PAST EVENTS

The Art of Seeing – the Enchantment of Nature – Thursday 24th August 2023 – 7-8pm UK time with Mary Attwood
The Art of Seeing - the Enchantment of Nature with Mary Attwood Thursday 24th August 2023 7-8pm UK time via Zoom £10 7-8pm UK ti “I strove with none, for none was worth my strife: Nature I loved, and, next to Nature, Art: I warm’d both hands before the...

The Art of Seeing – the contemplation of Beauty – with Mary Attwood, Thursday 20th July 2023, 7-8pm UK time
The Art of Seeing - the contemplation of Beauty with Mary Attwood Thursday 20th July 2023 7-8pm UK time via Zoom £10 7-8pm UK ti "At any time between 1750 and 1930, if you had asked educated people to describe the aim of poetry, art or music, they...

Awakening Beauty – a 2 wk course on Beauty in Art, Mondays 19th and 26th June 2023, 10am-12pm UK time with Mary Attwood
Awakening Beauty A two week course on Beauty in Art With Mary Attwood Monday 19th June & Monday 26th June 10am – 12pm UK time via Zoom £40 “Beauty can be consoling, disturbing, sacred, profane; it can be exhilarating, appealing, inspiring,...

Craft as an Expression of Perennial Philosophy, Rooted in the Alchemical Tradition with David Cranswick PhD – Tuesday 20th June 2023 – 6:30-8:00pm UK time – via Zoom – £10
Craft as an Expression of Perennial Philosophy, Rooted in the Alchemical Tradition with David Cranswick, PhD Tuesday 20th June 2023 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm (UK Time) via Zoom - £10This talk will cover the role of traditional craft training and how traditionally craft...

The Art of Seeing – awakening the psyche through Jung’s Active Imagination – Thursday 25th May 2023 7-8pm UK time with Mary Attwood
The Art of Seeing - awakening the psyche through Jung's Active Imagination with Mary Attwood Thursday 25th May 2023 7-8pm UK time via Zoom £10 7-8pm UK ti “Every good idea and all creative work are the offspring of the imagination…The debt we owe...
Seeing the World Anew: The Emergence of Landscape in Art With Mary Attwood Three week Summer course Mondays 8th, 15th and 22nd August 2022, 10am- 1pm UK time
Gainsborough, Constable, Turner Three week Summer course With Mary Attwood Mondays 8th, 15th & 22nd August 2022 10am – 1pm, via Zoom On looking at them, we find tears in our eyesand know not what brings them.John...

Why We Need Art with Mary Attwood – Sunday 5 December 2021 – 3.00-5.30pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
Exploring ways of seeing Art: Neuroscientific, Psychological, Philosophical and the Mystical
This session will include both theory and participation as we take a journey through the ways in which art can be perceived; from the neuroscientific, the psychological, the philosophical and the mystical, and the implications these approaches may have on us, the viewer, by seeing through these different lenses. For millennia Western art has been a means through which humans sought to understand their place in, and relationship to, the world. But in modern times, many of these approaches have been lost. As we track the points in our history where these changes occurred from the Reformation and subsequent Enlightenment, we will take a journey through the works of art themselves as artists sought to either express a loss of enchantment from the world, or conversely embrace it. Drawing on modern neuroscience, psychology, ancient Greek philosophy and the mystical traditions, each of these modes of knowing and approaches to art will be considered in turn as examples of great architecture, paintings and sculpture are explored. The work of ancient Greek and Renaissance philosophers, psychiatrist and author Dr Iain McGilchrist’s theory on the left and right brain hemispheres, Drs Carl Jung and James Hillman, and the mystical as expressed through ancient wisdom traditions will reveal different ways of seeing and attending to art, which claim to have the potential to be transformative for both image and seer.

Art Through the Ages with Mary Attwood – Saturday 11 December 2021 – 10:30am-2.30pm (UK time) – The National Gallery Sainsbury Wing – £35
During this tour of some of the National Gallery’s most treasured art works, we will take a walk through the ages, beginning in the Sainsbury Wing and ending in the rooms which house early twentieth centuries paintings of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.

Shakespeare’s Sacred Places with Dr Valentin Gerlier – Sunday 19 December 2021 – 3pm-4.30pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
In Shakespeare’s plays, and particularly his late plays, forgiveness and reconciliation often occur via the transit through particular realms, whether pastoral, ‘green worlds’ which regenerate human communities or sacred spaces such as chapels and temples where the co-mingling of mortals and divinities is dimly felt.
The Art of Seeing with Mary Attwood – Art as a Living Presence Thursday 19th May 2022 – 7-8pm (UK time) -Via Zoom – £10
These run once a month on a Thursday from 7-8 pm (UK time) by Zoom. Contact info@maryattwood.com for dates.
We know how to read a book and get lost in the other world of the imagination, and we allow ourselves to be moved emotionally and viscerally by music, but have we lost our visionary capacity when it comes to looking at works of art?

