The Riddle of the Sphinx

The Riddle of the Sphinx, a new collection of essays, illuminates an aspect of Owen Barfield rarely before seen. He writes as directly as he ever did about the nature of humanity's spiritual need in our time. Our capacities of imagination and inspiration are shown in their true dimensions. At the same time, scholarly and wise, Barfield enables readers to appreciate these insights. He writes about how poetry begins, about language as an archive of consciousness, and about philosophy as a path to understanding how different ways of perceiving are possible. Barfield guides us on an episodic trip through history - from ancient Israel and Greece to early Christian times, onward to medieval England, and the eras of the Renaissance and Romanticism, right up to the present day. He does not just demonstrate that there has been an evolution of consciousness; he reveals how thrilling it is when