Eranos is an intellectual discussion group dedicated to humanistic and religious studies, as well as to the

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

s which has met annually in Moscia (Lago Maggiore), the Collegio Papio and on the

Monte Verità Monte Verità (Italian; German 'Berg Wahrheit', meaning "Mount Truth" or "Mountain of Truth") is a 321 metres above sea level high hill and a cultural-historical ensemble in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The site is in the municipality of Ascona, ...

Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( lmo, label= Ticinese, Scona ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yea ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

since 1933. It has also been the name for a circle of scholars at Heidelberg (Germany) in the early 20th century. Among others,

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

and

Ernst Troeltsch Ernst Peter Wilhelm Troeltsch (; ; 17 February 1865 – 1 February 1923) was a German liberal Christianity, liberal Protestant theologian, a writer on the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of history, and a classical liberal politician ...

were members of the "Heidelberg Eranos". The name is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

word ἔρανος meaning "a

banquet A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...

to which the guests bring contributions of food, a no-host dinner." The circle at Moscia was founded by Olga Froebe-Kapteyn in 1933, and these conferences have been held annually on the grounds of her estate (on the shores of

Lago Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...

near

) ever since. For over seventy years this event has served as a point of contact for thinkers from disparate fields of knowledge ranging from

depth psychology Depth psychology (from the German term ''Tiefenpsychologie'') refers to the practice and research of the science of the unconscious, covering both psychoanalysis and psychology. It is also defined as the psychological theory that explores the rela ...

and

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

to history,

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, and provides a setting and a congenial group within which to discuss all things spiritual. Each

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

takes place over eight days, during which time all participants eat, sleep and live together, thereby promoting a camaraderie which fosters an atmosphere of free and open discussion. Each year a new theme is addressed, and each participant scholar delivers a two-hour lecture on a topic of his choice relating to the theme — his/her contribution to the ‘banquet’ of ideas — thereby attempting to draw these multifarious thinkers into productive intellectual discourse.

Eranos’ beginnings

Froebe-Kapteyn established this group at the suggestion of the eminent German religious historian, Rudolf Otto. Froebe-Kapteyn was the Dutch foundress of the literary salon "Table Ronde" (''Round Table''), which is indicative of the Eranos’ ‘spiritualist’ bent. Indeed, Eranos was from its very outset interested in these issues and its first theme, ‘Yoga and Meditation in East and West’, was a truly pioneering subject in the early 1930s. Past themes include Ancient Sun Cults and the Symbolism of Light in the Gnosis and in Early Christianity (1943), Man and Peace (1958), Creation and Organization (1966) and The Truth of Dreams (1995). Participants over the years have included

Heinrich Zimmer Heinrich Robert Zimmer (6 December 1890 – 20 March 1943) was a German Indologist and linguist, as well as a historian of South Asian art, most known for his works, ''Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization'' and ''Philosophies of India ...

(Indian religious art),

Karl Kerényi Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

(Greek mythology),

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanians, Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who establ ...

(history of religions),

Carl Gustav Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...

and Erich Neumann (analytical psychology),

Robert Eisler Robert Eisler (27 April 1882 – 17 December 1949) was an Austrian Jewish polymath who wrote about the topics of mythology, comparative religion, the Gospels, monetary policy, art history, history of science, psychoanalysis, politics, astrology ...

(gospel authorship), Alfons Rosenberg (symbolism),

Gilles Quispel Gilles Quispel (30 May 1916 – 2 March 2006) was a Dutch theologian and historian of Christianity and Gnosticism. He was professor of early Christian history at Utrecht University. Born in Rotterdam, after finishing secondary school in Dordrecht ...

(gnostic studies),

Gershom Scholem Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Myst ...

(Jewish mysticism),

Henry Corbin Henry Corbin (14 April 1903 – 7 October 1978)Shayegan, DaryushHenry Corbin in Encyclopaedia Iranica. was a French philosopher, theologian, and Iranologist, professor of Islamic studies at the École pratique des hautes études. He was in ...

(Islamic religion),

Gilbert Durand Gilbert Durand (1 May 1921 – 7 December 2012) was a French academic known for his work on the imaginary, symbolic anthropology and mythology. According to Durand, Imagination and Reason can be complementary. He defended the status of the imag ...

(symbolic anthropology), Adolf Portmann (biology),

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...

