BePeriod is inviting its members to an international gathering in Spain. The event will begin and end in Madrid. From there, we will travel to Granada and Córdoba. We will focus our visit on the Christian and Islamic cultures that thrived at different times in the Iberian Peninsula, taking advantage of the well-preserved Islamic art and architecture in Southern Spain to open a door into the world of Sufism.

The message of Islam was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE. Tradition has it that Abu Bakr, one of Muhammad’s earliest disciples, received from the Prophet two kinds of knowledge, or two different interpretations of the Koran. With the literal interpretation he formalized the religion of Islam; with the symbolic interpretation he formalized Sufism. In this workshop, we will highlight some of the fundamental principles of Sufism, and seek to put their inner interpretation to practice.

BePeriod is inviting its students to an international gathering in Sicily. The event will begin and end in Palermo. From there, we will will travel to various parts of the island. Sicily was colored by a confluence of forces throughout history: Greece, Islam, Byzantium, the Normans, Renaissance, Baroque, to name a few. A location exposed to such diverse influences should make a fertile ground for exploration. We will seek truths in these influences and weave them to our understanding.

BePeriod is gathering for another week-long online workshop, this time in Scotland. We will meet online for six consecutive days and use Shakespeare’s Macbeth to breathe life into the study of Features. Each session will last three hours with an intermission, and will conclude with practical exercises to be applied throughout the following day. Students’ verifications from these exercises will lay the ground for each consecutive session.

BePeriod is gathering for another week-long online workshop, this time in the Forest of Arden. We will meet online every day of the week for three-hour sessions with an intermission. Each session will conclude with a practical exercise to be applied throughout the following day. Students’ verifications from this exercise will lay the ground for the following session.

In response to the current travel restrictions, BePeriod will gather for another week-long online workshop, this time in Verona of Renaissance Italy. We will meet online every day of the week for three-hour sessions with intermissions. Each session will conclude with a practical exercise to be applied throughout the following day. Students’ verifications from this exercise will lay the ground for the following session.

In response to the current travel restrictions, BePeriod will gather for a week-long online workshop in Messina of the 16th century as painted by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s works have deep roots. He drew from Ancient Greek and Roman plays, and Judeo-Christian myths, and wove them into theatrical dramas. We will use the key themes of his play Much Ado About Nothing as instruction and inspiration for self-study. Each session will conclude with a practical exercise and lay the ground for the following session.

BePeriod is inviting its students to an international gathering in London. London houses some of the worlds most important collections of art, several noteworthy churches, and a rich ongoing offering of cultural performances. We will visit the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Victoria Albert, and Tate Britain, to meet familiar works featured in our workshops. We will explore Westminster Abbey and the Church of the Knights Templar to witness the Gothic and Medieval expressions of Christianity in England.

BePeriod is inviting its students to an international gathering in Egypt. The event will begin in Cairo, where we will reside nearby the Giza plateau, and end in Luxor, where we will reside along the Nile. Join us for an exploration of the Pyramids, the mysterious Sphinx, the treasures of Tutankhamen’s tomb, Islamic Cairo, the colossal temples of Thebes, the symbolic journey through the underworld as painted on the walls of Kings tombs, and more – all on the inspiring backdrop of the desert, palms, and a spectacular river.