William Blake: the Imagination & Mysticism

with Dr Mark Vernon
Wednesday 10th June 2026
6.30-8.00pm (UK time) Online Via Zoom

£15

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William Blake: the Imagination and Mysticism  

In the modern world, imagination is often regarded as a private possession, as if a creative person has more of it than a more prosaic soul. This contracted understanding can be traced back to the understanding of the mind developed by philosophers like John Locke. But another account of the imagination is available to us through figures like William Blake, who understood that imagination is not something we possess but is, rather, the very activity of our being and all beings. “Nature is imagination itself!” he declared – also realising that imagination is divine.
So how can Blake help us participate in this wider flow and link us to the mystical traditions in which the transcendent is  known immanently, and so foster a renewed connection with the active presence called God? These questions and others will be explored during this seminar with presentation and discussion.

 

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About

Dr Mark Vernon

(psychotherapist and writer)

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is a psychotherapist and writer, with a keen interest in ancient philosophy, and particularly the illumination of inner life. His writing covers subjects from friendship and beliefs, to wellbeing and living in the modern world.

His most recent books are on William Blake, spiritual intelligence, Dante’s Divine Comedy and Christianity, as understood by the Oxford Inkling and friend of C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield.

As a psychodynamic psychotherapist, he has a private practice in London, working with individuals who have a variety of concerns, as well as having worked at the Maudsley Hospital in south London in a personality disorder service.

He contributes to a number of programmes on the radio, including Thought For The Day on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, with his journalistic work published by the BBC, Aeon, Church Times, The Tablet, and The Idler, where he writes a regular column and contributes in a variety of other ways.

He teaches on spiritual writers and traditions, with The Temenos Academy, among others, where he is also on the Academic Board.

His studies began with a degree in physics, before two degrees in theology, followed by a PhD in philosophy – an academic journey that took him from the universities of Durham and Oxford to Warwick. His professional life began as a priest in the Church of England, from which he resigned about 20 years ago.