Under the subtitle “A Hermetic Reformation”, a scholarly conference will be held in National Széchényi Library on February 18, 2017. The conference will mark the opening of The Ritman Library’s traveling exhibition ‘Divine Wisdom – Divine Nature’, and its topics include alchemy, magic, Christian Kabbalah and the symbolic language of the Rosicrucians.
[1]Marking the opening of Amsterdam-based The Ritman Library’s traveling exhibition [2] entitled ‘Divine Wisdom – Divine Nature. The Message of the Rosicrucian Manifestoes in the Visual Language of the Seventeenth Century’, a scholarly conference will be held in National Széchényi Library on February 18, 2017. Entitled Divine Wisdom – Divine Nature – A Hermetic Reformation, the conference will feature topics such as alchemy, magic, Christian Kabbalah and the symbolic language of the Rosicrucians.
Visual language, stated in the title of the conference, is reflected in a special form in the topic of the exhibition and conference. Materials that appeared in Germany in the early seventeenth century reflect the approach represented by the topic of the exhibition and conference. Documents presented at the exhibition originated in the direct environment of the circle in Tübingen that inspired the Rosicrucian Manifestoes. They were artistic expressions visualizing the relationship of God and Nature, and that of the macrocosm and the microcosm, embedded in the symbol system of Christianity, Christian Kabbalah and alchemy; using the visual language of the 17th century, they look for and give an answer to the questions of man searching his place in the world.
The conference focuses on the oeuvre of Johannes Reuchlin, Heinrich Khunrath, Daniel Mögling, Stephan Michelspacher, Robert Fludd, Michael Maier, Comenius and John Dee.
The speakers at this conference are all renowned researchers of the era and the intellectual currents associated with the Hermetic tradition. Their lectures want to introduce the audience to the wisdom contained in and conveyed by these ‘iconotexts’. The aim of the exhibition and the conference is to make this treasure, priceless for both the European and universal human culture, available to a wider audience and to interpret and update it for the thinking man of the 21st century.
The Budapest conference also pays tribute to Prof. Dr. Bálint Keserű. His oeuvre, establishing a new school of thought, was instrumental in making us understand the effect of the intellectual currents to be presented on Hungary and on East Central Europe, and in letting their significance be recognized by the international academic community.
The conference features the following speakers and topics:
- Endre Ádám Hamvas– Gál Ferenc University
Some remarks on the problem of the term “Hermetic tradition’ - Gábor Almási – MTA-ELTE Lendület Research Group on Humanism in East Central Europe
Johann Reuchlin and the Kabbala - Márton Szentpéteri – Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME)
Archelogia spagirica: Paracelsian aspects of Alsted’s trinitarian theory of cognition - Peter Forshaw – Center for the History of Hermetic Philosophy, University of Amsterdam
Heinrich Khunrath and his Amphitheatre of eternal wisdom - Esther Ritman – Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica | The Ritman Library, Amsterdam
The greatness of the human mind - Sándor Fazekas – Kaposvár University
Michael Maier, his Atalanta fugiens and Symbola aurea mensae - Magdolna Veres – University of Szeged (SZTE)
Comenius’ pansophia: all-wisdom for everyone - György Endre Szőnyi – University of Szeged (SZTE); Central European University (CEU)
John Dee and the Rosicrucian tradition - Moderator: Róbert Kutsera – Aquarius Cultural Foundation
Detailed program of the conference [3]
Poster [4]
Date: Saturday February 18, 2017, 9:00 – 18:00
Venue: National Széchényi Library – 4–5–6 Szent György Square, H-1014 Budapest
More information, program info and ticket purchase: www.kialtvanyok400.hu [5]
We are waiting for the visitors!