On the Cunning of Metis with Dr Amber Jacobs – Sunday 16 January 2022 – 3.00-5.00pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
Mêtis refers to a particular kind of intelligence in ancient Greece: a philosophical system that was marginalized by Platonic distrust with anything elusive, deceptive, or shifting. Mêtis is a radically anti-teleological non linear way of knowing and being in the world. In ancient Greek philosophy metis was attributed to non-humans: the branching fungal colonies of mycelium, the wily cunning of the fox, the undulating movement of the octopus, the snake’s shedding of its skin. It’s about camouflage, trickery, things which turn into other things as soon as you touch them. Because of the Enlightenment, with its insistence on ‘rational’ ways of knowing, it’s really hard for us to even grasp the movement of mêtis as a kind of meaning that is not interested in arriving at a definitive truth, and a form of action that never had a goal in the first place. It’s not about direction, progress, telos, identity, or argument – all the things that structure our routine ways of being today. Metis is the essence of spontaneity and the infinite play between the seen and unseen and is an intelligence that can only exist in the present moment.
Federico García Lorca and the duende with Dr William Rowlandson – Tuesday 18 January 2022 via Zoom – 6.30-8.00pm UK Time – £10
The Spanish word duende may be translated as goblin, imp, or pixie. For poet, dramatist, actor, artist, puppeteer and pianist Federico García Lorca, the duende is ‘a force not a labour, a struggle not a thought.’ In this talk we discuss the duende, following Lorca’s 1933 poetic lecture, ‘Juego y teoría del duende’ (‘Play and Theory of the Duende’), exploring the presence of the duende in music, poetry, painting and other artistic expression, exploring the daemon and the daimonic, exploring the presence of the duende in life and in death.

iRewild in Motion – Reconnect to the Natural World – 6 week course starting 2nd February 2022 – 7pm-8pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £44 full course with certification
An exciting collaboration between the Centre for Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred and iRewild. This course aims to support and improve your health and wellbeing in deep connection with nature, while at the same time increasing your love for learning about nature as you freely walk, explore, and reconnect with the natural world.
The Ancient Stones are Speaking: An Imaginal Journey to a Sacred Site with Dr Louise Livingstone – Sunday 20th February 2022 – 3:00pm-5:00pm (UK Time) – via Zoom – £15
The world is always in conversation with us; showing itself to us in its fullest living expression in every moment through vibrant images. In these rapidly changing times, how can we better engage with the dynamic, yet subtle, gestures of our planet and the more-than-human world that have so much to teach us? Such approaches towards us from the world are often missed through a purely head/mind-based rational worldview. In this session, we will take an imaginal journey to a sacred site on the Maltese island of Gozo through our organ of imaginal perception – the heart.
The Unsayable in Platonism with Professor Gregory Shaw – Tuesday 22 February 2022 – 8.00-9.30pm UK time – via Zoom – £10
It is widely recognized that the foundations of Western culture lie in Greek philosophy, specifically in the intellectual achievement of Platonism. What is less known, however, is that the leading teachers of the later Platonic schools did not embrace the metaphysics that are now identified with “Platonism.” At the heart of their philosophy was a radical skepticism about what can be known and the recognition that the Platonic tradition is rooted in an awareness that defies rational expression. This non-representable and indescribable awareness was nevertheless believed to be the source of all discourse and available to anyone who learned how to receive it. This reception requires that we come to terms with our inability to grasp the unknowable and recognize that rationality itself is rooted in the unknown.

The Creativity, Life & Works of Leonardo da Vinci with Mary Attwood – 3 week course – Sunday 6, 13 & 20 March 2022 – 3.00pm-5.00pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £45
Leonardo da Vinci barely needs an introduction. His name is associated with genius, a man whose insatiable desire to discover what lay behind the world of natural phenomena led him to become the archetypal renaissance man equally adept at painting as he was with creating ideas for warfare and entertaining the court. Yet Leonardo was also a human being who encountered his own struggles and worked incredibly hard, incorporating a number of different qualities and cognitive faculties which co-existed alongside each other.

Archetypes, Synchronicity and Magic with Dr Becca Tarnas – Tuesday 8th March 2022 – 7.00-8.30pm UK time – via Zoom – £10
In recent years, astrology and magic have caught the collective imagination and are enjoying an unexpected renaissance through new social platforms. Astrology and magic have ancient roots and have persisted across the centuries through multiple evolving world views before being disavowed by the modern, scientific mind. As these disciplines re-emerge, what does it mean to practice astrological magic in the contemporary world?

The Spiralling Heart with Dr Louise Livingstone – Tuesday 22 March 2022 – 6.30pm – 8.00pm UK Time – Via Zoom – £10
This talk is moves deeper into the philosophical implications of one of the hearts that Louise met during her PhD research. In her work, Louise communicated with, and deeply explored, the different hearts that live within her. One of these hearts presented itself as a spiral – becoming known to Louise as her ‘holistic’ or ‘spiralling’ heart.