(art history),

Max Knoll Max Knoll (17 July 1897 – 6 November 1969) was a German electrical engineer. Knoll was born in Wiesbaden and studied in Munich and at the Technical University of Berlin, where he obtained his doctorate in the Institute for High Voltage T ...

(physics), and

Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...

(comparative mythology). The Eranos conferences have resulted in the publication of a number of books. Anyone may attend the lectures upon payment of a small fee.

References

* ERANOS, Neue Folge (New series), 1993ff. Königshausen & Neumann, Wuerzburg, 17 volumes published in 2016. * HAKL, Hans Thomas, ''Der verborgene Geist von Eranos – Unbekannte Begegnungen von Wissenschaft und Esoterik – Eine alternative Geistesgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts'', Scientia nova-Verlag Neue Wissenschaft, Bretten 2001. * BERNARDINI, Riccardo, ''Jung a Eranos. Il progetto della psicologia complessa''. FrancoAngeli, Milano 2011, . * QUAGLINO, Gian Piero, ROMANO, Augusto, & BERNARDINI, Riccardo (Eds.), ''Carl Gustav Jung a Eranos 1933-1952'', Antigone Edizioni, Torino 2007, . * REIBNITZ, Barbara von, “Der Eranos-Kreis – Religionswissenschaft und Weltanschauung oder der Gelehrte als Laien-Priester", in: FABER, Richard, & HOLSTE, Christine (Ed.), ''Kreise, Gruppen, Bünde – Zur Soziologie moderner Intellektuellerassoziation'', Könighausen + Neumann, Würzburg 2000, pp. 425–440. * BARONE, Elisabetta, et al., ''Pioniere, Poeten, Professoren - Eranos und Monte Verità in der Zivilisationsgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts'', Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2004 rticles in English, German, Italian * SCHABERT, Tilo, "Une herméneutique intercivilisatrice: L`École d`Eranos", in: WEILL, Nicolas (Ed.), ''Existe-il une Europe philosophique?'', Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes 2005, pp. 297–302. *SCHABERT, Tilo, "The Eranos Experience",in: Barone, Elisabetta et al., Pioniere, Poeten, Professoren, 9-19; online:http://www.eranos.org/content/html/start_english.html *SCHABERT, Tilo, "In the Fading of Divine Voices: The Song of Eranos", in: Tilo Schabert, Matthias Riedl (Eds.), "Gott oder Götter? - God or Gods?", Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2009, 181-188; online: http://www.eranos.org/content/html/start_english.html *SCHABERT, Tilo, "On the recent history of the Eranos-Tagungen. From Olga Froebe-Kapteyn to the Amici di Eranos", in: Matthias Riedl, Tilo Schabert, (Eds.), "Die Stadt: Achse und Zentrum der Welt - The City: Axis and Centre of the World", Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2011, 133-142; online: http://www.eranos.org/content/pdf/History_of_Eranos_Tagungen.pdf *SCHABERT, Tilo (Ed.) "The Eranos Movement. A Story of Hermeneutics", Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg, 2016, 202 p., . * WASSERSTROM, Steven M., ''Religion after religion. Gershom Scholem, Mircea Eliade, and Henry Corbin at Eranos'', Princeton University Press, Princeton 1999, . * GASSEAU, Maurizio, & BERNARDINI, Riccardo, "Il sogno: prospettive di Eranos", in: GASSEAU, Maurizio, & BERNARDINI, Riccardo (Eds.), ''Il sogno. Dalla psicologia analitica allo psicodramma junghiano'', FrancoAngeli, Milano 2009, pp. 15–55, . See also: "Selected Bibliography", http://www.eranos.org/content/html/start_english.html

External links

Eranos Foundation official websiteEranos Unofficial SiteEranos.org
*{{Cite archive, collection=ERANOS FOUNDATION, institution=

Swiss National Sound Archives The Swiss National Sound Archives are the sound archives of Switzerland, based in Lugano. Its mission is to collect sound recordings related to the history and culture of Switzerland, to make them accessible and to make them available for use. In ...

, collection-url=https://www.fonoteca.ch/fond/74985.011, location=Lugano Conferences Philosophy events Critical theory Cultural history Analytical psychology New Age organizations

Eranos’ beginnings

References

Further reading

External links