Lectio Divina as a Ladder towards God is a theological work of re-sourcement. As suggested by the word itself, re-sourcement is a return to applying theology to the original sources found in Christianity, namely Scripture, Tradition, the Church Fathers (i.e., Patristics), and Apostolic Teachings. Lectio divina is, therefore, an ancient practice of prayer and hermeneutics with its roots in early Hellenistic Christian and Jewish traditions which takes us directly to the heart of the Christian tradition by drinking directly from the fresh spring of God’s living Word. Consequently, the author articulates this tradition in three parts. Examining this influential history, …

THIS BOOK is a study of the Sor or Tepes, a mountain people of southern Karamoja in Uganda, north of the Kalenjin area. It focuses on the most salient elements of their culture as well as on their clan movements during the 18th and 19th centuries, and on other aspects of their pre-colonial history. It also contains a wealth of linguistic information. Among the Sor customs singled out for particular scrutiny are their very ancient institutions of rain-making, and their cult of the Spirits. The persistence of this cult, which is built around practices of mediumship exclusive to an esoteric …

The art world is filled with the presence of the Virgin Mary – a fundamental symbol of motherhood, who has been radiating youthfulness, tenderness, and compassion for two thousand years. Finding in her an inexhaustible source of inspiration, artists have consistently used the image of the Virgin Mary to reflect our own sufferings and joys. The author Kyra Belán leads us on a comprehensive tour analysing the profound meaning to be found in the images of the Virgin – from personal interpretations to spiritual reflections on a universal level. These works of art present a fascinating visual commentary on the …

In 1905 Georgia travelled to Chicago to study painting at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1907 she enrolled at the Art Students’ League in New York City, where she studied with William Merritt Chase. During her time in New York she became familiar with the 291 Gallery owned by her future husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz. In 1912, she and her sisters studied at university with Alon Bement, who employed a somewhat revolutionary method in art instruction originally conceived by Arthur Wesley Dow. In Bement’s class, the students did not mechanically copy nature, but instead were taught the principles of …

When, almost twenty years ago, we founded the World of Art, we had a burning desire to liberate Russian artistic activity from the tutelage of literature, to instil in the society around us a love of the very essence of art, and that was the aim we had when we took the field. We considered enemies all those “who fail to respect art as such”, those who either fasten wings to an old nag or harness Pegasus to the cart of “social ideals”, or reject the idea of Pegasus altogether. For that reason, we addressed ourselves to the artistic world …

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel (1856-1910) was a painter whose art has been described as a Symbolist and Proto-Expressionist. He exerted a tremendous influence on Russian avant-garde painters. After graduating from the Academy of Fine Art in St. Petersburg, Vrubel made many trips to Italy and earned his living restoring medieval art treasures. This greatly influenced Vrubel's choice of subject matter, although he was also heavily influenced by the literature of his own country, which was then in full flower. The magnificent full-colour reproductions in this book of the Russian master, whose work deserves to be far better known in the West, …

Icon painting, the ultimate expression of Orthodox Christian art, reached its zenith in Ukraine between the 11th and 18th centuries. This book spans the entire period, showing the development of the style. The Ukrainian icon is a surprising synthesis of the traditions of Eastern Byzantine art and the stylistic characteristics of Russian icon painting. The introduction of this book explains the stages of development of icon-painting over five centuries in Ukraine’s major Centres of art - Kyiv, Chernihiv, Transcarpathia, Galicia, and Volhynia - and discusses the life and work of the masters of icon-painting. Despite the strict stylistic considerations imposed …

Throughout time, artists have maintained a close relationship with the animal world, which has proved to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration. First, they received inspiration directly from their environment. Next, animals were used in art for their status as domestic friends, symbols of an intimate and familial life, held in particularly high esteem during the Renaissance. Later, in Orientalism, animal art followed the discovery of exotic fauna which appealed to contemporary artists. The animal and its wild beauty are depicted here through works of art from Albrecht Dürer, Pieter Bruegel, Leonardo da Vinci, Katsushika Hokusai, Henri Rousseau, and Paul …

Luisa Aurora Viviana Rodal, after graduating in Letters and Philosophy (UBA), realized during ten years different academic labors at various universities. During the years 1982 and 1983 she pursued postgraduate studies and researches  at the Department of Religion, Syracuse University,  New York, USA. Independently, she continued her studies in the fields of Religion and Ethics. This essay, meditated during a long period of time, includes themes that concern her: iconoclasm as the limit of the image and symbol and  time as possibility of freedom and creation. She dedicates herself also to Art, especially to play violin.