JOHN JOHANSEN Position Paper  
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WINTER SOLSTICE AT NEWGRANGE

from “Buildings of the Season”  by John M Johansen


In darkness and in cold

uphill we grope toward the passage tomb

of the legendary Kings of Tara.

Still honored and celebrated there

as having lived and died and hopefully reborn

to another life unknown

yet surely in the company of gods.


Before the light of day, this mighty mound

is silhouette against a dawning sky.

We enter, compelled by unknown powers.

Through the passage, flanked by heroic upright stones

and spanned by a corbelled roof,

we move with trepidation and in awe.

Guided only by our sense of touch

our fingers trace, in Braille, curvilinear patterns

chiseled on stark surfaces;

symbols whose meaning five thousand years ago

are long since lost to us.


Deep in that great mound of Earth

we reach the chamber of the dead.

There we wait in dark and deathly silence

for the moment; for Nature 's great performance to unfold.


The moment now has come.

Our breath is short; our pulse is quick;

in space and time suspended.

for along the passage floor we 've trod

a straight, sharp beam of light injects itself;

piercing, full depth of passage

to strike the altar stone

in that innermost chamber.

The chamber now is a flood of light.


Those of Tara witnessed this and saw the sun,

as masculine generator of life;

penetrating this vaginal passage

to touch Gaia 's uterine altar

in immaculate conception.

Encased within that rock bound womb,

for a moment we are seeds awakened

to further germination to another life as well.


Released from this birth passage

we emerge to our mundane life.

Yet now we look upon it differently

reborn we are with clear insight.


As for the legendary Kings of Tara

who sought rebirth from death,

there may be for us, the living, rebirth within while here.

At Winter Solstice, may we join

our humankind, of five thousand years ago,

in that eternal act of faith:

that for each year, each life, our Earth, their purpose not in vain,

there will be a death for each in time

yet will be life again..

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SITE MAP
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During the Season of Winter - a time of deep personal reflection - we follow Johansen as he explores the meaning of the soul, the mystery of the universe and “...the realms of the psyche and their vast implications of architecture... far too important to be neglected in favor of personal indulgences, esoteric references, and meaningless decoration... We would do well to be guided by great minds such as Jung, Campbell, Merton, and others, who understand the workings of the psyche, so as better to design architecture with the psycho-social needs of our time in mind.”

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THE ARCHITECT AS PHILOSOPHER

It is late afternoon, approaching evening. We are inside an old stone building in upstate New York. A faint light flickers through the building’s side windows, illuminating two old friends, Jungian scholar Brewster Beech and John Johansen. They have met on this cold day to discuss their association over the past 10 years, their intense personal reflections about life, and the soul searching they both have been doing.The_Soul.html
VIEW VIDEO CLIPS  click hereClips.html
A question arises regarding the soul. The answer to this is not revealed in the form of a reply. Instead, during a pause, the setting sun shines a shaft of golden light through a large, stained-glass window, illuminating the men. This special light changes the mood in the room, revealing the men’s warm, mutual admiration. The essence of their discussion is about the facing of death, seen by both men as a journey far beyond this world.     

Click here for video excerpt.http://www.johnmjohansen.com/John_M_Johansen/Philosophy.html