THE BURNING BUSH: Communion with God through his creation
SPEAKER : AIDAN HART
A member of the Orthodox Church, Aidan has been a full-time iconographer for almost forty years. He has works in over 25 countries of the world, including with HRH King Charles III, the Ecumenical Patriarch, Pope Francis, and in numerous cathedrals in the UK. He was also a novice monk for twelve years, six years of these as a hermit, before deciding to ‘descend the mountain’ to dedicate himself to the ministry of iconography. For Aidan, the act of creating an icon is to pray with matter, but above all, icons are a door between heaven and earth, a place of encounter between the praying viewer and the person depicted.
Aidan is also an author, his latest book being the richly illustrated ‘Festal Icons: History and Meaning’ (2022), described by one reviewer as ‘bound to become a classic’.
THEME OF THIS WORKSHOP
Both the Western and Eastern Christian traditions speak of three phases in the spiritual life: purification, illumination and union. In the second phase, we encounter God the Word through the words or logoi within all created things and people, just as Moses encountered God through the bush that burnt without being consumed. In this workshop we shall explore how icons help us in this journey from purification to illumination, towards union.
BOOK NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT
The maximum number of participants in each workshop is limited, so book early to avoid disappointment!