PROGRAMME 2011

 

THE OXFORD CONFERENCE 18 – 19 MARCH 2011

ESOTERICISM & PSYCHOLOGY

THE BRIDGE BETWEEN SPIRITUALITY & SCIENCE

Christ Church College, Oxford University

The Great Quadrangle (Tom Quad)

 

The Great Hall

 

SPEAKERS & PROGRAMME

Friday 18 March
1700 – 1830 Conference registration of delegates
1830 – 1945 Supper in the Great Hall (see inset photo above)
2000 – 2100 Celtic Harp Recital by John Dalton

Saturday 19 March
0745 – 0845 Breakfast in the Great Hall (for residential delegates)
0830 – 0900 Registration of day only delegates
0900 – 0915 Welcome & opening of conference
0910 – 1010 John Gordon: Esotericism & Psychology: Identifying the Underlying Linkage
1010 – 1110 Lawrence Newey: The Electric Bridge: Science, Alchemy & Psychological Transmutation
1110 – 1140 Morning Coffee
1140 – 1240 Dr. Julian David: Space, Time & The Eternal
1240 – 1400 Lunch in the Great Hall
1400 – 1500 Dr. Orlando Fernandez: Implicate Order: From Quantum Mechanics to Quantum Psychology
1500 – 1600 Questions to Panel & General Discussion
1600 - Afternoon tea & departure

 

DETAILS OF SPEAKERS & INTRODUCTION TO TALKS

JOHN GORDON holds an MA degree in Western Esotericism from the University of Exeter. He is the author of several internationally published books and articles on subjects ranging from esoteric metaphysics and mankind’s psycho-spiritual origins, to Ancient Egyptian sacred philosophy and the nature & function of esoteric astrology.

Introduction to talk: “The sacred metaphor and allegory of true Esotericism provides to the receptive and trained mind a graphic subjective mechanism which illustrates and explains the causal inter-relationships underlying all objectivity.  When properly focussed and scientifically orientated, this in turn becomes a thoroughly reliable link between the psycho-spiritual state of actuality and the objective human consciousness.”

 

LAWRENCE NEWEY is a director of the Lucis Trust and an Administrator in the Arcane School – a correspondence school of meditation, study and service as a way of life.  He has been a close student of the esoteric works of A.A. Bailey for several decades and has a personal interest in the way that the deepest questions raised by modern science closely parallel those of occult science.

Introduction to talk: “The bridge between spirituality and science is an electrical one.  Through an understanding of the relationship between conscious and electrical phenomena, esoteric and exoteric psychology of the human being and all manifested existence are the essence of all electrical phenomena and point towards a future renaissance in alchemy as psychological transmutation.”

 

DR. JULIAN DAVID trained and qualified at the Zurich C.G. Jung Institute and was a founder member of the Independent Group of Analytical Psychologist in London.  He is based in Devon but worked for years in Cape Town on the foundation of the Southern African Association of Jungian Analysts.  He is currently Chairman of the C.G. Jung Analytical Psychology Club London and editor of its journal ‘Harvest’.

Introduction to talk: “For Jung, the decisive question for man is very simple: 'Is a person connected with something that is infinite or not? That is the telling question of a life.’ He added: ‘in our relationship to other men too, the crucial question is whether an element of boundlessness is expressed in the relationship.’ Jung’s fundamental hypothesis is that spirit and matter are aspects of each other.  As he says in an early seminar: ‘There would be no such thing as spirit or soul unless it were already in matter.’ He believed that the door to understanding the unity of spirit and matter would be found in the world of quantum physics and over many years worked with the physicist Wolfgang Pauli trying to find it.”

 

DR. ORLANDO FERNANDEZ holds a doctorate in Mathematical Physics from the University of Paris.  He also holds an MA degree in Western Esotericism from the University of Exeter where, in his spare time, he is in process of completing a second PhD on the Influence of Esoteric Thought on Bohm’s Ontological Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Despite this, he has a strong and very active sense of humour.

Introduction to talk: “David Bohm (1917-1992) is recognised as one of the most brilliant physicists of his generation.  Amongst many other scientific contributions, he is famous for his hidden variables interpretation of quantum mechanics.  But his interests also extended to the connections between science, philosophy and psychology, as demonstrated in his celebrated book Wholeness & the Implicate Order, where he introduced the influential ideas of the explicate and implicate orders of being that are at the basis of his thinking.  Bohm’s thought was heavily influenced by Hegel whose place in the Western esoteric tradition has been more recently recognised.  He was also a very close disciple of the esoteric teacher Jiddu Krisnamurti.  This talk will review some of the lesser known aspects of Bohm’s transformational psychology.”

 

GENERAL INFORMATION & BOOKING FORM

Please note all details on this page and then, having completed the Booking Form, return it to: Theoversity Bookings, Foundation for Theosophical Studies, 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA.  All queries please to: 0800 612 5474

Venue – McKenna Room, Christ Church College, Oxford University, Oxford.

Magnificent ancient University and World Heritage City one hour from London (Paddington) by train or by coach from Victoria Coach Station, London.

Also see the map at the bottom of this page.

Accommodation: We have on site some 30 rooms reserved in the College itself.  These will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis and must be paid for in advance with the registration for the conference as a whole.

Fees: Fees include accommodation for residential delegates (where specified), lecture programme and all meals incl. breakfast, morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and supper.  They are payable in full on booking.  Vegetarian meals can be catered for subject to being notified at least ten days in advance.

Bursaries:  A small number of bursaries are available towards the cost of this conference – please contact us in advance on 0800 612 5474 to discuss.

Cancellations: In such case, a fee of £25 will be retained; £75 after 21st February; then after 7th March there will be no refund.

Booking: Places are strictly limited so early application is essential.  Send your cheque and the completed booking form to “The Foundation for Theosophical Studies” at 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA.

The booking form can be downloaded via the following link: BOOKING FORM

 

CONFERENCE OPTIONS

Residential (One night plus full board) - £190. 00
Day Visitor (Lunch, coffee & tea only) - £70. 00

 

VENUE LOCATION

Note: There is an excellent Park & Ride service in Oxford plus a good public car parking facility about 5-8 minutes walk from the College, which is itself very close to the main shopping centre of Oxford, with easy access also to the Bodleian Library and the Ashmolean Museum and other main sites in Oxford.

 

MAP OF CENTRAL OXFORD
SHOWING LOCATION OF CHRIST CHURCH COLLEGE
(Between High Street and Christ Church Meadow)

 

For more information on our residential courses please visit: www.theoversity.org.uk
Email: info@theoversity.org.uk