#kerényi

[popolodipekino]

delfino delfico

La sconfinata acqua appartiene organicamente all'immagine del Fanciullo, esattamente come l'utero e il grembo materno. Gli Indii hanno dato un'espressione particolarmente vigorosa a questa connessione. Nella storia sacra denominata dal pesce (matsya), Matsyapurana, Manu, il primo uomo, parla a Vishnu dalla forma di pesce: "Come sorse, nella grande èra del loto il mondo lotomorfo dal tuo ombelico, mentre tu giacevi nel mare cosmico? Giacevi, dormendo, nel mare cosmico, con il tuo ombelico di loto; come sorsero all'inizio dei tempi, grazie alla tua potenza, nel tuo loto, gli dèi e le schiere dei Veggenti?" Il Fanciullo che qui porta il nome del dio Vishnu, è, secondo quest'immagine, nello stesso tempo pesce, embrione ed utero, eseattamente come l'essere primordiale di Anassimandro. Un uguale pesce, portatore di fanciulli e giovani, e contemporaneamente figura in cui si trasforma un divino fanciullo, ricorre anche nella mitologia greca. I Greci lo chiamano l'"animale utero" e lo venerano tra tutti gli esseri vivi del mare, come se avessero scorto in esso la qualità che rende il mare portatore e generatore di fanciulli. Quest'animale è il delfino (delf- significa utero)*, animale sacro di Apollo che, in virtù di questo rapporto, si chiama anche Apollon Delphinios.

*Nota. Cfr. delfys "utero", a-delfòs "fratello" ([con alfa copulativo,] dalla stessa madre): antica e sicura etimologia. da C. G. Jung, K. Kerényi, Prolegomeni allo studio scientifico della mitologia

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[sesiondemadrugada]

Two Girls on the Street (André De Toth, 1939).

[magyarfilmekatolcettig]

Puskák és galambok - 1961. Rendezte: Keleti Márton. Főszerepben: Tóth László, Kiss Antal, Kerényi Gábor, Bucsi István, Beke Zoltán, Benkő Gyula, Bessenyei Ferenc, Agárdi Gábor, Ráday Imre. https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/magyarfilmekatolcettig

[fincsimissimi]

Nem mondod

— Ilyen picin múlt, hogy elkéssek. A sofőr már csukta az ajtót, de a résen még be tudtam dugni a kezem, kénytelen volt kinyitni, és felszálltam a buszra. Különben nem értem volna ide a felvonulásodra. — Nem mondod.

[urmuz]

[palkerekfy]

Jó véget ér a július!

[thelabyrinthstar]

ἔγειρ᾿ φλογέας λάμπαδας ἐν χερσὶ τινάσσων,

Ἴακχ᾿, ὦ Ἴακχε,

νυκτέρου τελετῆς φωσφόρος ἀστήρ.

Awaken blazing torches, tossing them in your hands,

Iacchus, Iacchus,

Brilliant star of our nighttime rite!

[source]

or

Kindles the flaming torchers, brandishing one in each hand

Iakchos, O Iakchos!

The light-bringing star of the nocturnal mysteries.

[source: Dionysos Archetypal image of indestructible life by Carl Kerényi]

Φωσφόρος was used to refer to the planet Venus, the morning star, meaning "Light Bringer" or "Bearer of Light." and it was also related to the Sirius star, which is connected to Iakchos, a minor deity that appears related to a "double" of the Greek God Dionysos. In Carl Kerényi book, he builds a relation between both Iakchos and Dionysos in Chapter Three, section "Iakar and Iakchos."

[sangreprince]

Headcanons: Zagreus, The God

Who Zagreus is as a god is a complicated question, but one that boils down into a semi-simple answer: He is the god of blood, sweat, and tears. In other words, determination. This is gonna be broken into a few parts to avoid yapping so people can easily find the lore they're interested in.

