christian

“The Cosmic Ring-Dance of the Angels” by Frederick M. Huchel

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Detail from "The Last Judgment" by Fra Angelico - "The Dance of the Angels"

Detail from "The Last Judgment," c1425, by Fra Angelico - "The Dance of the Angels"

Some of you may remember my paper The Genesis of the Round Dance that I posted early in the life of TempleStudy.com.  It was a paper I wrote for a BYU Dance Department Symposium a few years ago that addressed the ancient ubiquitous practice of ring dancing, particularly as connected with religious worship and prayer.  It was a subject that really intrigued me, and is probably one of the most researched topics I’ve ever written about, as well as one of the first, taking some precious leads from Hugh Nibley and running.

Br. Frederick M. Huchel, an independent historian and scholar of the temple from Logan, Utah,  a week and a half ago spoke on the same subject at Margaret Barker’s Temple Studies Group symposium in London, England.  His presentation was entitled “The Cosmic Ring-Dance of the Angels: An Early Christian Rite of the Temple.”  The paper has now been published on David Larsen’s Heavenly Ascents blog.

I have not yet had the chance to read the paper, but I am confident that it will go far and above the detail of my paper, lending valuable insights particularly in the area of the ancient Israelite and early Christian elements.  Br. Huchel’s original work on the subject spans over 100 pages that he plans to publish at some point, of which this paper is a portion.

I’m really looking forward to learning more about this subject from Br. Huchel!  You can find the paper at the links below:

Introduction by Br. Huchel at Heavenly Ascents
PDF of “The Cosmic Ring-Dance of the Angels: An Early Christian Rite of the Temple”

Update: Frederick M. Huchel has now published a book on this subject.  You can buy it here: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-cosmic-ring-dance-of-the-angels—softbound/7409216?fNo=Cancel

The Genesis of the Round Dance – Part 5

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Left - Prearchaic dance circle, 9th c. BC. Olympia. Right - 5th-3rd c. BC circle of dancers, with avlos player inside.

Left - Prearchaic dance circle, 9th c. BC. Olympia. Right - 5th-3rd c. BC circle of dancers, with avlos player inside.

(Continued from Part 4)

Religion and Dance

Many scholars have described dance in terms of religion. Kraus describes it among the ancients as being used “as a means of communication with the forces of nature – for becoming one with the gods,” and as “a major form of religious ritual . . . a means of worship” ((Kraus, Richard G., Sarah Chapman Hilsendager, and Brenda Dixon Gottschild. History of the Dance in Art and Education. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1991, 19, 28)). Curt Sachs tells us that dance was a way to “bridge the chasm between this and the other world” of the Gods ((qtd. in Ellfeldt, Lois. Dance, from Magic to Art. Dubuque, Iowa: W. C. Brown Co., 1976, 14)). Ellfeldt states that there is no primitive group in the world that does not have a strong ceremonial culture, and very few of these ceremonies that do not have dances associated with them ((ibid., 32)). Why do we not know more about these ritual dances? With the Egyptians, Ellfeldt tells us that it is because of the extreme secrecy “with which the priests guarded their dances . . . transmitting their rules by word of mouth” ((ibid., 55)). These dances were sacred, deeply symbolic rituals which were purposefully kept esoteric, only revealed to those “initiates” which participated in them. [Read more…]

The Genesis of the Round Dance – Part 3

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Ring Dance performed in legend by Apollo and the Muses

Ring Dance performed in legend by Apollo and the Muses

(Continuation from Part 2)

Greece

The ancient choruses, dances, and songs of the dithyramb of Greece displayed the familiar pattern of a dignified, circular dance around the altar of Dionysus in the theater’s orchestra ((Sticklor, Susan. “Primitive and Sacred Dance.” The VRI Slide Library of Dance History: Survey. Visual Resources, inc., et al. New York: Visual Resources, inc., 1976)). In fact, the term orchestra originally meant the circular dancing place of the theater ((Kraus, Richard G., Sarah Chapman Hilsendager, and Brenda Dixon Gottschild. History of the Dance in Art and Education. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1991, 43)). In addition, the terms carole and chorus, also originally Greek, meant a sacred ring dance, men and women holding each others hands ((qtd. in Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas, and Clare Goodrick-Clarke. G.R.S. Mead and the Gnostic Quest. Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 2005, 153)). LDS scholar, Dr. Hugh Nibley reminds us that the creation was often acted out in these Greek dance dramas: [Read more…]