Thursday April 22nd 2010, 7.30-9.30pm.
Peter and Sarah Dawkins - 'Wisdom in the Land'
We are delighted to welcome Peter and Sarah Dawkins to Cheltenham.
"The very earth we walk on, live in and depend on, is a great book of wisdom. Enshrined in its landscape, moulding its form and influencing our lives and consciousness, is the eternal, universal truth, waiting for discovery and cooperative manifestation. With such wisdom we could build a paradise on earth. The ancients called it the goddess - the loving intelligence of the land, pregnant with wisdom that she can reveal and to which she gives birth."
In this talk Peter, accompanied by his wife Sarah, will share some of the wisdom that the landscape has revealed to him over the years, and the accompanying mythology and traditional knowledge that is our ever-growing heritage. With the landscape come landscape angels, guardians of the earth, just as we have our own guardian angels. For Peter, these have also been teachers, and they will feature in the talk and illustrations.
"The very earth we walk on, live in and depend on, is a great book of wisdom. Enshrined in its landscape, moulding its form and influencing our lives and consciousness, is the eternal, universal truth, waiting for discovery and cooperative manifestation. With such wisdom we could build a paradise on earth. The ancients called it the goddess - the loving intelligence of the land, pregnant with wisdom that she can reveal and to which she gives birth."
In this talk Peter, accompanied by his wife Sarah, will share some of the wisdom that the landscape has revealed to him over the years, and the accompanying mythology and traditional knowledge that is our ever-growing heritage. With the landscape come landscape angels, guardians of the earth, just as we have our own guardian angels. For Peter, these have also been teachers, and they will feature in the talk and illustrations.
Peter is an author, teacher, geomancer and consultant in sacred architecture and landscape, earth energies and the Western wisdom traditions. He is founder-director of the Zoence Academy, which runs a training course in the spiritual, geomantic and cosmological wisdom of the West. He is known particularly as a pioneer and leading teacher in the science of landscape temples (geocosmology) and their connection with mythology and the wisdom teachings, and since 1980 has been leading wisdom tours and geocosmological pilgrimages in Britain, Europe and America, and occasionally other countries of the world.
Sarah, Peter's wife, is a Feng-Shui consultant, co-director of Zoence Academy and secretary of the Francis Bacon Research Trust, who also teaches and leads workshops and pilgrimages internationally.
Sarah, Peter's wife, is a Feng-Shui consultant, co-director of Zoence Academy and secretary of the Francis Bacon Research Trust, who also teaches and leads workshops and pilgrimages internationally.
Thursday March 11th 2010, 7.30-9.30pm.
Jay Ramsay - 'The Poet In You'
How can poetry inspire us at this time of transition? As we recognize the need to become more open spiritually, it is poets like Rumi, TS Eliot and William Blake that open us to a sense of the sacred, as well as a significant number of living poets.
Jay Ramsay has been working with poetry and transformational consciousness for 25 years. A UKCP accredited psychosynthesis psychotherapist, in private practice in Stroud & London, he is the Author of over 30 books, most recently 'Out of Time', 'Places of Truth (Awen)', and 'The Poet in You'. He also tutors people in poetry, and runs workshops at Hawkwood College. See also www.lotusfoundation.org.uk
Jay Ramsay has been working with poetry and transformational consciousness for 25 years. A UKCP accredited psychosynthesis psychotherapist, in private practice in Stroud & London, he is the Author of over 30 books, most recently 'Out of Time', 'Places of Truth (Awen)', and 'The Poet in You'. He also tutors people in poetry, and runs workshops at Hawkwood College. See also www.lotusfoundation.org.uk
Thursday February 11th 2010, 7.30-9.30pm:
Jonathan Stedall - 'Where On Earth is Heaven?'
Writer and documentary film-maker Jonathan Stedall explores challenging questions about living and dying, looking and seeing, heaven and earth, as well as our human potential.
Jonathan presents a film based on his recently published book 'Where On Earth is Heaven', which includes material on John Betjeman, Laurens van der Post and Alan Bennett, as well as sequences from his biographies of Tolstoy, Gandhi and Jung.
After the film there will be time for discussion on the issues raised.
Jonathan's website is at www.jonathanstedall.co.uk
Jonathan presents a film based on his recently published book 'Where On Earth is Heaven', which includes material on John Betjeman, Laurens van der Post and Alan Bennett, as well as sequences from his biographies of Tolstoy, Gandhi and Jung.
After the film there will be time for discussion on the issues raised.
Jonathan's website is at www.jonathanstedall.co.uk
November 20th 2009 - Professor Ursula King: 'Responding to Spiritual Challenges of our Time'
“Love is the free and imaginative outpouring of the spirit over all unexplored paths.” (Teilhard de Chardin)
Professor Ursula King - an internationally renowned scholar on spirituality, interfaith dialogue, women and religion, will discuss themes from her latest book, The Search for Spirituality: Our Global Quest for Meaning and Fulfilment.
"What are the spiritual challenges today in a personal, social and global context?
What does spirituality mean in a pluralistic world? And what has love to do with it?
I want to explore some new trajectories in spirituality and show how these can help us promote the flourishing of all people and the planet".
Earlier this year she was interviewed by Jenni Murray on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.
URSULA KING FRSA
Professor Emerita of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol. Educated in Germany, France, India and England, she has lectured all over the world and published widely, especially on gender issues in religions, interfaith dialogue, spirituality, and on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. She has held been awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of Edinburgh, Oslo, and Dayton, Ohio.
