Introduction

"Albert Einstein, the scientist-symbol of the twentieth century, sometimes came up with some quite perplexing ideas. For example, he once said that the emotion we are able to experience the most deeply is mysticism, the disseminator of all true science."

Symbol

Letters
The development and history of the symbolism of various alphabets in different cultures throughout the world. 
Translated by Judit Maruszki from: Jean Chevalier-Alain Gheerbrant: Dictionnaire des Symboles (Paris, 1973-1974, Seghers)

Written Signs 

Csaba Varga : Similarities Between the Egyptian and Original Hungarian Alphabet
"One of my acquaintances saw a (Hungarian) program on television in early March, 2002, in which someone said that the ascertainment by some, that Egyptian demotic writing and the old Hungarian (Scythian-Hun-Sekler-Hungarian, in short: Hungarian of the Carpathian Basin) alphabet is one and the same, is completely out of the question. The word 'some', despite its plurality, can mean only me and me alone, for I was the one who discovered this and published it, along with many other discoveries concerning the history of writing, in my book entitled Jel-Jel-Jel avagy az ABC 30000 éves története (Sign-Sign-Sign, or the 30,000 Year-Old History of the Alphabet) published in December, 2001 (second publication: January, 2002). ... My present article is my response to this very general comment of protest."

László Marácz: Linguistic and Visual Roots as the Retainers of Hungarian Culture
"The root is the minimal dictionary unit, which has its own phonetic and semantic self-identity, without any suffixes, derivatives or signs. Roots, and the relationship between them, can provide insight into the cognitive reality based on the Hungarian language, and perhaps even into the operation of the human intellect, in the broad sense of the word."

József Várkonyi -- Péter Trömböczky: The Reality-Image of Word-Functions, or: The Whole World's a Function
"While reading this article one is first haunted by early positivistic language theory: the functional optimization of a text -- meaning, which can be transformed into a function using the standards of mathematics. Pragmatic considerations, its role as a generator of the development of business profit, are cited as goals. Meanwhile, it tries to maintain its balance in the territory, the labyrinth, that lays between technology and the knowledge of the world, based upon, and taking advantage of, the historical and epistemological oddities of function-science, finally achieving the possibility of social usage. How is it possible to develop a practice that works based on unclear foundations, leading nowhere? Can and should this be done in the case of society as well?

The dialogue format, reminiscent of Greek examples, is not incidental: it is the present form of a third type of discourse (Ricoeur) which looks for the narrow plank between the laws of nature and the rules of the world of man."

The Scenes of Our Lives

Garden Wall
In this column we continue the publication of excerpts from Christopher Alexander: A Pattern Language. Towns, Buildings, Construction (New York, 1981, Oxford University Press), that pertain to the central theme of the particular volume of the journal, in this case the garden wall.

"...The brick wall around your garden or park ...is often not a pretty sight from the outside, but this is due more to plainness than ugliness. These walls were generally built to keep our glance within, rather than to keep the glance of others out..." 

Requiem for the University of Horticulture

The Betrayal and Salvation of the University of Horticulture
"One of the most long-standing and most successful university's of Hungary was built on a plot too valuable for its own good, for this fact seems to influence its fate. From time to time it catches the eye of those who abuse their decision-making position, the go-getters who would cash in the 'genius loci' formed by intellectual work energies for a century and a half, for the small change of parasites." 

The University of Horticulture's struggle for survival during the higher education reforms of the past decade through discussions, forums and historical overviews compiled by Tamás Régheny.

Eco-Forum

Gabriella Józsa: The Alliance of Public Wellness and/or Work Groups. 
(The relationship between legal persons and natural persons in the race for institutionalized existence.) 
"The leading parties of state capitalism, as well as international economic globalism, are profit-oriented legal persons, extra-natural, fake, abstract, immaterial creations, which in the broad sense of the word, are a part of institutionalized civil society (the other two basic institutions of society being the church and the state). 
... As nature itself, natural persons (individuals) are being superseded, and are in a disadvantageous position vis-ŕ-vis legal persons. ...Appropriate legal forms and economic mechanisms must be found to reinstate institutionalized balance, to find a solution to world problems of a global magnitude, which arise from a social and ecological imbalance."

