The Inner Rainbow
An Illustrated History of Human Consciousness from Ancient India to the Present Day
- Publisher
Temple Lodge Publishing - Published
2nd May 2014 - ISBN 9781906999605
- Language English
- Pages 112 pp.
- Size 6" x 9.25"
Featuring more than 50 color images, The Inner Rainbow takes the reader on an inner journey through time, from Ancient India to the present day. This is the journey of human consciousness—the story of an eternal, metamorphic process. As the author suggests, consciousness is not a self-contained, unchangeable faculty. The way we perceive the surrounding world today—with the potential for sophisticated and exact observation of natural phenomena—has evolved over thousands of years. What was once a blurred and fragmentary perception in the time of Ancient India has evolved to a clear awareness of everyday reality.
Using pictures as his starting point, Henk van Oort outlines a remarkable narrative, beginning with the age-old myth of Noah’s Ark, in which a rainbow is presented to the survivors of the Biblical flood. This rainbow in nature, with its seven colors, is mirrored in the ancient teaching of the seven human chakras, also represented by seven colors. Through a gradual process of change over centuries, this outer rainbow has been internalized into an inner rainbow, shaping a bridge between body, soul and spirit.
With its ever-changing consciousness, this inner rainbow is a wonderful sense organ, in process of reaching a new peak of development. Understanding our past—the progressive stages we have passed through—is a prerequisite for optimal use of our consciousness now. Ultimately, then, this book can be seen as a guide for working with your own inner rainbow: to expand, deepen and enliven your picture of the world and your true self.
C O N T E N T S:
Introduction
Prologue: The Rainbow
Ancient India
Krishna and Arjuna
Ancient Persia
Ahura Mazda and Zarathustra
Avesta
Ancient Egypt and Babylonia
Ziggurat
The Tower of Babel
Gilgamesh
The Pyramids
The Obelisk
The Erected Stone
Tutankhamun
David
Ancient Greece
The Golden Bough
Ulysses and the Cyclops
The Minotaur
King Aegeus at Delphi
Achilles Tries to Kill Agamemnon
Olympia
Plato’s Cave
The Mission of Wine
Metre and Memory Systems
Ancient Rome
The Colosseum
St. Augustine
Germanic Mythology
Yggdrasil
The Middle Ages
Chartres
Early Renaissance
Mont Ventoux
Perspective
Sixteenth Century
Memory Theater
Copernicus
Hans Holbein
Seventeenth Century
Rembrandt
Still-life Painting
Isaac Newton
Eighteenth Century
A Scientific Experiment
Coalbrookdale by Night
Robinson Crusoe
The Feast of Reason
William Blake
Modern Times
Rudolf Steiner
Heralds of the World Wide Web
The First Argonne Computer
The Sputnik
Google
Epilogue
Further Reading
Henk van Oort
Henk van Oort, born in 1943, trained as a primary teacher before earning a Masters degree in English at the Amsterdam University. He has taught for forty years in primary and secondary education, including class teaching in a Waldorf school, teaching English, and leading educational courses and seminars for teachers and parents. His interest in literature and poetry has led to his appearance at storytelling and poetry seminars, and his introductory courses to Anthroposophy have been highly successful. Based in Bergen N.H. in the Netherlands, Henk van Oort is married and the father of three.