An obituary by his student
Geoffrey Cornelius was my tutor at Canterbury Christ Church University. He was one of the co-founders of an exceptional course, an MA in ‘Mythology, Cosmology and the Sacred’, the only one in this country. He died a few weeks ago at his home in Herne Bay. His funeral takes place next Thursday 19 September at 2pm at St Alphege Church on Whitstable High Street.
He was ‘one of a kind’, a true polymath. I felt honoured to have him as a teacher. His lectures were wise, full of passion and humorous accompanied with enthusiastic gesticulation—never boring! Despite the complexity of the ancient knowledge he was imparting from the fields of Plato, mythopoeic imagination, esoteric philosophy, Enlightenment thought, depth psychology, spiritual hermeneutics, divination and astrology, I came away activated to investigate further—the sign of a brilliant teacher.
This course, run also under the auspices of Dr Angela Voss and Dr Simon Wilson was unusual as it was experiential. The nature of the subjects we learnt meant that we as students undertook a transformational journey. Our personal reflection, alongside academic excellence, was integral to our learning.
As a student I was taken seriously around my encounters with ‘the Other’ through my experiences of plant communication. In fact my dissertation was entitled, ‘Is Channelling Plants Natural Magic?’ based on my psychospiritual journey with ‘Dandelion’. It is now four years since I graduated. This course has inspired me to make what had been a personal journey into a career.
An excerpt from his obituary, written by Angela Voss:
“He was a co-founder of the Company of Astrologers, spoke at many international conferences, and taught for many years at the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. His most well-known book, The Moment of Astrology, pioneered the study of astrological symbolic interpretation as an act of divination and has been called, ‘one of the most important astrological books of our time’ (Rob Hand). Geoffrey devoted his working life to a profound study of the hermeneutics of divination as a radically new approach for modern astrology, yet one that reached far back into the ancient origins of the art.”
I’d like to finish this article with a few Geoffrey quotes that I just happened to write in the margins of my notebook during lectures to show how a humble, wise, academicly brilliant lecturer taught with his own original sense of humour:
“It’s very woo woo, but actually very profound.”
“It’s getting juicy you see, two witchdoctors set up by Evans Pritchard.”
“Dodgy, blood, love making, cooking by the moon—natural magic.”
“Magic became quite sexy—Hermetic cosmos.”
Geoffrey was a humble man who has left his mark in the universe and contributed so much to the lives of many and will continue to do so.
SOURCES
- Moment of Astrology: Origins in Divination—Geoffrey Cornelius https://a.co/d/f73KNC4
- Astrology for Beginners—Geoffrey Cornelius & Maggie Hyde. https://amzn.eu/d/2tLrgD0
- The Secret Language of the Stars and Planets: A Visual Key to the Heavens—Geoffrey Cornelius & Paul Devereux. https://amzn.eu/d/5Ui1BBW
- The Starlore Handbook—Geoffrey Cornelius. https://amzn.eu/d/4iZN7cS
- The Complete Guide to the Constellations—Geoffrey Cornelius. https://amzn.eu/d/6Ylg24l
- ‘Astrology’s Hidden Light—reflections on Marsilio Ficino’s De Sole’—Geoffrey Cornelius: https://mythcosmologysacred.com/astrologys-hidden-light…/
- ‘Chicane—double thinking and divination amongst the witch doctors’—Geoffrey Cornelius: https://mythcosmologysacred.com/chicane-double-thinking…/
The MA course I attended is no longer run at Canterbury Christchurch University. It has been transferred online: The Centre for Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred.
Ouroboros a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal
Painted by Hélène Williams
Paintings, oracle cards and events on my website: https://helenewilliams.com
About Hélène Williams:
Hélène investigates nature through her practise as an artist, psychotherapist and mystic. She takes us into an imaginal world where tales unfold and we are abandoned to the unknown.
Mysterious performances, paintings of visions, and sculptures that ‘have sexual energy, fragility and strength that can be thrillingly confusing.’ Jan Woolf/journalist
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