Against the nihil
One candle-flame, one blade of grass
One thought suffices
To affirm all.
KATHLEEN RAINE
The Temenos Academy is an educational charity which offers education in philosophy and the arts in the light of the sacred traditions of East and West. The word temenos means ‘a sacred precinct’.
Each year the Academy hosts up to 100 lectures and seminars, occasional film screenings and readings. These range from large public events to small study groups. It also promotes the Temenos Academy Young Scholars (for people aged 18-35) and offers a part-time diploma course – the Foundation Course in the Perennial Philosophy. The perennial philosophy is an expression of the wisdom that is common to the world’s major religious and spiritual traditions. It runs like a golden thread through history and offers each generation contact with the values that nourish all civilizations.
Our activities are based mainly in London and are open to all.
The Academy publishes a journal, Temenos Academy Review, and other publications in the Temenos Academy Papers series. The recordings and pdfs of many lectures are available to listen to and read in the Archive.
Poem from The Collected Poems of Kathleen Raine (Ipswich: Golgonooza Press, 2000;
London, Faber & Faber Ltd, 2019)