1. Overview & Sources

2. Abilities

3. Personality / Alignment

4. Following

1. Overview & Sources Borrowing from his etymology first, I'm sourcing mostly from Dionysos by Karl Kerényi. A lot of what he is as depicted by SSG comes from that and I'm similarly drawing from those sources. There's other conflicting information out there such as some of the materials in the Greek Epic Fragments by Martin L. West, but I personally won't be referencing it since I don't believe much of that was sourced for his character in this specific portrayal. That said though, I do recommend people check it out regardless as there are some things in there that also seem to be the basis for what SSG establish (Such as some lines cited by Timothy Gantz). That said, I also borrow (what I can) from the Sisyphus epic as detailed in the Aeschylus, which you can find online under West as well. Mainly this pertains to not only his nature as the Son of Hades but also his specific function within the Underworld. My portrayal is kind of a mix of those sources, heavily inspired by the tones SSG set in their own interpretation of the mythology.

Because we don't actually know a lot about the historical Zagreus and some of the information is conflicting, especially regarding Orphic tradition and his relationship / identity with Dionysos, most of my portrayal is going to be a mix of filling in the blanks with my own narrative based off of (primarily) the sources given. There's a lot of mixup there regarding Zagreus and Dionysos that I won't really be touching for the purposes of this blog. That said, I strongly believe in being authentic and respecting the source material! If you know of any good sources. That said, if anyone has any ideas or thoughts regarding this please let me know some source materials I can go over!! Mediterranean history and mythology is something I'm going to try and respect and acknowledge, even if some liberties are taken for the sake of distinction. Comments should be open for this so if you've got sources, feel free to paste them below!

I'm using these two sources alongside the story established by SSG to sort of form my own narrative with Zagreus. That said, if anyone wants to read them I'll source them here!

Kerényi, C. (1976). Dionysos : Archetypal image of indestructible life. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA52740670

West, M. L. (1990). Studies in Aeschylus. In De Gruyter eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110948066

2. Abilities.

Zagreus is Hades's son. He is undying, unable to die except by extremely unconventional means that would sever his link to the cycle of life and death itself. But that isn't to say he can't be killed. He is still partly, even if only by a small margin, mortal. This allows him to be vanquished by any conventional means that would otherwise kill a regular human. Even if he's a god, he bleeds. He can be bested.

'Zagre' has its roots with 'zoë' and 'zoön', the Greek words for 'life' and 'living thing' respectively. I take this to mean he can be killed as any living thing can, a narrative the game-play supports. Taking a 'Yes and' improve approach to that, I also feel like part of what makes him formidable however is his influence over the blood of living things. This can extend to the ability manipulate the blood in an individual's body to a number of effects, such as making wounds that never heal on their own or stop bleeding. This would reflect the casting ability he has, and possibly was even one of the sources of inspiration for SSG in regards to that mechanic. Secondly, taking that prescient I'd like to think he could also control the flow of blood in a living creature to varrying effects. Heightening senses, accelerating heart-rate, even using the blood of living things to heal himself. But nothing on the level of say, water bending. His power is a lot more subtle than that.

Additionally, his name (and even Artemis in game) suggests he's a fantastic hunter. And that, I think, is where much of his actual formidability comes from. An exact translation of his name would be something like, 'catcher of game' and I think that's appropriate. He is a fighter trained by Achillies and a hunter favored by Artemis that cannot die. What makes him frightening as an enemy is the fact that, no matter what you do, he's just going to come back. And every time he does, he gets a little bit better at fighting you. And that should be terrifying, were it not the fact that Zagreus can be reasoned with. It would be a nightmare if you couldn't avoid him simply by laying down your weapon and engaging in a dialog. In as much a way that he is a god and an unstoppable force, he is still his own individual with principles. Among said principles is mercy, understanding, and compassion.

But to those that don't heed that? Zagreus is and should be frightening. Because he is stubborn. In that way he is Hades' son. And he will never stop until one day, eventually, he bests them. It isn't a matter of 'if', but when.

