The New Academy of Celestial Mythology
and Ancient Wisdom
image: Delphi.
Wikimedia commons (link).
Want to join guided discussions of the world's ancient Star Myths, their connections to the heavenly cycles, and the message they may have for your life? You've come to the right place!
The ancient Akademia of Plato was situated near a grove of olive trees sacred to the goddess Athena, located outside the polis of Athens. There, lovers of the ancient wisdom gathered to explore and discuss the deep questions of life in this universe, and in the microcosm of the universe (our human form) in which we find ourselves during this incarnate journey.
The structure of each course in the New Academy of Celestial Mythology and Ancient Wisdom consists of a live three-hour web-based conversation using a high-quality web conference app (easily downloaded onto smartphones, tablets, laptops, or desktops), led by star myth investigator David Warner Mathisen, using visual diagrams to help you see for yourself how the motions of our earth's rotation and orbit and axial tilt create the heavenly cycles, how the constellations are outlined according to the ancient system found around the world, and how specific characters and episodes described in the world's ancient myths, scriptures and sacred stories line up with those constellations and with the broader celestial cycles.
Each course consists of one three-hour session held on a Saturday, and will feature presentations followed by Question-and-Answer sessions (Q&A). Each course is limited to forty-nine participants. Please check your calendar before signing up, because if you have to cancel, there is no refund once the "Sold Out" sign is added to a course. You can get a full refund if you have to cancel, if no "Sold Out" sign is on the course for which you are signed-up.
Of course, you can always have free access to the ancient wisdom contained in the world's ancient myths, scriptures and sacred stories, most of which are available in different translations in your local library and even on-line. You can also find several hundred free discussions of the celestial mechanics that create the heavenly cycles, the constellation-outlining system of H. A. Rey, and the connections between the ancient myths and the motions of the stars and other heavenly bodies in the blog found on this website (which is fully searchable) and which is also found in a separate location here. And you can also find discussions of these subjects in the books published by David Warner Mathisen thus far, which now number in the thousands of pages.
However, if you would benefit from instruction in a "symposium"-like setting, complete with visual aids and the ability to ask questions, then please consider joining one of the courses offered by the New Academy of Celestial Mythology and Ancient Wisdom!
Below are the three upcoming courses available for reservation right now. Future courses will appear as the heavenly cycles continue to go through their motions. Past courses may be offered again in the future, depending upon the promptings of the gods.
the bible
Special 90-minute class in conjunction with Ananda University
December 2nd, 2017
7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern, 3am UTC (Dec 3)
$20 through Ananda University and there is a Coupon Code for 50% off available in the "Video" section of this website
Includes an explanation of the heavenly cycles and constellation-outlining system, and application for the interpretation of selected episodes and figures described in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (so-called). Episodes and characters to be discussed may include:
Adam & Eve
Cain & Abel
Noah and the Flood
Moses and the Exodus
Balaam and the Ass
Samson
David
Solomon
Selected Gospel Episodes
The Passion Cycle
Selected Revelation Imagery
mahabharata
$36 (USD)
Date: TBD
Time: TBD
Includes an explanation of the heavenly cycles and constellation-outlining system, and application for the interpretation of selected episodes and figures described in the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata (which includes the Bhagavad Gita). Episodes and characters to be discussed may include:
The Five Pandauvas
The Swayamvara of Draupadi
Bhima and the Python
Bhima and Hanuman
The Dice Game and the
Humiliation of Draupadi
Krishna the Divine Charioteer
The Bhagavad Gita
The invocation of Durga
Kurukshetra
Bhima's Revenge upon Dushashana
the iliad
$36 (USD)
Date: TBD
Time: TBD
Includes an explanation of the heavenly cycles and constellation-outlining system, and application for the interpretation of selected episodes and figures described in the ancient Greek epic of the Iliad, attributed to a figure named Homer. Episodes and characters to be discussed may include:
The Departure from Aulis (Iphigenia)
The Humiliation of Achilles
The Childhood and Identity of Achilles
Battle Scenes and Mortal Wounds
Hector
The City of Ilium
Patroclus
The Armor of Achilles
The Death of Hector
The Trojan Horse
The Trojan War and the Zodiac Wheel
Video replays of these courses:
Each course will be captured on video and made available to those who participated in the course via a passcode. In order to help participants in the live courses feel secure (and not have to worry about being recorded), the video will only be on posted in a secure Vimeo site, and will not be published on a site that goes out to the general public.
That way, if you are unable to listen live to one portion of the course, you can always go back and watch it on video.
The whole point of these courses, however, is to enable you to be able to interact and ask questions during the Q&A portions of each call, so we hope you will be able to participate in the live calls, if you reserve a place in the course.
The video, however, will not be opened up to the general public, so that participants don't have to feel nervous about asking questions (you don't have to worry that you will regret having asked a question that shows up in a video somewhere). If you participate in a course, you will have access to the video via passcode, but please do not give out the passcode or publicize it in any way, out of respect for your fellow course participants.
If the videos are ever offered to the public in the future, they will be edited to remove the Q&A and any visual information that could identify any participant or their Skype name, so that participants in the courses won't have to worry that they are being recorded for mass distribution.
A note about technology:
We will be using a high-quality web conference app called "RingCentral." It's free to download and enables the presenter to create high-quality conferences with video, drawing capability, and recording capability (it's not free for the Academy of Celestial Mythology to use the app to create the conferences but it is free for you to download the app necessary to participate in those conferences).
Participants are responsible for their own connected device (smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop) and their own connection to the internet -- unfortunately, the New Academy of Celestial Mythology and Ancient Wisdom cannot provide technical assistance for your hardware, software or internet connection.
When you sign up for a course, you will receive an email and details for a test call, during which you will be able to download the RingCentral app and test out your connection. RingCentral can be used on a variety of different devices, including most smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. If for some reason you cannot download it for the operating system on one type of device, perhaps you can download it on a different device, or on a friend's device (the email you receive will provide details for testing it out before the course start-date).
If you wish to remain anonymous while participating in these courses, you can select a username and image that won't reveal who you are (in case Brad Pitt wants to participate in a class to learn more about the identity of Achilles, for example, without letting anyone know).
You are welcome to record a course in which you participate for your own personal use and future reference, but please do not post it to the web (such as on YouTube), and please do not mass-produce it, redistribute it, or re-sell it. Those who participate in these courses should be able to do so without worrying about being recorded and re-broadcast. Please respect your fellow course participants and keep any video you capture of any course private, for your own personal use.
Obviously, the myths belong to all humanity, and should be available to all humanity. People can access all the free blog posts, videos, and myth descriptions on this website, and all of David Warner Mathisen's books are offered at the lowest possible cost over the price of actually printing the physical book itself. The cost of the above courses helps keep these efforts available to as many people as possible. In the future, there may be more ways to bring a live, interactive experience such as those offered in these web-based classes to a larger number of people.