Occult studies / Supernatural studies Books

Book SynopsisThis is the first modern study of Agrippa's occult philosophy as a coherent part of his intellectual work. By demonstrating his sophistication, it challenges traditional interpretations of Agrippa as an intellectual dilettante, and uses modern theory and philosophy to elucidate the intricacies of his thought. It also argues for a new, interdisciplinary approach to magic and its place within early modern culture, using a transhistorical conversational model to understand and interpret the texts. The analysis walks the reader through the text of De occulta philosophia, Agrippa's 1533 masterpiece, explicating the often hidden structure and argument of the work. This volume will especially interest early modern intellectual historians, historians of religions, and scholars interested in the history of linguistic philosophy.Trade Review"Lehrich's book weaves a tapestry of critical theory and the history of ideas that is highly inspirational; he has given historians of early modern religion, science, and magic a great deal to think about." Steven Vanden Broeke, Renaissance Quarterly, 2005. "Engaging an interesting debate with modern anthropological and linguistic theories, not only does Lehrich manage to draw a coherent and fascinating picture of De occulta philosophia but he provides also some insightful suggestions for further research in order to clarify the role of this work in the development of early modern philosophical thought." Francesco La Nave, Sixteenth Century Journal, 2005.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations List of Illustrations 1. Introduction 2. Logos and nature 3. Sign, Sigil, Text 4. The Language of Demons and Angels 5. Conclusion Appendix I. Latin Quotations, De occulta philosophia Appendix II. De vanitate on Alchemy Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the Hellenistic and Roman world intimate relations existed between those holding power and the cults of Isis. This book is the first to chart these various appropriations over time within a comparative perspective. Ten carefully selected case studies show that “the Egyptian gods” were no exotic outsiders to the Hellenistic and Roman Mediterranean, but constituted a well institutionalised and frequently used religious option. Ranging from the early Ptolemies and Seleucids to late Antiquity, the case studies illustrate how much symbolic meaning was made with the cults of Isis by kings, emperors, cities and elites. Three articles introduce the theme of Isis and the longue durée theoretically, simultaneously exploring a new approach towards concepts like ruler cult and Religionspolitik.Trade Review'This is a highly useful collection of papers. It will be of obvious use to anyone with an interest in the history and development of Isiac cult in the Hellenistic and Roman worlds, particularly in epigraphic and artistic evidence for the cult. It will be of equal interest to those working with theories and concepts of power, especially as it relates to religion, and it should also be considered by anyone with an interest in religious identity in the ancient world. It is an engaging and thought-provoking volume.' Juliette Harrisson, Newman University, The Classical Review 66.1 (2016). 'The volume’s geographical, chronological and thematic scope is impressive. An array of archaeological, epigraphic, literary, numismatic and papyrological evidence is deployed, illuminating many facets of Isis’ evolving cultural significance.' Nick West, University of Reading, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 136 (2016)

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume contains a series of provocative essays that explore expressions of magic and ritual power in the ancient world. The strength of the present volume lies in the breadth of scholarly approaches represented. The book begins with several papyrological studies presenting important new texts in Greek and Coptic, continuing with essays focussing on taxonomy and definition. The concluding essays apply contemporary theories to analyses of specific test cases in a broad variety of ancient Mediterranean cultures. Paul Mirecki, Th.D. (1986) in Religious Studies, Harvard Divinity School, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Kansas. Marvin Meyer, Ph.D. (1979) in Religion, Claremont Graduate School, is Professor of Religion at Chapman University, Orange, California, and Director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity.Trade Review"…an excellent overview with enough depth to satisfy specialists interested in magic or any of the academic contexts within which the topics are found." – Jennifer Wees, in: Laval Theologique et Philosophique, 2004

