Categories like feminine and masculine can constrain as much as illuminate. But there is no denying that men and male entities play a major, often surprising part in Dante’s journey through the Divine Comedy. This talk complements my look at Dante and the Divine Feminine, now considering Dante’s encounters with figures such as Belacqua and… Continue reading Dante and the Divine Masculine
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Dante and the Divine Feminine
Categories like feminine and masculine can constrain as much as illuminate. But there is no denying that women and female entities play a major, often surprising part in Dante’s journey through the Divine Comedy. Saints including Beatrice, Lucia and Mary, historic figures such as Piccarda, Francesca and Cunizza, and mythological entities like the sirens all… Continue reading Dante and the Divine Feminine
Homo Spiritualis – The New Science of Human Evolution
[MP3 version here.] The standard big history of human evolution, exemplified in Yuval Noah Harari’s bestseller Sapiens, sees religion and spirituality as a byproduct of survival, at best a necessary fiction. But new science is telling a different story. Research done by Robin Dunbar, Agustin Fuentes, Robert Bellah and others is showing how engaging with… Continue reading Homo Spiritualis – The New Science of Human Evolution
“I give you the end of a golden string” – Blake, the Gita and God
I’ve notice a tendency to downplay the divine element in accounts of William Blake, and to reduce his understanding of the imagination to a human artefact, from its true status as a supernatural capacity that he knew. In this talk I consider 5 ways in which this can be resisted: – Blake’s insistence that “there… Continue reading “I give you the end of a golden string” – Blake, the Gita and God
Matters of Life and Death – conversation with Rupert Sheldrake
Covid has brought the reality of death into the centre of our lives, but what can we learn about death in response? This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, with Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon, is prompted by a sense that part of the anxiety arising from the pandemic is living in a culture that has… Continue reading Matters of Life and Death – conversation with Rupert Sheldrake
On Physics, Evolution, Mind at Large & Projections – Bernardo Kastrup & Mark Vernon
An extended conversation that begins with thoughts on Owen Barfield, participation and the meaning crisis, Schopenhauer and Jung, moving through the state of modern physics, to the nature of evolution, the nature of mind at large, the role of dissociation and projections, and freedom. For more on Bernardo’s work see – https://www.bernardokastrup.com For more on… Continue reading On Physics, Evolution, Mind at Large & Projections – Bernardo Kastrup & Mark Vernon
Beauty’s Philosopher – Anthony Ashley Cooper
Anthony Ashley Cooper (1671-1713) may be the greatest English philosopher you have never heard of. In the 18th century, he was said to be the most famous philosopher in Europe. His ideas suffered in England, as those of his empiricist tutor, John Locke, took hold. But they inspired figures from William Blake to Adam Smith,… Continue reading Beauty’s Philosopher – Anthony Ashley Cooper
Dante on the Trinity
The Divine Comedy aims to deepen and broaden our perception of reality, often by exploding preconceptions. Nowhere is this more true than in Dante’s take on the Christian perception of the Trinity. For Dante, it is way more than a doctrine. It is a mode of seeing that reveals reality as dynamic and dancing to… Continue reading Dante on the Trinity
What is psychotherapy?
A short discussion of psychodynamic psychotherapy, talking about the experience of suffering, the ego, the past and present, and the future change as people move through three zones – which might be described as hell, purgatory and paradise.
Animals That Talk – a conversation with Rupert Sheldrake
Why do matters as seemingly unconnected as children’s stories and shamanic encounters feature talking animals? This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, with Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon, is prompted the book, Roland In Moonlight by David Bentley Hart. It relates long conversations between the Eastern Orthodox philosopher and his pet dog, generating fascinating thoughts on… Continue reading Animals That Talk – a conversation with Rupert Sheldrake