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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies
Extracted from Volumes 1, 8, and 18. Includes Jung's Foreword to
Phenomenes Occultes (1939), "On the Psychology and Pathology of
So-called Occult Phenomena," "The Psychological Foundations of
Belief in Spirits," "The Soul and Death," "Psychology and
Spiritualism," "On Spooks: Heresy or Truth?" and Foreword to Jaffe:
Apparitions and Precognition."
Enlivened with 102 photographs and 50 figures and maps, "Shamans,
Witches, and Maya Priests" explores the "old ways" that still
prevail in the Q'anjob'al, Akatek, and Chuj communities of the
remote northwestern Cuchumatan Mountains. Krystyna Deuss provides
vivid descriptions and images of the traditional rites and rituals
she witnessed during fifteen years of fieldwork. These sacred
moments include blood sacrifices for the good of the community and
private shamanic rituals--as well as black magic. Deuss also
includes a selection of the prayers she recorded.
"A pioneer work in . . . the sexual structuring of society. This is not just another book about witchcraft."--Edmund S. Morgan, Yale University
Confessing to "Familiarity with the Devils," Mary Johnson, a servant, was executed by Connecticut officials in 1648. A wealthy Boston widow, Ann Hibbens, was hanged in 1656 for casting spells on her neighbors. In 1662, Ann Cole was "taken with very strange Fits" and fueled an outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Hartford a generation before the notorious events in Salem took place.
More than three hundred years later the question still haunts us: Why were these and other women likely witches? Why were they vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft? In this work Carol Karlsen reveals the social construction of witchcraft in seventeenth-century New England and illuminates the larger contours of gender relations in that society.
"A remarkable achievement. The 'witches' come alive in this book, not as stereotypes, but as real women living in a society that suspected and feared their independence and combativeness."--Mary Beth Norton, Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History, Cornell University
Suppose you could ask God the most puzzling questions about existence--questions about love and faith, life and death, good and evil. Supose God provided clear, understandable answers. It happened to Neale Donald Walsch. It can happen to you. You are about to have a conversation. Walsch's fascinating three-year conversation with God about every aspect of life and living began in 1992, Walsch says, when he was struggling financially and his health and relationships were suffering. Out of frustration, he composed an angry, passionate letter to God demanding to know why his life was in such turmoil. To his amazement, when he was finished, he was moved to continue writing as God answered back. The book that grew from that first experience addresses the real life issues we all face at work, at home, and out in the world, as well as the larger questions of the nature of God and his relationship to man. How does Walsch know that God was actually talking to him? "The book contains concepts and information beyond anything I've ever thought of," says Walsch. "But more importantly, I've found out through other readers that there are hundreds of people that have had this same experience. This book has allowed them to speak out." Walsch claims that God speaks to everyone all the time, that we're just not listening. "Have you ever been struck by a song lyric or the cover story of a magazine you suddenly pass on a newsstand that seems to answer a question you've had? Have you ever met someone for the first time and had that person mention something out of the blue that's been on your mind? Have you ever gone to church and thought the minister must have read your mail, because he seems to be talking directly to you? We often write things off to coincidence that we should give God credit for."
This book analyzes the gendered transformation of magical figures
occurring in Arthurian romance in England from the twelfth to the
sixteenth centuries. In the earlier texts, magic is predominantly a
masculine pursuit, garnering its user prestige and power, but in
the later texts, magic becomes a primarily feminine activity, one
that marks its user as wicked and heretical. This project explores
both the literary and the social motivations for this
transformation, seeking an answer to the question, 'why did the
witch become wicked?' Heidi Breuer traverses both the medieval and
early modern periods and considers the way in which the
representation of literary witches interacted with the culture at
large, ultimately arguing that a series of economic crises in the
fourteenth century created a labour shortage met by women. As women
moved into the previously male-dominated economy, literary backlash
came in the form of the witch, and social backlash followed soon
after in the form of Renaissance witch-hunting. The witch figure
serves a similar function in modern American culture because
late-industrial capitalism challenges gender conventions in similar
ways as the economic crises of the medieval period.
