Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition

Download Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791444351
Total Pages : 310 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (443 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition by : Antoine Faivre

Download or read book Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition written by Antoine Faivre and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2000-02-17 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A historical and interpretive study of three aspects of Western esotericism from the Renaissance to the twentieth century.

Access to Western Esotericism

Download Access to Western Esotericism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 1438402236
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (384 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Access to Western Esotericism by : Antoine Faivre

Download or read book Access to Western Esotericism written by Antoine Faivre and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1994-12-05 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first systematic treatment of esotericism to appear in English. Here is also a historical survey, beginning with the Alexandrean Period, of the various esoteric currents such as Christian Kabbalah, Theosophy, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, and Hermeticism. Common characteristics of these currents are the notion of universal interdependency and the experience of spiritual transformation. The author establishes a rigorous methodology; provides clarifying definitions of such key terms as "gnosis," "theosophy," "occultism," and "Hermeticism;" and offers analysis of contemporary esotericism based on three distinct pathways. The second half of the book presents a series of studies on several important figures, works, and movements in Western esotericism—studies devoted to some of the most characteristic and illuminating aspects that this form of thought has taken, such as theosophical speculations on androgyny, rosicrucian literature, and Masonic symbolism. The book is completed by a rich and selective Bibliography conceived as a means of orientation and a tool for research.

Western Esotericism

Download Western Esotericism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 1438433794
Total Pages : 139 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (384 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Western Esotericism by : Antoine Faivre

Download or read book Western Esotericism written by Antoine Faivre and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2010-10-06 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Widely received in France, this brief, comprehensive introduction to Western esotericism by the founder of the field is at last available in English. A historical and pedagogical guide, the book is written primarily for students and novices. In clear, precise language, author Antoine Faivre provides an overview of Western esoteric currents since late antiquity. The bulk of the book is laid out chronologically, from ancient and medieval sources (Alexandrian hermetism, gnosticism, neoplatonism), through the Renaissance up to the present time. Its coverage includes spiritual alchemy, Jewish and Christian Kabbalah, Christian theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Illuminism, 'mystical' Free-Masonry, the Occultist current, Theosophical and Anthroposophical Societies, the Traditionalist School, and 'esotericism' in contemporary initiatic societies and in New Religious Movements. Faivre explores how these currents are connected, and refers to where they appear in art and literature. The book concludes with an annotated bibliography, which makes it an essential resource for beginners and scholars alike.

Access to Western Esotericism

Download Access to Western Esotericism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791421789
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (217 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Access to Western Esotericism by : Antoine Faivre

Download or read book Access to Western Esotericism written by Antoine Faivre and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1994-12-05 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first systematic treatment of esotericism to appear in English. Here is also a historical survey, beginning with the Alexandrean Period, of the various esoteric currents such as Christian Kabbalah, Theosophy, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, and Hermeticism. Common characteristics of these currents are the notion of universal interdependency and the experience of spiritual transformation. The author establishes a rigorous methodology; provides clarifying definitions of such key terms as “gnosis,” “theosophy,” “occultism,” and “Hermeticism;” and offers analysis of contemporary esotericism based on three distinct pathways. The second half of the book presents a series of studies on several important figures, works, and movements in Western esotericism—studies devoted to some of the most characteristic and illuminating aspects that this form of thought has taken, such as theosophical speculations on androgyny, rosicrucian literature, and Masonic symbolism. The book is completed by a rich and selective Bibliography conceived as a means of orientation and a tool for research.

