Theosophy and the Society in the Public Eye

A special contribution by David Grossman

ODE: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

William Wordsworth. 1770–1850

"Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood" (also known as "Ode", "Immortality Ode" or "Great Ode") is a poem by William Wordsworth, completed in 1804 and published in Poems, in Two Volumes (1807). The poem was completed in two parts, with the first four stanzas written among a series of poems composed in 1802 about childhood. The first part of the poem was completed on 27 March 1802 and a copy was provided to Wordsworth's friend and fellow poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who responded with his own poem, "Dejection: An Ode", in April. The fourth stanza of the ode ends with a question, and Wordsworth was finally able to answer it with seven additional stanzas completed in early 1804. It was first printed as "Ode" in 1807, and it was not until 1815 that it was edited and reworked to the version that is currently known, "Ode: Intimations of Immortality".

Richard, author, photographer and regular contributor to Theosophy Forward

Richard says:  

Like in spring, in the weeks before the first Corona wave surged in Germany, my dreams became very vivid, and in the weeks prior to the second Corona wave this winter, they became lucid even. 

In these dreams I was guided through series of scenes with large groups of people - always divided into smaller units and often in public places like airports, coliseums or traveling in groups of buses.

Watch the interview Erica Georgiades of the Eueopean School of Theosophy did with Joma Sipe, by clicking ion the image above

After my work on the Frontispiece for The First Salon of Theosophy, set up  by Erica Georgiades, with invited co-hosts Lyndon Smith and Taposhri Ganguly and that  took place on the September 7 , I prepared the Frontispiece for The European School of Theosophy 2021.

David M. Grossman (photo) is a regular contributor to the category PUBLIC EYE on Theosophy Forward the e-Magazine. He is a lifelong student of Theosophy, has a wonderful wife and lovely daughter, while his dog PLUTO is an inseparable part of the family. Pluto is a pretty smart fellow because recently he flew “economy” with the family to Poland and back to the USA (!!); quite a world traveler. 

Joma, the artist ...

For quite some time I worked intensively on the Frontispiece for the first Salon of Theosophy, initiated and set up by Erica Georgiades, and co-hosted by both Lyndon Smith and Taposhri Ganguly. The first session took place on September 7 and  it was a great pleasure and honor to be the guest of this first edition of the Salon and to work on the Frontispiece.

Watch the first edition of Salon of Theosophy, click here

 A photo series by David Grossman 

New York IS the center of the World

Pandemic-wise we are slowly reaching the mountain top. No one quite knows what our new reality is going to look like once we’re over that top, but it’s good to look forward to inspiring possibilities. With or without masks, with or without an adequate vaccine we will need to come together again to celebrate and live the life in all its splendor.

David Grossman specializes in “catching the moment”; using his lens he tells the story of people’s emotions, whether it is sadness, fear, concern, or just heartwarming happiness.

This time it is very much HAPPINESS but also CONTEMPLATION, demonstrated through parades and gatherings packed with CULTURAL DIVERSITY, with 20 interactive images taken during the four seasons New York each year goes through.

What you are about to see took place in the city that never sleeps. New York, the Big Apple, or whatever name you want to give to this metropolitan wonder, soon will enter a new phase, and no matter what that new phase may look like, New York IS the center of the World, where all are ultimately ONE.

The original inhabitants of North America we call “Native Americans.” Everyone else is an immigrant in that they can trace their family lines to other countries and continents; and for the majority of Americans in three generations or less. New York City is a prime example. It is a multicultural Mecca reflected in the number of parades it hosts every year honoring its citizens whose roots can be traced around the world. ; Ireland, Nigeria, Germany, Pakistan, Greece, Mexico, India, Panama and Korea are just some of the countries represented. The following photos are a sampling of the rich cultural diversity that is New York City which is sometimes called a small country off the coast of America.

Spring Fields, photos taken on an early evening in May 2014

I was on my way home from a Gurdjieff Group meeting in Bavaria, which is about a two-and-a-half hour drive on mostly country roads. Because of its extraordinary beauty, I wanted to take that first shot of a solitary tree, but on this stretch of the road there was no hard shoulder and it was not possible to stop the car. Consequently I had to drive quite a bit further, until I was able to leave the car on a parking lot and hiked all the way back to the location where I had spotted the tree.

Once back in my own car, only ten minutes down that same road, after passing some hills, I saw the same rapeseed fields hit by rays of sunlight against the dark storm cloud background, so I stopped and setup my tripod once more to take the other shots.

If photography is painting with light, I always look out for colors and contrasts. Many times I have to tweak the colors in post processing to get the right results - in this case the evening sun was just at the right angle, and all I had to do was selecting viewpoint and exposure.