Tamás Almássy -- Györgyi Bezdán: Conference -- Against Collapse 
In February, 2002, the Society for the Promotion of a Rainbow-Economy held a conference in Gödöllő. The theme of the conference was borrowed from Guy Dauncey's book After the Collapse -- The Development of a Rainbow Economy recently published in Hungary. "Dauncey's book deals with new, and as of yet seemingly extraordinary economic initiative-types, which could serve as solutions to environmental, economic and social crises threatening the world. The colors of the rainbow symbolize the values these initiatives undertake: intellectual, global, economic and ecological values, self-realization, local communities, and social values. We tried finding initiatives that profess similar values here in Hungary, and have become familiar with 250 groups, 40 of which represented themselves at the conference." 

Tamás Almássy: Guy Dauncey After the Collapse -- The Development of a Rainbow Economy 
An introduction to Guy Dauncey's work.

Sam Smith: How to be a Patriot (Yes, Spring 2002) translated by Attila Malecz
"If our beloved nation is preparing to step out onto the road forgetting to look around before doing so, there are no bad intentions in yelling: Stop!"

Ecology and Ideology

József Zelnik: What Are We, Hungarian Intellectuals? 
"There are two tragically large loss-groups of recent Hungarian privatization: that of agricultural laborers, and the intellectuals."
The author began this article during the summer of 2001 and finished it in January, 2002. In the hopes of a good turn of affairs after the most recent government elections he waited with its publication. His hopes unfulfilled, it is published now.

Pro-Vocation to the "STIMECZ" Dossier
József Zelnik's ambivalent feelings upon receiving the "Stimecz dossier", an informant's account of the Hungarian Democratic Forum's meeting on "environmental protection, ecological problems, and the hydraulic power plant at Bős-Nagymaros, a question of political importance" in 1988. 

Secret Report from the Eco-Past.
The Stimecz Dossier

Csaba Vass: Outline of a Magic-Sacred Economy. The traditional Cumanian economic organization
"If we wish to understand the traditional Cumenian organization of economy, in our case the economic history of the Kunhegyes district, we must go back to times long past, all the way to the settlement of Cumenians in Hungary. The history of the Cumenians, almost to this day, is a battle between ancient community organization and the concrete changing social environment. Without understanding what is at stake at these battles we don't stand a chance at understanding the Cumenian economic system without the severe distortion of its essence. During the course of these battles the Cumenians protected their communal self-identity from various conquerors -- the Tartars, the Turks, the Austrians, and to a certain degree the Soviets -- with honorable resolve, who in turn stubbornly strove to break this un-consumable communal organization. If we take a look at this identity struggle from the perspective of politics, these battles can be defined as the Cumenians fight for freedom." 

Lajos György: Mysticism and General System-Theory (Knowing and Conserving Our World)
"Our world is in serious crisis. In order for us to survive it we need to know the regularities of the system, the 'eternal laws' of mysticism. We need wise, enlightened minds who know the laws, mystic thinkers, who have a different path of life to offer."

Eco-Library 

In this column we introduce works from our library's collection, mainly foreign publications, dealing with the current theme of the journal.
Hungarian Environmental Policies in the Net of EU Expectations by Sándor Kerekes and Károly Kiss
Darrell Addison Posey (ed.): The Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity
Andrew Goldring (ed.): Permaculture. 
Teacher's guide 
Susan Meeker-Lowry: Invested in the common good
Steve Lerner: Eco-Pioneers
Paul Gipe: Wind Energy Basics 
Jerry Mander-Edward Goldsmith: The Case Against the Global Economy