RECOVER THE LOST KNOWLEDGE OF THE IMAGINATION WITH AUTHOR GARY LACHMAN...
When we hear the word “imagination,” what do we think? Mostly we tend to see the imagination as a substitute for reality, as a form of wishful thinking, a pleasant alternative to the hard facts of life. Or we see it as a way of developing novel ideas, of being on the “cutting edge” of technology, a way of making things “bigger and better.”
But this is not the only way to understand the imagination. For poets and scholars like Kathleen Raine, Henry Corbin, Owen Barfield and others, the imagination is not a substitute for reality, but a means of grasping its essence. For them, imagination isn’t a form of “make believe,” but a faculty of cognition, a way of knowing things that would otherwise remain unknown.
This knowledge was accessible at earlier times, but in recent centuries it has been minimized, if not vigorously rejected, by our emphasis on “hard,” “scientistic” thinking. This course will look at imagination as a faculty for grasping the invisible realities that surround us, and at the tradition of knowledge rooted in it. A tradition that, if lost, can still be recovered.
This course should enable the student to have an understanding and experience of the imagination as a cognitive faculty, as a means not of “make believe,” but of becoming aware of dimensions of reality that would otherwise remain unavailable to him. The student should also understand how this has been a part of western culture throughout its history, but that how in relatively recent times it has been marginalized in favor of a more narrow and diminished idea of imagination.
But this is not the only way to understand the imagination. For poets and scholars like Kathleen Raine, Henry Corbin, Owen Barfield and others, the imagination is not a substitute for reality, but a means of grasping its essence. For them, imagination isn’t a form of “make believe,” but a faculty of cognition, a way of knowing things that would otherwise remain unknown.
This knowledge was accessible at earlier times, but in recent centuries it has been minimized, if not vigorously rejected, by our emphasis on “hard,” “scientistic” thinking. This course will look at imagination as a faculty for grasping the invisible realities that surround us, and at the tradition of knowledge rooted in it. A tradition that, if lost, can still be recovered.
This course should enable the student to have an understanding and experience of the imagination as a cognitive faculty, as a means not of “make believe,” but of becoming aware of dimensions of reality that would otherwise remain unavailable to him. The student should also understand how this has been a part of western culture throughout its history, but that how in relatively recent times it has been marginalized in favor of a more narrow and diminished idea of imagination.
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CLASS OUTLINE
Three live, interactive 90 minute seminars. 60 minutes allotted to lecture and 30 to live Q&A.
(All modules are hosted on Zoom)
(All modules are hosted on Zoom)
November 17 • A Different Way of Knowing will introduce the idea of imagination as a way of knowing, look at examples of this in history, and look at how this “imaginative knowing” was marginalized in our culture.
November 24 • A Look Inside the World will examine ways in which imagination can be used to reveal to us aspects and dimensions of the outer world that we would otherwise ignore or be oblivious to. It will show imagination as a means of participating with reality, not avoiding it.
December 8 • The Responsibility of the Imagination will look at imagination as a creative power, not only in the arts and sciences, but in reality itself, and the responsibility that such power entails.
November 24 • A Look Inside the World will examine ways in which imagination can be used to reveal to us aspects and dimensions of the outer world that we would otherwise ignore or be oblivious to. It will show imagination as a means of participating with reality, not avoiding it.
December 8 • The Responsibility of the Imagination will look at imagination as a creative power, not only in the arts and sciences, but in reality itself, and the responsibility that such power entails.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
- An understanding of the imagination as a cognitive faculty.
- An idea of the history of the imagination as a discipline in the western inner tradition.
- Some idea of how the imagination can be used in their own lives and studies.
- A broader idea of “knowledge” and “knowing” and how this complements our usual ideas about these.
- An idea of why this important in general and in particular at this time.
Assigned Reading
Lost Knowledge of the Imagination (Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books 2107)
The Secret Teachers of the Western World (New York: Tarcher/Penguin 2015)
A Secret History of Consciousness (Great Barrington, MA: Lindisfarne Books, 2003)
Students may want to supplement these with...
Henry Corbin, The Voyage and the Messenger (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Boosk, 1998)
Kathleen Raine, Defending Ancient Springs (West Stockbridge, MA: Lindisfarne Books, 1985)
The Secret Teachers of the Western World (New York: Tarcher/Penguin 2015)
A Secret History of Consciousness (Great Barrington, MA: Lindisfarne Books, 2003)
Students may want to supplement these with...
Henry Corbin, The Voyage and the Messenger (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Boosk, 1998)
Kathleen Raine, Defending Ancient Springs (West Stockbridge, MA: Lindisfarne Books, 1985)
ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Gary Lachman is the author of twenty-one books on consciousness, culture, and the western esoteric tradition, including Beyond the Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson, Politics and the Occult, Turn Off Your Mind, The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus, and, most recently, Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump. He writes for several journals in the US, UK, and Europe, lectures widely, and his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. In a previous life Lachman was a founding member of the pop group Blondie and in 2006 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is adjunct professor in Transformative Studies for the California Institute if Integral Studies. Born in New Jersey, since 1996 he had lived in London. His website can be found at www.garylachman.co.uk
WHAT STUDENTS RECEIVE
- Three live, interactive, 90 minute video lectures with Gary Lachman.
- 30 minutes of each live session allotted to Q&A.
- Audio and video recordings of each session. Yours to keep and review.
- Email reminders sent out to the class list prior to the live sessions, as well as emails containing the session recordings and any additional materials.
- A Class Syllabus.
- Access to a Class Portal, where class recordings and materials are hosted.
- Connection with a community of readers, seekers, scholars, and explorers of the imagination.
Class Registration: $90
Featured Artwork: Ceiling, first Goetheanum by Rudolf Steiner; "Starmaker" by Remedios Varo; William Blake