Read more less

Book SynopsisLux in Tenebris is a collection of eighteen original interdisciplinary essays that address aspects of the verbal and visual symbolism in the works of significant figures in the history of Western Esotericism, covering such themes as alchemy, magic, kabbalah, angels, occult philosophy, Platonism, Rosicrucianism, and Theosophy. Part I: Middle Ages & Early Modernity ranges from Gikatilla, Ficino, Camillo, Agrippa, Weigel, Böhme, Yvon, and Swedenborg, to celestial divination in Russia. Part II: Modernity & Postmodernity moves from occultist thinkers Schwaller de Lubicz and Evola to esotericism in literature, art, and cinema, in the works of Colquhoun, Degouve de Nuncques, Bruskin, Doitschinoff, and Pérez-Reverte, with an essay on esoteric theories of colour. Contributors are: Michael J.B. Allen, Susanna Åkerman, Lina Bolzoni, Aaron Cheak, Robert Collis, Francesca M. Crasta, Per Faxneld, Laura Follesa, Victoria Ferentinou, Joshua Gentzke, Joscelyn Godwin, Hans Thomas Hakl, Theodor Harmsen, Elke Morlok, Noel Putnik, Jonathan Schorsch, György Szönyi, Carsten Wilke, and Thomas Willard.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom Mythos to Logos: Andrea Palladio, Freemasonry and the Triumph of Minerva explores how myth was used to encode architecture and frescoed interiors with insights that promote peace, freedom and kindness as ways of being in the world. The author, Michael Trevor Coughlin argues that Freemasonry took root in the Italian city of Vicenza as early as 1546, and that its precepts, conveyed through the intersection of myth and philosophy, were disseminated widely in buildings and images, as well as texts, prescribing tolerance and an understanding of the divine that exists in each and everyone.Trade Review“Coughlin’s book is valuable for its courageous attempt to investigate an extremely complex topic, providing a really interesting and clear analysis of the context. This book is intended for a broad academic audience in the fields of philosophy, history of art and architecture, literature, and religion, and it represents a valuable example of a meeting point among different disciplines.” Francesco Marcorin, Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio. In: Journal of British Studies, Vol. 60, No. 3 (July 2021), pp. 696–697.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Jewel of Annual Astrology is an encyclopaedic treatise on Tājika or Sanskritized Perso-Arabic astrology, dealing particularly with the casting and interpretation of anniversary horoscopes. Authored in 1649 CE by Balabhadra Daivajña, court astrologer to Shāh Shujāʿ – governor of Bengal and second son of the Mughal emperor Shāh Jahān – it casts light on the historical development of the Tājika school by extensive quotations from earlier works spanning five centuries. With this first-ever scholarly edition and translation of a Tājika text, Martin Gansten makes a significant contribution not only to the study of an important but little known knowledge tradition, but also to the intellectual historiography of Asia and the transmission of horoscopic astrology in the medieval and early modern periods.