Exploring the Mystery of Death Through Sacred Plant Medicines with Baiba Baika – Sunday 3 April 2022 via Zoom – 3.00-5.00pm UK Time – £15
In this seminar, Baiba Baika draws on her Masters dissertation and her on-going research – Journeying Beyond the Fear of Dying: Psychedelic-Assisted Guiding of the Dying Through the Transition and Beyond. Baiba addresses the oldest and biggest fear of humanity – the fear of facing one’s own mortality.
Newton as Scientist, Mystic and Alchemist with Dr Edi Bilimoria – Tuesday 5 April 2022 via Zoom – 6.30-8.00pm UK Time – £10
Few scientists seem willing to acknowledge that Newton was not only one of England’s greatest men of science but also one of her most ardent students of mysticism. All that despite the outright assertions of people such as Sir Robert Robinson, past President of the Royal Society, who, asking how Newton could be both a mathematician and a mystic, himself answered that it was because he ‘perceived a mystery beyond and did his best to penetrate it.’

A sense of the Sacred with Dr Iain McGilchrist – Sunday 24th April 2022 – 3:00pm-4:30pm UK Time – via Zoom – £15
In this seminar, Dr Iain McGilchrist draws on his new work, The Matter with Things, and addresses some of the oldest and hardest questions humanity faces – ones that have a practical urgency for all of us today. Specifically, what has happened to our sense of the sacred and divine? Does it matter any longer?
Is it true that it has been driven out of our world by science and reason? How could an understanding of the structure and function of the human brain even begin to make sense of
what has happened – and is still happening? And should we be concerned?

Lives of the Great Artists – six week course with Mary Attwood, Mondays 25th April, 2nd May, 9th May, 16th May, 23rd May, 30th May 2022 10am – 1pm (UK time), via Zoom
Lives of the Great Artists - six week course With Mary Attwood Mondays 25th April, 2nd May, 9th May, 16th May, 23rd May, 30th May 2022 10am – 1pm (UK time), via Zoom ‘Extraordinary people excite; they guide; they warn; standing as they do, in the corridors of...

Away with the Fairies with Dr William Rowlandson – Tuesday 26 April 2022 via Zoom – 6.30-8.00pm UK Time – £10
‘The Irish word for fairy,’ writes William Butler Yeats, is sheehogue [sidheóg], a diminutive of “shee” in banshee. Fairies are deenee shee [daoine sidhe] – fairy people. Who are they?’
Who indeed! Who are the Shee?
The search for the answer reveals many constantly shifting answers. Fallen angels, ancient gods, nature spirit, hallucination, unreal, verifiably material and very real, cheeky wee fellas in breeches, aliens, terrifying monsters. Conscious beings all around us, separated by the merest veil of consciousness, visible to mystics, dreamers and lucky children. One might as well ask: Where are the Sidhe? There is no final answer. The search is the answer; an enchanting, bewildering, endless journey of discovery.

Interspecies Communication and Community with Anna Breytenbach – Tuesday 24 May 2022 – 6:30pm-8.00pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £10
A natural birthright of all beings is the ability to communicate across apparent species boundaries. This creative and constructive imperative is at the heart of coexistence. We modern humans have fallen into a fog of forgetfulness – yet our true nature is that of connection and kinship. Beyond words and behaviour, we are in a dynamic quantum dance with the more-than-human world. Bringing our conscious awareness to these unspoken conversations is a great remembering. Through Anna’s stories and gentle guidance, we come to appreciate how accessible and intimate our intuition is. Interspecies communication is a beautiful way to restore our reverence for all life.

The Mystery of William Blake – An Introduction with Joe Safdie – Tuesday 7 June 2022 – 6.30pm – 8.00pm UK Time – Via Zoom – £10
“Those who have been told,” William Blake pled in his “Descriptive Catalog” of works for sale, “that my Works are but an unscientific and irregular Eccentricity, a Madman’s Scrawls, I demand of them to do me the justice to examine before they decide.” Unfortunately, relatively few people have taken him up on that invitation, which is a shame, because once one starts looking into what he produced, he comes to seem very sane indeed – too sane, perhaps, for his contemporaries, and maybe even for us.

“A Solstice Mystery for the Solstice”: Celtic Myth, Sacrifice and Archetype with The Sacred Well Murders – Susan Rowland, PhD – Tuesday 21 June 2022 – 6.30pm – 8.00pm UK Time – Via Zoom – £10
If we do not individuate our gods, we may become possessed by them. Europeans today have roots in indigenous societies who found their sacred in nature. The Celts lived by embodying myth and ritual in ways hard to imagine for the fragile western consciousness of today. For those of us at least 2000 years removed from indigenous sacred cosmologies, what is at stake when we try to connect with these origins?

