People
Mary Attwood MA
Co-Founder and Director
I am an art historian, author, mentor, business creative and advisor. I am a founding member and active co-director of the Centre for Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred, and founder of psychiatrist and polymath, Dr Iain McGilchrist’s platforms, which I continue to direct. I was the founding Chairman of the Victoria branch of The Arts Society, and am a qualified practitioner of yoga, meditation and mindfulness. I hold an MA with distinction in Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred, and my thesis, ‘Rebirthing a Lost Vision of Renaissance Art’, researched quattrocento Florentine Renaissance art from a broad context of ancient Greek philosophy, the neuroscientific approach of Dr Iain McGilchrist’s groundbreaking thesis on the left and right hemispheres of the brain, archetypal psychology and Renaissance artistic approaches. I hold a BA hons degree in The History of Art from London University where my studies focused on Italian late medieval and Renaissance art and architecture.
My teaching and research seeks to offer a broader understanding of art, not as an object to be analysed, but as an interface of perception, consciousness, epistemologies, psychological and philosophical knowing. Broadening perceptions of art beyond rationalising analysis, categories and styles, has proven to lower stress levels, increase creativity and effective action in the world. But beyond this, how we look at art art can reveal ways of knowing and seeing that change not only what we see in art, but change us and the world around us, and can help us meet the complexities of modern living by offering a renaissance of humane values.
View Mary’s contributions to this site here.
Find out more at my website maryattwood.com
“Mary does not ‘teach’ as such; she introduces a painting (or an artist, or an idea) and then enters a process of mutual discovery as a co-explorer…” (Veronica Bennetts)
Louise Livingstone PhD
Co-Founder and Director
I taught on the MA Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred at Canterbury Christ Church University and recently completed my PhD at there. The title of my thesis is: How can the thought of the heart offer effective ways of engaging with conflict? An imaginal and reflexive study. The project draws on the discourses of transformational learning, depth psychology, holistic science, cultural history, esoteric wisdom and religious philosophy. I am the founder of the Heart Sense Research Institute – www.heartsenseresearch.co.uk. My work aims to re-imagine the long-forgotten wise and intelligent heart for contemporary times; illuminating through research, contemplative action and nourishing dialogue how the heart as a focal point of compassion, love and kindness, and as an organ of perception and wisdom, is a valuable and vital ally in our world of increasing global challenges, injustice and inequality. My research has wide applicability in terms of social justice, sustainability, and the development of eco-consciousness. I also hold an MSc in Holistic Science, with distinction, from the Schumacher College, Devon, UK.
View Louise’s contributions to this site here.
“Louise’s teaching sessions on Goethean inquiry were an important part of our learning and her researches into the thought of the heart go to the very core of spiritual scholarship and practice. I was able to use her “transference dialogues” as a form of imaginal enquiry to communicate with a formerly inaccessible part of myself – truly transformative learning.” (Janice Emmott)
Angela Voss PhD SFHEA
Co-Founder
I have been involved in devising and teaching Masters programmes in Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred in Canterbury UK for the last fifteen years, along with some wonderful colleagues. My passion for Renaissance music and culture led me to delve into the magical world of the fifteenth century magus Marsilio Ficino, and from there to the Western esoteric traditions and the power of the symbolic to awaken the human soul. I have written extensively on Ficino’s astrological music, on astrology and divination, Neoplatonism and magic, and more recently, on transformative learning. I have always felt a need to be a bridge builder, bringing imagination, creativity and reflexive writing into academic research, treading the narrow path between outsider and insider. I suppose I would call myself a ‘gnostic researcher’ in Jeff Kripal’s terms, in that I see no contradiction between spiritual insight and scholarly rigour, for both inform each other. Our programmes have inspired over 100 students, allowing them to bring inner experience and practices of imaginal, spiritual and sacred work into an academic context. I also practice as an astrologer and tarot reader.
View Angela’s contributions to this site here.
“The determination and untiring vision of Angela Voss have been essential in blazing a trail of imagination through all our work at Kent” (Geoffrey Cornelius)
Simão Cortês MA
Visiting lecturer
Simão Cortês is an astrologer, academic and a dream researcher. He has been exploring symbolic and divinatory techniques since 2012. In 2018 he concluded his Master’s in Myth Cosmology and the Sacred where he developed a Creative Project focused on dreams. He is now pursuing a PhD about the relationship between dreaming and education. His main interests are dreams, astrology, ancient philosophy and the intersection of animism and social justice issues.
View Simao’s contributions to this site here.
Geoffrey Cornelius PhD
Visiting Lecturer
View Geoffrey’s contributions to this site here.
William Rowlandson PhD
Visiting Lecturer
Dr William Rowlandson is an entity currently operating as Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at the University of Kent in Canterbury. He is the author of Sartre in Cuba—Cuba in Sartre (Palgrave, 2017), Imaginal Landscapes (Swedenborg Society, 2015), Borges, Swedenborg and Mysticism (Peter Lang, 2013), co-author with Angela Voss of Daimonic Imagination: Uncanny Intelligence (Cambridge Scholars, 2013) and contributor to DMT Dialogues: Encounters with the Spirit Molecule (Park Street Press, 2018, ed. David Luke & Rory Spowers). Author of books and articles on Latin American cultural and political history, Cuban literature, Borges, Swedenborg, mysticism, psychedelics, the Imaginal, Faery, and the Daimonic. University Sustainability Champion, co-founder of Canterbury Climate Action Partnership (CCAP), gardener, composter, vermiphile, mycophile, drummer, proud tree-hugger, megalithomaniac and weirdonaut. Father of two girl entities.
