William Blake and The Power of Imagination: Mark Vernon & Charles Stang at Harvard Divinity School

What if the imagination isn’t something you have, but something that has you? In this special event hosted by Wonderstruck and the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School, psychotherapist and writer Mark Vernon, CSWR Director Charles Stang, and Wonderstruck host Elizabeth Rovere explore how William Blake understood imagination not as a talent of the isolated mind, but as the living, divine presence in which we all already exist. From his earliest years, Blake spoke of seeing angels in trees and other beings that those around him could not perceive. He trusted these moments not as fantasy, but as brief openings into a world he felt was alive and continually present. In this event, we trace how Blake held onto that way of seeing, even as the Enlightenment narrowed reality into what could be measured, managed, or proved. Together, we explore: ✦ Blake’s lifelong encounters with angels and spirits and what they reveal about perception. ✦ The imagination as a mode of knowing that lets us perceive more of reality. ✦ The super-natural as the part of nature that lies beyond our present capacity to perceive it. ✦ Why Blake’s insights into division, memory, and moralism speak urgently to our moment. Blake saw exactly the same as everybody else, but he saw more of it. This conversation invites us to see more as well, and to rediscover what Blake already knew: that everything, when rightly perceived, is infinite. Chapters: 00:39 Charles Stang Welcome and Introduction 07:09 Mark Vernon Reading and Introductory Remarks 25:34 Elizabeth Rovere Contemplative Reading 36:56 In Conversation with Mark Vernon and Charles Stang 01:03:21 Q&A Watch Mark on the Wonderstruck Podcast:    • Why Therapy Alone Can't Heal Us | Psychoth...   Discover more of Wonderstruck here: https://wonderstruck.org   / wonderstruckpod      / @wonderstruckpod   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... https://open.spotify.com/show/6fS5boW...