Mark Vernon

“The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.” #WilliamBlake

Or as #WilliamBlake might say: “Awake! Awake O Sleeper of the Land of Shadows!”

Post-literacy and Playing With Words Screens disconnect. But infinite scrolls manifest a deeper crisis of meaning

Post-literacy? The flashing, scrolling screen is a symptom, not cause, following a generations-long eroding of the meaning of words - often, if inadvertently, fostered by those now worried about the collapse of reading. New essay at my Substack…
open.substack.com/pub/markvern...

One of the few good things to come out of covid is the regular Drink with the Idler, featuring @askwilliamblake.bsky.social's thought for the week.

Last night was @irvinewelsh.bsky.social but I am particularly looking forward to hearing from Tim Richardson.

www.idler.co.uk/events/

The Contraries of Blake - Pittsburgh Review of Books Division, fragmentation, bloody strife: the watchwords of our times. People of many persuasions are growing increasingly troubled by the tension. Many are

A new thought on social media is becoming the norm: it’s not a cause of fragmentation but appeals because of an already existing love of division. #WilliamBlake would agree. The algorithms work because moralising has long been a way of living with others. pghrev.com/the-contrari...

We await better metaphors that selfish genes…

O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained
With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof, there thou may’st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe;
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
- William Blake

Heisenberg meets William Blake: The danger of science's "single vision" | Mark Vernon

Werner Heisenberg meets William Blake in Mark Vernon's new article for @iai.tv – Physicist & poet alike warn of the danger of viewing the world only through idealising models, losing the vitality of direct encounters with reality. bit.ly/47eI8u3 #philsky #physics #poetry #philsci

Awake! | Hurst Publishers A new look at the life, works and enduring relevance of William Blake, a deeply spiritual and politically radical figure.

@askwilliamblake.bsky.social's brilliant book on William Blake has just been published by @hurstpublishers.bsky.social – www.hurstpublishers.com/book/awake/

Heisenberg meets William Blake: The danger of science's "single vision" | Mark Vernon

Against science? #WilliamBlake is often thought to be in that camp. But that’d be wrong… iai.tv/articles/hei...

Supermoonrise, London

YouTube video by Mark Vernon William Blake Masterclass at the Unherd Club. With Esmé Partridge, Mark Vernon and Florence Read

William Blake Masterclass at the Unherd Club. With Esmé Partridge, Mark Vernon and Florence Read
youtu.be/KNjKLdp-kpg

The genius of #Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Charles Williams saw, is its heart in good living, not strife, but with “the existence of a great world outside the Shire”, lest good living “grow stale by custom”; the spiritual drama, told by English mystics from #Julian to #Blake, revealing who we are.

The Contraries of Blake - Pittsburgh Review of Books Division, fragmentation, bloody strife: the watchwords of our times. People of many persuasions are growing increasingly troubled by the tension. Many are

What is it to be English? #WilliamBlake's #Albion finds an alternative to assertions of moral values or national identity. He discovers change comes with regained perception. Who is he separated from? What awareness does he need? Blake has a way fit for today!
pghrev.com/the-contrari...

The Angels of William Blake - Pittsburgh Review of Books Wrestling with their weird and wonderful presence is central to Blake: dodging that, out of distaste or embarrassment, is really dodging him. They are central

Taking #WilliamBlake seriously includes taking his clairvoyance seriously - not explaining so as to explain away. Moreover, he thought so too. Thanks to @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social for publishing this excerpt from “Awake!”. pghrev.com/the-angels-o...

The terror of meeting #SaintFrancis. More at my YouTube, “The man who ripped reality and rose like a sun”, youtu.be/bScob-fI7-Q

Addiction to Doom The imagination was made for inspiration

Practicing the perception of meaning in “Each rock & each hill, Each fountain & rill, Each herb & each tree, Mountain, hill, Earth & Sea” revives the imagination otherwise clouded by doom.
New essay at my Substack, A Golden String. markvernon942268.substack.com/p/addiction-...

The Angels of William Blake - Pittsburgh Review of Books Wrestling with their weird and wonderful presence is central to Blake: dodging that, out of distaste or embarrassment, is really dodging him. They are central

"The colourful stories of Blake’s second sight, remembered by so many who knew him that they can’t be discounted, reach back into his early childhood."

Read an excerpt from AWAKE! WILLIAM BLAKE AND THE POWER OF THE IMAGINATION, by @askwilliamblake.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/the-angels-o...

The Contraries of Blake - Pittsburgh Review of Books Division, fragmentation, bloody strife: the watchwords of our times. People of many persuasions are growing increasingly troubled by the tension. Many are

"Blake’s point is that the problems of today are symptoms of a wider cultural issue: the imprisoned imagination is one that fails to see alternative ways forward."

Mark Vernon, @askwilliamblake.bsky.social, on the work of William Blake. pghrev.com/the-contrari...

Tree ferns are yantras in Vedic understanding, drawing down spiritual energy and light. This cultivar appeared physically to have manifested the subtler insight.

“Once when I was living in the heart of a pomegranate, I heard a seed saying, 'Someday I shall become a tree…’” Kahlil Gibran

Hold Infinity: William Blake and Visioning the Future Mark Vernon on his new book 'Awake!: William Blake and the Power of the Imagination'

I enjoyed talking with @alexanderbeiner.bsky.social, particularly on how imaginatively Blake might help us relate afresh to “Each rock & each hill, Each fountain & rill, Each herb & each tree, Mountain, hill, Earth & Sea”… open.substack.com/pub/beiner/p...

The pivotal idea in #WilliamBlake? Hmm. That there is Eternity - not as everlastingness, or as a quality, but as the nature of existence and identical with God. His work is absorbed with the perception of Eternity, its perversion by human beings, and its restoration to awareness.

Energy is the only Life! #OwenBarfield spots something remarkable in #WilliamBlake. The full conversation with Mark Vernon and Malcolm Guite is "Rouze Up Souls of the New Age!", at Mark's YouTube channel.

Three top #angel images by #WilliamBlake for the eve of the feast of #Michael and All Angels.
1. Michael Binding Satan.
2. Albion’s Angel distressed at the spiritual death of England, humanity cowering alongside.
3. Angels in Christ’s Sepulchre, awaiting the return of life.

Rouze Up Souls of the New Age! A conversation with Malcolm Guite on William Blake

“Man has no Body distinct from his Soul,” declared William Blake. “Nature is imagination itself!” The human face is the “countenance divine”.
Inspiring, yes. But what can we make of his sayings?
I sat down with poet @malcolmguite.bsky.social…
markvernon942268.substack.com/p/rouze-up-s...

YouTube video by Mark Vernon The Wisdom of the Imagination. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake

A new conversation with Rupert Sheldrake, thinking about #WilliamBlake and the imagination - in nature, in minds, in the world…
youtu.be/8vr6AjyqEjw

Green Sakthi: A Revival of Agricultural and Spiritual Wisdom in Tamil Nadu

The most inspiring place I’ve visited this year… fetzer.org/case-study/g...

Near NW3? In NW3! Do come along tonight - @waterstones.bsky.social Hampstead with @RupertSheldrake #WilliamBlake