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Gnosis And Hermeticism From Antiquity To Modern Times
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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.
Book Synopsis Hegel and the Hermetic Tradition by : Glenn Alexander Magee
Download or read book Hegel and the Hermetic Tradition written by Glenn Alexander Magee and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Glenn Alexander Magee's pathbreaking book argues that Hegel was decisively influenced by the Hermetic tradition, a body of thought with roots in Greco-Roman Egypt. Magee traces the influence on Hegel of such Hermetic thinkers as Baader, Böhme, Bruno, and Paracelsus, and fascination with occult and paranormal phenomena. Hegel and the Hermetic Tradition covers Hegel's philosophical corpus and shows that his engagement with Hermeticism lasted throughout his career and intensified during his final years in Berlin. Viewing Hegel as a Hermetic thinker has implications for a more complete understanding of the modern philosophical tradition, and German idealism in particular.
Book Synopsis Gnostic Return in Modernity by : Cyril O'Regan
Download or read book Gnostic Return in Modernity written by Cyril O'Regan and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2001-07-19 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gnostic Return in Modernity demonstrates the possibility that Gnosticism haunts certain modern discourses. Studying Gnosticism of the first centuries of the common era and utilizing narrative analysis, the author shows how Gnosticism returns in a select b
Author :International Association for the History of Religions. Congress Publisher :Peeters Publishers ISBN 13 :9789042906303 Total Pages :330 pages Book Rating :4.9/5 (63 download)
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.
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.
Book Synopsis G. R. S. Mead and the Gnostic Quest by : Clare Goodrick-Clarke
Download or read book G. R. S. Mead and the Gnostic Quest written by Clare Goodrick-Clarke and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2005-08-10 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Robert Stowe Mead (1863-1933) was a major translator, editor, and commentator on Gnostic and hermetic literature and thus a pivotal figure linking the late 19th-century esoteric revival to 20th-century art, literature, and psychology. As a young convert to the new movement of theosophy, he served as private secretary to its co-founder, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and after founding the European section of the Theosophical Society edited its London journal, Lucifer, for many years. Mead's initial interest in theosophy and Hinduism soon blossomed into a lifelong and wide-ranging engagement with the texts of Gnosticism, neo-Platonism, and hermeticism. His editions and commentaries on previously inaccessible sources became standard works before the First World War and an important source of inspiration to such figures as Jung, Ezra Pound, Yeats, and Robert Duncan. A new entry in the Western Masters Series of concise biographies noting key figures in the Western esoteric tradition, G.R.S. Mead and the Gnostic Quest introduces Mead's life, works, and influences, combining a substantial biography with a collection of his most important writings.
Book Synopsis New Age Religion and Western Culture by : Wouter J. Hanegraaff
Download or read book New Age Religion and Western Culture written by Wouter J. Hanegraaff and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-09-24 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent years have seen a spectacular rise of the New Age movement and an ever-increasing interest in its beliefs and manifestations. This fascinating work presents the first-ever comprehensive analysis of New Age Religion and its historical backgrounds, thus providing the reader with a means of orientation in the bewildering variety of the movement. Making extensive use of primary sources, the author thematically analyses New Age beliefs from the perspective of the study of religions. While looking at the historical backgrounds of the movement, he convincingly argues that its foundations were laid by so-called western esoteric traditions during the Renaissance. Hanegraaff finally shows how the modern New Age movement emerged from the increasing secularization of those esoteric traditions during the 19th century. This ground-breaking publication is compulsive reading for all those involved or interested in the New Age movement.
Author :Jean-Baptiste Aymard Publisher :State University of New York Press ISBN 13 :0791484483 Total Pages :211 pages Book Rating :4.7/5 (914 download)
Book Synopsis Frithjof Schuon by : Jean-Baptiste Aymard
Download or read book Frithjof Schuon written by Jean-Baptiste Aymard and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book in English devoted to the religious philosopher Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) to appear since his death, this biography also provides an analysis of his work and spiritual teachings. Relying on Schuon's published works as well as unpublished correspondence and other documents, the authors highlight the originality of Schuon's life and teachings in terms of his consistent focus on esoterism, defined as the inner penetration of sacred forms and spiritual practices vis-à-vis the religio perennis, the eternal wisdom that lies at the core of all sacred paths. Schuon's life, they argue, is a quest for the inner meaning of religious experience, as is indicated by his connections to Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Native American Shamanism. Spiritual seekers from all backgrounds will appreciate this comprehensive study of this towering figure of comparative religion.
