This book argues that the world has sold its soul to Satan. To make this case, Hawkes undertakes a careful, precise analysis of what the terms 'soul' and 'Satan' have meant historically. Focusing on the story of Dr. Faustus, which he argues is the definitive myth of the modern era, Hawkes claims that the autonomous, individual human subject has become dissolved in a sea of representation. The system of performative signs that we call 'the market' functions today as an openly magical power, existing only in our minds, but ruling the world nonetheless, and systematically extinguishing the essence of humanity. Hawkes describes how this situation has arisen using a wide-ranging, trans-national account of the versions of Faust presented by Marlowe, Calderon, Milton, Moliere, Goethe, Byron, Dostoevsky, Wilde, Thomas Mann, Ngugi Wa'Thiongo and Salman Rushdie. Literary scholars, historians, philosophers and even economists will find fascination and instruction in this comprehensive, original book.

There is a divine pronouncement among the Akan that all human beings are children of God (Nana Nyame), none a child of the earth (mother); meaning that human beings are spiritual in origin, descending directly from God via the Abosom (gods and goddesses). Every person then has a deity as father ( gya-bosom), recognition of which existentially enables a person to fulfil one's career or professional blueprint (Nkrabea). Intrinsically, therefore, human beings embody the very essence of the Abosom, which manifests itself behaviorally and psychologically in a manner identical to those of the gods and goddesses. African Personality and Spirituality: The Role of Abosom and Human Essence therefore addresses ultimate existential concerns of the Akan, revealing the essence of the primeval gods and goddesses and how they transform themselves into human beings, as well as the psychology of personality characteristic attributes, the phenomenon of spirit alightment, and other manifestations of the gods and goddesses, and the imperative of ethical existence and generativity ( bra bO) as basis of eternal life.

The book reveals that Whitefield was both a great man of prayer, and a voracious reader. For instance, he acknowledges Matthew Henry s Commentary, Alleine s Alarm, A Call to the Unconverted, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, among the many classics that he fed upon and found both soul-stirring and soul-satisfying. In his personal life, he very much reminds one of Jonathan Edwards, being so dedicated in all his activities. In fact, all his hours were assigned in this way: ''I . . . generally divided the day into three parts eight hours for study and retirement, eight hours for sleep and meals, and eight hours for reading prayers, catechizing and visiting the parish.'' (p. 41). The Second Journal covered May 1738 to November 1738. This is the first journal that he consented to be printed. He arrived in Georgia on May 17, 1738 He then gives various experiences, sometimes day by day, sometimes a week or more between. The Third Journal covers December, 1738 through June, 1739, when he returned to London. He spoke to huge crowds. He preached almost constantly, and often from morning to midnight he was either preaching or witnessing personally. People almost hung on the rafters to hear him. Throughout this book you will see demonstrated the Scriptures in action. He breathed spirituality in his every appearance, private or public. At this time he was yet but 24 years of age. Such a life, some may say, is not for them. So prone are we to think that some of our hours and thoughts are our own. Whatever one s progress in holiness may be, the reader of these journals may be sure that much of Whitefield s spirit will greatly profit his or her soul. After all, how many opportunities does one have to look into the heart and soul of such a committed servant of God. Get it. It may be but a personal account, but it is sure to be of great value to any Christian. Whitefield (1714-1770) is the justly famous evangelist of the eighteenth century. He wrote his first rather full autobiographical account while on board ship in 1736. The balance of the book chronicles his travels as an evangelist through 1756.Despite the well-known differences in doctrine between Whitefield and John Wesley (which resulted at last in his famous letter to that one), he counted both John and Charles Wesley as dear friends. 332 pages, hard cover

Werewolf Histories is the first academic book in English to address European werewolf history and folklore from antiquity to the twentieth century. It covers the most important werewolf territories, ranging from Scandinavia to Germany, France and Italy, and from Croatia to Estonia.

'Witches occupy a clear place in contemporary imagination. We can see them, shadowy, in the corners of the past: mad, glamorous, difficult, strange. They haunt the footnotes of history - from medieval witches burning at the stake to the lurid glamour of the 1970s witchcraft revival. But they are moving out of history, too. Witches are back. They're feminist, independent, invested in self-care and care for the world. They are here, because they must be needed.' What it means to be a witch has changed radically throughout history; where 'witch' was once a dangerous - and often deadly - accusation, it is now a proud self-definition. Today, as the world becomes ever more complicated and as we face ecological, political and economic crisis - witchcraft is experiencing a resurgence. Witches are back. In A Spell in the Wild, Alice Tarbuck explores what it means to be a witch today. Rooted in the real world, but filled with spells, rituals and recipes, this book is an accessible, seasonal guide to witchcraft in the twenty-first century. Following the course of a witch's calendar year while also exploring the history and politics of witchcraft, A Spell in the Wild is the perfect primer for the contemporary witch.