Heal the Pineal with Distant Sound Healing with Githa Ben-David – Tuesday 5th July 2022 – 6:30-8:00pm UK time – via Zoom – £10
During the Corona time, Githa Ben-David started to work online and found that her vocal sound scanning method, based on work with “The Note from Heaven”, had even stronger impact when distant.
Some of the essential points of, for example, dissolving a tumour with distant sound scanning is “knowing” that you can. Another point is that the receiver must be ready to open their awareness because a physical healing always requires an expansion of consciousness, This is the challenge of any illness. A faithful surrendering will lead to a belief which gradually turns into “knowing”. Githa Ben-David will demonstrate a distant sound scanning.

A New Image of God with Anne Baring – Sunday 25th September 2022 – via Zoom – 3pm-5pm UK Time – £15
Ours is a culture which has no vision. It is at present imprisoned in a dying or outworn image of God and in a secular view of reality which has cut us off from the Earth and the Cosmos and from our own soul. Despite all the talk of freedom and human rights, countless millions live their lives in bondage to patriarchal images of God which are limited in concept and rigid in their authoritarian control over the human spirit.

The Art of Seeing – Plotinus and the Soul with Mary Attwood – Thursday 27th October 2022 – via Zoom – 7pm-8pm UK time – £ 10
The Art of Seeing Plotinus and the Soul with Mary Attwood Thursday 27th October 2022 - 7:00pm-8:00pm (UK time) via Zoom £10 "We must close our eyes and invoke a new manner of seeing, a wakefulness that is the birthright of us all, though few put it to use....

Transformation Through Turmoil with Steve Taylor, PhD – Tuesday 18th October 2022 – via Zoom – 6.30pm-8pm UK Time – £10
For 15 years, transpersonal psychologist Steve Taylor has been researching cases of spontaneous spiritual awakening that occur in the midst of intense psychological turmoil. In times of bereavement, serious illness, addiction, deep depression and intense stress a miraculous transformation sometimes occurs: the death of an old identity and the birth of a new, spiritually awakened self. In this presentation – based on his new book Extraordinary Awakenings – Steve provides some examples of these transformations from his research, and explains the reasons why they occur, including factors such as the dissolution of psychological attachments, acknowledgement and acceptance.

Opening the Archives of the Impossible: Some Personal Reflections with Professor Jeffrey Kripal – Sunday 30th October 2022 – 3:00pm-5:00pm UK Time – Via Zoom – £15
Jeff will reflect on the opening of Rice University’s Archives of the Impossible (named after his intellectual history of the paranormal, Authors of the Impossible) and why the response to this event was so overwhelming.

The Art of Seeing – Heraclitus and the Harmony of Tensions – With Mary Attwood – 7-8pm UK time- Thursday 24th Nov 2022 – £10 via Zoom
The Art of Seeing Heraclitus and the Harmony of Tensions Thursday 24th November 2022 7-8pm UK time via Zoom with Mary Attwood £10 "The cosmos works by harmony of tensions, like the lyre and bow” Heraclitus As a pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus is often...

Gaia and the Tree of Life with Dr Stephan Harding – Tuesday 15th November 2022 via Zoom – 6.30-8.00pm UK Time – £10
The Tree of Life is an ancient image that comes to us from deep in psyche. The Tree image has taken many forms in many cultures down the ages and has aided many individuals to discover the deepest secrets of their true happiness which they realised as inseparable from the well-being and health of nature, of Gaia, of our living earth. The ancient Greek myths tell us that Gaia was the first born of primordial Chaos and that she in turn gave birth to the starry heavens and then to all the beings here on earth. She is the mother of us all, including the Tree of Life. In this talk we’ll explore whether myths and images of Gaia and The Tree of Life can in any way help us to solve our terrible contemporary global crisis.
Returning to Harmony with Steve Taylor, PhD – Sunday 27th November 2022 – via Zoom – 3pm-5pm UK Time – £15
For 15 years transpersonal psychologist Steve Taylor has been researching the phenomenon spiritual awakening. In his books The Leap and Extraordinary Awakenings, he has identified a number of essential qualities of the awakened state, as well as the different ways in which awakening can occur.
In this workshop we will explore and cultivate these qualities through meditations, exercises and discussions, gaining contact with the spiritual essence of our beings, and so experiencing peace and harmony. Steve will read some of his poetic meditations to illustrate these qualities.
Gallery visit – Seeing the World Anew: the emergence of landscape in Art – with Mary Attwood – Saturday 3rd December 2022
Seeing the World Anew: the emergence of landscape in Art at the National Gallery, London With Mary Attwood Saturday 3rd December 2022, 10:00am - 2:00pm “The eye must not rest on the appearances of nature itself, or on the surface qualities of the work of art, but see...
Why Your Life Really Matters with Tim Freke – Tuesday 6th December 2022 via Zoom – 6:30-8:00pm UK time – £10
Why Your Life Really Matters with Tim Freke Tuesday 6th December 2022 - 6:30pm-8:00pm (UK time) via Zoom £10 Tim Freke will give a preview of his latest philosophical work on the big questions of existence. What is life? Do our lives really matter? Is...