There have been many grimoires attributed to St. Cyprian of
Antioch due to his reputation as a consummate magician before his
conversion to Christianity, but perhaps none so intriguing as the
present manuscript.
This unique grimoire addresses the summoning and use of the four
Archangels, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel as well as their
opposite numbers, the four Demon Kings, Paymon, Maimon, Egyn and
Oriens. The latter are shown in their animal and human forms along
with their sigils, a resource unique amongst grimoires. The text is
a mixture of magical scripts, Greek, Hebrew, cipher, Latin, (and
reversed Latin) made plain by the editors.
'A major work ... an extraordinary tour de force, [this book] will
materially help to bring both sides (science and paranormal
studies) together in a way which could lead to real and important
advances in our view of the universe' - New Scientist First
published in 1978, Mysteries is the powerful and enlightening
sequel to The Occult, continuing Colin Wilson's investigations into
the paranormal, the occult and the supernatural. The experience of
his own panic attacks gave Wilson his insight into the concept of
the ladder or hierarchy of selves with which we are all associated.
In this book he fully explores this idea of multiple selves,
explaining how our lower, childish selves are linked to depression
and anxiety. The book offers an optimistic message to counteract
our contemporary tendency towards pessimism and nihilism:
purposeful activity will always allow us to call on our higher
selves and bring concentration, control and a sense of meaning into
life. Wilson uses the concept of the multi-personality to explain a
wide range of paranormal phenomenon, from dowsing and demonic
possession to precognition and spoon-bending, and he analyses the
work of all the big names in 20th-century supra-rational research
(from T C Lethbridge to Margaret Murray to Carl Jung) from this
perspective. The story ranges widely, from the stone circles to
1960s LSD adventures, and Wilson's analysis is woven with hundreds
of entertaining paranormal anecdotes and case studies taken from
throughout history, including his own experiences of dowsing at the
Merry Maidens stone circle and of visions and lucid dreaming.
Uncovers the mindset and motives that drive far-right extremists
More than half a century after the defeat of Nazism and fascism,
the far right is again challenging the liberal order of Western
democracies. Radical movements are feeding on anxiety about
immigration, globalization and the refugee crisis, giving rise to
new waves of nationalism and surges of white supremacism. A curious
mixture of Aristocratic paganism, anti-Semitic demonology, Eastern
philosophies and the occult is influencing populist antigovernment
sentiment and helping to exploit the widespread fear that invisible
elites are shaping world events. Black Sun examines this neofascist
ideology, showing how hate groups, militias and conspiracy cults
gain influence. Based on interviews and extensive research into
underground groups, the book documents new Nazi and fascist sects
that have sprung up since the 1970s and examines the mentality and
motivation of these far-right extremists. The result is a detailed,
grounded portrait of the mythical and devotional aspects of Hitler
cults among Aryan mystics, racist skinheads and Nazi satanists, and
disciples of heavy metal music and occult literature. Nicholas
Goodrick-Clarke offers a unique perspective on far right neo-Nazism
viewing it as a new form of Western religious heresy. He paints a
frightening picture of a religion with its own relics, rituals,
prophecies and an international sectarian following that could,
under the proper conditions, gain political power and attempt to
realize its dangerous millenarian fantasies.
With his philosophical and scientific training, Steiner brought a
new systematic discipline to the field of spiritual research,
allowing for fully conscious methods and comprehensive results. A
natural seer, he cultivated his spiritual vision to a high degree,
enabling him to speak with authority on previously veiled
mysteries.
Alchemists are generally held to be the quirky forefathers of
science, blending occultism with metaphysical pursuits. Although
many were intelligent and well-intentioned thinkers, the oft-cited
goals of alchemy paint these antiquated experiments as wizardry,
not scientific investigation. Whether seeking to produce a
miraculous panacea or struggling to transmute lead into gold, the
alchemists radical goals held little relevance to consequent
scientific pursuits. Thus, the temptation is to view the transition
from alchemy to modern science as one that discarded fantastic
ideas about philosophers stones and magic potions in exchange for
modest yet steady results. It has been less noted, however, that
the birth of atomic science actually coincided with an
efflorescence of occultism and esoteric religion that attached deep
significance to questions about the nature of matter and energy.
