Imaginings is an ever-growing collection of writings and artwork from Imaginal Institute Fellows. "Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious."
Paul Valéry
Come, Ye Fools! ...Fools Gatherings 
Fools Dancing
on the Edge
October 5-7, 2007
Ojai, California
Co-sponsored by the Joseph Campbell Foundation.
We invite you to come and share the silly wisdom of fellow artists, writers, scholars, scientists, and omphaloskepsisizers. Want to explore the magic of imagination among a company of colleagues from a variety of disciplines? Join us!
The Fools
In the spirit of the sacred fool, who knows both all and nothing, please join us for the second Imaginal Institute Gathering of Fools to share, challenge, and support one another's work in imagination, myth, and poiesis.
We are creators, thinkers, and wonderers of all shapes and sizes, coming together as colleagues to share the brilliance and foolishness of our new ideas, find sustenance in community, allies, and indulge in fabulous food and crystalline conversation in magically ridiculous Ojai.
Click here for the growing list of Fools who are planning on attending, and brief descriptions of the sessions that are emerging for the weekend.
The Dance
Schedule
Friday: 5 pm registration begins, 6 pm wine and cheese reception and revelry
Saturday: 8 am breakfast, sessions through catered lunch until 5 pm
Sunday: 8 am breakfast, sessions through catered lunch until 1 pm
Registration
Register by NEW DATE! September 5, 2007: $275 ($50 off!)
Register by September 15, 2007: $300 ($25 off!)
Register by October 1, 2007: $325
Registration includes all conference fees, meals, and opening reception, and a donation to our co-sponsors, the Joseph Campbell Foundation.
Gathering Location
Fools will gather at the Ojai Retreat, a charming, quiet setting with spectacular views of the valley and the surrounding mountains.
There are a very limited number of rooms available at the Retreat; please visit this page for more information on lodging onsite and elsewhere in the valley. If you’d like a room at the Retreat, register soon!
The Edge
Fools are challenged to dance on the edge: of your thoughts and ideas, of culture, of our work and play. The edge is a threshold and dancing upon it can invite both spectacular insights and equally spectacular pratfalls. That is its genius and its delight. So, come, join a diverse community of Fools, and be delighted! (For some brilliant insights into the edge and all it can contain, check out David Miller's article At the Edges of the Round Table.)
This event is about dialogue and building community, and we invite anyone interested in exploring the world with imagination to participate - and we hope for a rich cross section of folks from various disciplines.
Click here for more information about Fools Dancing on the Edge!
or
Click here to download a registration form.
••••
This event is graciously co-sponsored by the our friends at the
Joseph Campbell Foundation.
Past Foolishness
First Fools: April, 2006
Last spring, we held our very first gathering of fools (called, in a burst of originality, First Fools). For more information on what we did together, you can check out:
- First Fools Schedule (what we did)
- First Fools Planning (how we got there)
- First Fools Voices (some of what was shared there)
- First Fools Responses (what Fools are saying about it!)
This event was graciously co-sponsored by Spring Journal and Books.
If you'd like to be in the loop as we forge foolishly forward, just let us know and we'll put you on our Fool's mailing list. Email us at fools(at)imaginalinstitute.com.