Castalia

Castalia (or Kastalia) is the name of a Greek nymph, but it is also the name of a world of elite education, created by Hermann Hesse in his book Magister Ludi (The Glass Bead Game), which won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946.
The world of Castalia was not perfect. There was a hierarchical order, superiors who had to be obeyed, and a somewhat monastic lifestyle. Those who completed their education from the elite schools, became members of the order, many continuing within it as teachers. There were others who could carry on doing research, on any topic, with the freedom to study throughout their lives, supported by the state.
Among the select elite, were those who played the Glass Bead Game.
The Glass Bead Game and the ascetic world of Castalia still attracts me- particularly the world of the scholars, who read and studied whatever they liked!
I’m attracted too, to the Game, to its precision, symbolism and brilliance. I think the ideas in this book are relevant even today.