Antoine Fabre d'Olivet (December 8, 1767-March 25, 1825) was a French author, poet, and composer whose biblical and philosophical hermeneutics in?uenced many occultists, such as Eliphas Lvi and Gerard Encausse (Papus), and Ren Gunon. D'Olivet spent his life pursuing the esoteric wisdom concealed in the Hebrew scriptures, Greek philosophy, and the symbolism of many ancient cultures as far back as ancient India, Persia, and Egypt. His writings are considered classics of the Hermetic tradition. His best known works today are his research on the Hebrew language (The Hebraic Tongue Restored), his translation and interpretation of the writings of Pythagoras (The Golden Verses of Pythagoras), and his writings on the sacred art of music. In addition to the above two books and the present one, Hermetica has also published in consistent facsimile format for its Collected Works of Fabre d'Olivet series Cain and The Healing of Rodolphe Grivel. D'Olivet's interest in Pythagoras started a revival of Neo-Pythagoreanism that would later in?uence many occultists and new age esotericists. His mastery of many ancient languages and their literatures enabled him to write (in the time of Napoleon) his Hermeneutic Interpretation of the Origin of the Social State of Man and the Destiny of the Adamic Race, which remains a landmark investigation of the deeper esoteric undercurrents at work in the history of culture. A selection of chapter titles indicates the scope of this extraordinary text: Intellectual, Metaphysical Constitution of Man; Man is One of Three Great Powers of the Universe; Division of Mankind; Love, Principle of Sociability; Man is First Mute-First Language Consists of Signs; Digression on the Four Ages of the World; Deplorable Lot of Woman; Origin of Music and Poetry; Deviation of the Cult, Superstition; Establishment of Theocracy; Divine Messenger; Who Rama Was; Digression upon the Celts; Divine Unity Admitted into the Universal Empire; Origin of the Phoenician Shepherds; Foundation of the Assyrian Empire; New Developments of the Intellectual Sphere; Orpheus, Moses, and Fo-Hi; Struggle between Asia and Europe; Greece Loses her Political Existence; Beginning of Rome; Mission of Jesus; Conquest of Odin; Mission of Mohammed; Reign of Charlemagne; Utility of Feudalism and of Christianity; Movement of the European Will towards America; Principle of Monarchical Government; Causes which Are Opposed to the Establishment of Pure Despotism and Democracy.

An up-to-date synthesis of the spread and impact of humanism in Europe. A team of Renaissance scholars of international reputation including Peter Burke, Sydney Anglo, George Holmes and Geoffrey Elton, offers the student, academic and general reader an up-to-date synthesis of our current understanding of the spread and impact of humanism in Europe. Taken together, these essays throw a new and searching light on the Renaissance as a European phenomenon.

Drawing on ethnographic inquiry and the anthropological literature on doubt and atheism, this volume explores people's reluctance to pursue religion. The contributors capture the experiences of godless people and examine their perspectives on the role of religion in their personal and public lives. In doing so, the volume contributes to a critical understanding of the processes of disengagement from religion and reveals the challenges and paradoxes that godless people face.

Alchemy of the Word is a study of the literary, philosophical, and cultural ramifications of Cabala during the Renaissance. Important intellectual figures from 1490 to 1690 are considered, including Agrippa, Dee, Spenser, Shakespeare, Browne, and Milton; Cabalas more recent impact is also discussed. Cabala, a hermeneutic style of Biblical commentary of Jewish origin, is based on the notion that, along with an inscribed Decalogue, Moses received a secret, oral supplement that provides a symbolic, allegorical, and moral qualification of the literal law of religion.

