New Chartres School
Rhetorica
The Great Sacred Loves and the Poetry of Beauty
July 6-12, 2008
Click here to register as "Auditor" (no academic credit)
Core Faculty
Effortlessly love flows from God into man
Like a bird who rivers the air without moving her wings.
Thus we move in His world
One in body and soul, though outwardly separate in form.
-- Mechthild de Magdeburg
Rhetorica
Is there a greater magic in Creation, a greater mystery, than that of Love? Join us in Chartres, France this July for our third initiation into the Liberal Arts of antiquity - Rhetorica: The Great Sacred Loves and the Poetry of Beauty. With Venus as our guiding planet, and Medieval Christian Mysticism as our Wisdom tradition, we will explore and embody the divine enchantment of Rhetorica and Love, with its power to awaken the heart and soul, and give voice to the highest expressions of eloquence and beauty.
Together we will explore some of the Great Sacred Loves of mythology and history as a path of awakening to the Divine- including the erotic love of Psyche and Eros, the healing love of Isis and Osiris, the tragic love of Abelard and Heloise, the ecstatic love of Rumi and Shams, as well as the devotional love of Wisdom and Eloquence that gave birth to the flowering of the original Chartres School.
Our exploration of Rhetorica: The Great Sacred Loves and the Poetry of Beauty will be dynamic, vocal and embodied, incorporating poetry, allegory and drama to catalyze a mystical alchemy of love, beauty and eloquent expression. This will be complemented by an initiatory arc of ceremonies throughout the week, leading us to a deepened encounter with Love as a unifying force, including private, candlelit ceremonies in the Crypt and Labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral.
Dive into the mysteries of Mythic Love, give birth to a greater expression of the divine through an awakened, loving heart. This is the embodiment and this is the beauty that can transform our lives and transform the world.
All intensives will be held in Chartres, France, at the seminary adjacent to the Cathedral where the original Chartres School stood. Anyone with a deep commitment to the mysteries is invited. The cost for each intensive is $1250, or $2010 if taken for credit toward a Degree in at Wisdom University.
FACULTY BIO
Lauren Artress
B.A., Ohio State University
M.A., Princeton Theological Seminary
Analytical Training, Institute of religion and Health
DMin, Andover Newton Theological School, 1986
The Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress serves as an Honorary Canon at Grace Cathedral. In 1996 she created Veriditas, a non-profit dedicated to introduce people to the healing meditative powers of the labyrinth. The Labyrinth is a twelfth century mystical tool symbolic of the Path of Life that is re-introducing the walking meditation back into the Christian tradition. She travels worldwide offering workshops and lectures on the labyrinth and on Hildegard of Bingen. She offers a yearly program in Chartres, France, called Walking a Sacred Pat that nurtures spiritual maturity. In addition to her ordination as an Episcopal priest she is a spiritual director and licensed MFT psychotherapist in the State of California. She is the author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool and The Sacred Path Companion: A Guide to Walking the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform.
