Echoes of the 9th Century in Our Time
This article was first published in New View magazine Issue 81 Autumn 2016 “Matthew was an angel as a young child – sensitive, well-behaved, affectionate, often joyful, and often dreaming away on another plane. After turning nine, however, he soon changed into quite a different person. He was sometimes rude and critical, and often moody if not downright wretched…. Prior to age seven or eight, most children are sunny, smiling, exuberant, joyful beings – little angels, for the most part. Around the ninth birthday, however, a tinge of...
read moreBritain and Japan: “Wolf Hall” and “The War of Flowers”
This article was first published in The Present Age magazine Vol.1 No.2 May 2015 Britain and Japan, the two major island states at the opposite ends of the great Eurasian continent, have played crucial roles in the accelerated modernisation of both West and East. They have both made many varied contributions to modern cultural life, but it can also be said that they have been the major conduits of materialism in Europe and Asia. The...
read moreBack to Buccaneering and the Jolly Roger?
This article was first published in New View magazine 3rd Quarter Summer 2015 I am myself. I “identify” with myself and am responsible to and for myself and my actions and for the care of my body. I am also a member of the human race, the extended human family or community, and identify as such. I am aware of the body of the world, which supports my earthly existence, and I also feel a responsibility to that. I know that I have responsibilities to the rest of the human race and to the planet’s environment through my...
read moreWilliam Shakespear – Saudi Arabian Pilgrim
This article was first published in New View magazine No.75 April-June 2015 Canterbury - the capital of the English shire of Kent, the shire closest to the European Continent. It was an ancient Celtic and then Roman settlement, where St Augustine arrived from Rome in 597 to convert the Anglo-saxons, beginning with King Aethelbert of Kent, whose Christian wife Bertha was a Frank (another Germanic people). Against the odds perhaps, Augustine succeeded and so Canterbury became not only the part of England most associated with Rome and the Roman...
read more日本の危機？好機？福島（福運の島）
来年で還暦を迎えると、私の日本で過ごした時間は人生の６分の１になる。日本は私にとって非常に身近な存在であり、その国土、社会、文化を思うと感謝の念をおぼえずにはいられない。
read moreRhodes, Russia and the “Islamic State”
This article first appeared in New View magazine Issue 73 Oct. – Dec. 2014 How do I go about making sense of what is happening in world events? When a scientist observes the natural world, he does so having first studied and familiarised himself with a number of fundamentals in his chosen field, and he seeks to understand the phenomena in the light of those fundamentals. If one is interested in history and current events from a spiritual scientific perspective, it is helpful to familiarise oneself with the fundamentals of understanding...
read moreSyriana? Part 2
This article was first published in New View magazine #70 Jan. – Mar. 2014 The first part of this article (in New View #69 Oct-Dec2013) outlined some of the economic and geopolitical aspects to the current war in Syria. Since it was written and published, there have been major developments in the region. Following a vote rejecting military action against Syria by the UK Parliament on 29 August, US President Barack Obama called off what had seemed in late August to be an imminent western attack on Syria after unproven Anglo-American...
read moreRichard III’s Bones & England’s Future: Lion-Hart-Boar
This article was first published in New View magazine 2013 Well before it began, it was thought by many that 2012 would be an ‘apocalyptic’ year; those fascinated by the prognostications surrounding the Mayan Calendar expected anything from the destruction of the world to cosmic ascension on a galactic wave of bliss. Others drew attention to the near exact overlap between the cycle shift in the Mayan Calendar (3114 BC – 2012 AD) and that of the Lesser Kali Yuga (Age of Darkness) in the ancient calendrical Hindu system (3102...
read moreSyriana? Part 1
This article was first published in New View magazine No.69 Oct – Dec 2013 The movie “Syriana” (director Stephen Gaghan; producer and lead actor George Clooney) came out in Dec. 2005. The complex, realistic, tense and dramatic multi-layered account of oil politics, terrorism and the CIA in the Middle East made for a fascinating story which also had at its heart personal...
read moreCaliban’s Dream
This article was first published in New View magazine Issue 65, 2012 Featured Illustration (left) courtesy of Jamie Binnington: http://jammerlea.deviantart.com/art/Hetalia-England-Japan-123894151 All the experiences you had until yesterday And all your knowledge are only a burden The wind will always pass by And leave nothing behind (1) A car journey from Narita airport into downtown Tokyo should take no more than about 90 minutes if the roads are not unduly congested, but on the fiercely hot and humid day in late July when I last made the...
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