Building on the work of Gershom Scholem, Joseph Blau, Harold Bloom, Francois Secret, Michel de Certeau, and Arthur Waite, Beitchman takes a fresh look at the "mystical" text through the lens of postmodernist theory. In a model developed from Deleuze-Guattari's "nomadology" to explore issues related to the Zohar, he shows that Cabala was a deconstruction of Renaissance authority. Like deconstruction, Cabala presents familiar material from novel and sometimes provocative perspectives. It allows space for modifiability, tolerance and humanity, by widening the margins between the letter of the law and the demands of an existence whose rules were so rapidly changing.

An exercise in the literary analysis of "sacred texts" and an examination of the mystical element in literary works, Alchemy of the Word is also an experiment in new historicism. It shows how the reincarnation theories of E M. Van Helmont, which impacted heavily on the seventeenth century English cabalistic circle of Henry More and Ann Conway, demonstrate at once the originality and boldness of Cabala, but also its desperation, constituting a theoretical parallel tothe continental "acting out" of the Sabbatian heresy.

“Among all the arts, it is the art of alchemy which most closely imitates nature.� - Albertus Magnus (teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas), ca.1250 Alchemists are notorious for attempting to synthesise gold. Their goals, however, were far more ambitious: to transform and bend nature to the will of an industrious human imagination. For scientists, philosophers, and artists alike, alchemy seemed to hold the key to unlocking the secrets of creation. Alchemists' efforts to discover the way the world is made have had an enduring impact on global artistic practice and expression. Concoctions produced in the world’s alchemy labs include inks, dyes, and oil paints; cements and ceramic glazing; dazzling effects in metalwork and glass - and the modern media which now claim boasting rights as the ultimate chemical mirrors of nature: photography and the liquid crystal displays of the digital world. Alchemy may well be the most important human invention after the harnessing of fire. It was certainly a direct result, with consequences both inspired and dire. The field spurred on advancements in the visual arts and aids to human health. Ancient Chinese alchemists also unleashed the black magic of gunpowder onto the world of warfare. This book is the first to explore how the art of alchemy globally transformed human creative culture from antiquity to the industrial age, and displays the ways its legacy still permeates the world we make today.

This volume brings together for the first time case studies on secularists of the 19th and early 20th centuries in national and transnational perspectives including examples from all over Europe. Its focus is on freethinkers taken as secular avant-gardes and early promoters of secularity. The authors of this book deal with multiple historical, religious, social, and cultural backgrounds and, in these contexts, analyze freethinkers' organizations, projects, networks, and contributions to forming a secular worldview, in particular, the promotion of concrete undertakings such as civil baptism or initiatives to leave church. Next to this secularist agenda, the contributions also take into account ambivalences and difficulties freethinkers were faced with, namely, the tensions between a national self-image and the transnational direction the movement has taken; the regional base of many projects and their transregional horizon; freethinkers' cultural programs and their immanent political mission; and the dialogue with respectively the conceptual distinction from other secularist groups. Readers interested in the history of secularity will learn that it was a heterogeneous enterprise already in its beginnings. This set the course for later European and global developments.

"In Karma, Mind, and Quest for Happiness," Dr. Susmit Kumar seeks to explain certain facts of Tantric philosophy, such as the constituent parts of the mind, the effect of mantra on the mind, and how karma may be scientifically defined and explained.

Until recently, people considered units of time and distance in terms of 100-200 years and 100-200 miles; astronomers now measure time and distance in billions of years and trillions of miles. Even so, science can study the scientific laws of only 4 percent of the materials in the universe, as it cannot "see" the remaining 96 percent, referred to as "dark matter" and "dark energy."

Great individuals-such as Christ, Buddha, Moses, Prophet Muhammad, and Krishna-knew something about the workings of the Universe that is not common knowledge; this is why we claim their actions to be miracles or religious dogma.

Furthermore, during the last 10,000 years, many saints in Asia have explored the human mind and its relationship with the Infinite. Most of them did it after first having established the limitations of physical pleasure and intellectual knowledge. When they started to explore the functioning of their minds and how everything around them was created, they developed a theory called Tantra.

"In Karma, Mind, and Quest for Happiness," Dr. Kumar will explore how Tantra is free from the distorting influences of time and place.

This fascinating book considers systems of belief and practice which are not religions in the full-blown sense, but which nevertheless affect human life in ways similar to the role played by the recognised religions. Professor Smith's thorough account compares the features which Humanism, Marxism and Nationalism share with recognised religions, analysing each in turn, and asks whether there is not always a threat of the demonic when any contingent reality - man, the economic order, or the state - is made absolute.