Her publications include Christian Mystics. Their Lives and Legacies Throughout the Ages; Women and Spirituality; the illustrated biography Spirit of Fire: The Life and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin; and most recently The Search for Spirituality: Our Global Quest for Meaning and Fulfilment (Canterbury Press, 2009).
Professor Ursula King - an internationally renowned scholar on spirituality, interfaith dialogue, women and religion, will discuss themes from her latest book, The Search for Spirituality: Our Global Quest for Meaning and Fulfilment.
"What are the spiritual challenges today in a personal, social and global context?
What does spirituality mean in a pluralistic world? And what has love to do with it?
I want to explore some new trajectories in spirituality and show how these can help us promote the flourishing of all people and the planet".
Earlier this year she was interviewed by Jenni Murray on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.
URSULA KING FRSA
Professor Emerita of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol. Educated in Germany, France, India and England, she has lectured all over the world and published widely, especially on gender issues in religions, interfaith dialogue, spirituality, and on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. She has held been awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of Edinburgh, Oslo, and Dayton, Ohio.
Her publications include Christian Mystics. Their Lives and Legacies Throughout the Ages; Women and Spirituality; the illustrated biography Spirit of Fire: The Life and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin; and most recently The Search for Spirituality: Our Global Quest for Meaning and Fulfilment (Canterbury Press, 2009).
September 25th 2009 - Nick Campion:
'The Sacred Sky: Good, Evil and the Soul’s Ascent
to the Stars'
The belief that the human soul – or psyche – has a direct relationship with the stars was first attested in ancient Egypt; the Pyramid Texts tell of the Pharaoh’s journey to the stars after death. The idea was developed by Plato, for whom the rational soul possessed an inherent ability to return to the heavens.
As the soul rose through the planets towards the stars, it approached perfection and eventually united with the divine. Such concepts formed the basis of the Hermetic teachings, the Mithraic mysteries, and stood at the heart of Neoplatonic beliefs that the soul has an innate desire to return to the Good.
However, in the hands of the Gnostics, the theory took on a different form. Believing that the material world was essentially evil, the Gnostics recast the planets as representatives of humanity’s oppression, rather than agents of its liberation. According to this teaching, salvation was available only through Christ.
In this talk Nick explores the confusion between two opposing concepts, that the material universe is either inherently Good, or essentially Evil, and how this has led to the tangled web of western esoteric thought, together with the widespread (misplaced) concept that esotericism is incompatible with Christianity.
As the soul rose through the planets towards the stars, it approached perfection and eventually united with the divine. Such concepts formed the basis of the Hermetic teachings, the Mithraic mysteries, and stood at the heart of Neoplatonic beliefs that the soul has an innate desire to return to the Good.
However, in the hands of the Gnostics, the theory took on a different form. Believing that the material world was essentially evil, the Gnostics recast the planets as representatives of humanity’s oppression, rather than agents of its liberation. According to this teaching, salvation was available only through Christ.
In this talk Nick explores the confusion between two opposing concepts, that the material universe is either inherently Good, or essentially Evil, and how this has led to the tangled web of western esoteric thought, together with the widespread (misplaced) concept that esotericism is incompatible with Christianity.
Nick Campion is senior lecturer in the department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Wales, Lampeter, where he is head of the Sophia Centre and director of the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology. He is also on the faculty of Kepler College. His recent books include the two volume History of Western Astrology (London: Continuum 2008, 2009). His future publications include Cosmology and Astrology in the World’s Religions (New York University Press 2011).
Friday May 22nd 2009
Paul Devereux: ‘Sound and Ancient Sacred Places’
Throughout the centuries, and in every culture, sound has been used to access and deepen our sense of the sacred. This rich and unique audio-visual presentation will explore the role of sound at many different kinds of ancient sacred places worldwide: from prehistoric monuments, sacred indigenous sites and Greek and Indian temples, to churches, chapels and cathedrals. It will also include new acoustic research by a Royal College of Art team taking place at Carn Menyn, Preseli, Wales, source area of the Stonehenge bluestones, and will introduce the new archaeological area of investigation known as "archaeoacoustics" -- the study of sound at archaeological sites.
Paul Devereux is a research affiliate of the Royal College of Art, and a founding editor of the peer-review publication, Time & Mind - The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture (www.bergpublishers.com). He has written over two dozen books, including Stone Age Soundtracks and The Sacred Place, as well as many articles for both specialist and popular magazines, plus a range of peer-reviewed academic papers. He presents talks to all kinds of audiences internationally.
Friday April 24th 2009, Jeff Saward:
‘Labyrinth & Mazes – 4000 Years Of Tradition’
The history of the labyrinth is dotted with times when it has surfaced in a society that has creatively incorporated it into their cultural structure. Sometimes these episodes of labyrinth flowering were short-lived; often they flourished for hundreds of years and spread the concept far and wide. Wherever it has gone over the course of this 4000-year history, the labyrinth has served many purposes. This richly illustrated presentation will give a concise history of where labyrinths originated, how they have developed and spread. From its origins in pre-history, to the modern explosion of interest in this ancient symbol, the labyrinth continues to spark the imaginations of artists, thinkers and spiritual seekers alike.
Jeff Saward is a world authority on the history and development of labyrinths and mazes and is the author of Magical Paths - a pictorial essay on the modern revival, Labyrinths & Mazes - a comprehensive illustrated history, and is the editor of Caerdroia – the Journal of Mazes and Labyrinths. He is the co-founder and director of Labyrinthos, the international Labyrinth Resource Centre, Photo Library and Archive, and acts as a consultant to projects around the world.