Theosophy across Boundaries

Download Theosophy across Boundaries PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 1438480431
Total Pages : 616 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (384 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Theosophy across Boundaries by : Hans Martin Krämer

Download or read book Theosophy across Boundaries written by Hans Martin Krämer and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2020-11-01 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theosophy across Boundaries brings a global history approach to the study of esotericism, highlighting the important role of Theosophy in the general histories of religion, science, philosophy, art, and politics. The first half of the book consists of seven perspectives on the activities of the Theosophical Society in very different regional contexts, ranging from India, Vietnam, China, and Japan to Victorian Britain and Israel, shedding new light on the entanglement of "Western" and "Oriental" ideas around 1900. The second half explores specific cultural influences that Theosophy exerted in the spheres of literature, art, and politics, using case studies from Sri Lanka, Burma, India, Japan, Ireland, Germany, and Russia. The examples clearly show that Theosophy was part of a truly global movement, thus providing an outstanding example of the complex entanglements of the global religious history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Wisdom's Children

Download Wisdom's Children PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791443309
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (433 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Wisdom's Children by : Arthur Versluis

Download or read book Wisdom's Children written by Arthur Versluis and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1999-09-30 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an in-depth introduction to the Christian theosophic tradition that began with Jacob Bo¬hme, bringing us into a startling new world of Christian experiential spirituality that is the Christian equivalent of Sufism and Kabbalism.

The Western Esoteric Traditions

Download The Western Esoteric Traditions PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0195320999
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Western Esoteric Traditions by : Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke

Download or read book The Western Esoteric Traditions written by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-14 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This introduction to the Western esoteric traditions offers a concise overview of their historical development. The author explores these traditions, from their roots in Hermeticism, Neo-Platonism, and Gnosticism in the early Christian era up to their reverberations in modern day's scientific paradigms.

Magic and Mysticism

Download Magic and Mysticism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 9780742558366
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (583 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Magic and Mysticism by : Arthur Versluis

Download or read book Magic and Mysticism written by Arthur Versluis and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides overview, from antiquity onwards, on various Western religious esoteric movements. This book includes topics such as: alchemy, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy and more.

Imagining the East

Download Imagining the East PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0190853883
Total Pages : 361 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Imagining the East by : Erik Sand

Download or read book Imagining the East written by Erik Sand and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-01-29 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Theosophical Society (est. 1875 in New York by H. P. Blavatsky, H. S. Olcott and others) is increasingly becoming recognized for its influential role in shaping the alternative new religious and cultural landscape of the late nineteenth and the twentieth century, especially as an early promoter of interest in Indian and Tibetan religions and philosophies. Despite this increasing awareness, many of the central questions relating to the early Theosophical Society and the East remain largely unexplored. This book is the first scholarly anthology dedicated to this topic. It offers many new details about the study of Theosophy in the history of modern religions and Western esotericism. The essays in Imagining the East explore how Theosophists during the formative period understood the East and those of its people with whom they came into contact. The authors examine the relationship of the theosophical approach with orientalism and aspects of the history of ideas, politics, and culture at large and discuss how these esoteric or theosophical representations mirrored conditions and values current in nineteenth-century mainstream intellectual culture. The essays also look at how the early Theosophical Society's imagining of the East differed from mainstream 'orientalism' and how the Theosophical Society's mission in India was distinct from that of British colonialism and Christian missionaries.

Angels of Desire

Download Angels of Desire PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134937954
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (349 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Angels of Desire by : Jay Johnston

Download or read book Angels of Desire written by Jay Johnston and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea that the human body consists of 'subtle bodies' - psycho-spiritual essences - can be found in a variety of esoteric traditions. This radical form of selfhood challenges the dualisms at the heart of Western discourse : mind/body, divine/human, matter/spirit, reason/emotion, I/other. 'Angels of Desire' explores the aesthetics and ethics of subtle bodies. What emerges is an understanding of embodiment not exclusively tied to materiality. The book examines the use of subtle bodies across a range of traditions, yogic, tantric, theosophical, hermetic and sufi. 'Angels of Desire' shows the relevance of the subtle body for religion, philosophy, art history and contemporary feminist religious studies and theories of desire.

