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Prof. Les Lancaster
The Writing on the Wall
A message for today across the millennia?
What does the story of Daniel mean?
How does it
relate to Jewish mysticism?
Is this the origin of the sacred Hebrew letters?
Brian Les Lancaster is a Founding Director and Dean of the Alef Trust. He is also Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University and an Honorary Research Fellow of the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester. Les’s research interests focus on the science of consciousness and connections with mysticism.
He has written extensively on Kabbalistic Psychology and the marriage of science and mysticism.
The phrase, “the writing on the wall” derives from the Book of Daniel. Belshazzar, portrayed in the book as the son of Nebuchadnezzar, holds a feast during which he sacrilegiously uses utensils that his
father had looted from the First Temple in Jerusalem. A mysterious hand appears and writes words on the wall, which no-one other than Daniel can decipher. In exploring the meaning of this mythical story, Prof Lancaster will address the following: • What is the historical context and deeper meaning of this episode? • How does this deeper
message have relevance to the religious and spiritual challenges we face today? • Why is the story relevant to the popularity of mysticism and the renewal of Judaism today? • How does the story relate to the history of the Semitic alphabet and the seismic shift that led to the rise of Rabbinic Judaism?
