Wessex Research Group Network - In Search of the Sacred
In Search of the Sacred Group Page - Groups United Kingdom - International |
| Title | In Search of the Sacred | |
| Venue | Harwood Hall, Christ Church, Malvern Road, Cheltenham GL50 2JH | |
| Map | Show location | |
| Contribution | £12.00 (£10 booked in advance)
Bookings can be taken on-line. Alternatively, please send a cheque, payable to 'In Search of the Sacred', and post to PO Box 156, Cheltenham GL52 3YQ. Include your name/s and state which talk/s you are booking. |
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| Contact | Wendy | |
| Tel | ||
| wendy@insearchofthesacred.com | ||
| Web | insearchofthesacred.com | |
| Schedule | Start time 19:30 |
| Calendar | |
| 25-11-10 | Soul Tides, Soul Seasons |
| With: Eve Adams | |
| Approaching the darkest time of year Eve Adams will share how she weaves together different threads personally and professionally to live creatively during times of challenge and difficulty. Part of the talk will be experiential and her husband Peter will read poetry some his own. Eve will also display her spontaneous Goddess embroidery. Eve is an experienced psychotherapist, trainer, supervisor and group leader. Integrating the worlds of psychology, bodysoul and spirit she has found her home in a blend of approaches inspired by Psychosynthesis, Marion Woodman, Earth-based Spirituality and Mindfulness practices. Since 1989 Eve has been running groups and working with individuals incorporating ritual, story, dreams, seasonal celebration, movement, other creative forms of expression and working with an inner process |
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| 14-10-10 | Alchemy by Night. The Confessions of an Alchemist |
| With: Paul Cowlan | |
| For Paul alchemy is much more than an intellectual interest. Tonight, after a brief introduction to basic alchemical imagery and concepts, you will be regaled with stories of what it's like for one man to have lived with these symbols and processes for most of his adult life. In his own words, 'alchemy has been central to my personal development from that moment of synchronicity in 1985 which brought my latent interest suddenly into the daylight world.' Shortly after this event his dream diaries began revealing that his nights were teeming with alchemical activities as well. And that was just the start, tonight, it all comes out in the telling | |
| 24-06-10 | The Resonance of the Cosmos |
| With: James D'Angelo | |
| The very nature of existence is founded upon vibration and frequency, leading to a musical model of the universe. Many great spiritual traditions have used the principle of vibration in the form of mantra, chanting and the use of subtle and powerful musical instruments to induce the expansion of consciousness and the move towards Self-realization. This evening's presentation will not only explore the nature of vibration but will also engage the audience in creating sound so as to experience its effects on their consciousness and being | |
| 20-05-10 | The Sacred in Architecture |
| With: Tony Currivan | |
| Most traditional cultures have reserved special places and buildings for expressing their notion of the Sacred in physical form. These were, and often remain, places where the meeting of heaven and earth, the connection with the oneness of the Universe, are made more accessible and given more material form.
The sacred-ness of such places were often created or enhanced by engagement with all realms of experience but most often were expressed through use of geometry, number, acoustics, conscious use of materials and the relationship with its surroundings and human settlements. My talk will explore some of the forms and varieties of sacred buildings and the qualities they employ to communicate the sacred. It will also look at the shift in notions of the sacred building in the modern era and what I feel is the desire for the re-enchantment of everyday life |
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| 22-04-10 | Wisdom in the Land |
| With: Peter and Sarah Dawkins | |
| Concerned especially with the harmonious relationship of humanity with both the spiritual and natural worlds, Peter's pioneering researches have led directly to a developing science of ‘landscape temples'. This, together with his knowledge and synthesis of the wisdom traditions, has been named Zoence | |
| 11-03-10 | The Poet in You |
| With: Jay Ramsay | |
| How can poetry inspire us at this time of transition? As we recognize the need to become more open spiritually, it is poets like Rumi, TS Eliot and William Blake that open us to a sense of the sacred, as well as a significant number of living poets | |
| 11-02-10 | Where on Earth is Heaven |
| With: Jonathan Stedall | |
| Writer and documentary film-maker Jonathan Stedall explores challenging questions about living and dying, looking and seeing, heaven and earth, as well as our human potential. Jonathan presents a film based on his recently published book 'Where On Earth is Heaven', which includes material on John Betjeman, Laurens van der Post and Alan Bennett, as well as sequences from his biographies of Tolstoy, Gandhi and Jung. | |
| 20-11-09 | The Search for Spirituality |
| With: Prof Ursula King | |
| Professor Ursula King - an internationally renowned scholar on spirituality, interfaith dialogue, women and religion, will discuss her latest book, The Search for Spirituality: Our Global Quest for Meaning and Fulfilment. Earlier this year she was on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour. | |
| 16-10-09 | Wisdom in the Land (talk postponed) |
| With: Peter Dawkins | |
