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Andy Maitland's avatar

I have just begun to listen to your YouTube talk. Imagination can be true and false. Not everything imagined is imaginary. Not all we imagine is true.

Mark, how does Blake distinguish imagination from fiction or fantasy in his reading of the Bible, or is he only interested in, ‘spiritual sensation’ (which sounds ambiguous)? Did Blake have a faith? Why were imagination and the Bible Blake’s subjects of interest for art and literature?

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Mark Vernon's avatar

And Blake certainly had faith, I think a crucial Christian mystic. Jesus the Imagination is one of his favourite expressions. I've said more about that on my YouTube. Here's one - https://youtu.be/erJHFCbopvE

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Andy Maitland's avatar

Thanks

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Mark Vernon's avatar

I actually think that imagination is always true in some way, like dreams. The question is discernment.

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David Rizzo's avatar

I like how Blake thinks. A mystical reading that is imaginative. I like Ignatian spirituality as one is invited to imagine oneself in the biblical scene in question and visualize it. This seems somewhat akin to Blake (though I doubt he was an admirer of Ignatius Loyola). Am I understanding this Mark or am I far afield?

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Mark Vernon's avatar

No, I think the link is a good one. Ignatius's discernment of spirits is akin to Blake’s approach for sure, though whilst Blake does refer to some Catholic mystics, like Teresa of Avila, I don't think he does to Ignatius.

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