In our modern, urban life, most people have little chance to observe the heavens. In the countryside, or on an unusually clear night, we are overwhelmed by the sight of the star-filled sky. Yet it is very rare for anyone to make out half a dozen constellations, let alone identify them.
The ancients, living before artificial light and chemical pollution, had a profound knowledge of the sky. They assigned vivid mythic images to the constellations. This was essential in practical terms, for both sailors and farmers, for reckoning time and space. But just as important, it preserved and propagated a religious awe, that can still touch us today when we visualise the Bull, Orion or the Twins towering in the heavens.
It is increasingly recognised that myth contains something essential to our value as human beings. We are heirs to technology derived from abstract thought. But no less important to our humanity is the creative imagination. Many great individuals have argued against the splitting of our culture into science and art, philosophy and poetry. But for orthodoxy, imagination is assigned the realm of fantasy and entertainment, whilst science demonstrates the workings of the giant machine it usually assumes the cosmos to be.
Star Mythology may be the antidote to this schizophrenia. The ancients experienced the cycles of the cosmos as evidence of the intelligent ruling powers of nature: for them science and religion were two sides of the same coin. We may not need to believe that now, but Stellar Myth still offers a unique opportunity to ground our personal vision in the commonality of what we can all see. Stellar Myth is truly a shared vision.
The course can be appreciated on several levels. Of general interest to those who want to deepen their understanding of myth or their acquaintance with the night sky, it will be especially significant to those interested in comparative religion, anthropology and the history of ideas. Though not concerned with astrology in its current form, it shows the origins of astrology in the careful observation and poetic imagination of our ancestors.
No prior knowledge of astronomy or astrology is needed for the course. But passionate concern with the creative imagination, and the future of our relationship to nature, will go a long way.
© James Cavendish 1998
The ancients, living before artificial light and chemical pollution, had a profound knowledge of the sky. They assigned vivid mythic images to the constellations. This was essential in practical terms, for both sailors and farmers, for reckoning time and space. But just as important, it preserved and propagated a religious awe, that can still touch us today when we visualise the Bull, Orion or the Twins towering in the heavens.
It is increasingly recognised that myth contains something essential to our value as human beings. We are heirs to technology derived from abstract thought. But no less important to our humanity is the creative imagination. Many great individuals have argued against the splitting of our culture into science and art, philosophy and poetry. But for orthodoxy, imagination is assigned the realm of fantasy and entertainment, whilst science demonstrates the workings of the giant machine it usually assumes the cosmos to be.
Star Mythology may be the antidote to this schizophrenia. The ancients experienced the cycles of the cosmos as evidence of the intelligent ruling powers of nature: for them science and religion were two sides of the same coin. We may not need to believe that now, but Stellar Myth still offers a unique opportunity to ground our personal vision in the commonality of what we can all see. Stellar Myth is truly a shared vision.
The course can be appreciated on several levels. Of general interest to those who want to deepen their understanding of myth or their acquaintance with the night sky, it will be especially significant to those interested in comparative religion, anthropology and the history of ideas. Though not concerned with astrology in its current form, it shows the origins of astrology in the careful observation and poetic imagination of our ancestors.
No prior knowledge of astronomy or astrology is needed for the course. But passionate concern with the creative imagination, and the future of our relationship to nature, will go a long way.
© James Cavendish 1998