JERUSALEM. Lament, tragedy, invocation, cry? William Blake and the play that forgets his name

An audio version of this talk is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth, starring Mark Rylance, is brilliant. But what can be made of its violence and passion, humour and hedonism, tragedy and emptiness? Returning to the source of the famous words after which the play is… Continue reading JERUSALEM. Lament, tragedy, invocation, cry? William Blake and the play that forgets his name

Clearing the Fog of Assumptions. A conversation with Oliver Burkeman

Oliver Burkeman and Jonathan Rowson talk at the Realisation Festival 2022. Assumptions and thoughts challenged, but also a sense of feeling enlarged. Oliver Burkeman revealed his state of mind as he spoke with Jonathan Rowson on the last day of the Realisation Festival. The report was immediately followed by a typically Burkemanian touch of modesty.… Continue reading Clearing the Fog of Assumptions. A conversation with Oliver Burkeman

Dante’s Paradiso. Awakening to the Light. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake

An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast, Dante’s Divine Comedy, available via podcast feeds. This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues continues Rupert and Mark’s exploration of Dante’s Divine Comedy, taking a lead from Mark’s book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey. Dante is now guided by Beatrice through the… Continue reading Dante’s Paradiso. Awakening to the Light. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake

You Are Gods by David Bentley Hart. Reflections on Vedantic Christianity

An audio version of this talk is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. A set of reflections liberally drawing on You Are Gods by David Bentley Hart (Notre Dame Press, 2022). Bentley Hart says that the book could equally have been subtitled, Studies in Vedantic Christianity, which I take as a… Continue reading You Are Gods by David Bentley Hart. Reflections on Vedantic Christianity

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The Mossy Face of Christ. Martin Shaw talks w Mark Vernon about an unexpected return to Christianity

An audio version of this talk at on my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. 0:00 Imagination and the Imaginal in the modern world 7:20 Different kinds of power: agency, allure, contraries 10:40 The revival of myth-telling but in the first person singular 15:30 Martin’s rediscovery of Christianity 21:40 The mossy face of… Continue reading The Mossy Face of Christ. Martin Shaw talks w Mark Vernon about an unexpected return to Christianity

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Dante’s transfiguration of time & love, seeking & suffering, telepathy & transhumanising

An audio version of this talk is on my podcast, Dante’s Divine Comedy, available via podcast feeds. Various human experiences are deepened and resolved as Dante travels through hell, purgatory and paradise. The Divine Comedy can be read as an examination of this transfiguring of perception. From the alienation of hell, through the transforming time… Continue reading Dante’s transfiguration of time & love, seeking & suffering, telepathy & transhumanising

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Varieties of love in Plato, Jesus, Ibn ‘Arabi and other mystics. Jane Clark & Mark Vernon

An audio version of the talk is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. It is often noted that the ancient Greeks had an advantage in possessing several words for love. Eros, philia, agape and others allowed them to be nuanced about love and navigate its differences. So is there benefit in… Continue reading Varieties of love in Plato, Jesus, Ibn ‘Arabi and other mystics. Jane Clark & Mark Vernon

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Monarchy and the emergence of consciousness

A quick thought on the deep, inner, even esoteric history and significance of the Platinum Jubilee in the UK. The full story of monarchs and the birth of individual consciousness is part of the story told in A Secret History of Christianity: Jesus, the Last Inkling and the Evolution of Consciousness.

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William Blake and the Psychedelic Renaissance. Seven facets of cultural transformation

Am MP3 version of this talk is at my podcast, Thoughts and Talks, available via podcast feeds. William Blake is famous for his phrase “cleansing the doors of perception”. But he has much, much more to offer the renewed interest in psychedelics underway in our times. He responds to the need for a social and… Continue reading William Blake and the Psychedelic Renaissance. Seven facets of cultural transformation