

The volumes are currently in Stockholm, and are available to anyone who will look after them. The new home is to reimburse the cost of postage, but otherwise no payment is expected.

Please send expressions of interest to me (mjs at teo.au.dk) and I will forward your emails to the donor.

Rousselot de Surgy

Only distantly related to Traditionalism, but here is an appeal for help: does anyone know anything about Jacques Philibert Rousselot de Surgy (b. 1737), author of Mélanges intéressans et curieux, ou abrégé d’histoire naturelle, morale, civile, et politique de l’Asie, l’Afrique, l’Amérique, et des Terres polaires, “dont la date de décès est inconnue des usuels et qui aurait été censeur royal” (BNF)? He wrote an entry on Sufism in his mélanges that is so unusual that I would love to know more about him.

Mark Sedgwick

Seyyed Hossein Nasr and the Environment: “Ecoside is suicide”

By Anne Marieke Schwencke, Leiden University.


Seyyed Hossein Nasr has been voicing his concerns about the devastation of the natural environment since the end of the 1960s. He has articulated his views in several books--The Encounter of Man and Nature (1966), Man and Nature: the Spiritual Crisis of Modern Man (1989) and Religion and the Order of Nature (1996)--and in numerous lectures.

I am presently working on a BA thesis on Nasr’s environmental ideas. Having worked as an environmental policy researcher for some years, the religious perspective on the environmental crisis in Nasr’s thought caught my attention. Nasr’s views are extremely interesting. They provide a different perspective from the mainstream environmental discourse, although he shares common ground with deep-ecology thinkers and venerated icons of the environmental movement like E. F. Schumacher (Small is Beautiful). Present research about Nasr addresses his Traditionalist views, his philosophy, his ideas about ‘science and Islam,’ etc., but his environmental views seem to get less attention.

According to Nasr, the environmental crisis is in fact a spiritual crisis, finding its root cause in the modern Western materialistic and secular worldview. A solution for the environmental crisis is to be found in a rediscovery of ‘traditional’ religious cosmology, values and truths. Nasr explicitly draws on religious, mystical metaphysical systems of thought–not only Islamic–that have, in his view, been eclipsed by modernity and need to be revived. These emphasize the inherent unity and interrelatedness of nature, humanity and the Divine.

My research covers Nasr’s views and the responses to his work (his audiences). All suggestions will be appreciated. Either leave a comment on this blog, or email am.schwencke@planet.nl.

Sufism and Transnational Spirituality

PhD and Postdoc positions within research group on “Sufism and Transnational Spirituality,” Aarhus University

Applications are invited for one PhD position and one Postdoc position within a new research group on “Sufism and Transnational Spirituality” at Aarhus University, Denmark. Founded in 1928, Aarhus University is now the second largest university in Denmark, with approximately 35,000 students and a staff of about 9,000.

The research group has not yet received funding, and any appointment is therefore subject to funding being received. Successful applicants will be encouraged to develop an individual research project dealing with Sufism in both the West and the Muslim world (not just the West or just the Muslim world). The positions involve some teaching duties, but these are not onerous, and will start (subject to funding) in August 2009 or August 2010.

Applications are invited from any relevant disciplinary background, but candidates with a background in anthropology, Middle East/Islamic studies, or religious studies are especially encouraged to apply. Knowledge of Arabic or another appropriate language used in the Muslim world will be a distinct advantage. Knowledge of Danish is not required, and there are no restrictions concerning citizenship. Successful applicants will be expected to base themselves in Aarhus for the duration of their research, in either the Department of Anthropology and Ethnography or the Department of the Study of Religion. Residence and employment permits will be arranged by the university if necessary. Remuneration will be in accordance with the appropriate Danish Universities scale, and fieldwork expenses will be covered.

Applicants should email by August 22, 2008 a covering letter of no more than two pages describing in outline a possible research project, a full CV, and up to one writing sample, to Dr Nils Bubandt, Department of Anthropology and Ethnography, University of Aarhus, 8270 Hojbjerg, Denmark. Up to three letters of recommendation may also be submitted, but given the short time available before the deadline, such letters are not required. Any enquiries may be sent in advance of application to either Dr Bubandt (bubandt@hum.au.dk) or Dr Mark Sedgwick (mjs@teo.au.dk).

Traditionalism in Chechnya: research announcement

Eduard ten Houten, a graduate research student at the University of Amsterdam, is writing an MA thesis on the life and ideas of Khohz-Akhmed Noukhaev, the Chechen who developed "Hanific Traditionalism."

Mr ten Houten is a student in religious studies, working in the research group on the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents. He is also interested in the political forms of Traditionalism as developed by Julius Evola and Aleksandr Dugin, and in related currents, including those in fin-de-siècle Vienna and the Weimar Republic.

Mr ten Houten writes:

I welcome any information concerning Noukhaev, his business and political past, his network of contacts, his position in Chechen society and discourse, as well as any other aspect of his life and ideas. Especially information related to the period after October 2003 would be very much appreciated. All correspondence will be treated with discretion. You can contact me at: Eduard.tenHouten@student.uva.nl. Thank you in advance.

Alternative spellings of Noukhaev include: Noukhayev Noukhaev Nukhaev Nukhayev Noechajev Nuxaev Nuchajew Nuchajev Nouchaev Nugaev Nuhaev Nuhayev

ESSWE: new learned society

Those in or near Europe doing research on Traditionalism may be interested by the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE). The ESSWE website lists scholars, books and so on in 28 categories, and one of these is "Traditionalism" (along with, for example, "Neoplatonism").

ESSWE's inaugural conference will be in Germany in July 2007, under the title "Constructing Tradition: Means and Myths of Transmission in Western Esotericism." There may be some papers on Traditionalism.

Research announcement: US perennialism

Setareh Houman writes from Tehran, Iran:

I am currently working on my thesis, writing a dissertation under the direction of Dr. Antoine Faivre of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris, France).

The topic of my dissertation is perennialism in intellectual circles in the U.S. in the late 20th centruy-early 21st century ("La présence du courant pérennialiste dans les milieux intellectuels aux Etats-Unis dans la seconde moitié du XXe et le début du XXIe siècles").

I have no previous publication on this subject. My previous publications are a book on Nietzsche, and book translations from French to Farsi, e.g. Merleau Ponty Eloge de la philosophie and Sarah Kofman Caméra Obscura de l'Idéologie.