The Art of Seeing – the sacredness of the Christian Mythos- with Mary Attwood – Thursday 15th December 2022 – 7-8 pm UK time via Zoom
The Art of Seeing The Sacredness of the Christian Mythos through the four senses hermeneutic/ of interpretation Thursday 15th December 2022 7-8pm UK time via Zoom with Mary Attwood £10"The theophanic view sees the cosmos as 'disclosure' of the divine, as...

Reflections On The Speaking World with Dr Louise Livingstone & Mary Attwood – via Zoom – Tuesday 20 December 2022 – 6:30-8:00pm UK Time– FREE
Reflections On The Speaking World with Dr Louise Livingstone & Mary Attwood Tuesday 20th December 2022 6.30pm - 8pm (UK time) via Zoom FREE REGISTER HERE As a thank you to all of our supporters over the past year, we would love you to join us as we share excerpts...

The Interior Shores of Norse Mythology with Andreas Kornevall – Tuesday 17th January 2023 – via Zoom – 6.30pm-8pm UK Time – £10
Join Andreas Kornevall for an evening presentation of Northern Myth, Seidr, Ritual and Runes. Andreas will introduce us to the enchantments, practices, wonder tales and myths that form the mythical dreaming of Northern Europe – myths and fairytales that have shaped much of Great Britain and Northern Europe for centuries. Through these stories and myths, we will explore essential questions about wisdom, where can it be found today? Also what rituals and practices can we start to develop that bring us closer to reconciliation with each other and the landscape we live in, whether it is rural or urban? There will also be a presentation and discussion of the multi-soul idea in Northern folklore and how it relates to folk-magic.
The Art of Seeing – the Journey to the Epiphany with Mary Attwood – Thursday 19th Jan 2023 via Zoom 7-8pm UK time £10
The Art of Seeing The Journey to the Epiphany through the four senses hermeneutic/ of interpretation Thursday 19th January 2023 7-8pm UK time via Zoom with Mary Attwood £10 "The star which they saw in the east, went before them“ Matthew 2:9 The Christian mythos...

Gaia Alchemy with Dr Stephan Harding – Sunday 29th January 2023 via Zoom – 3.00-5.00pm UK Time – £15
About 400 years ago during the scientific revolution science and soul were drastically separated, propelling humanity into centuries of a valuable yet one-sided style of empiricism and rationality which has fundamentally disconnected us from each other and from nature. In this perspective, there is no room for the soul (anima or psyche), or for the development of empathy, intuition and feeling in relation to nature. This tragic separation is at the root of the serious ecological, climatic and psychological crisis which we currently experience all over the planet.
Now, for the first time, we have access to detailed scientific knowledge of the dynamics of the Earth, while depth psychology has shed light on the functioning of the human psyche. In this seminar we will explore how combining these apparent opposites – science and psyche – can help us recover our intrinsic wholeness to heal ourselves and the earth.

The Cosmos in Stone – Sacred Geometry of a Master Mason with Tom Bree – Saturday 18th February 2023, 4.00 -6.00pm UK time via Zoom
The Cosmos in Stone Sacred Geometry of a Master Mason with Tom Bree Saturday 18th February 2023 - 4:00pm-6:00pm (UK time) via Zoom £15 Cosmological mythos is not something that is talked about very much in modern day Christianity. This is despite the fact...
The Call of Sophia with Dr Simon Wilson Tuesday 21st February 2023 – 6.30-8pm UK time via Zoom £10
The Call of Sophia with Dr Simon Wilson Tuesday 21st February 2023 6.30-8.00pm (UK time) via Zoom £10 This presentation will look at Sophia, or Woman Wisdom, who calls to each of us personally, to desire her and devote ourselves to her. She was present in...

The Art of Seeing – Unfolding Ways of Wisdom with Mary Attwood – Thursday 23rd February 2023, 7.00 – 8.00 pm UK time via Zoom
The Art of Seeing unfolding ways of wisdom with Mary Attwood Thursday 23rd February 2023 7:00pm-8:00pm (UK time) via Zoom £10 “The philosopher, even in his passions, acts only after reflection; he walks in the night but he is preceded by a torch.” Philosopher,...

Ravens Speech with Andreas Kornevall – Sunday 26th February 2023 – 3:00pm-5:00pm UK Time – Via Zoom – £15
This workshop is for those with an interest in witchcraft, runes, alchemy, symbolism, Norse culture and Paganism. Andreas will guide us through the magical talismans of the ancient world – what can we learn from them, how can we read them? Also an introduction to the thousand-year history of the runes will be presented. Storytelling and myth will be essential components in our explorations; we will learn basic storytelling techniques and discover the initiatory patterns that exist in fairy tales.

British Museum visit – Wonders of the World – a journey through ancient Egypt and ancient Greece – with Mary Attwood – Saturday 4th March 2023 – 10am-2pm SOLD OUT – more dates to come
British Museum visit Wonders of the World - a journey through ancient Egypt and ancient Greece with Mary Attwood Saturday 4th March 2023 - 10:00am-2:00pm £40 SOLD OUT - MORE DATES TO COME 'Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts; the...

