‘The Art Of Music Is Divine (And Ancient)’

A report from National Geographic News suggests that prehistoric peoples chose caves with naturally good acoustics in which to create their cave paintings. This is according to research conducted by Iegor Reznikoff, an acoustics expert at the University of Paris. The suggestion being that music may have been used in the religious ceremonies of our ancestors. I find this to be a fascinating confirmation of the Bahá’í view of the spiritual nature of humanity. It brings to mind these words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

‘The art of music is divine and effective. It is the food of the soul and spirit. Through the power and charm of music the spirit of man is uplifted’.

‘The Flowers Of One (Iron Age) Garden’

National Geographic News reports that that Scandinavians of 2,000 years ago were more genetically diverse than previously thought. A DNA test of the remains of an Iron Age man found in Denmark suggests he may have been a descendant of female slaves transported from the Middle East or a Roman soldier serving on the Empire’s northern frontier. All of which shows that we humans have been been mixing together for thousands of years .In the words of Bahá’u’lláh addressed to humankind-

“Ye are all fruits of one tree, the leaves of one branch, the flowers of one garden.”

‘Love Which Kings Might Envy’

 “The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow…. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain!”

Such was the description of Bahá’u'lláh by a Cambridge University Professor,  Edward Granville Browne who visited the ‘Blessed Beauty’ in Palestine in 1890, a description which never fails to move me…

Who Were The Spiritual Teachers Of The Early Archaic Period?

www.archaeology.org reports the discovery of two stone artifacts in the ancient rock quarry known as the Topper Site in South Carolina. It is thought that these items may have been arrowheads or blades crafted 11,000 years ago during the Early Archaic period. This evidence of ancient civilisation is fascinating. I find it even more fascinating to consider the spiritual development of ancient humanity. Who were the spiritual teachers of the Early Archaic Period? From the Bahá’í perspective there has been an unbroken chain of divine educators stretching back into the pre-historic past. Each ‘Manifestation of God’ beginning a ‘universal cycle’ in world history. In the the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá-

‘Briefly, we say a universal cycle in the world of existence signifies a long duration of time, and innumerable and incalculable periods and epochs. In such a cycle the Manifestations appear with splendor in the realm of the visible until a great and supreme Manifestation makes the world the center of His radiance. His appearance causes the world to attain to maturity, and the extension of His cycle is very great. Afterward, other Manifestations will arise under His shadow, Who according to the needs of the time will renew certain commandments relating to material questions and affairs, while remaining under His shadow’.

We are in the cycle which began with Adam, and its supreme Manifestation is Bahá’u'lláh‘

Some Answered Questions: US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990 reprint of pocket-size edition