| The very earth we walk on, live in and depend on, is a great book of wisdom. Enshrined in its landscape, moulding its form and influencing our lives and consciousness, is the eternal, universal truth, waiting for discovery and cooperative manifestation. With such wisdom we could build a paradise on earth. The ancients called it the goddess, the loving intelligence of the land, pregnant with wisdom that she can reveal and to which she gives birth. In this talk Peter will share some of the wisdom that the landscape has revealed to him over the years, and the accompanying mythology and traditional knowledge that is our ever-growing heritage. With the landscape come landscape angels, guardians of the earth, just as we have our own guardian angels. For Peter, these have also been teachers, and they will feature in the talk and illustrations | |
| 25-09-09 | The Sacred Sky: Good, Evil and the Souls Ascent to the Stars |
| With: Nick Campion | |
| The belief that the human soul or psyche has a direct relationship with the stars was first attested in ancient Egypt; we read in the Pyramid Texts of the Pharaoh's journey to the stars. The idea was developed by Plato (a link with Egyptian ideas can be inferred, although is nowhere confirmed in his writings), for whom the rational soul possessed an inherent ability to return to the heavens. This journey could be accomplished through physical space by passing through the nest of spheres along which the planets moved, and which surrounded the earth like the layers of an onion. As the soul rose through the planets, it approached perfection and eventually united with the divine. Such concepts formed the basis of the Hermetic teachings, in which the soul gradually shed its imperfections as it ascended the stars, was the cosmological foundation of the Mithraic mysteries, and stood at the heart of Neoplatonic beliefs that the soul has an innate desire to return to the Good. However, in the hands of the Gnostics, the theory took on a different form. Believing that the material world was essentially evil, the Gnostics recast the planets as representatives of humanity's oppression, rather than agents of its liberation. They became less a route-map for the soul's return to the Good, than an agent of Evil in the maintenance of humanity's alienation from the divine. According to this teaching, salvation was available only through Christ. The confusion between these two opposing concepts, that the material universe is either inherently Good, or essentially Evil, can therefore responsible for the tangled web of western esoteric thought, and the widespread, misplaced concept that esotericism is incompatible with Christianity. |
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| 26-06-09 | Symbols of Transformation: The Quest, Then & Now Postponed until Autumn |
| With: Karen Ralls | |
| What is the universal Truth of major world religions? Why are religion, science, and new technology changing our lives so dramatically? How is the 'Wasteland' of the Grail stories a metaphor for our endangered environment today? Why are certain symbols, sounds and places considered to be sacred in many traditions, both east and west? Symbols have long fascinated humanity, a central aspect of many people's personal quest for meaning, as well as world religion/spiritualities, philosophies, and works of art. From the famed Green Man to the images in medieval Gothic cathedrals and continuing into the landscape of our own time, sacred places and their symbols are important for us to explore today. As universal expressions of spiritual, geometric and artistic energy, specific symbols can help us connect with and experience the underlying meaning and beauty of a place, tradition, or ancient custom. Specific images will be shown from the ancient temples of Egypt and Greece, historic chapels. pilgrimage sites and routes, key Gothic cathedrals and shrines of Europe, the landscape of Britain and much more, drawing where appropriate on not only symbols, but also, where appropriate, on key related influential western historical and esoteric tradition(s). At this most powerful time of immense global change the Quest remains as important as ever – perhaps more so as we seek to redress the imbalances caused by mankind's loss of wonder and meaning. |
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| 22-05-09 | Sound and Ancient Sacred Places |
| With: Paul Devereux | |
| Throughout the centuries, and in every culture, sound has been used to access and deepen our sense of the sacred. This rich and unique audio-visual presentation will explore the role of sound at many different kinds of ancient sacred places worldwide: from prehistoric monuments, sacred indigenous sites and Greek and Indian temples, to churches, chapels and cathedrals. It will also include new acoustic research by a Royal College of Art team taking place at Carn Menyn, Preseli, Wales, source area of the Stonehenge bluestones, and will introduce the new archaeological area of investigation known as "archaeoacoustics" the study of sound at archaeological sites. | |
| 24-04-09 | Labrynths and Mazes - 4000 Years of Tradition |
| With: Geoff Saward | |
| The history of the labyrinth is dotted with times when it has surfaced in a society that has creatively incorporated it into their cultural structure. Sometimes these episodes of labyrinth flowering were short-lived; often they flourished for hundreds of years and spread the concept far and wide. Wherever it has gone over the course of this 4000 year history, the labyrinth has served many purposes. This richly illustrated presentation will give a concise history of where labyrinths originated, how they have developed and spread. From its origins in pre-history, to the modern explosion of interest in this ancient symbol, the labyrinth continues to spark the imaginations of artists, thinkers and spiritual seekers alike | |