The Red Hibiscus: Anthology Preface Vol. 17

“What is mankind’s origin? What is humanity’s destination? . . . I was filled with the impulse to trace the connection between the revelation of Eleusis and that of the Christ . . . Was it not necessary to reconstruct the living chain of the various religions, to restore to Hellenism and Christianity their original unity, to reconcile once again the whole tradition of East and West? At that instant as in a flash I saw the light that flows from one mighty founder of religion to another . . . Those great prophets, those powerful figures we call Rama, Krishna, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato and Jesus appeared before me in a homogenous group. How diverse in form, appearance and color! Nevertheless through them all moved the impulse of the eternal Word.”

(Edouard Shure)

In this edition, we begin with a trinity of poems about Orpheus — Orpheus Descending by Essama Chiba, Orpheus and Eurydice by Robert Vella, and Orpheus Still Sings by Jeff Swan. Names like Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Hermes, Moses, Pythagoras, Jesus were great suns in the spiritual horizons. These initiates spoke of the divine revelation that suggests a single world eternal Religion, a zero point of both deep science and philosophy.

Likewise our cover picture with Apollo celebrates Delphic wisdom that still speaks to some — like the midnight sun that shone in the mysteries of Isis and Osiris — despite the dogma of positivist thought espoused by Auguste de Comte and Spencer. In the heart of Palm Cove, there is a magnificent neo-colonial boutique hotel where one can watch the sun rise over the Coral Sea between statues of Apollo and Artemis, our divine twins. Remembering the sacred fire always brings a longing for a heavenly homeland.

Our Sun is an ordinary star, just one among hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. As the only star we can observe in detail, it provides a basis for our understanding of all stars. Does this imply that there is no struggle or competition between solar/lunar and stellar cults? Orion Speaks…by Stephen Eede is a tremendous philosophical opus I am honoured to be able to publish! Interestingly, Orion the Hunter is pointing straight at the conjunction of Mars and the Pleiades star system these days. Mars with the Pleiades, along with bright red stars Aldebaran, in Taurus, and Betelgeuse, in Orion are currently forming a rare trinity of red stars.

Diana Thoresen

Palm Cove, Australia

11/03/2021