Book Synopsis Gnostic Religion in Antiquity by : R. van den Broek
Download or read book Gnostic Religion in Antiquity written by R. van den Broek and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-24 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of Gnostic religion in Late Antiquity within its historical and religious context, using Greek, Latin and Coptic sources.
Book Synopsis A Rivalry of Genius by : Marc Hirshman
Download or read book A Rivalry of Genius written by Marc Hirshman and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By comparing interpretations of the Hebrew Bible by Jews, Christians, and Gnostics in Late Antiquity, this book provides a unique perspective on these religious movements in Palestine. Rival interpretations of the early Church and the Midrash are set against the backdrop of the pagan critique of these religions and the gnostic threat that grew within both Christianity and Judaism. The comparison of the exegetical works of Christianity and Judaism illuminates the later development of the two religions and offers fresh insight into the Bible itself.
Book Synopsis Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity by : Roelof van den Broek
Download or read book Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity written by Roelof van den Broek and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-10-26 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library (1945) has given an enormous impetus not only to the study of ancient Gnosticism but also to that of early Christianity in general. Most of the studies contained in this volume deal with mythological conceptions and theological ideas found in various Nag Hammadi writings. The gnostic views on the nature of God and on creation and salvation receive particular attention, ranging from Philo to the medieval Cathars. The Nag Hammadi Library also shed new light on the development of early Alexandrian Christianity and its theology. The book contains six studies which explicitly deal with these topics. This volume is of interest to students of Gnosticism, early Christianity and Graeco-Roman religious and philosophical ideas in general.
Book Synopsis The Gnostic New Age by : April D. DeConick
Download or read book The Gnostic New Age written by April D. DeConick and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-27 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gnosticism is a countercultural spirituality that forever changed the practice of Christianity. Before it emerged in the second century, passage to the afterlife required obedience to God and king. Gnosticism proposed that human beings were manifestations of the divine, unsettling the hierarchical foundations of the ancient world. Subversive and revolutionary, Gnostics taught that prayer and mediation could bring human beings into an ecstatic spiritual union with a transcendent deity. This mystical strain affected not just Christianity but many other religions, and it characterizes our understanding of the purpose and meaning of religion today. In The Gnostic New Age, April D. DeConick recovers this vibrant underground history to prove that Gnosticism was not suppressed or defeated by the Catholic Church long ago, nor was the movement a fabrication to justify the violent repression of alternative forms of Christianity. Gnosticism alleviated human suffering, soothing feelings of existential brokenness and alienation through the promise of renewal as God. DeConick begins in ancient Egypt and follows with the rise of Gnosticism in the Middle Ages, the advent of theosophy and other occult movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and contemporary New Age spiritual philosophies. As these theories find expression in science-fiction and fantasy films, DeConick sees evidence of Gnosticism's next incarnation. Her work emphasizes the universal, countercultural appeal of a movement that embodies much more than a simple challenge to religious authority.