Mark Morrisson challenges the widespread dismissal of alchemy as a
largely insignificant historical footnote to science by prying into
the revival of alchemy and its influence on the emerging subatomic
sciences of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Morrisson
demonstrates its surprising influence on the emerging subatomic
sciences of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Specifically,
Morrisson examines the resurfacing of occult circles during this
time period and how their interest in alchemical tropes had a
substantial and traceable impact upon the science of the day.
Modern Alchemy chronicles several encounters between occult
conceptions of alchemy and the new science, describing how academic
chemists, inspired by the alchemy revival, attempted to transmute
the elements; to make gold.
Examining scientists publications, correspondence, talks, and
laboratory notebooks as well as the writings of occultists,
alchemical tomes, and science-fiction stories, he argues that
during the birth of modern nuclear physics, the trajectories of
science and occultism---so often considered antithetical---briefly
merged.
Focusing on colonial Kenya, this book shows how conflicts between
state authorities and Africans over witchcraft-related crimes
provided an important space in which the meanings of justice, law
and order in the empire were debated. Katherine Luongo discusses
the emergence of imperial networks of knowledge about witchcraft.
She then demonstrates how colonial concerns about witchcraft
produced an elaborate body of jurisprudence about capital crimes.
The book analyzes the legal wrangling that produced the Witchcraft
Ordinances in the 1910s, the birth of an anthro-administrative
complex surrounding witchcraft in the 1920s, the hotly contested
Wakamba Witch Trials of the 1930s, the explosive growth of legal
opinion on witch-murder in the 1940s, and the unprecedented
state-sponsored cleansings of witches and Mau Mau adherents during
the 1950s. A work of anthropological history, this book develops an
ethnography of Kamba witchcraft or uoi.
Written in 1597 in old english, King James I, the author of the
King James bible, wrote Demonology. This work includes his beliefs
in satan and witches. A historical work and important read for
scholars of religion, this title allows readers to study the
beliefs and ideas and King James. Demonology is known as one of the
most interesting and controversial writings in the history of
christianity.
Imagine yourself sitting on the cool damp earth, surrounded by deep
night sky and fields full of fireflies, anticipating the ritual of
initiation that you are about to undergo. Suddenly you hear the
sounds of far-off singing and chanting, drums booming, rattles
"snaking," voices raised in harmony. The casting of the Circle is
complete. You are led to the edge of the Circle, where Death, your
challenge, is waiting for you. With the passwords of "perfect love"
and "perfect trust" you enter Death's realm. The Guardians of the
four quarters purify you, and you are finally reborn into the
Circle as a newly made Witch.
Coming to the Edge of the Circle offers an ethnographic study of
the initiation ritual practiced by one coven of Witches located in
Ohio. As a High Priestess within the coven as well as a scholar of
religion, Nikki Bado-Fralick is in a unique position to contribute
to our understanding of this ceremony and the tradition to which it
belongs. Bado-Fralick's analysis of this coven's initiation
ceremony offers an important challenge to the commonly accepted
model of "rites of passage." Rather than a single linear event,
initiation is deeply embedded within a total process of becoming a
Witch in practice and in community with others.
Coming to the Edge of the Circle expands our concept of initiation
while giving us insight into one coven's practice of Wicca. An
important addition to Ritual Studies, it also introduces readers to
the contemporary nature religion variously called Wicca,
Witchcraft, the Old Religion, or the Craft.
