Editors' Letter

Dear Readers,

Winter greeted us unkindly this year, bringing the lowest temperatures across the US in thirty years (some have said). But perhaps fortuitously, this cold led many home just as Christmas arrived. The home, returned to in need, requires more than it once had, for it holds more than it once had. As we considered what to explore in this edition, it struck us that everything we are attempting to explore in classical education revolves around, and perhaps ends with, the home. Home: a place of safety, a sense of harmony, a cosmic belonging, a future salvation, a kingdom within us; it may be many things, but none of them are tangential to education. Fundamentally, the classical renewal is a return home.

So in this time of winter and sheltering, we decided to devote an entire edition to the exploration of home and our right relationship to it. While this certainly includes literal dwelling spaces, it also includes such broad ideas as the place of mankind within the cosmos, the ability of music to craft a home, the necessity of nature in developing an understanding of our spiritual home, the role of ritual in establishing a communal identity and belonging, and many more. Like previous issues, the authors herein consider the theme from diverse perspectives, allowing us a complex window into the home.

We hope you enjoy reading these meditations on humanity, belonging, nature, and our human need to craft a shared, sacred space to call “home.”

Cheers,

The Editors

The Editorial Team

Publisher: Andrew Kern, President of The CiRCE Institute

Editor-in-Chief: Katerina Kern

Art Director: Graeme Pitman

Poetry Editors: Christine Perrin and Noah Perrin

Senior Editor: Matthew Bianco

Contributing Editors: Ian Andrews and Emily Andrews

Copy Editor: Emily Callihan

Layout: David Kern

About The Publisher

The CiRCE Institute is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that exists to promote and support classical education in the school and in the home. We seek to identify the ancient principles of learning, to communicate them enthusiastically, and to apply them vigorously in today’s educational settings through curricula development, teacher training, events, an online academy, and a content-laden website. Learn more at circeinstitute.com