3. Personality / Alignment

As a god, Zagreus is... Fairly outgoing. He doesn't believe himself above anyone else, living or dead. In much the same way his name derives from 'living things', he's very compassionate towards mortals and doesn't place himself on a pedestal regarding them. If anything, he views his power as a god as a responsibility, a trait his Father instilled in him after much effort. In this way, he uses his power and influence as a god in service of the living despite being a chthonic god of the Underworld. But from a distance. He knows that power can corrupt, and his influence carries weight among the mortals that acknowledge him. So he prefers to be more of a distant but dedicated figure, one who only intervenes when inaction would be detrimental to all parties involved. Including his conscious.

For the same reason, he doesn't to reveal his nature as a god too often to those that don't already know. He understands that others might perceive him differently as just another being with their own agenda and morality if they view him through the lens of a god. They might think because he is a god and thinks these things, his opinion should be held with more regard than somebody else's. And Zagreus just doesn't believe in that. And more than that, it often introduces a power dynamic he simply isn't comfortable with in most instances.

4. Worship Zagreus is often misunderstood by mortals. Often, they see that him and Ares are close and, considering his affiliation with blood, make him out to be somewhat more of a sacrificial deity than he is. Mostly they perceive that he's the good of blood without contextualizing that he's more than that in a literal sense. Zagreus's domain more subtle, less 'blood and conflict' as it is 'blood sweat and tears'. He's portrayed as a stubborn, defiant, persistent and I'm inclined to believe he's the of god of effort and 'bleeding for your passions' so to speak.

While this does have relationships with conflict and battle, as you would naturally expect,  it's hardly what he represents on the whole. In regards to most of the people that follow him, he almost has this bitter and hesitant relationship. He doesn't necessarily endorse the collection of people who see him as a sort of god of passionate violence and bloodshed which. Is only a partial truth, and one he isn't fond of.

Ironically, a lot of the times the mortals he actually admires don't' even worship him at all. To an extent, Zagreus actually prefers this.  He doesn't seek worship. So when people actually come around and understand him and pray that fit that niche of being stubborn and passionate people who bleed for their convictions and invoke his name? He's' probably one of the easiest gods to talk to individually, as well as work with on a practical level due to his compassion and natural intuition.

[chuckyeager]

Durst György producer júniusban kezdte el sorban kipakolni a Youtube-csatornájára egy soha el nem készült film nyersanyagát. A sorozat Vágatlan narancs címen fut. Eddig tizenhárom rész kerül ki, de ha minden igaz, akkor messze még a vége. Minden epizód egy interjú egy vagy több újságíróval, szerkesztővel, fotóriporterrel. Olyanok szólalnak meg, mint Vágvölgyi B. András, Bojár Iván András, Bakács Tibor Settenkedő, Tgm, Nádori Péter, Bozóki András, Déri Miklós, Bodoky Tamás, Winkler Róbert, Kerényi György és még mások, akik meghatározó figurái voltak a Magyar Narancsnak.

[cannibaltranssexual]

"The 'child' ... is a personification of vital forces quite outside the limited range of our conscious mind.... It represents the strongest, the most ineluctable urge in every being, namely the urge to realize itself. It is, as it were, an incarnation of the inability to do otherwise, equipped with all the powers of nature and instinct, whereas the conscious mind is always getting tied up in its supposed ability to do otherwise. The urge and compulsion to self-realization is a law of nature and thus of invincible power...."

Carl Gustav Jung and C. Kerényi, Introduction to a Science of Mythology, quoted in David Adams Leeming, Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero

[dancyrilkingston]

“In Greek, a hunter who catches living animals is called zagreus. Later Greek scholars interpret the name as "great hunter" by analogy with zatheos, "thoroughly divine".

[…]

We may justifiably ask, Why was this great mythical hunter, who in Greece became a mysterious god of the underworld, a capturer of wild animals and not a killer? What are the implications of "capturing alive"?”

— Karl Kerényi

(Zagreus character art by Jen Zee)

[ms-mau]

Gémes Péter (1951. 04. 11. – 1996. 10. 22.) azon kevés művész egyike, akinek mind személye, mind alkotói pályája a művészettörténészek és a közönség egyöntetűen pozitív ítéletét vívta ki. Életművét tragikusan rövid, alig két évtized alatt hozta létre.

