Welcome to our monthly newsletter, dear readers,
Our first new library item is an introduction to “the most famous of early modern litanies”, the Litany of Loreto. We present some recordings of sung versions of this originally Latin prayer, the ritual recitation of Divine and Marian epithets, which is rooted in ancient and late antique practices and has notable parallels in other religions. An accompanying article explores its relation in particular to the period of the Counter-Reformation, when the current form of the litany became established.
The litany was most fundamentally connected with the motion and the definition of space. Litanies were among the most characteristic sounds of processions, whether circumnavigating an urban environment or projecting through the rural landscapes of pilgrimage. Their repetitive, rhythmic profile, coordinated with the rhythms of breathing and walking, not simply expressed motion but induced it as well: they articulated lengthy journeys, helping to pace the procession and impel bodies through space.
Mary, Tower of Ivory, from the Hunt of the Unicorn Annunciation, 1500
• A brief article by Zoë Slatoff, “Nature’s Web”, introduces us to the subtleties of the Hindu concept of the gunas, the three constitutive threads of the rope of manifestation, with special attention to their interaction and their importance in the practice of yoga.
Although initially the yoga practitioner endeavours to increase sattva, one must eventually even transcend attachment to this quality in order to move towards a state of one-pointedness. The state of absolute unity, kaivalya, the true goal of yoga, cannot be attained as long as the yogi remains attached to any of the three gunas.
• We conclude with an excerpt from the book Sword and Brush: The Spirit of the Martial Arts, whose opening chapter is aptly dedicated to the character for Tao (=Dao, Japanese Do), the Way, to its various meanings and how it integrates the different and often contradictory human vocations.
The Do is both singular and universal; it is open to all with the resolve and inclination to walk it. Those who do, however, take a variety of disciplines in approaching it, for the Do extrapolates from the specific to the general. Tea ceremony, flower arrangement, gardening—each is a route of the Way. The route chosen by the bugeisha is the martial Way.
