Thank you for this presentation. I’m delighted to see Barfield is getting some recognition, and I hope Steiner as well. Participation was a technical term for the medieval Schoolmen. It comes from Plato, Aristotle, and the Neo-Platonists like Dionysius the Areopagite (they spoke Greek so it was called “metalepsis” or “metechein”). Every effect participates its cause, all matter participates its form, all beings participate Being (plura entia, sed non plus entis), everything that exists participates the Lógos. Barfield quotes Aquinas’ example for illustration of what he means: “Suppose we say that air participates the light of the sun, because it does not receive it in that clarity in which it is in the sun.” The sun being the cause of the light and the air participating that cause. Final participation implies recognising that there is no such thing as an unperceived phenomenon, since phenomenon literally means “what shows itself,” or “what appears.” It is hard for us to think this way today because we are bewitched by Kant and Einstein into thinking that reality must be mathematised and imperceptible. But we can recognise that when (ostensibly this would have been true) Einstein watched an apple fall, he did not see the earth element striving to rejoin its mother (like Aristoteles), nor the operation of universal gravitation (like Newton), but a demonstration of warped spacetime around a massive body. Obviously he didn’t see this with his eyes (we don’t see any THING with our eyes, only colours), but with his mind. And the mind can awaken to this creative activity in its own perceptions, and this changes the world, because we don’t see “the world” with our eyes either, but rather we perceive it according to how we conceive of it. And if we take this responsibility, then we participate finally the same logos which our ancestors participated originally.
To add a synchro the next day: I was freezing my nuts off in the swimming pool as my eyeballs had to move independently of each other, trying keep an eye on my two kids when the oldest said, "You're not participating Dadda."
Really enjoyed Marilu's presentation of this centrally important perspective.
Thank you for this presentation. I’m delighted to see Barfield is getting some recognition, and I hope Steiner as well.
Participation was a technical term for the medieval Schoolmen. It comes from Plato, Aristotle, and the Neo-Platonists like Dionysius the Areopagite (they spoke Greek so it was called “metalepsis” or “metechein”). Every effect participates its cause, all matter participates its form, all beings participate Being (plura entia, sed non plus entis), everything that exists participates the Lógos. Barfield quotes Aquinas’ example for illustration of what he means: “Suppose we say that air participates the light of the sun, because it does not receive it in that clarity in which it is in the sun.” The sun being the cause of the light and the air participating that cause.
Final participation implies recognising that there is no such thing as an unperceived phenomenon, since phenomenon literally means “what shows itself,” or “what appears.” It is hard for us to think this way today because we are bewitched by Kant and Einstein into thinking that reality must be mathematised and imperceptible. But we can recognise that when (ostensibly this would have been true) Einstein watched an apple fall, he did not see the earth element striving to rejoin its mother (like Aristoteles), nor the operation of universal gravitation (like Newton), but a demonstration of warped spacetime around a massive body. Obviously he didn’t see this with his eyes (we don’t see any THING with our eyes, only colours), but with his mind. And the mind can awaken to this creative activity in its own perceptions, and this changes the world, because we don’t see “the world” with our eyes either, but rather we perceive it according to how we conceive of it. And if we take this responsibility, then we participate finally the same logos which our ancestors participated originally.
beautiful talk! thank you :)
Marilu, thank you for a fine and inspiring talk on Barfield, he has much to teach us, regards Gus from England.
Participation is this channel's favourite word.
To add a synchro the next day: I was freezing my nuts off in the swimming pool as my eyeballs had to move independently of each other, trying keep an eye on my two kids when the oldest said, "You're not participating Dadda."
Wow
Very nice ma'am