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Ren Gunon (1886-1951) is undoubtedly one of the luminaries of the
twentieth century, whose critique of the modern world has stood
fast against the shifting sands of recent philosophies. His oeuvre
of 26 volumes is providential for the modern seeker: pointing
ceaselessly to the perennial wisdom found in past cultures ranging
from the Shamanistic to the Indian and Chinese, the Hellenic and
Judaic, the Christian and Islamic, and including also Alchemy,
Hermeticism, and other esoteric currents, at the same time it
directs the reader to the deepest level of religious praxis,
emphasizing the need for affiliation with a revealed tradition even
while acknowledging the final identity of all spiritual paths as
they approach the summit of spiritual realization. Many readers of
Gunon's doctrinal works have hoped for translations of his detailed
exposs of Theosophy and Spiritism. Sophia Perennis is pleased now
to make available both these important titles as part of the
Collected Works of Ren Gunon. Whereas Theosophy: History of a
Pseudo-Religion centers primarily on historical details, The
Spiritist Fallacy, though also packed with arcane facts, is unique
in revealing how one of the greatest metaphysicians of our age
interprets the phenomena, real or alleged, of Spiritism. The
doctrinal expositions that accompany his astonishing account of
Spiritism offer extraordinarily prescient insight into many
deviations and 'psychological' afflictions of the modern mind, and
should be as valuable to psychiatrists and spiritual counselors as
to historians of esoteric history. And it also offers a profound
corrective to the many brands of New Age 'therapy' that all too
unwittingly invoke many of the same elements whose nefarious
origins Gunon so clearly pointed out many years ago.
Since WW II, 'channeling' has largely replaced older styles of
mediumship in the movement loosely known as the New Age. Yet the
two are intimately related. As both historical chronicle and
metaphysical critique, The Spiritist Fallacy, together with its
companion volume, Theosophy: History of a Pseudo-Religion, is a
valuable study of New Age origins. Guenon takes the 'spirit
manifestations' of the Fox sisters in Hydesville, New York (in
1847) as his starting-point, but while accepting the reality of
many such 'manifestations', denies that they represent the spirits
of the departed. He sees them, rather, as fostering belief in a
kind of rarefied materialism, as though the 'spirit of the
deceased' were no more than an invisible, quasi-material body, and
death no more than a 'shedding' of the physical body while the
'spirit' remains otherwise unchanged-a belief widespread today in
popular culture. The author demonstrates how various 'spirit
philosophies' are little more than reflections of their own
milieux-'English spirits' being conservative and denying
reincarnation, 'French spirits' accepting reincarnation and
espousing progressivist or revolutionary ideas, etc. antiquity with
haunted houses suddenly, in the 19th century-and within five years
of their appearance-spawned an international pseudo-religious
movement, speculating that certain magicians (possibly from the
Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor) may have intentionally produced the
Hydesville phenomena by actively projecting hidden influences upon
the passive psyches of their mediums. The mutual influence of
Spiritism and Theosophy, and the adverse affects of 'spirit
entities' upon many mediums, are also covered in considerable
detail. The Spiritist Error is both an expose of 'unconscious
Satanism' and a highly useful critique of the false ideas of the
afterlife which are so prevalent in our time.
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