Book Synopsis Neo-Platonism by : Richard T. Wallis
Download or read book Neo-Platonism written by Richard T. Wallis and published by Scribner Book Company. This book was released on 1972 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Neoplatonism, a development of Plato’s metaphysical and religious teaching, whose best-known representatives were Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus and Proclus, was the dominant philosophical school of the later Roman Empire and has been a major influence on European and Near Eastern thought and culture ever since. Yet, though Plotinus has gained fame as a mystic and Porphyry as a formidable opponent of the early Church, the school’s philosophy has been little studied in modern times, largely because of the difficulty of the Neoplatonists’ writings and the lack of a good summary exposition. This defect Dr Wallis seeks to remedy in this, the first full-length study of the school by a single author to appear for over half a century.Dr Wallis’ aim has been to assist readers of the Neoplatonists’ works by an analysis of their leading ideas, based on the most recent scholarship and explaining clearly both what they said and why they said it. Particular attention is given to doctrinal disagreements within the school, and special sections deal with the Neoplatonists’ treatment of Platonic and Aristotelian texts, their attitude to Christianity and their later influence. It is shown how from one point of view Neoplatonism marks a synthesis of Classical Greek thought, whereas from another it applies that synthesis to problems of religious experience and man’s inner life which had been relatively little discussed by its predecessors. It is this application of reason to inner experience, the author suggests, that gives Neoplatonism a continuing importance and special relevance to our own day.”- Publisher
Download or read book TechGnosis written by Erik Davis and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TechGnosis is a cult classic of media studies that straddles the line between academic discourse and popular culture; it appeals to both those secular and spiritual, to fans of cyberpunk and hacker literature and culture as much as new-thought adherents and spiritual seekers How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? In TechGnosis—a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword—Erik Davis argues that while the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online roleplaying games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.
Book Synopsis Sharing and Hiding Religious Knowledge in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by : Mladen Popović
Download or read book Sharing and Hiding Religious Knowledge in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam written by Mladen Popović and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2018-08-21 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few studies focus on the modes of knowledge transmission (or concealment), or the trends of continuity or change from the Ancient to the Late Antique worlds. In Antiquity, knowledge was cherished as a scarce good, cultivated through the close teacher-student relationship and often preserved in the closed circle of the initated. From Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform texts to a Shi'ite Islamic tradition, this volume explores how and why knowledge was shared or concealed by diverse communities in a range of Ancient and Late Antique cultural contexts. From caves by the Dead Sea to Alexandria, both normative and heterodox approaches to knowledge in Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities are explored. Biblical and qur'anic passages, as well as gnostic, rabbinic and esoteric Islamic approaches are discussed. In this volume, a range of scholars from Assyrian studies to Jewish, Christian and Islamic studies examine diverse approaches to, and modes of, knowledge transmission and concealment, shedding new light on both the interconnectedness, as well as the unique aspects, of the monotheistic faiths, and their relationship to the ancient civilisations of the Fertile Crescent.
Book Synopsis Gnostic Wars by : Rossbach Stefan Rossbach
Download or read book Gnostic Wars written by Rossbach Stefan Rossbach and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2019-08-07 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this unique exposition of important and yet often neglected developments in the history of Western spirituality, Stefan Rossbach reminds us of the philosophical and spiritual underpinnings of the Cold War era, drawing on the traditions of apocalypticism, millenarianism and 'Gnostic' spirituality.Beginning with the 'Gnostic' systems of late Antiquity, the analysis follows 'lines of meaning' which extend through the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, right up to the present. From the long-term perspective which is thereby established, the spectre of a man-made nuclear apocalypse appears as the latest and most dramatic expression of an outlook on the human condition which refuses to accept limits in the imposition of human designs on the world. The paradoxical continuities that underlie the sense of epoch evoked by the end of the Cold War highlight this work's profound implications for our understanding of contemporary international politics.
Book Synopsis Cosmology and Fate in Gnosticism and Graeco-Roman Antiquity by : Nicola F. Denzey
Download or read book Cosmology and Fate in Gnosticism and Graeco-Roman Antiquity written by Nicola F. Denzey and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2013-04-09 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Cosmology and Fate in Gnosticism and Graeco-Roman Antiquity, Nicola Denzey Lewis dismisses Hans Jonas' mischaracterization of second-century Gnosticism as a philosophically-oriented religious movement built on the perception of the cosmos as negative or enslaving. A focused study on the concept of astrological fate in “Gnostic” writings including the Apocryphon of John, the recently-discovered Gospel of Judas, Trimorphic Protennoia, and the Pistis Sophia, this book reexamines their language of “enslavement to fate (Gk: heimarmene)” from its origins in Greek Stoicism, its deployment by the apostle Paul, to its later use by a variety of second-century intellectuals (both Christian and non-Christian). Denzey Lewis thus offers an informed and revisionist conceptual map of the ancient cosmos, its influence, and all those who claimed to be free of its potentially pernicious effects.
