Books on art and spirituality
- Seeding the Spirit: the Appleseed Workbook
- by Chris Cook and Brenda Heales.(Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, 2001 : available from enquiries@woodbrooke.org.uk).
A workbook for individuals or groups wishing to explore themes of prayer,
meditation, the mystics and the arts.
Short passages on figures such as Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich , 'Thin' places in the Celtic tradition, and our 'Images of God' are clearly written but very profound.
The authors suggest reflecting on these in different ways and provide detailed instructions on how to do so, using a wide range of 'kindergarten-simple' arts/craft
based activities.
Inspirational and exciting.
- The Artist's Way
- by Julia Cameron (Pan Books, 1993)
A twelve-week , step-by-step course that guides the reader through the process of recovering their creative self, addressing the conditioning that make so many people think "I'm not good enough". Wordy, with lots of Tasks. This may be a good place to start if you have never done anything of this kind before.
- On Not Being Able to Paint
- by Marion Milner (Heinemann Educational, 1950)
Classic volume by a psycho-analyst telling her own story about the unexpected developments that followed when she started doing free drawings, and her conclusions about the creative process.
- The Quest: Exploring a Sense of Soul
- by Joycelin Dawes, Janice Dolley and Ike Isaksen (O Books, 2005. See also www.thequest.org.uk)
This is a great resource for those wanting to explore and develop their spiritual
side. It is packed with simple yet profound exercises,
and material to follow up with. It can be easily dipped into as well as read more systematically. Very thorough with lots of words and diagrams!
More information about Cecil Collins
Following on from our recent workshop using some of his methods, as reported here, here are some books and quotations you may find useful:
Publications about Cecil Collins
(all available through Amazon.co.uk)
Brian Keeble of Golgonooza Press has published some major works on Cecil Collins:
- The Vision of the Fool and other writings – enlarged edition
- Meditations, poems, pages from a sketchbook
- Cecil Collins - The artist as writer and image maker
Golgonooza Press, 3 Cambridge Drive, Ipswich IP2 9EP
Tel./Fax 01473 681647
Trade distribution: Central Books, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN
Tel. 020 8986 4854 Fax 020 8533 5821
Email: contactus@centralbooks.com
www.centralbooks.com
Other publications
In Celebration of Cecil Collins Edited and compiled by Nomi Rowe
Distributed by Paul Holberton Publishing
89 Borough High Street, London SE1 1NL
Telephone: 020 7407 0809
Email: books@paul-holberton.net
For more information on this title please visit: www.paul-holberton.net
Cecil Collins: Angels
(edited by Stella Astor)
Published by Fools Press
Distributed by Greenspirit Books
137 Ham Park Road, Forest Gate, London E7 9LE
Tel: 0208 552 2096 (outside the UK: +44 208 552 2096)
Quotes:
“‘There are few who, going to the images, behold in them the realities, and these only with difficulty.’ Plato . (in opening sequence of the film ‘The Eye of the Heart’)
Some quotes from Cecil Collins on The Fool
(extracts from The Vision of the Fool and other writings. enlarged edition
Ed. Brian Keeble, Golgonooza Press, Ipswich 2002)
I believe that there is in life, and in the human psyche, a certain quality, an inviolate eternal innocence, and this quality I call the Fool. It is a continuous wisdom and compassion that heals with fun and magic. It is the joy of the original Adam in men.
The Fool is purity of consciousness. This purity is a cosmic folly that is utterly detached from what most of the world thinks worth doing; it is detached from the deadening edifice of clever ambitions, of power, and of the incredible vanity of knowledge, that has already dulled the capacity for poetry of life in contemporary society.
The secret of life is to share the creative madness of God - if we have never experienced this madness we can be said never to have lived.
Art is a form of transcendental magic which is created out of that awakened sense, and returns to it.
The Fool is not interested in success or failure, or the vanity and burden of external knowledge. He is interested in life, in the mystery of consciousness and the transformation of consciousness which comes about through direct perception.
…In other words the Fool is interested in love and its manifestation in that harmony and wholeness which we call beauty. He is therefore in a state of creative vulnerability and is easily destroyed by the world.
Society must be based on our sense of wonder, the one experience which justifies our being alive.