A Budapesti Képzőművészeti Gimnázium és a kirakatrendező iskola után a Varsói Képzőművészeti Akadémia grafika szakán diplomázott 1976-ban, majd ugyanitt volt ösztöndíjas. 1980-ban tért vissza Budapestre. Az addig litográfiákat és szórópisztolyos grafikákat alkotó művész érdeklődése innentől a fényképezés felé fordult: hol közvetlenül fotókból állnak a kompozíciók, hol pedig a lefényképezett alakokat szórópisztollyal rajzolja föl a nagyméretű vásznakra. A legtöbb képén ő maga szerepel, számtalan karakter bőrébe bújva akár egyazon képtéren belül is, ő a filozófus, a vándor, az angyal, a harcos – némelykor bevonta közvetlen családtagjait is, így kölcsönözve intimitást a jeleneteknek. Utolsó éveiben már csak saját magát fotózta, majd a testéből is csak a végtagjait. A kezek és lábak sokszor alig felismerhető formáiból mozaikként rakott össze oszlopokat, homokórát, piramist, naplószerűen dokumentálva az időt és a mindennapokat. A Műcsarnok először 1986-ban a Dorottya utcai Kiállítóteremben mutatta be Gémes Péter Vándorévek című fotóvásznait, később – már halála után – 2000-ben sor került a fő műveket felsoroló kiállításra, de az intézmény szervezte az 1987-es Sao Paulo-i Biennálén való megjelenését, valamint jelentős kollekcióval szerepelt 1995-ben, a rekonstrukció utáni nyitókiállításon. Jelen kiállításunkkal arra vállalkozunk, hogy a főművek mellé beemeljük az életm��be a korábban marginálisnak tekintett pályakezdő munkákat is, amelyekben sok olyan szegmens megtalálható, ami kontinuitást mutat a későbbi főművek felé. Végigkövetjük a változásokat, a sokszor egészen aprókat is, amelyek közvetítik a művész gondolkodását, életének eseményeit, és lezárják az életművet. 27 év távlatából jobban korrigálhatók a korábbi téves datálások – ezek az életút rövidsége miatt különösen fontosak. A kiállítás a korrekciókkal is logikusabban láttatja a képi megfogalmazás alakulásának folyamatát. A gondolatébresztő inspirációk kezdettől fogva az olvasmányélményekből jönnek: a Bibliából, irodalmi és filozófiai értekezésekből, ókori szerzőktől, Platóntól, Boethiustól Hamvas Béláig és Kerényi Károlyig, és akár mások irodalmi és filozófiai értekezéseiből. Látható, ahogyan a formába öntés az évek során, párhuzamosan az életeseményekkel változik.

A kiállításon látható lesz egy olyan nagyméretű fotóvászon is, amely – egy miskolci tárlatot kivéve – még nem került közönség elé. A látogatók így végigkövethetik Gémes Péter belső útját, a formálódás éveitől kezdve a filozófiai hátterű olvasmányélmények által megjelenített fotóalapú munkákon át a hittel teli reménykeresés utolsó állomásáig. Az újabb generációk is rácsodálkozhatnak a gondolati és vizuális bravúrokat felmutató időtálló alkotásokra, egy olyan művészre, aki egész oeuvre-jével példázza: „Ecce homo!”

[sesiondemadrugada]

Two Girls on the Street (André De Toth, 1939).

[pavor-noctvrnvs]

| ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏʀᴛʀᴀɪᴛ ᴏꜰ ʙᴇʟᴀ ʜᴀᴍᴠᴀꜱ

"In 1955 in Hungary there lived only one single person who could have not only conversed but actually exchanged views with Heraclitus, Buddha, Lao Tse and Shakespeare, and that in each one's mother tongue. If these four prophets of the human spirit had gotten off the plane in Tiszapalkonya, and if they had addressed the first laborer they came across, and if this had happened to be Béla Hamvas himself, after talking for three nights straight - during the day Hamvas had to carry mortar, but perhaps his guests would have given him a hand - well then, what might they have thought: if in this country the unskilled laborers are like this man, what then might the scholars be like? But had they looked around the country, they would have understood everything."