How-and why- were UFOs so prevalent in both conspiracy theories and the New Age milieu in the post-Cold War period? In this ground-breaking book, David G. Robertson argues that UFOs symbolized an uncertainty about the boundaries between scientific knowledge and other ways of validating knowledge, and thus became part of a shared vocabulary. Through historical and ethnographic case studies of three prominent figures-novelist and abductee Whitley Strieber; environmentalist and reptilian proponent David Icke; and David Wilcock, alleged reincarnation of Edgar Cayce-the investigation reveals that millennial conspiracism offers an explanation as to why the prophesied New Age failed to arrive-it was prevented from arriving by malevolent, hidden others. Yet millennial conspiracism constructs a counter-elite, a gnostic third party defined by their special knowledge. An overview of the development of UFO subcultures from the perspective of religious studies, UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age is an innovative application of discourse analysis to the study of present day alternative religion.

Conventional medicine focuses on the body's physical symptoms. But more and more patients are questioning the limitations of this approach and are exploring holistic approaches, such as anthroposophic medicine, which also addresses the human soul -- our individual thinking, will and feelings -- and the human spirit, our self-awareness and essence. Anthroposophic medicine is an extension of, not a replacement to, conventional medicine. This comprehensive book introduces and explores the philosophy and practice of anthroposophic medicine, which is based on principles developed by Rudolf Steiner. It discusses many alternative therapies and areas of health including artistic therapies, massage, childhood illnesses, cancer and psychiatry. Healing for Body, Soul and Spirit will inform and engage a general reader, with no medical background, who is interested in alternative and holistic approaches to human health.

Using south-western England as a focus for considering the continued place of witchcraft and demonology in provincial culture in the period between the English and French revolutions, Barry shows how witch-beliefs were intricately woven into the fabric of daily life, even at a time when they arguably ceased to be of interest to the educated.

There is currently much confusion about the nature of humanism and a good deal of interest in its point of view. As the object of attack and suspicion by fundamentalists, conservatives, and traditional religionists, Howard B. Radest believes that humanism deserves a clear and responsible treatment. He accomplishes this in this book by clarifying the nature of humanism in historical and current thought. The Enlightenment, Radest states, gave birth to a number of humanist values that are still being worked out in today's societies. He reconstructs how humanist values have been considered dangerous by those who fear a change in the status quo. Humanism, Radest maintains, is the true descendant of the age of reason and freedom.

In this unique volume, humanism is viewed as being misunderstood by both traditionalists and the humanists themselves. Radest does not wish to disparage traditional beliefs, but he emphasizes that humanism is a legitimate philosophical, ideological, and religious alternative--a party to the current struggle for a postmodern life philosophy. "The Devil and Secular Humanism" examines humanism in a more comprehensive way than most current literature, and it includes an assessment of the prospects for humanism in the years ahead. It will be of great use to a literate, but nontechnical, audience who are engaged in philosophy, religion, law, and politics.

In the Afro-Cuban Lukumi religious tradition - more commonly known in the United States as Santeria - entrants into the priesthood undergo an extraordinary fifty-three-week initiation period. During this time, these novices - called iyawo - endure a host of prohibitions, including most notably wearing exclusively white clothing.A Year in White, sociologist C. Lynn Carr, who underwent this initiation herself, opens a window on this remarkable year-long religious transformation. In her intimate investigation of the ""year in white"", Carr draws on fifty-two in-depth interviews with other participants, an online survey of nearly two hundred others, and almost a decade of her own ethnographic fieldwork, gathering stories that allow us to see how cultural newcomers and natives thought, felt, and acted with regard to their initiation. She documents how, during the iyawo year, the ritual slowly transforms the initiate's identity. For the first three months, for instance, the iyawo may not use a mirror, even to shave, and must eat all meals while seated on a mat on the floor using only a spoon and their own set of dishes. During the entire year, the iyawo loses their name and is simply addressed as ""iyawo"" by family and friends. Carr also shows that this year-long religious ritual - which is carried out even as the iyawo goes about daily life - offers new insight into religion in general, suggesting that the sacred is not separable from the profane and indeed that religion shares an ongoing dynamic relationship with the realities of everyday life. Religious expression happens at home, on the streets, at work and school. Offering insight not only into Santeria but also into religion more generally, A Year in White makes an important contribution to our understanding of complex, dynamic religious landscapes in multicultural, pluralist societies and how they inhabit our daily lives.