The Guild of Pastoral Psychology
Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination
Notice: Bookings will open on the 29th April 2027
Writer and psychotherapist Mark Vernon explores the profound, visionary world of William Blake in a talk and discussion. Drawing from his book, Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination, Vernon will compare and contrast Blake’s radical vision with depth psychology. He will look at how Blake’s call to awaken the imagination anticipates and also differs from Jung’s insights, offering a pathway not so much to reconcile opposing forces but to navigate them so as to achieve fresh perspectives.
These talks bridge the gap between Blake’s 18th-century prophetic insights and contemporary challenges, arguing that the imagination is a crucial, neglected faculty for healing divided anxious lives. Similar to our own time, Blake lived through immense technological change and alienation from nature, making his perspective deeply relevant today. By exploring these themes, attendees will gain Blakean insights into enchantment and mysticism, as Blake suggested, cleansing the doors of perception to see the infinity of things.
The event provides an opportunity in Blake’s bicentenary year to explore how the power of the imagination can foster personal and social transformation and offer a fourfold awareness of reality.
Speaker: Mark Vernon
Mark Vernon is a writer and psychotherapist. He contributes to and presents programmes on the radio, as well as writing for the national and religious press, and online publications. He also podcasts, in particular The Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues with Rupert Sheldrake, gives talks and leads workshops. He has a PhD in ancient Greek philosophy, and other degrees in physics and in theology, having studied at Durham, Oxford and Warwick universities. He is the author of several books, including his latest, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey. He used to be an Anglican priest and lives in London, UK. For more information see www.markvernon.com.