The Lost Knowledge of the Imagination
Part 2
With Author Gary Lachman
Saturdays, May 9th 10-11:30am PST
(6-7:30pm GMT)
If you register for this second salon, a link to the video of the Part 1 will be emailed to you.
Zoom Links will be emailed to registrants
When we hear the word “imagination,” what do we think? Many 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 means 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 way 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 an earlier time, but in recent centuries it has been minimized, if not vigorously rejected, by our emphasis on “hard,” scientific thinking.
In this two lecture series, author Gary Lachman will look at the imagination as a faculty for grasping the invisible realities that surround us and at the tradition of knowledge rooted in it – a knowledge that, if lost, can still be recovered.
About Gary Lachman
Gary Lachman is the author of many books on the links between consciousness, culture, and the Western esoteric tradition, including Jung the Mystic, Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump, Lost Knowledge of the Imagination, Beyond the Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson, and The Secret Teachers of the Western World. He writes for several journals in the US, UK, and Europe, lectures around the world, and his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. In a former life he was a founding member of the pop group Blondie and in 2006 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Before moving to London in 1996 and becoming a full time writer, Lachman studied philosophy, managed a metaphysical book shop, taught English literature, and was Science Writer for UCLA. He is an adjunct professor of Transformative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
Preorder Gary’s upcoming book, The Return of Holy Russia, due out May 12th! Order here!
Register:
If you register for this second salon, a link to the video of the Part 1 will be emailed to you.
If you register less than 15min prior to start time, you will not be able to attend the live lecture.
Zoom Links will be emailed to registrants