Upcoming Learning Vacation Explores Medieval Spain, a Time of Religious Tolerance

The Esoteric Quest (www.esotericquest.org) is a 5 day conference starting in Granada, Spain on September 15, 2007. Participants in this rare learning travel event will go on a journey through time to explore an extraordinarily enlightened period when Muslims, Jews and Christians achieved a culture of coexistence.

Learning sessions are led by an outstanding list of faculty members from the United States, Britain, Spain and France. Scheduled are over twenty-five presentations with topics that include “Sufis and Kabbalists in Andalusia”, “The Islamic and Jewish Background of Grail Christianity”, and “The Wisdom of the Spanish Mystics”.

Afternoon activities include guided tours of rarely visited parts of the Alhambra Palace and the 8th century murals inside the Red Towers of Granada.

Evening activities include renowned Flamenco dancers, an evening of music, chant and text entitled “From Jerusalem to Córdoba” and “Sufis and Spanish Poetry” by revered American author and poet Robert Bly.

In addition to the five-day conference, travelers will have the opportunity to continue on with post conference tours to Marrakech in northern Africa or across Spain’s Andalusia.

Faculty for this learning travel journey include such highly noted speakers as Pablo Beneito, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Seville, Paul Fenton, Ph.D., professor of Hebrew language and literature at the Sorbonne and Mirabai Starr, acclaimed author and adjunct Professor of philosophy and religious studies at the University of New Mexico — Taos to name just a few.

“This timely travel event promises to be a once in a lifetime experience. We will explore the Zohar, the Sufis of Andalusia, Ibn Arabi & Rumi and much of the brilliant Esoteric culture that emerged from the blending of ‘Las Tres Cultures’”, said conference director Ralph White.

Every year, more and more people are taking educational and exotic vacations. Learning centers such as The New York Open Center have organized such trips in the past, but the trend has been booming in recent years and is now becoming part of the mainstream business of the travel industry, experts say.

The Golden Age of Andalusia marks the 6th in The Esoteric Quest learning travel series. Past conferences include “An Esoteric Quest in Central Europe: From Renaissance Bohemia to Goethe’s Weimar”, “The Italian Renaissance and the Esoteric Traditions: Hermetic, Kabbalistic and Neoplatonic Philosophers and their Influence Today”, and “The Rosicrucian’s Enlightenment Revisited: The Western Mystery Tradition in Bohemia”.

The New York open center is encouraging participants of this event to join them in their continued commitment to caring for the planet. Travelers on The Esoteric Quest are being asked to visit www.SustainableTravelInternational.org and purchase “green tags” to help keep their travel emissions neutral.

The New York Open Center is a non-profit holistic learning center offering events, advanced trainings and graduate degree opportunities.

For more information about the conference or to schedule an interview with staff or faculty, contact Carrie Wykoff at 917 450-1139

# # #