The Remarkable Evolution of Myth, Cosmology, and the Sacred in Human Culture with Professor Richard Tarnas – Tuesday 21st March 2023 – 6.30-8pm UK time via Zoom £10
The Remarkable Evolution of Myth, Cosmology, and the Sacred in Human Culture with Professor Richard Tarnas Tuesday 21st March 2023 6.30-8pm UK time via Zoom £10 In this evening’s illustrated lecture, Richard Tarnas will offer a brief overview of the ways...
Annunciation in Art – the call and response – 2 week course Mondays 27th March & 3rd April 2023, 10am- 12.30pm UK time via Zoom – with Mary Attwood
Annunciation in Art - the call and response with Mary Attwood Two week course Mondays 27th March & 3rd April 2023 10am- 12.30 pm UK time via Zoom £45 with Mary Attwood 7-8pm UK ti “There is some kiss we want with our whole lives The touch of spirit on...

Wonder in Art, Wonder as Art with Dr Patrick Curry – Tuesday 4th April 2023 via Zoom – 6.30-8.00pm UK Time – £10
Wonder in Art, Wonder as Art with Dr Patrick Curry Tuesday April 4th 2023 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm: £10 (UK time) via Zoom This talk concerns the experience of wonder in and as art. Such moments are precious, usually rare, and notoriously difficult to analyse or discuss....

The Art of Seeing- the Passion of Christ – Thursday 27th April 2023, 7-8pm UK time with Mary Attwood £10
The Art of Seeing monthly sessions held on a Thursday evening 7-8pm UK time via Zoom with Mary Attwood The Art of Seeing - overview We know how to read a book and get lost in the world of the imagination, and we allow ourselves to be moved emotionally and...

Ecofluency talk: Fundamentals of Nature Communication with Saskia von Diest, PhD – Tuesday 18th April 2023 via Zoom – 6.30-8.00pm UK Time – £10
Fundamentals of Nature Communication with Saskia von Diest, PhD Tuesday 18th April 2023 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm (UK Time) via Zoom - £10Join Saskia in learning about the fundamentals of Ecofluency, as the science, art, and magic of two-way communication with the rest of...

Self Healing With Vocal Sound Therapy: Awareness of the Veil Between Oneness and Duality with with Githa Ben-David – Sunday 30th April 2023 – 3pm-5pm UK time – via Zoom – £15
In this workshop we will sing The Note from Heaven, sing Hung Song (inner undertones) and do self healing by sound. Grounding/position.
Breathing instruction.
Purification of the liver, Solar plexus & the Pineal gland with Hung Song (to support the body for an eventual detox).
Expression of the Note from Heaven – leading to an experience of Oneness/optimises the immune system/ activates the parasympathetic nervous sytem.
Meditation for sending the Energy to the place you need it the most.

Visions of the Grail with Dr Simon Wilson – Tuesday 16 May 2023 via Zoom – 6.30-8.00pm UK Time – £10
Visions of the Grail with Dr Simon Wilson Tuesday 16th May 2023 6.30-8.00pm (UK time) via Zoom £10 Since its first appearance in writing in the twelfth century, the Grail has haunted the Western imagination. It has inspired artists from Chrétien de Troyes...

Rediscover your ability to communicate with Nature with Saskia von Diest, PhD – Sunday 21 May 2023 via Zoom – 3pm -5pm UK Time – £15
Rediscover Your Ability to Communicate with Nature with Saskia von Diest, PhD Sunday 21st May 2023 - 3:00pm-5:00pm (UK Time) via Zoom £15 In this workshop, Saskia will present some basics of how to practice ecofluency, which is the science, art, and magic of two-way...

Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’ with Mary Attwood and Angela Voss – 27 June 2021 – 10am-12 noon (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
Following our popular session on Botticelli’s Primavera, we are offering an in-depth contemplation of its sister painting, The Birth of Venus. We will study the mythology and cosmology behind this iconic image, and consider it in the context of the revival of the divine feminine in Renaissance Florence.

Introduction to Goethean Enquiry with Louise Livingstone – 4 July 2021 – 3pm-5pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
In this seminar, we explore the 18th century German poet and scientist, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s (1749-1832) relational approach to learning about the world; particularly engaging with the imagination.

Levels of meaning in Shakespeare with Philip Marvin – 6 July 2021 – 6:30pm – 8:00pm (UK Time) – via Zoom – £10
Shakespeare’s ‘mirror up to nature’ encompasses every aspect of human being. It is common to explore his texts in terms of plot development, themes, imagery, historical background, sources/influences, rhetorical devices, linguistic analysis etc. This all has its place. But Shakespeare’s mirror up to nature goes deep. Deeper than perhaps any other writer has ever achieved. In this session, we will explore the different levels of meaning contained in these works and their power to transform our own understanding of ourselves and the world.