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Text and Translation 1 Fundamentals of Astrology and the Annual Revolution  1.1 The Author’s Family Lineage  1.2 The Tājika Teaching: Lawful and Useful  1.3 Fate, Human Effort, and the Astrologer  1.4 The Signs of the Zodiac  1.5 The Planets  1.6 Calculating the Time of the Annual Revolution  1.7 General Methods for Gauging the Nature of the Year  1.8 Calculating the Planetary Positions in the Annual Revolution  1.9 Calculating and Judging the Houses in the Annual Revolution 2 Aspects and Dignities  2.1 The Various Aspects and Their Results  2.2 Dexter and Sinister Aspects  2.3 Numerical Values of the Aspects  2.4 Schemes of Friendship and Enmity  2.5 The Five Dignities  2.6 The Sixfold Strength  2.7 Other Calculations of Strength  2.8 The Twelve Dignities  2.9 The Joys of the Planets 3 The Sixteen Configurations  3.1 The Names of the Configurations and the Orbs of Light of the Planets  3.2 The ikkavāla and induvāra Configurations  3.3 The itthaśāla Configuration  3.4 The īsarāpha Configuration  3.5 The nakta Configuration  3.6 The yamayā Configuration  3.7 The maṇaū Configuration  3.8 The kambūla Configuration  3.9 The gairikambūla Configuration  3.10 The khallāsara Configuration  3.11 The radda Configuration  3.12 The duḥphālikuttha Configuration  3.13 The dutthotthadabīra Configuration  3.14 The tambīra Configuration  3.15 The kuttha Configuration  3.16 The duruḥpha Configuration 4 The sahamas  4.1 The Names of the sahamas  4.2 Calculating the sahama of Fortune: Conflicting Opinions  4.3 Calculating the Remaining sahamas  4.4 Converting the sahamas to Ascensions  4.5 Sahamas of Signs, Planets, and Family Members  4.6 The Results of sahamas  4.7 The Times of Results 5 The Ruler of the Year and Related Matters  5.1 Calculating the munthahā  5.2 General Results of the munthahā  5.3 Results of the munthahā Occupying the Twelve Houses  5.4 The munthahā in the Nativity and in the Revolution  5.5 Planets Influencing the munthahā  5.6 Finding the munthahā from a Query  5.7 The Triplicity Rulers  5.8 Finding the Ruler of the Year  5.9 Special Considerations  5.10 General Results of the Ruler of the Year  5.11 The Results of Each Planet as Ruler of the Year  5.12 Unfortunate Configurations  5.13 Cancellation of Misfortune  5.14 Configurations for Dominion  5.15 Cancellation of Dominion 6 Judging the Twelve Houses  6.1 General Principles of Judgement  6.2 The First House  6.3 The Second House  6.4 The Third House  6.5 The Fourth House  6.6 The Fifth House  6.7 The Sixth House  6.8 The Seventh House  6.9 The Eighth House  6.10 The Ninth House  6.11 The Tenth House  6.12 The Eleventh House  6.13 The Twelfth House 7 The Planetary Periods  7.1 The Periods Based on Deducted Degrees  7.2 Including or Excluding the Signs: Different Opinions  7.3 Three Varieties of tāsīra Periods  7.4 The Periods Based on Planetary Hours  7.5 The haddā Periods  7.6 The Natural Periods of the Planets  7.7 The Results of Periods  7.8 The Subperiods of the Planets  7.9 Periods according to the Schools of Gaurī and Mahādeva  7.10 Periods according to the School of (Bala)rāma  7.11 The Use of the Different Systems of Periods 8 Monthly and Daily Revolutions  8.1 Preliminary Calculations  8.2 The Three Corrections  8.3 An Example from the Nativity of Shāh Shujāʿ  8.4 The Ruler of the Month and Results according to the Ninth-Parts  8.5 The Planets in the Ninth-Parts of the Houses  8.6 The Planets in the Houses  8.7 The Results of Periods within a Month  8.8 The Results of Daily Revolutions  8.9 The Ruler of the Day and Other Planets  8.10 Periods within a Day  8.11 Planetary States in the Daily Revolution  8.12 The Judgement of Meals  8.13 The Judgement of Hunting  8.14 The Judgement of Dreams  8.15 How to Write out a Complete Annual Horoscope  8.16 Dedication and Conclusion Appendix: Solar Equation (mandaphala) Glossary of Astrological Terms Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIslamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice brings together the latest research on Islamic occult sciences from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, namely intellectual history, manuscript studies and material culture. Its aim is not only to showcase the range of pioneering work that is currently being done in these areas, but also to provide a model for closer interaction amongst the disciplines constituting this burgeoning field of study. Furthermore, the book provides the rare opportunity to bridge the gap on an institutional level by bringing the academic and curatorial spheres into dialogue. Contributors include: Charles Burnett, Jean-Charles Coulon, Maryam Ekhtiar, Noah Gardiner, Christiane Gruber, Bink Hallum, Francesca Leoni, Matthew Melvin-Koushki, Michael Noble, Rachel Parikh, Liana Saif, Maria Subtelny, Farouk Yahya, and Travis Zadeh.