Discover the strange world of the undead and the proof that
creatures of the night exist when you read Vampires by
Konstantinos. The facts about vampires are stranger than anything
you may have read, heard, or imagined before. In Vampires you'll
learn the truth about the undead. It rips away the myth and exposes
the habits and lifestyles of these beings. Vampires reveals the
occult truths about these creatures including actual first-person
encounters with vampires of all types--the ancient undead of
folklore, contemporary mortal blood drinkers, and the most
dangerous creatures of all: psychic vampires who intentionally
drain the life force from their victims. - Learn about the four
types of vampires - Read about vampire legends from around the
world - Discover vampires from history, including: - Arnold Paole
of Serbia - Peter Plogojowitz and the Count de Cabreras of Hungary
- The vampire of Croglin Grange, Cumberland, England - Countess
Elizabeth Bathory, responsible for up to 650 deaths - Gilles de
Rais - Fritz Haarman, of Germany, from ninety years ago - John
Haigh of Yorkshire, England, from just before WWII - And of course,
the real Vlad Dracula - Present-day blood drinkers - How to protect
yourself from vampires Included are letters from contemporary
vampires. You will be shocked and surprised as you discover what
these people are really like. Besides learning about the psychic
vampire that unintentionally drains you of your energy as well as
the intentional psychic vampire, you'll learn rituals for
protection and methods to avoid falling into their clutches.
Vampires finally reveals the truth about the undead. You will be
fascinated when you discover who they were and what they are now,
and you'll be grateful when you learn how to protect yourself from
them. This is not a book of fantasy and imagination, but of
science, history, and spirituality.
Witchcraft and a Life in the New South Africa reconstructs the
biography of an ordinary South African, Jimmy Mohale. Born in 1964,
Jimmy came of age in rural South Africa during apartheid, then
studied at university and worked as a teacher during the
anti-apartheid struggle. In 2005, Jimmy died from an undiagnosed
sickness, probably related to AIDS. Jimmy gradually came to see the
unanticipated misfortune he experienced as a result of his father's
witchcraft and sought remedies from diviners rather than from
biomedical doctors. This study casts new light on scholarly
understandings of the connections between South African politics,
witchcraft and the AIDS pandemic.
This is a work of fundamental importance for our understanding of the intellectual and cultural history of early modern Europe. Stuart Clark offers a new interpretation of the witchcraft beliefs of European intellectuals between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, based on their publications in the field of demonology. He shows how these beliefs fitted rationally with other views current in Europe throughout that period, and underlines just how far the nature of rationality is dependent on its historical context.
There has long existed among the Germanic Pennsylvania Dutch people
a belief in white and dark magic. The art of white magic in the
Dutch Country is referred to by old-timers as Braucherei in their
unique Dialect, otherwise known as Powwowing. Hexerei, of course,
is the art of black magic. Powers used to heal in the art of
Braucherei are derived from God (the Holy Trinity), but the powers
employed in Hexerei are derived from the Devil, in the simplest of
explanation. Therefore, one who engages in the latter has bartered
or "sold his soul to the Devil," and destined for Hell! For nearly
three centuries, the Pennsylvania Dutch have not hesitated to use
Braucherei in the healing of their sick and afflicted, and
regionally, the culture has canonized early 19th Century faith
healer, Mountain Mary (of the Oley Hills), as a Saint for her
powers of healing. Furthermore, contemporary of hers, John Georg
Hohman, has published numerous early 19th Century books on the
matter still in use today. Both their form of faith healing has
many counterparts in our civilization, however, the subset of
Hexerei, witchcraft, or black magic was always considered of utmost
evil here in the region; and only desperate people, and those with
devious intentions, have resorted to its equally powerful and
secret powers.
Over half a century after the defeat of the Third Reich, the
complexities of Nazi ideology are still being unravelled. This text
is a serious attempt to identify these ideological origins. It
demonstrates the way in which Nazism was influenced by powerful
occult and millenarian sects that thrived in Germany and Austria at
the turn of the century. Their ideas and symbols filtered through
to nationalist-racist groups associated with the infant Nazi party
and their fantasies were played out with terrifying consequences in
the Third Reich: Auschwitz, Sobibor and Treblinka are the hellish
museums of the Nazi apocalypse. This bizarre and fascinating story
contains lessons we cannot afford to ignore.
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