Géza Szőcs about Béla Hamvas¹

"Kierkegaard's study "The Critique of Time" came into my hands. No society, no state, no poetry, no thought, no religion, what is there is a corrupt and lying confusion. That's right, I thought. But it had to start sometime. I started looking for the dark spot. The proton pseudos, or the first lie. I went backwards from the middle of the last century to the French Revolution, to the Enlightenment, to rationalism, through the Middle Ages to the Greeks, the Hebrews, the Egyptians, and the primitives. I found the crisis everywhere, but every crisis pointed deeper. The dark spot is still ahead, still ahead. I made the typical European mistake, looking for the dark point outside myself, even though it was inside me."²

Béla Hamvas (23 March 1897 – 7 November 1968) was a Hungarian writer, philosopher, and social critic. He was the first thinker to introduce the Traditionalist School of René Guénon to Hungary. One of the greatest metaphysical thinkers of the 20th century, Béla Hamvas, due to his wide range of interests, studied literature, cultural history, history of science, psychology, philosophy and Eastern Asian languages. He was a non-conformist, whose aesthetic views were attacked by the Marxist ideologist György Lukács, resulting in the banning of his works from publication after 1947. Most of his writings were published posthumously, beginning from the early 1980s.

‘ɪ ᴀʙʜᴏʀ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴀ ʜᴇʀᴏ, ᴏʀ ᴀ ꜱᴀɪɴᴛ, ᴏʀ ᴀ ꜱᴀɢᴇ. ᴀɴᴅ ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴇꜱᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ʙɪᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜʏ. ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ.‘³

Short biography

1897 - Béla Hamvas was born on 23 March 1897 in Eperjes, Sáros County, Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Prešov, Slovakia). His father, József Hamvas was a Lutheran pastor, teacher of German and Hungarian, journalist and writer.

1898 - The family moved to Pozsony (Bratislava) in 1898, where Hamvas completed his basic studies in 1915.

1915–1917 - After graduation, like his classmates, he entered voluntary military service and was sent to the front in Ukraine. He was sent back to Budapest for hospital treatment due to severe traumatic shock, but just after recovery, he was drafted to the front line in western Italy. He never reached the battlefield, as his train was hit by a shell, and the wounded Hamvas was discharged.

1919 - In 1919 his father refused an oath of allegiance to the new nation of Czechoslovakia, whereupon his family was expelled from Bratislava. They moved to Budapest, where Hamvas attended Péter Pázmány Catholic University.

1919–1923 studied German and Hungarian Philology at the University of Budapest

1923–1926 - After graduation he became a journalist at the newspapers Budapesti Hírlap and Szózat. Hamvas considered this job shallow and menial, but he had to support his family (although his father received a pension from 1924). Three years later he quit, as he had found a better job in the main library of Budapest. He was appointed as a senior librarian in 1927.

1927–1948 librarian in the Central Library of Budapest. By this time he was writing articles, reviews and essays for 25 different journals.

1935–1936 together with Károly Kerényi, founded Sziget, a journalist and intellectual circle

1937 married the writer Katalin Kemény. (He married Ilona Angyal in 1929, but divorced in 1936 to marry Katalin Kemény in 1937. She was his partner in founding the Sziget circle, a literary group which later gained prominent members like Antal Szerb, Károly Kerényi, László Németh, and the composer Antal Molnár.)

1940–1944 drafted into military service; posted to the Russian front in 1942; managed to escape. Nearly 20 years of library work was ended by World War II. Hamvas was drafted for military service three times. He continued his literary work while on the front lines - translating Lao Tse and Heraclitus among others. His first essay collection was published in 1943.

1940s - A creative friendship develops between him and one of the greatest poets and thinkers of our time, Sándor Weöres. They become pen pals, master and disciple, and between them they have a significant influence on several of their works.