Symbol & Sacred: Signs of the Daimon with Geoffrey Cornelius – 10 July 2021 – 11am-12:30pm (UK Time) – via Zoom – £10
In this session, we explore how the daimon shows itself and guides us through signs, dreams and divinations. We will draw on Platonic themes, from Socrates and his daimonion to Plutarch and the vision of Timarchus.

Meeting the World Through the Heart with Louise Livingstone – 25 July 2021 – 3pm-5pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
As Iain McGilchrist states in his book The Master and His Emissary, “The model we choose to understand something determines what we find….Our first leap determines where we land” (2012, p.97). Expanding our enquiry deeper into the imaginal realms, in this session we continue to take the imagination seriously and move into our heart space; known through various discourses as an organ of imaginal perception.

A Pilgrimage through Wells Cathedral With Tom Bree Via Zoom – June 15 2021 – 6.30pm – 8.00pm UK Time – £10
Gothic cathedral design lays a great emphasis upon ‘ascent’. Whether it be the soaring spires or the very high vaults, or even the horizontal ‘ascent’ eastwards towards the rising Sun, there is encouragement for the soul to look upwards in aspiration for the climbing of Lady Philosophy’s ladder. This talk will take you on the journey of this Tetraktys Walk towards the beautiful Tetraktys-shaped stained-glass window which itself consists of nine angels who are all looking upwards towards the One.

Soothsaying: Signs, Omens, Divination With Maggie Hyde Via Zoom – May 18 2021 – 6.30pm – 8.00pm UK Time – £10
In modernity, the ancient concept of soothsaying – literally ‘truth-speaking’ – is now defined as ‘forecasting’, ‘prediction’ or ’prophecy’. Its original meaning in being able to reveal truth inherent in a dream, omen, sign or divination is lost. We will discuss the way in which diviners can bring to light a truth that can guide, heal and transform.

The Secret Life of Statues with Dr Angela Voss – Sunday 16th May 2021 – 11am-12:30pm (UK time) via Zoom – £10
In this session we will explore the experience of living statues, and what it means when we find our imaginations so engaged with images that we see them as living, breathing beings.

Botticelli’s Primavera – Mysteries of the Divine Feminine with Angela Voss & Mary Attwood via Zoom – 21 March 2021 – 10am-12 noon – £15
In this session celebrating the Spring Equinox, Angela and Mary will introduce you to one of the most famous and iconic of Renaissance paintings by Botticelli, one of only four of his paintings inspired by pagan themes.

Mother Mary & the Mystery of Divine Conception with Marguerite Rigoglioso, PhD via Zoom – April 6 2021 – 6.30-8.00pm UK time – £10
On this day of the release of Dr. Marguerite Rigoglioso’s new book, The Mystery Tradition of Miraculous Conception: Mary and the Lineage of Virgin Births, we are delighted to have this scholar and esoteric practitioner reveal a refreshing new view of the Virgin Mary for our coming times.

The Lynx & the Butterfly: Exploring the Esoteric Imagination with Leonard George – Fri 30th April (7-9pm EDT), Sat 1st May & Sun 2nd May (10am-1pm EDT) 2021
Defining the imagination is like grabbing the wind. Imagining is ambiguous, ambivalent, creative and subversive. Controlling others’ imaginations has long been a means of oppression; but fresh imaginings can bring liberation and healing.

Wilding the Psyche with William Rowlandson – March 23 2021 via Zoom – 6.30-8.00pm – £10
In this session we enter the Wild. We follow the fault-lines between landscape and wilderness, tame and wild, civilised and savage, wildness and wasteland.

Dante’s Illumination: An Introduction to the Divine Comedy with Dr Mark Vernon via Zoom – 27 April 2021 – 6.30-8.00pm – £10
This year, 2021, is the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante, the author of the great Divine Comedy. It is a towering work in western spirituality, which can make it intimidating. That said, he lived in a time of turbulence, in which people felt they were losing their way, and he was clear he wrote for future generations, as well as his own. So what might he illuminate for us now?

Calling and the Inner Imaginarium with Sharon Blackie – Feb 23 2021 – 6.30-8.00pm – £10
The concept of ‘calling’ derives from threads in Classical Greek philosophy which suggest that each soul is incarnated bearing a unique gift that it chose to bring to this world, this place, at this time.

The World Is Speaking To Us: How Do We Reply? – 6 weeks (Feb-Mar 2021) – £65
Feb 10th – March 17th 2021. Join Mary Attwood and Louise Livingstone as they explore how expanded ways of seeing and knowing carry the potential to alter our way of perceiving and consequently engaging with the world.

Crossing the Threshold – 5 weeks (Jan-Feb 2021) – £35
A five-week deepening the material we presented in our Opening the Magic Windows course.

Active Visions of Tarot with Sonia McNally – 11 Sessions (Jan-Feb 2021) – £150
In this course, Sonia will guide you through making a creative portfolio using the major arcana of the Tarot.

