These following are several
short courses run in London by Ken Rees
MAGICIANS OF THE WEST
Tutor: Ken Rees
Mondays 20.00 –
22.00 Course No: 443
1 Nov – 6 Dec 2004 (6
wks) Enquires: 020 8671 6372
Fees:
£30.00 Cons. £8.00 Enrolment: 020 7269 6000
at
THE MARY WARD CENTRE, Queen Square WC1
The magical consciousness has
particularly expressed itself through what is often called `the Western Magical
Tradition’. This tradition has been fed by a number of closely inter-related
streams including hermeticism, alchemy and the kabbalah, but also theosophy and
even Christian mysticism.
We look at some of the key
representatives of this tradition including its founding fathers – Marsilio
Ficino, Giordano Bruno, Paracelsus, John Dee plus such female exemplars as
Helena Blavatsky, Dion Fortune and more latterly, Alice Bailey. Carriers of the
tradition within the 19th century will be given special emphasis
e.g. Eliphas Levi, Aleister Crowley, Macgregor Mathers and the Order of the
Golden Dawn.
The influence of these
representatives and related societies on contemporary alternative spirituality
and magic will also be considered.
E-mail: kenrees@telco4u.net
THE MAGICAL
CONSCIOUSNESS
Tutor: Ken Rees
Mondays 20.00 –
22.00 Course No: 442
13 Sept – 18 Oct 2004 (6 wks) Enquires: 020 8671
6372
Fees: £30.00 Cons. £8.00 Enrolment: 020 7269 6000
at
THE MARY WARD CENTRE, Queen Square WC1
There is a long and honourable tradition across
cultures of alternative ways of thinking and being to the dominant Western
paradigm of Western rationality. These ways of knowing have been expressed in
many forms, including Renaissance hermeticism, the Rosicrucian enlightenment as
well as the more homely Fairy faith and cunning craft.
Such
perspectives can be summed up by the term ‘the magical consciousness’ and have
their underpinnings in symbolic discourse, the language of mythology and
Neo-Platonism. Alchemy, the Jewish kabbalah and hedge witchcraft, for instance,
all ultimately shared similar philosophies of magic that have had innumerable
devotees throughout the ages and never fully died out only being partially
submerged by the tides of scientific thinking and Western rationality.
Increasingly,
over the 19th and 20th centuries there has been a revival
of interest in such traditional thought forms and practices. This has found its
expression in a variety of cultural phenomena including groups, lodges and
schools of which examples will be given.
E-mail: kenrees@telco4u.net
Mythological
Explorations of the Underworld
Saturday Day
School 10.30 – 16.30 Tutor: Ken
Rees
4 December
2004 Course No: 4HM007
Fee: £21.00 Snr
£12.00 Cons £6.00 Venue: Stukeley Str.
A theme which has captured
the classical, the romantic and the popular imagination for thousands of years
has been the descent of the hero or heroine to the Underworld and their
triumphant ascent and return as fuller, richer beings. Modes of interpreting
this journey have been many and the vehicles used to articulate it equally
numerous including those of art, drama, dance and song.
The Day will look at the role
of Sumerian myth in expressing the descent and return of Inanna supported by
the more well known voyages of Demeter and Persephone plus Orpheus and Eurydice
from the classical Greek tradition. The Welsh myth of Pwyll will also be
referred to.
The value of this particular
mythic theme will be directed towards an examination of the problem of personal
identity and the quest for `the self’ in our early 21st century
society. Parallels are also drawn with the psyche’s passage to the depths of
the unconscious. Students are encouraged to use insights gained from these
stories to make links with their own lives. The Day may include a light
experiential component.
Selected reading:
Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth -
D.Wolkstein & S.N.Kramer
Descent
to the Goddess - S.B. Perera
Introduction
to a Science of Mythology -C.G.Jung and C.Kerenyi
The Hymns of Orpheus : mutations -R.C. Hogart
Enquiries: 020
8671 6372 or e-mail: kenrees@telco4u.net
Enrolment: 020 7831 7831 Humanities Department 020 7430 0542
The City Literary Institute, Stukeley Street, LONDON WC2B 5LJ
MYTHOLOGY,
FOLKLORE
And
WITCHCRAFT
Wednesdays 7.00 – 9.00pm
From
22 Sept 2004 – (Autumn Term, 10 weeks)
Fees: £56.00 Cons. £22.00 non-borough £68.00
Enquires: 020 8671 6372 Enrolment: 020 7573 5333
At HOLLAND PARK CENTRE, Airlie Gardens W8
The course takes a cross-cultural perspective on Myth, Witchcraft and Shamanism (i.e. early religion, spirituality and magic). It explores the ways in which these have survived over the centuries and been revived in a variety of forms today. Topics include:
· Introduction to the Wheel of the Year – the seasonal cycle as celebrated through Hallowe’en, Yule, Imbolc and so on.
