Reseña del editor:
On the isolated island of Staffa, near Iona in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, an extraordinary collection of stalactites compressed by the surging water creates not only a cathedral-like space inside a cave but also perpetual sound, as the wind and water ebb and flow. This place is called Fingal's cave - a source of mystery, spiritual insight and artistic inspiration for centuries. Mendelssohn and Turner were fascinated by it. Esoteric philosopher and educationalist Rudolf Steiner thought that Fingal - the chief of the ancient Celts, who preserved their religion and culture against pagan marauders - was the great pre-Christian initiate. The cave looms large in the fragmentary poems of Ossian, collected by the 18th century poet James Macpherson. The poems, subject of controversy even to this day, were a great influence on Enlightenment and Romantic figures as diverse as Thomas Jefferson, Walt Whitman, James Fenimoore Cooper, Dickens and many others. Napolean kept the poems of Ossian with him during his Russian campaign. He even commissioned paintings depicting scenes from the poetry and hung them at his country retreat outside Paris. This work explores the meaning of Fingal's initiation rite, the development of Celtic culture, customs and influence into modern times, and its revival once again today.
Biografía del autor:
Paul Marshall Allen (1913-1998) was an authority on the life and work of Rudolf Steiner and, as the "first American-born anthroposophic lecturer," was a leading pioneer of Rudolf Steiner's spiritual science across North America. He edited and wrote introductions for numerous books on Anthroposophy and spiritual wisdom, including his classic work, A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology (1968), and wrote Vladimir Soloviev: Russian Mystic (1968). With his wife Joan deRis Allen, Paul coauthored Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures (1996); Fingal's Cave, the Poems of Ossian, and Celtic Christianity (1999); and The Time Is at Hand! (1995). Joan deRis Allen was born January 20, 1931. She graduated from Columbia University School of Architecture in 1956 and practiced as an independent architect in the United States until 1968. At that time, together with her husband Paul Marshall Allen and two young children, she emigrated to England. In 1970, she founded Camphill Architects at Botton Village, Yorkshire, with Gabor Tallo. Over the years her architectural work has taken her to Ireland, Scotland, and Norway. Joan now lives and works in Kimberton Hills, Pennsylvania. In 1970, she published Living Buildings, Halls and Chapels of the Camphill Movement for the fiftieth anniversary of the Camphill Movement. She is author with Paul Marshall Allen of The Time Is at Hand!; Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Creatures; and Fingal's Cave, the Poems of Ossian and Celtic Christianity.
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