The Art of Imitating Heaven: Structure and Meaning in Ancient Cosmology

By Joshua Sturgill

The Art of Imitating Heaven: Structure and Meaning in Ancient Cosmology

By Joshua Sturgill

Desire, Disaster, and Consideration: A Brief Introduction to the Other Half of Reality

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We will explore key themes in Ancient Cosmology, trace the Hebrew and Greek traditions and their synthesis in Medieval Christianity, and compare traditional Astronomy with modern Astrophysics.

Course Overview

Price:

$150

Course Length:

6 Weeks, 9 Hours

Dates:

Live classes are on Sundays at 5-6:30pm Eastern Time, starting February 1st through March 8th, 2026.

What is heaven? Where is it? For ancient people, the answer was obvious: simply look up at the night sky. For them, to see the stars and planets was to see the face of the divine. Christianity, too, understood the visible sky as the realm of unfallen creation. What does this belief mean, and why was it lost? Today, we have reversed the age-old saying "as above, so below" which meant that life earth succeeds to the extent that it imitates heavenly archetypes. The contemporary world has reversed this, assuming that "as below, so above" and we have replaced heaven with "outer space" — a cold vacuum which obeys the same rigid laws of gravity and electromagnetism we observe on earth. In this course, we will look into the Hebrew scriptures, early Christian texts, Ptolemy's Almagest and Plato's Timaeus, as well as numerous origin stories and ideas from around the world. Our goal will be to re-glimpse the understanding of heaven and earth our ancestors had. The presentations are intended to be rich but still introductory, so If you are new to symbolic thinking, this course will help get you off the ground (so to speak). You will not need to do any preliminary reading, but you might want a Bible and a copy of the Timaeus handy.

Course Details

Live Course Schedule

Live classes are on Sundays at 5-6:30pm Eastern Time, starting February 1st through March 8th, 2026.

What you'll need

Pencil, paper. Note taking is encouraged.

No prior reading necessary.  However, the following will be referenced:

Genesis
Matthew
Plato Timaeus
Lewis The Discarded Image and Out of the Silent Planet
Ptolemy Almagest
MacDonald Phantastes
The Upanishads
various Creation Stories

Lesson plan

Week 1: Origins and Structures (Intro to ancient and modern views of reality)
Week 2: The Heavens and the Hebrew tradition (from Genesis to Matthew)
Week 3: Discussion with Dn. Seraphim on Babylonian Timekeeping after the Dallas Arts Fest
Week 4: The Pythagorean Cosmos (Mathematics and morality in Plato's Timaeus)
Week 5: Where equals When (Some practical stargazing).
Week 6:Continuations, Conclusions and Considerations

Related Content

Presenters

Joshua Alan Sturgill

Joshua Alan Sturgill holds a M.Div from Sangre de Cristo Seminary and an MA in Far Eastern Studies from St. John’s College. His long association with Eighth Day Books and love of travel have led to speaking and teaching engagements in Kansas and across the globe, and he is pleased to bring his particular interest in traditional Astronomy to The Symbolic World community. Mr. Sturgill teaches classical Geometry and Renaissance Literature in Wichita, Kansas.  He has authored two books of poetry as well as numerous short stories, articles and essays. His writing regularly appears in the online blog of Darkly Bright Press. Outside bookstore and classroom, Mr. Sturgill plays bodhran, crafts fine homebrews, studies origami, and works in his very messy garden.

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