·
Alternative
archaeology and Earth Mysteries research – the Neolithic legacy, ancient sites
and their puzzles, ley-lines, geomancy…
·
The
Celts; their culture, religion and priesthood – the Druids; their mythology
e.g. The Tain, the Mabinogion….
·
Folklore
traditions and customs found around these areas.
·
Early
modern European witchcraft – the medieval witch-hunts – the role they played in
the persecution of women. The cunning folk
·
Neo
– Pagan reconstructions from the late 20th century – Wicca, the new
Druidry, Goddess feminism, mystical ecology.
The place of such revivals is located in the wider
socio-cultural context of modern society; in particular – the quest for a
coherent identity, the need for roots, the search for community, the rise of
the `New Age’ and the growth of new religious movements.
The social sciences are used
throughout to critically interpret material presented. The course will be illustrated
via slides, cassettes, videos and handouts, plus possible field trips to
ancient sites or to a traditional festival. Experiential workshops may also be
available.
Tutor: KEN REES e-mail: kenrees@telco4u.net
Kensington
and Chelsea College www.kcc.ac.uk
Ritual: its Relevance and Resonances
Mondays 12.30 – 2.30 Tutor: Ken Rees
13 Sept – 6 Dec 2004 (13 weeks) Course No: 4HM001
Fees: £76 Snr. £49 Cons. £3.00 Venue: Stukeley Str.
ocieties have typically marked their
significant historical points, inaugurations and specific occasions, both civic
and religious, with the language of ritual. Individuals have also been
perennially inducted into groups and traditions via rites of passage,
bestowment and of installation. In addition, on a personal level, people may
ritualise their own habits, sometimes even to a pathological degree.
his course looks at specific
ritual practices e.g. – magical, mythic, celebratory, healing and cathartic –
both cross-culturally and in terms of subcultural and institutional examples
e.g. sporting or political. It also considers sociological, anthropological and
psychological theories of ritual. Such perspectives point to the value of
ritual action both for society as a whole and for the person. It is suggested
that modern society suffers from progressively symbolic loss in this area and
the case is thus made for its urgent reclamation.
Selected reading:
J.
Roose-Evans Passages of the Soul – Ritual Today Element
V.W. Turner The Ritual Process Penguin
M. Some Ritual, Healing & Community Arkana
Enquiries: 020 8671 6372 or e-mail: kenrees@telco4u.net
Enrolment: 020 7831 7831 Humanities Department 020 7430 0542
The City Literary Institute, Stukeley Street, LONDON WC2B 5LJ
THE HERO OF ONE THOUSAND FACES
Tutor: Ken Rees
Sunday 7th
Nov 2004 Course No:
439
Times: 10.30 am – 5.30 pm Enquires: 020 8671 6372
Fees: £25.00 Cons: £6.00 Enrolment: 020 7269 6000
at
THE MARY WARD
CENTRE, Queen Square WC1
The quest for adventure and achievement has been
enshrined in history, literature and mythology across both generations and
cultures. Equally applicable to both men and women we will look at some
examples of this process and how, as metaphor and as action, such a trajectory
can be utilized for people’s life passages today.
A comparison will therefore be made between different hero myths
including those of Gilgamesh (ancient Sumer) and Parsifal (medieval Europe).
For the hero’s journey can be seen as a major archetype of the psyche. The aim
is to connect up such stories to crises and events in an individual’s biography
in order to help solve personal issues.
To this end an analysis of the myths is made using Joseph Campbell’s
model according to their constituent parts – CALL – FLIGHT – QUEST – INITIATION
– RETURN and TRANSFORMATION. Such a cyclical model can then be applied as both
map and compass for a person’s present life direction. For it is valid on both
earthly levels and in respect to mystical ventures into other worlds.
The heroic passage is reflected in initiation, ordeal and suffering, the
wild hunt, facing adversity and temptation and in death. We explore the
methodology required for undertaking such a quest and the central relevance of
the heroic theme both for mythology in general and one’s personal myth in
particular.
E-mail: kenrees@telco4u.net