1945 - The couple survived the siege of Budapest. Their apartment was hit by bombing, destroying his library and manuscripts. Despite the Soviet siege and repeated harassment by the authorities, 1945 to 1947 were his most fruitful years.

1945–1948 editor of the Leaflets of the University Press

1948 - In 1948 he was placed on the B-list⁴ (banned from publishing) by the Soviet installed socialist government, and was forced into retirement from his library job. Although he had published more than 250 works before his ban, most of Hamvas's body of work was written anonymously later on. He got a licence to farm in the garden of his brother-in-law in Szentendre, and tended plants there between 1948 and 1951, during which time he also completed Karnevál, one of his major essays.

1948–1951 officially qualified as a labourer

1951–1964 - Between 1951 and 1964 he was employed as an unskilled worker in power plants in Tiszapalkonya, Inota and Bokod, under harsh conditions. Whenever he had spare time he translated from Sanskrit, Hebrew and Greek, and wrote about the Cabala, Zen, and Sufism. Between 1959 and 1966 he completed Patmosz, his last major work.

1964 retired from work at the age of 67

1968 - Aged 67, he finally received a pension. Béla Hamvas died of a hemorrhagic stroke on 7th of November in 1968. He is buried in Szentendre.

1990 - In 1990⁵ he posthumously received the Kossuth Prize.

He was a great thinker and essayist who integrated Eastern and Western traditions as well as posing many serious questions about the modern age, together with the possibility of resolving them. According to one of his central thoughts: "The present eon, since 600 B.C. stands in the sign of personal salvation. Only since this time is there a notion of humanity, because there is only one single collective category of personality and this is humanity."

Béla Hamvas found his form of expression in the essay, a genre at once literary and philosophical. His early essays were published in Magyar Hüperion (1936, Hungarian Hyperion), marking the end of his first period of thinking, to be followed by Szellem és egzisztencia (1941, Spirit and Existence), an essay discussing the philosophy of Karl Jaspers, one of the main inspirations for Hamvas’s thinking. He published a selection of essays on literature, psychology, philosophy and cultural history in A láthatatlan történet (1943, The Invisible Story). Analyzing the spiritual crisis of the age, Hamvas read himself into the metaphysical tradition, the collective spiritual knowledge of humanity conveyed by sacred books. His collection Scientia Sacra (the first six volumes, 1942–43) served to direct the attention of the age towards the philosophy of the Far East (The Upanishads, Tao Te King, The Tibetan Book of the Dead and others) and European mysticism. From 1945 Hamvas belonged to the spiritual renaissance for three years, during which he edited the series Leaflets of the University Press, held lectures and published the metaphysical Anthologia humana: Ötezer év bölcsessége (1946, Anthologia Humana – The Wisdom of Five Millennia), the fourth edition of which was banned and pulped by the communist regime. His essays written together with his wife on the history of art Forradalom a művészetben: Absztrakció és szürrealizmus Magyarországon (1947, Revolution in Art: Abstraction and Surrealism in Hungary) survey Hungarian art from Károly Ferenczy, Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka and Lajos Gulácsy up to the activity of the “European School.” Hamvas saw in surrealism and abstract art the heritage of magic, the “tremendous presence of a higher existence”, and opposed “realistic” art. This concept of modern art was attacked by the Marxist ideologist, György Lukács, and Hamvas was dismissed from the library and silenced for the rest of his life. His writings were published in samizdat.

‘‘ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏʟᴅᴇɴ ᴀɢᴇ ɪꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀ ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴄᴀʟ ᴇʀᴀ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴀ ꜱᴛᴀᴛᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴛ ɪɴ ᴀʟʟ ᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ; ɪᴛ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴅᴇᴘᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴏɴ ᴡʜᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ.‘‘⁶

