Winter of Origins
This was the second reading of Readers Underground (then #litgeeks). The conversation continues in our forum.
In a world racked by vast inequality, climate change, and political upheaval, Gebser’s work so aptly points out that these problems are a crisis of consciousness. It is a book for our time.
The Ever-Present Origin, as a text, first explores previous historical shifts in consciousness through a careful consideration of historical works of art, language and phenomenology before considering the monumental shift of our historical moment. This is a book that invites you to understand, and ultimately transform, yourself.
And so, rather than go it alone – the text itself is roughly 500 pages – or in a classroom or research setting, why not make it a participatory experience in the company of friends, fellow researchers, and “Gebserian” scholars who will be reading, or re-reading the pages alongside you?
#LITGEEKS, in collaboration with The International Jean Gebser Society, is thrilled to be undertaking a “Winter of Origins.” Join us as we leap into the dense, philosophical poetry of Jean Gebser. Brace yourselves.
Start Date: 11 Jan 2016
End Date: 19 Mar 2016
The Book We’re Reading
The Ever-Present Origin
Jean GebserOur concern is to render transparent everything latent “behind” and “before” the world – to render transparent our origin, our entire human past, as well as the present, which already contains the future. Jean Gebser was a German-born poet, philosopher …
About the Author
Jean Gebser
Jean Gebser was a philosopher, a linguist, and a poet, who described the structures of human consciousness. [source: wikipedia]
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Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins
#litgeeks book club and The International Jean Gebser Society present Winter of Origins, a collaborative reading of Jean Gebser’s The Ever-Present Origin.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 1 – Hangout #1
The first Google Hangout, kicking off our collaborative reading of Jean Gebser’s magnum opus, The Ever-Present Origin.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 2 – Hangout #2
By this point in our schedule, we’ve read to page 73 (Chapter 3, just before the subsection on the Mental Structure). But there’s plenty to dig into from Chapters 1 and 2 and more broadly (or priorly), as well.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 2 – Hangout #3
Our third Winter of Origins Hangout.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 3 – Hangout #4
Our fourth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser. For this hangout, we will be focusing on the MENTAL structure, as Gebser discusses it in Chapter 3. Please be prepared to discuss pp. 73-102, along with any broader themes relating to this portion of the text.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 3 – Hangout #5
Our fifth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser. For this hangout, we will be focusing on MUTATIONS AS AN INTEGRAL PHENOMENON (Chapter 4). Please be prepared to discuss pp. 116–155, along with any broader themes relating to this portion of the text.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 4 – Hangout #6
Our sixth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser. For this hangout, we will be focusing on Chapter 5: The Space-Time Constitution of the Structures. Please be prepared to discuss pp. 162-187, along with broader themes relating to this portion of the text.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 4 – Hangout #7
Our seventh hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser. For this hangout, we will be focusing on Chapter 6: On the History of the Phenomena of Soul and Spirit. Please be prepared to discuss pp. 188-247, along with broader themes relating to this portion of the text.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 6 – Hangout #8
Our eighth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser. For this hangout, we will be focusing on Part 1 – Chapter 7: On the History of the Phenomena of Soul and Spirit and Chapter 8: The Foundations of the Aperspectival World. Please be prepared to discuss pp. 248-274, along with broader themes relating to this portion of the text.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 6 – Hangout #9
Our ninth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser. For this hangout, we’re excited to announce that author, integral philosopher, and founder of the Alderlore Insight Center Bonnitta Roy will be joining us. This may segue into our discussion of Part 2 of the book, including Chapter 1: The Irruption of Time.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 7 – Hangout #10
Archive recording of our tenth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser, discussing Part 2, Chapters 1–4.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 7 – Hangout #11
Recording of our eleventh hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser, discussing Part 2, Chapters 2–4.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 8 – Hangout #12
Recording of our twelfth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser, covering Part 2, Chapters 5 and 6.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 8 – Hangout #13
Recording of our thirteenth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser, covering Part 2, Chapter 7, “Manifestations of the Aperspectival World” (III): The Social Sciences.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 9 – Hangout #14
Recording of our fourteenth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser, covering Part 2, Chapter 8.
Winter of OriginsWinter of Origins – Week 9 – Hangout #15
Our fifteenth hangout discussing The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebser, covering Part 2, Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12 and the Postscript (pg. 528-547).
Winter of OriginsSpringing from Origins: #litgeeks Winter Reading Draws to a Close
Here we are at the end of WoO. Spring is upon us, and our “Spring to Origins” poetic revelry event was, I think, a great success. Books have beginnings and endings but they are never finished. Re-reading a book forces us to work with a book over time, to disclose its nature slowly to us. They invite returning, like the seasons; their imperative merely to read and re-read, corso e ricorso. New interpretations glimmer up from occlusion, hidden treasures discovered in neglected passages.
