Beauty And Light

Cemalnur Sargut, the Turkish leader of the Rifa'i Sufi order, occupies a special place in the intellectual and social landscape of contemporary Islam. This is so for multiple reasons. As a female Sufi teacher who commands a loyal and active worldwide following, especially in Turkey, Sargut's career as a scholar and Sufi leader represents an important case study in the dynamics of contemporary global Sufism. This volume represents the first text in English translation that brings together some of her major discourses and teachings as presented to her students through the genre of oral discourses. More Specifically, the discourses that form the core of this book were collected through oral interviews with Cemalnur conducted by her students as part of a weekly program aired on a national Turkish radio station. The original Turkish transcription on which this English translation is based is titled Dinle (Listen), and was published in 2012 by Nefes press.1 Cemalnur has been actively training disciples and students in the teachings and practices of the Rifa'i Sufi order for the last forty years. While her oral and written discourses are widely available in Turkish, they have until now remained inaccessible to an English language audience. This book seeks to address this lacuna by introducing key aspects of her thought and spiritual orientation in English. In this brief introduction I wish to provide readers a broad outline of the key themes and concepts that animate the lineaments of Cemalnur's thoughts as presented in this book. In addition, I also hope to provide readers with the intellectual and institutional context in which one might be able to place Cemalnur's thought and scholarly career. Moreever, I will also have the occasion to discuss the literary genre within Sufism and Islamic literature that corresponds to the kind of oral teachings and sermons that populate the pages of this book. Finally I will briefly explain the stylistic decisions and choices that were made in the presentation of this text.

These introductions, homilies, reflections, and prayers are not theory, but a priest's experience of a liturgical approach that works. The testimony of the faithful who say, "what a lovely mass..what a moving homily, could I have a copy?", is his touchstone. So is the popularity of the homilies on his internet,web, "A Priest Reflects". This book works because it treats each Sunday liturgy as a seamless robe of rich interwoven themes. Thus, the introduction identifies the links between the Old Testament reading and the Gospel, and adds any gems from the second reading. Then, when the scripture is read, people, clued in to the overall import, listen more profitably. The homily elaborates the key themes from the readings further, and relates them to life, with stories, anecdotes, newspaper headlines, references to common events etc. The aim is that the Word should light up our contemporary experience.. The final doxology reinforces the point that the Word is life for this world, not just the next; The creed introduction summarizes the whole, and the prayers carry that on into petitions for church leaders, civil authorities, youth, the sick, the dead, and special needs. There are special prayers for our youth, that gaps in our congregations there will be bridged. And the presiding minister should add other topical issues of the day. The reflection after holy communion again reinforces the overall message, but also leaves the people of God with something spicy and memorable to take home. So, all in all, this book should light up our masses, or services, and make them gospel based, relevant, inspirational, and focused.. The homilies are timed at about five minutes, people's normal attention span. So don't miss out on this innovative book. Buy it, and it will light up your Sunday mass, and provide spiritual food for the following week.

Color Theory for the Make-up Artist: Understanding Color and Light for Beauty and Special Effects analyzes and explains traditional color theory for fine artists and applies it to the make-up artist. This book is suitable for both professionals and beginners who wish to train their eye further to understand and recognize distinctions in color. It explains why we see color, how to categorize and identify color, relationships between colors, and it relates these concepts to beauty and special effects make-up. The book teaches the reader how to mix flesh tones by using only primary colors, and explains how these colors in paints and make-up are sourced and created. It also discusses the reason for variations in skin colors and undertones, and how to identify and match these using make-up, while choosing flattering colors for the eyes, lips, and cheeks. Colors found inside the body are explained for special effects make-up, like why we bruise, bleed, or appear sick. Ideas and techniques are also described for painting prosthetics, in addition to using color as inspiration in make-up designs. The book also discusses how lighting affects color on film, television, theater, and photography sets, and how to properly light a workspace for successful applications.