His essays are grounded in tradition, their sense of humour is granted by knowledge, and humour, in turn, grants their freedom. Unicornis, Titkos Jegyzőkönyv, Silentium (1948–51, Unicorn, Secret Protocol, Silentium) were published as late as 1987, but were written alongside Hamvas’s great novel, Karnevál (1948–51, Carnival, published in 1985). This Magnum Opus, also called a “catalogue of fate”, a “human comedy”, spans continents and ages, Heaven and Hell. Hamvas’s three shorter novels, Szilveszter (1957, New Year’s Eve), Bizonyos tekintetben (1961, From a Certain Aspect), Ugyanis (1966–67, Therefore) were published together in 1991, followed by his collection of essays, Patmosz (1959–1966; Patmos) in 1992, whose title alludes to John the Apostle’s exile to the island of Patmos, and the second part of Scientia Sacra: az őskori emberiség szellemi hagyománya II. rész: A kereszténység (1960–64, Scientia Sacra – Spiritual Heritage of Mankind, part II. Christianity) published in 1988.

‘‘ᴛʜᴇʏ ꜱᴀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴍᴀᴋᴇꜱ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀ ᴘᴏᴇᴛ. ᴏꜰᴛᴇɴ. ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱʜɪᴘ ᴍᴀᴋᴇꜱ ʟɪꜰᴇ ᴘᴏᴇᴛɪᴄ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴏᴇᴛʀʏ. ᴘᴏᴇᴛʀʏ ꜱᴏᴏɴ ᴅɪᴇꜱ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏꜰ ʟᴏᴠᴇ, ꜰᴏʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴇᴀɴꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴜɴɪᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛᴇꜱᴛ ᴏᴘᴘᴏꜱɪᴛᴇꜱ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀꜱᴇ, ᴍᴀɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ. ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱʜɪᴘ ɪᴛꜱᴇʟꜰ ɪꜱ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴘᴏᴇᴛɪᴄ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱʜɪᴘ. ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴏᴇᴍꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ, ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴀʀᴇ ʟɪᴠᴇᴅ.‘‘

‘‘- ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴠᴇʀʏ ʙɪɢ ᴍᴏᴜᴛʜ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ʙᴇ ᴀɴ ᴀɴᴀʀᴄʜɪꜱᴛ. - ᴀɴᴀʀᴄʜɪꜱᴍ, ɪ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ, ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜʟᴛɪᴍᴀᴛᴇ ᴇxᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴏᴘᴛɪᴍɪꜱᴍ. - ʜᴏᴡ ꜱᴏ? - ᴡʜʏ ᴀɴ ᴀɴᴀʀᴄʜɪꜱᴛ? ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴄᴜᴍ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪꜱ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ꜱᴏᴄɪᴇᴛʏ ᴄᴀɴ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ꜱᴀᴠᴇᴅ, ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀꜱᴛ ʙʏ ᴀɴᴀʀᴄʜʏ.‘‘⁷

¹ Szőcs Géza: … és akiket nem. Életünk, 1987/9.m 852.)

² Hamvas Béla, Patmosz I-II. (Patmos, 1959-1966), Medio, 2004

³ Béla Hamvas, ‘Unicornis – Summa Philosophiae Normalis’, Silentium, Titkos jegyzőkönyv, (Budapest: Vigilia, 1987), 190.

⁴ The B-list covered the public employees and state officials in post-war Hungary who had become politically undesirable from some point of view. About 100,000 people were included in 1945-6 as the Ž Hungarian Workers-Party (MDP) prepared to monopolize power. The mass dismissals that occurred were intended primarily as a political cleansing process and only secondarily as a way of reducing public spending. The screening process was conducted by a three-man committee, which sorted public employees and state officials into categories A (reliable), B (to be dismissed, but re-employable within a year) and C (to be dismissed as politically unreliable and not re-employed).

⁵ In the late 1980s, Soviet control began to slacken, paving the way for the change of political regime in 1989, with 23 October marking the birth of the new Republic of Hungary. The first democratic national and municipal elections took place in 1990.

⁶ Hamvas Béla, A bor filozófiája (THE PHILOSOPHY OF WINE, written in 1945), Medio, 1998

⁷ Hamvas Béla, Szilveszter (1957, New Year’s Eve), Bizonyos tekintetben (1961, From a Certain Aspect), Ugyanis (1966–67, Therefore) - Három regény (Three novels)

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