The Inaugural John Michell Memorial Lecture

Friday 25^th March 2011

JOHN MICHELL: AN INTRODUCTION HIS WORK

Christine Rhone

Described by poet and scholar Kathleen Raine as ‘one of the most brilliant men in England’, John Michell was a unique, multi-faceted personality and a writer who produced many flashes of genius. As a modern Merlin, he influenced a whole generation or more with his revelations and insights into ancient science – geometry, geodesy, and cosmology - and he stands as a twentieth-century giant in the stream of arithmosophy. However, John Michell dealt with many subjects. In this talk, Christine Rhone will survey his work as a whole, viewing his books over four decades and showing how each book contributed to his central vision.

 

Christine Rhone  is a French-American dual national living in London. She is the co-author, with John Michell, of Twelve-Tribe Nations and worked with him for three years on The Cereologist magazine. She is the translator of such titles as Sacred Geography of the Ancient Greeks by Jean Richer, and Youthfulness and Chivalry in Iranian Islam by Henry Corbin; forthcoming is Western Esotericism: A Concise History by Antoine Faivre (SUNY, 2010). She contributes to many small press publications.

 

Friday 29^th April 2011

Doors open at 6.30pm

The RILKO AGM will be held from 6.45 to 7.15 & is followed at 7.30pm by

The Robert Cowley Memorial Lecture

The public is warmly welcomed to attend this lecture

 

SHAMEN, MEGALITHS AND THE CITY BUILDERS -

THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS

Lucy Wyatt

Washington DC is not normally linked with shamen and megaliths who we associate with Peruvian medicine men and dolmens on Salisbury Plain. But they have more in common with the origins of modern cities than we realize. We mistakenly believe that cities grew out of farming. Instead, the ancient archetype of civilization that appeared in Mesopotamia over 6,000 years ago introduced farming. The Egyptians, Phoenicians and Mayans used knowledge gained from shamanic ritual to build cities. Pharaohs were initiated as shamen; and learnt the secrets of alchemy. There is evidence in Indo-European languages that confirms this archetype. The roots of their common language reveals that they had contact with the civilisers, even though early Indo-Europeans did not live in cities until several thousand years later and never learnt all their secrets. We now have the benefit of cities but not the secret knowledge.

 

Lucy Wyatt  lives with her family on a small Suffolk farm that was still derelict in 2000. It was a rare chance to explore living in harmony with Nature. Lucy is interested in Earth energies and for over 10 years has led local Gatekeeper Trust pilgrimages at the equinoxes and solstices. In January 2010, O Books published her first book, Approaching Chaos - could an ancient archetype save C21st civilisation?

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R.I.L.K.O.   A Charitable Educational Trust Number:  266677  Founded in 1969

Website:  www.rilko.net

R.I.L.K.O.

RESEARCH INTO LOST KNOWLEDGE ORGANISATION

 

 

Studies in patterns

 

PUBLIC LECTURES  2010 - 2011

Held at the Theosophical Society Headquarters

50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA

Nearest Underground Station: Baker Street

Buses: 2,13, 30, 74, 82, 113, 139, 189, 274 pass outside

 

7.15pm

The RILKO bookstall will be open & drinks available from 6.45 (6.30pm on 29^th April 2011)

£7 (members £5)

 

Friday 17^th September 2010

(Please note this is not the usual last Friday in the month)

SPIRIT OF PLACE

Alanna Moore

Geomancy is the esoteric art of working with the living energies of the land. Geomancy today echoes ancient shamanic practices, with extra-sensory skills used to divine Earth spirit and read the twilight language of the soul of the landscape, its Dreamtime dimension. A renewal of interest in such mysteries and concern for Earth’s well-being has spawned a new generation of geomancers who are championing the protection of sacred landscapes, in a world enmeshed with electro-magnetic pollution, a potential carcinogen. The 'Spirit of Place' looks at how people can access the Dreamtime dimensions of place, and avoid the impacts of noxious energies in the environment by using their dowsing abilities.

Alanna Moore  is an Australian geomancer specialising in surveying the subtle energies of place, and in 1984 she co-founded the New South Wales Dowsing Society. For over 27 years she has advised on the selection of healthy living locations and warns against building on geopathic stress zones or ‘fairy pathways’. Alanna, who has English and Irish heritage, is

 

 

familiar with the ancient geomantic traditions of the Australian Aboriginals. She finds many parallels with the culture of Ireland where there is traditional respect for the land and its

invisible forces. She is also a permaculture farmer and teacher, and currently spends summers in Ireland, where the Round Towers inspired the 'Power Towers' that she creates to enhance plant growth and well-being. Alanna is also a filmmaker and the author of seven books, including Sensitive Permaculture (2009), Divining Earth Spirit (2004) and Stone Age Farming (2001), which is about esoteric agriculture and Power Towers. She has an informative website at: www.geomantica.com

 

Friday 29^th October 2010

MAGICAL MINDSETS:

THE VARIETIES OF SACRED GEOMETERY

Paul Devereux

Sacred geography is the meeting of mind and topography, of land and soul. It is how ancient and traditional peoples invested their territories with meaning. In this highly illustrated presentation Paul will take us on a world tour of sacred lands, from the desert lines and effigies of deserts in the Americas, to Buddhists soundscapes, to ancient acoustic Chinese gardens and musical stones of the Stone Age, to places with faces - and many more examples of sacred geography.