The problem explored in The Soul of Beauty is the split in modern consciousness between the world of perception and appearance on the one hand, and the world of action and meaning on the other. We see in one way and find truth in another. The work presents this dualism as a problem in the modern sense of beauty. The intent of the book is the recovery of beauty as that which brings together such contemporary splits as perception and action, appearance and meaning, matter and spirit, subject and object. Beauty is imaged in two paradigms. The first presents beauty as a matter of appearance which holds meaning - beauty as truth. The second holds that beauty is subjective experience, which in its modern sense is divorced from knowledge and practical action - beauty as relative experience. The paradigms are formed through an imaginative and historical exploration of the tradition of beauty in Western consciousness. The prototype of the first paradigm - beauty as appearance - is seen in the goddess Aphrodite, who reflects the Greek sense of divinity in form itself. This paradigm is then founded upon the tradition of Plato in the Phaedrus and the Symposium, Plotinus, Dionysius, and Ficino. The major elements of this paradigm are depicted in beauty as: (1) source in a hierarchical universe, (2) universal mediator, (3) object of love, (4) human perception, (5) human knowledge, (6) light, and (7) unity, goodness, and being. The suggestion is made that the paradigm of beauty as appearance is relevant for psychology as a study of soul because it brings together perception and meaning. The paradigm of beauty as a subjective experience focuses historically upon beauty as a spiritual, conceptual (proportion), methodological (linear perspective), and subjective phenomenon. In the tradition of proportion and subjectivism, knowledge is gained through perception that occurs via an organizing system, such as mathematics, or a concept, such as proportion, rather than through the direct perception of appearance. Meaning is separated from perception, and the organizing system or concept, not appearance, becomes the ground of knowledge. It is suggested that this paradigm, reflected in scientific and conceptual psychology, is problematic for psychology as a study of soul. Instead, psychology conducts its endeavors in the service of identification with the divine, control over the physical world, and certainty of consciousness. The final portion of the work examines the recovery of beauty as appearance in contemporary psychology through the notion of "image" in Jung's later thought and the phenomenon of psychotherapy. The work concludes with a presentation of psychology as an aesthetic enterprise bringing together meaning and appearance, spirit and matter, art and science, subject and object.

Paramount in the shaping of early Byzantine identity was the construction of the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (532-537 CE). This book examines the edifice from the perspective of aesthetics to define the concept of beauty and the meaning of art in early Byzantium. Byzantine aesthetic thought is re-evaluated against late antique Neoplatonism and the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius that offer fundamental paradigms for the late antique attitude towards art and beauty. These metaphysical concepts of aesthetics are ultimately grounded in experiences of sensation and perception, and reflect the ways in which the world and reality were perceived and grasped, signifying the cultural identity of early Byzantium. There are different types of aesthetic data, those present in the aesthetic object and those found in aesthetic responses to the object. This study looks at the aesthetic data embodied in the sixth-century architectural structure and interior decoration of Hagia Sophia as well as in literary responses (ekphrasis) to the building. The purpose of the Byzantine ekphrasis was to convey by verbal means the same effects that the artefact itself would have caused. A literary analysis of these rhetorical descriptions recaptures the Byzantine perception and expectations, and at the same time reveals the cognitive processes triggered by the Great Church. The central aesthetic feature that emerges from sixth-century ekphraseis of Hagia Sophia is that of light. Light is described as the decisive element in the experience of the sacred space and light is simultaneously associated with the notion of wisdom. It is argued that the concepts of light and wisdom are interwoven programmatic elements that underlie the unique architecture and non-figurative decoration of Hagia Sophia. A similar concern for the phenomenon of light and its epistemological dimension is reflected in other contemporary monuments, testifying to the pervasiveness of these aesthetic values in early Byzantium.

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Recipient of a 2022 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) The author is a proud sponsor of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop. Understanding Racism systematically examines the theories and theorists that have contributed the most to our contemporary understanding of racism in its various forms—making it easier for students to understand the multiple dynamics of how racism operates. In every chapter, activist and award-winning sociologist Hephzibah Strmic-Pawl describes the emergence of a theory and the problem it addresses; discusses the scholars who are most closely associated with the theory; and explores the strengths and limitations of the theory. From foundational theories such as Prejudice and White Privilege to contemporary theories such as Color-Blind Racism, Understanding Racism is the first text to present thirteen approaches for explaining racism in one book. The book′s systematic organization and pedagogical features will help students think theoretically about race and racism at different levels of analysis, as well as reflect and discuss how to challenge racism.