Enchantment with Patrick Curry – 14th September 2021 – 6.30pm-8pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £10
My subject is the fundamental human experience of wonder. With a mixture of personal examples and respectful theory, we will consider what it is and isn’t: its characteristics, conditions, limits, and dynamics. We shall also try to find out what we can learn from enchantment, with particular reference to the concerns of the Centre such as myth, magic and the sacred. It also has significant implications for how to best go about contesting the ruling ideologies of our time.

The Longing of the Soul: an Introduction to Neoplatonism with Dr Angela Voss in collaboration with the Fintry Trust – 4 week course starting 17th September – 11am-12.30pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £60 full course/£15 per session
In this introductory course we will cover the basic themes of neoplatonic cosmology, philosophy and ritual, focussing on key texts of Plotinus, Hermes Trismegistus, Iamblichus and Marsilio Ficino (1433-99). Some reading will be sent in advance, and there will be plenty of time for discussion.

The Law of Nature and the Law of Drama with Dr Joseph Milne – 19 September 2021 – 3pm-4.30pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
In Shakespeare’s England there continued a consciousness of a correspondence between the order of Nature and the human order, inherited from the Middle Ages. Human events and a universal unfolding of time were connected. This understanding is reflected in the heated debates over Church and state at that time, and in the jurisprudence debates over written and unwritten law.

Reclaiming Beauty – Sculpture: from Myron to Michelangelo – Mary Attwood
via Surrey Adult Learning, Friday 20th November, 10am – 1pm – ZOOM class.
To echo the words, ‘reclaiming beauty’ from Sir Roger Scruton, this course will focus on European Sculpture from Myron to Michelangelo, Rodin to Giacometti with an emphasis on the changing face and meaning of beauty.

Carravaggio – Master of Light and Dark – Mary Attwood
Surrey Adult Learning, Friday 9th October, 10am- 1pm – ZOOM class
This session will focus in detail on some of Caravaggio’s most famous works of art as well as those lesser known. These works are full of drama, movement and emotion, often concealing deeper meaning, and ask the viewer to be an engaged participant in the images he presents before us.

What is in a Shakespeare Sonnet with Philip Marvin – 26 September 2021 – 3pm-4.30pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
A Shakespeare sonnet is only 14 lines long yet it can carry many hidden, mysterious depths within it. In this session we will go through a particular sonnet (or two) in detail and see what we can discover in terms of its subtle structure, inner meaning and emotional impact.

The Invisible Reality of the Muses with Joe Safdie – 12th October 2021 – 6.30pm-8pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £10
Where do you get your inspiration? Today we might “breathe in” any number of influences, but the people of ancient Greece had only one source: the Muses. The Muses were the Greek goddesses of poetic inspiration, and were deities of song, dance, and memory. That last item might come as a surprise, because we usually think of something new when we hear the word “creation.” But the mother of the Muses was the Greek goddess Mnemosyne, or Memory, and their music – sometimes divine, sometimes silent – enabled a few lucky people to have visions of the past: as mysterious as insight into the future, and only partially dependent on one’s own powers. This 90-minute session with discussion introduces the Greek poet Hesiod and his Theogony, the best and most detailed explanation of who the Muses were and where they might best be encountered today.

You Are Because Yew Is with Louise Livingstone – Sunday 17th October 2021 – 3pm-5pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
Reciprocal relationship/co-creative partnership embraces both parties in the wholeness of their being and creates the possibilities for a world where all beings can live within the fullest expressions of their own nature. This idea applies not just to human-to-human relationships, but also human-to-more-than-human relationships.

Dr Bernardo Kastrup on Myth, Allegory and Symbol – Saturday 23rd October 2021 – 3.00pm-4.30pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £15
We are delighted to welcome the scientist and philosopher Dr Bernardo Kastrup to discuss the power of mythic and symbolic understanding for our age. We will talk with Bernardo about his book ‘More than Allegory’ and the relationship of intellect, emotion and belief in religious and mythic narratives and their importance today, followed by a discussion and Q&A with participants.

The Pre-Raphaelites – Beauty, Myth and Legend – with Mary Attwood
The Pre-Raphaelites - Beauty, Myth and Legend - £15 Thursday 13th August 7-9pm by Zoom Email for joining details: info@maryattwood.com "The more materialistic science becomes, the more angels I shall paint. Their wings are my protest in favour of the immortality of...

Imaginary Gardens and Real Toads with Victoria Field – 2nd November 2021 – 6.30pm-8pm (UK time) – via Zoom – £10
In this interactive talk, Victoria Field will explore some of the ways in which the poetic can enhance our lives and expand our sense of connection with ourselves, the world and the transcendent. Mindful reading of poems and writing in response can offer solace, pleasure, new insights and even awakening experiences. We will look specifically at how metaphor, form and rich ambiguity work in poems. No previous experience or knowledge is required. Please bring a notebook and something to write with.

Opening the Magic Windows with Angela, Mary, Louise, William and Geoffrey
Opening the Magic Windows with Angela, Mary, Louise, William and Geoffrey “I found all the materials stimulating and intriguing! Angela’s introduction made me really excited; it felt like coming home. It was so affirming to learn about a robust academic framework for...