Author: Mark Vernon

For some, probably most, the Covid-19 pandemic is a question of massive mitigation. The aim is to learn lessons and return to business as usual, as soon as possible. For others, it’s different. It’s not just a disaster to get through, but a moment to seize and change the world. The latter response interests me.… Continue reading The plague that changed the world

This piece was written for the Idler. The monastery has come to us. Life has gone on retreat. For the next period, we’ll be living in the refectory and cloister. And, as transpires when you go on retreat, strange things will happen. Part of that will be anxiety. There are those for whom Covid-19 gives… Continue reading Freedom in a time of crisis

The world is in a collective panic. The coronavirus Covid-19 is the understandable cause. Crises precipitate shared alarm when the groups to which we belong, from family to nation, realise that the terms of engagement have suddenly, unexpectedly, dramatically shifted. The group then regresses into primitive states of anxiety at not knowing who’s in control,… Continue reading How to survive a group panic

Download MP3 here. All the great wisdom traditions tell us that death is an opportunity to reflect on life. Leaning into death reveals more about life, including the perception that life is underpinned by what’s deathless. Today, all around the world, death seems close. Many of the distractions that can keep us free of such… Continue reading Plato and the Music of Death. A talk in a time of crisis

Psychotherapies that work, though with no agreement about how they work, are becoming mainstream. For example, EMDR is widely used in the treatment of trauma. So what can be said about their efficacy and what, if anything, do they have to do with subtle energies, morphic resonance, quantum phenomena or even the soul? In this… Continue reading Subtle energies and healing

This thought piece was written for Perspectiva. Here’s a pub quiz question. Which piece of British legislation was on the statute books longer than any other? Answer: The Charter of the Forest. It was signed in 1217 and lasted 754 years. The follow-up question is, do you know what it secured? And the answer to… Continue reading Regaining our spiritual commons

This piece was written for The Idler. To join me on the journey through the Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso click here. The first group of the damned that Dante meets upon entering hell are running en masse “as an interminable train”. They can’t stop scampering and press together as an aimless collective. Dante looks closer… Continue reading The Divine Comedy at 700

Pt1 Pt2 Pt3 To download Pt1, Pt2, Pt3 click on the link. This is a recording of my conversation with Rupert Sheldrake at Alternatives, which meets at St James Piccadilly, London, on Monday 10th February 2020. We use the evolutionary ideas of Owen Barfield to talk about our times of spiritual experimentation. People are exploring… Continue reading Spiritual Evolution: Where we have come from and where we are going

Climate change has become the climate crisis, even climate emergency. In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake begins with an observation. He’s noticed how people are increasingly feeling the need to confess their carbon use and he wonders what that means. The thought develops into a conversation about living with the anxiety of… Continue reading Eco-confession – talk with Rupert Sheldrake

This year, 2020, marks the 700th anniversary of the completion of the great Divine Comedy. I invite you to experience the odyssey, too, by accompanying me as I discuss each canto. Dante begins his journey by waking up in a dark wood. The air tastes bitter. He becomes fearful. Truth is out of reach. But… Continue reading Dante’s Divine Comedy 2020