 

Paul Devereux  is a research affiliate with the Royal College of Art, and Managing (and a founding) Editor of Time & Mind – The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture (Berg, Oxford). He is a Senior Research Fellow of the Consciousness Research Laboratories (ICRL), Princeton, and the Director of the Dragon Project Trust. He edited the legendary Ley Hunter magazine 1977-1997. Besides much fieldwork in deserts, mountains and jungles, he has written a great many general articles and a string of peer-reviewed papers, plus 26 books dealing with the anthropologies of consciousness, archaeoacoustics and other aspects of ancient sites, landscapes and lifeways. He lectures in Europe, the UK and North America. His latest book is Sacred Geography; a major work published this year by Gaia Books.  www.pauldevereux.co.uk

 

Friday 26^th November 2010

THE WONDERS OF YEW

Fred Hageneder

Live harp music in the intervals

This is an event dedicated to the remarkable story of the oldest living things in Europe and their endangered future. The yew is one of the most versatile life forms on earth – botanically rich and intriguing. The story of the yew has a rich cultural and historical background – it was the Tree of Life, the tree in the Garden of Eden and the original Christmas Tree. Yet, the British obsession with using yew for the medieval longbow led to the destruction of yew forests across continental Europe because the wood was superior. Now, the mass destruction of yews overseas means that the UK is a Noah’s Ark for the conservation of ancient yews worldwide. Eighty to eighty five per cent of these grow in British churchyards, where the Church is the guardian and custodian of this ancient heritage.

 

Fred Hageneder  is an authority on ethnobotany. His books include: The Spirit of Trees: Science, Symbiosis and Inspiration (2000) and The Living Wisdom of Trees: Natural

 

 

History, Folklore, Symbolism, Healing (2005) and Yew – A History (2007). Fred is a founding member and the chairman of Friends of the Trees, a registered charity concerned with nature conservation, and a founder member of the AYG (Ancient Yew Group).

 

Friday 28^th January 2011

THE SECRET LAND

Paul Broadhurst

In this illustrated talk, Paul Broadhurst will reveal the extraordinary discoveries in his new book The Secret Land. He will show that a series of gigantic landscape figures were created in the West Country to reflect important star constellations linked to Arthurian mythology. These include the Great Bear at Tintagel, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. Since Arthur means Great Bear in the old British language the truth is shown to be derived from an impressive understanding of cosmology, for the constellation of the Great Bear is the guardian of heavenly order, which ancient kings sought to bring down to earth. These figures create a ‘Round Table’ of constellations, each reflecting the powers associated with certain star-groups. Merlin was the originator of the Round Table, which became Arthur’s property on his marriage to Guinevere, the King of Cornwall’s daughter, and these discoveries are linked to the earliest known British legends. Here is proof that the megalith builders, Druids and early Celtic Christian Church, as well as the Knights Templar, understood the secrets of the landscape.

 

Paul Broadhurst  is one of the most original authors and researchers into the mysteries of ancient landscapes, their myths and their effects on human consciousness. Probably best known as the co-author of classics The Sun and the Serpent and The Dance of the Dragon, which have changed the way a whole generation relate to the land, he has also written a number of ground-breaking books investigating subjects as diverse as Holy Wells, Arthurian mythology and the real meaning behind the myth of St George.

 

Friday 25^th February 2011

EXPLORING SACRED SPACE AND SACRED SOUND

Susan Hale

Hearing is the first sense to develop and the last to leave at death. Ancient people recognized the importance of sound and sought out resonant caves to perform rituals. Later temples and churches were built to enhance sound and music for the purpose of expanding consciousness. In this lecture we will journey across space and time via images and sounds, including the cymatic cubes at Rosslyn Chapel; Chartres Cathedral; prehistoric painted caves; the Michael and Mary lines in Britain; and the world's most extraordinary sonic temples. We will discover the relationship of vocal structure with sacred architecture and explore the mysteries of the human voice. We will also listen to the sacred music of different cultures from swan bone whistle flutes played in the Neolithic, to a 3,000 year old lullaby, to pilgrim songs to the Black Madonna of Montserrat, to contemporary music recorded in sacred sites and finally with the sound of our own voices.

Susan Elizabeth Hale MA.,  is an internationally renowned music therapist, sound healer and author from America. Her latest book is Sacred Space, Sacred Sound: The Acoustic Mysteries of Holy Places. She is a seminar leader, teacher and guide, helping people to explore their sacred paths and find and free the natural voice. See www.songkeeper.net