# Theosis: Letter from the Director August 04, 2025 [ Charles M. Stang ](/people/charles-stang) Dear friends, colleagues, and supporters of the CSWR, I am proud to announce the publication of the second issue of Theosis, the annual publication of the Center for the Study of World Religions. What you have in your hands, or on your screen, is a showcase of the rich research and programming that this community of scholars produced in the 2024-25 academic year. Before I go any further, however, I would like to thank the Center’s Executive Director, Gosia Skłodowska: it was her idea to offer Theosis not only as an annual report, but as a more robust publication where we could share some of the best of what we do here at the Center—in word and image. Gosia has served as the editor of Theosis, and I trust you will agree that this second issue is even more beautifully produced than the first. I’d like to highlight just a few events and publications from this past year and bring your attention to a few more on the horizon. As I write this letter, it was just two weeks ago that we hosted the “Thinking with Plants and Fungi” conference, the culmination of an 18-month initiative of the same name. It was an unbelievable success, very well attended both in person and online, and I encourage you to read some of the initiative’s features contained in this issue, including the news story about its spring field trip to the forests of British Columbia, “Harmonizing with History: A Journey Through Vancouver Island’s Indigenous Heritage” and an essay by Lisa Sideris, “Seedbeds of Creativity: Superblooms and Superorganisms,” which was featured as part of the TWPF’s year-long guest essay series. This conference followed on the heels of another historic gathering we hosted in December, “The Teachings and Legacy of G.I. Gurdjieff.” We were pleased to partner with both the Gurdjieff Society of Massachusetts and the International Association of Gurdjieff Foundations to bring this conference off, on the 100th anniversary of Gurdjieff’s visit to the United States in 1924. In these pages, you’ll find the keynote address by Alexandre de Salzmann, the president of the International Association and the Institut G.I. Gurdjieff in Paris. I’d also like to lift up something new we’re offering this year: what we’re calling “digital displays.” We have many scholars among us who work with visual and material culture, and these new digital displays are a kind of online exhibition space, with images, texts, and—perhaps most importantly— videos, where our scholars can give you a tour of some of the amazing research they’re doing. We can’t capture these digital displays here within the pages of Theosis, but we have nevertheless included a brief feature on “Occult Mexico” with Mariano Villalba. This digital exhibit titled “Esoteric Mexico: Art, Revolution and the Occult” showcases some of the greatest artists and their public works through Mexico’s modern history, with a focus on occult movements and Mexican mural art. Another special feature highlights the participatory research work of Andrea Sánchez-Castañeda on sacred plants of the Muysca community in Bogota and features photography and reflections of her Indigenous research partners and community members. You will be able to see this work on full display as part of the Center’s art exhibit in fall 2025. But please be sure to visit these displays on our website— I promise you won’t be disappointed. Looking ahead, I am very excited to launch our new series, “Texts and Translations of Transcendence and Transformation”—or “4T” for short. The Pearlsong, our first book in the series, was featured in the first issue of Theosis, and in July, will be available for free download and for purchase from Harvard University Press. The second book in the series, Porphyry of Tyre on Theology and Theurgy, is featured in this issue of Theosis, and we’re looking forward to two launch events in the fall to bring these wonderful books to the attention of the Divinity School and the broader University community. Finally, I am excited to announce that in my final two years as the Director the CSWR will launch a new initiative exploring the legacy of the Concord Transcendentalist tradition – past, present, and future. That initiative will begin with a workshop in early October at the Concord Museum entitled “Expanding Circles”—after Emerson’s famous essay “Circles”—which I will host with Gosia and CSWR Research Affiliate Russell Powell. Russ will be leading a reading group on Transcendentalism in 2025-26, and we’ll be hosting a public event with Richard Higgins in September to discuss his latest book, Thoreau’s God (Chicago, 2024). We hope to have more events to announce in the coming months. Thank you again for your interest in and support of the CSWR. We hope our research and programs continue to enrich and inspire! Sincerely, Charles M. Stang Director, Center for the Study of World Religions Professor of Early Christian Thought, Harvard Divinity School