In-Between: Architectural Drawing and Imaginative Knowledge in Islamic and Western Traditions

Download In-Between: Architectural Drawing and Imaginative Knowledge in Islamic and Western Traditions PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317117700
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (171 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis In-Between: Architectural Drawing and Imaginative Knowledge in Islamic and Western Traditions by : Hooman Koliji

Download or read book In-Between: Architectural Drawing and Imaginative Knowledge in Islamic and Western Traditions written by Hooman Koliji and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-09 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary technical architectural drawings, in establishing a direct relationship between the drawing and its object, tend to privilege the visible physical world at the expense of the invisible intangible ideas and concepts, including that of the designer’s imagination. As a result, drawing may become a utilitarian tool for documentation, devoid of any meaningful value in terms of a kind of knowledge that could potentially link the visible and invisible. This book argues that design drawings should be recognized as intermediaries, mediating between the world of ideas and the world of things, spanning the intangible and tangible. The notion of the 'Imaginal' as an intermediary between the invisible and visible is discussed, showing how architectural drawings lend themselves to this notion by performing as creative agents contributing not only to the physical world but also penetrating the realm of concepts. The book argues that this 'in-between' quality to architectural drawing is essential and that it is critical to perceive drawings as subtle bodies that hold physical attributes (for example, form, proportion, color), highly evocative, yet with no matter. Focusing on Islamic geometric architectural drawings, both historical and contemporary, it draws on key philosophical and conceptual notions of imagination from the Islamic tradition as these relate to the creative act. In doing so, this book not only makes important insights into the design process and act of architectural representation, but more broadly it adds to debates on philosophies of the imagination, linking both Western and Islamic traditions.

The Eternal Hermes

Download The Eternal Hermes PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Red Wheel/Weiser
ISBN 13 : 1609257367
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (92 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Eternal Hermes by : Antoine Faivre

Download or read book The Eternal Hermes written by Antoine Faivre and published by Red Wheel/Weiser. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Western esotericism pioneer, a “work of lucid scholarship [that reveals] the full range of Hermes’ innumerable manifestations in European history” (Parabola). Hermes—the fascinating, mercurial messenger of the gods, eloquent revealer of hidden wisdom, and guardian of occult knowledge—has played a central role in the development of esotericism in the West. Drawing upon many rare books and manuscripts, this highly illustrated work explores the question of where Hermes Trismegistus came from, how he came to be a patron of the esoteric traditions, and how the figure of Hermes has remained lively and inspiring to our own day. “Great erudition blended with a highly refined metaphysical sensibility brings the great Hermes to life and allows this powerful psychospiritual archetype to speak once again [and perhaps even play a few much-needed tricks on us].” —Jacob Needleman, author of The Heart of Philosophy “Faivre’s remarkable achievement in this single volume is to combine the historical richness of the Hermetic tradition with its relevance to understanding the circumambulations of the psyche today as it pursues its spiritual quest.” —June Singer, author of Boundaries of the Soul “This book is an impressive and compelling contribution to the puzzling question of both the source and perdurance of Hermes in his variety of shape-shifting guises. From Alexandria to Amsterdam, Athens to America, this thrice-great Hermes keeps showing up, perhaps even more than in antiquity!” —David L. Miller, author of The New Polytheism

The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction

Download The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0199886490
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (998 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction by : Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke

Download or read book The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction written by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2008-09-16 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western esotericism has now emerged as an academic study in its own right, combining spirituality with an empirical observation of the natural world while also relating the humanity to the universe through a harmonious celestial order. This introduction to the Western esoteric traditions offers a concise overview of their historical development. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke explores these traditions, from their roots in Hermeticism, Neo-Platonism, and Gnosticism in the early Christian era up to their reverberations in today's scientific paradigms. While the study of Western esotericism is usually confined to the history of ideas, Goodrick-Clarke examines the phenomenon much more broadly. He demonstrates that, far from being a strictly intellectual movement, the spread of esotericism owes a great deal to geopolitics and globalization. In Hellenistic culture, for example, the empire of Alexander the Great, which stretched across Egypt and Western Asia to provinces in India, facilitated a mixing of Eastern and Western cultures. As the Greeks absorbed ideas from Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and Persia, they gave rise to the first esoteric movements. From the late sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, post-Reformation spirituality found expression in theosophy, Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. Similarly, in the modern era, dissatisfaction with the hegemony of science in Western culture and a lack of faith in traditional Christianity led thinkers like Madame Blavatsky to look East for spiritual inspiration. Goodrick-Clarke further examines Modern esoteric thought in the light of new scientific and medical paradigms along with the analytical psychology of Carl Gustav Jung. This book traces the complete history of these movements and is the definitive account of Western esotericism.

Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times

Download Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791436110
Total Pages : 436 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (361 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times by : R. van den Broek

Download or read book Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times written by R. van den Broek and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume introduces what has sometimes been called "the third component of western culture". It traces the historical development of those religious traditions which have rejected a world view based on the primacy of pure rationality or doctrinal faith, emphasizing instead the importance of inner enlightenment or gnosis: a revelatory experience which was typically believed to entail an encounter with one's true self as well as with the ground of being, God. The contributors to this book demonstrate this perspective as fundamental to a variety of interconnected traditions. In Antiquity, one finds the gnostics and hermetics; in the Middle Ages several Christian sects. The medieval Cathars can, to a certain extent, be considered part of the same tradition. Starting with the Italian humanist Renaissance, hermetic philosophy became of central importance to a new religious synthesis that can be referred to as Western Esotericism. The development of this tradition is described from Renaissance hermeticists and practitioners of spiritual alchemy to the emergence of Rosicrucianism and Christian theosophy in the seventeenth century, and from post-enlightenment aspects of Romanticism and occultism to the present-day New Age movement.

Wisdom's Children

Download Wisdom's Children PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791443293
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (432 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Wisdom's Children by : Arthur Versluis

Download or read book Wisdom's Children written by Arthur Versluis and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1999-10-14 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an in-depth introduction to the Christian theosophic tradition that began with Jacob Bo¬hme, bringing us into a startling new world of Christian experiential spirituality that is the Christian equivalent of Sufism and Kabbalism.

Reformation, Revolution, Renovation

Download Reformation, Revolution, Renovation PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004249397
Total Pages : 444 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (42 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Reformation, Revolution, Renovation by : Lyke de Vries

Download or read book Reformation, Revolution, Renovation written by Lyke de Vries and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-12-13 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the centre of the Rosicrucian manifestos was a call for ‘general reformation’. In Reformation, Revolution, Renovation, the first book-length study of this topic, Lyke de Vries demonstrates the unique position of the Rosicrucian call for reform in the transformative context of the early seventeenth century. The manifestos, commonly interpreted as either Lutheran or esoteric, are here portrayed as revolutionary mission statements which broke dramatically with Luther’s reform ideals. Their call for reform instead resembles a variety of late medieval and early modern dissenting traditions as well as the heterodox movement of Paracelsianism. Emphasising the universal character of the Rosicrucian proposal for change, this new genealogy of the core idea sheds fresh light on the vexed question of the manifestos’ authorship and helps explain their tumultuous reception by both those who welcomed and those who deplored them.

Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion

Download Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Peeters Publishers
ISBN 13 : 9789042906303
Total Pages : 330 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (63 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion by : International Association for the History of Religions. Congress

Download or read book Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion written by International Association for the History of Religions. Congress and published by Peeters Publishers. This book was released on 1998 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is based upon papers read during the innovative section "Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion" organized at the 17th International Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) in Mexico City, August 5-12, 1995. The section was created in order to fill a long-standing hiatus in the academic study of religions: whereas phenomena such as gnosticism and hermetism in antiquity, and even the occult sciences of that period, have long been recognized as subjects worthy of serious investigation, the history of similar and related phenomena in more recent periods has hardly received the same measure of scholarly attention and recognition. The present volume is devoted to the academic emancipation of these areas as constituting a legitimate domain of research, which may be referred to by the generic label "western esotericism". Preceded by an introductory essay on the birth of this new discipline in the study of religion, the volume provides a sample of current research in the field and devotes special attention to some central methodological questions.