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations and Tables Notes on Contributors Transliteration, Style, and Dates 1 Introduction  Liana Saif and Francesca Leoni Part 1 Occult Theories: Inception and Reception 2 The Three Divisions of Arabic Magic  Charles Burnett 3 New Light on Early Arabic Awfāq Literature  Bink Hallum 4 A Study on the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ’s Epistle on Magic, the Longer Version (52b)  Liana Saif 5 Sabian Astral Magic as Soteriology in Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s al-Sirr al-maktūm  Michael Noble 6 Lettrism and History in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Bisṭāmī’s Naẓm al-sulūk fī musāmarat al-mulūk  Noah Gardiner 7 Kāshifī’s Asrār-i qāsimī: A Late Timurid Manual of the Occult Sciences and Its Safavid Afterlife  Maria Subtelny Part 2 Occult Technologies: From Instruction to Action 8 The Kitāb Sharāsīm al-hindiyya and Medieval Islamic Occult Sciences  Jean-Charles Coulon 9 Toward a Neopythagorean Historiography: Kemālpaşazāde’s (d. 1534) Lettrist Call for the Conquest of Cairo and the Development of Ottoman Occult-Scientific Imperialism  Matthew Melvin-Koushki 10 Power and Piety: Islamic Talismans on the Battlefield  Maryam Ekhtiar and Rachel Parikh 11 Calligrams of the Lion of ʿAlī in Southeast Asia  Farouk Yahya 12 A Stamped Talisman  Francesca Leoni 13 Bereket Bargains: Islamic Amulets in Today’s “New Turkey”  Christiane Gruber 14 Postscript: Cutting Ariadne’s Thread, or How to Think Otherwise in the Maze  Travis Zadeh Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIslamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice brings together the latest research on Islamic occult sciences from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, namely intellectual history, manuscript studies and material culture. Its aim is not only to showcase the range of pioneering work that is currently being done in these areas, but also to provide a model for closer interaction amongst the disciplines constituting this burgeoning field of study. Furthermore, the book provides the rare opportunity to bridge the gap on an institutional level by bringing the academic and curatorial spheres into dialogue. Contributors include: Charles Burnett, Jean-Charles Coulon, Maryam Ekhtiar, Noah Gardiner, Christiane Gruber, Bink Hallum, Francesca Leoni, Matthew Melvin-Koushki, Michael Noble, Rachel Parikh, Liana Saif, Maria Subtelny, Farouk Yahya, and Travis Zadeh.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations and Tables Notes on Contributors Transliteration, Style, and Dates 1 Introduction  Liana Saif and Francesca Leoni Part 1 Occult Theories: Inception and Reception 2 The Three Divisions of Arabic Magic  Charles Burnett 3 New Light on Early Arabic Awfāq Literature  Bink Hallum 4 A Study on the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ’s Epistle on Magic, the Longer Version (52b)  Liana Saif 5 Sabian Astral Magic as Soteriology in Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s al-Sirr al-maktūm  Michael Noble 6 Lettrism and History in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Bisṭāmī’s Naẓm al-sulūk fī musāmarat al-mulūk  Noah Gardiner 7 Kāshifī’s Asrār-i qāsimī: A Late Timurid Manual of the Occult Sciences and Its Safavid Afterlife  Maria Subtelny Part 2 Occult Technologies: From Instruction to Action 8 The Kitāb Sharāsīm al-hindiyya and Medieval Islamic Occult Sciences  Jean-Charles Coulon 9 Toward a Neopythagorean Historiography: Kemālpaşazāde’s (d. 1534) Lettrist Call for the Conquest of Cairo and the Development of Ottoman Occult-Scientific Imperialism  Matthew Melvin-Koushki 10 Power and Piety: Islamic Talismans on the Battlefield  Maryam Ekhtiar and Rachel Parikh 11 Calligrams of the Lion of ʿAlī in Southeast Asia  Farouk Yahya 12 A Stamped Talisman  Francesca Leoni 13 Bereket Bargains: Islamic Amulets in Today’s “New Turkey”  Christiane Gruber 14 Postscript: Cutting Ariadne’s Thread, or How to Think Otherwise in the Maze  Travis Zadeh Index

Read more less