Western Mysticism

Download or read book Magic and Mysticism written by Arthur Versluis and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides overview, from antiquity onwards, on various Western religious esoteric movements. This book includes topics such as: alchemy, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy and more.

Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of Western Mysticism and Esotericism written by Glenn Alexander Magee and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-04-18 with total page 820 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mysticism and esotericism are two intimately related strands of the Western tradition. Despite their close connections, however, scholars tend to treat them separately. Whereas the study of Western mysticism enjoys a long and established history, Western esotericism is a young field. The Cambridge Handbook of Western Mysticism and Esotericism examines both of these traditions together. The volume demonstrates that the roots of esotericism almost always lead back to mystical traditions, while the work of mystics was bound up with esoteric or occult preoccupations. It also shows why mysticism and esotericism must be examined together if either is to be understood fully. Including contributions by leading scholars, this volume features essays on such topics as alchemy, astrology, magic, Neoplatonism, Kabbalism, Renaissance Hermetism, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, numerology, Christian theosophy, spiritualism, and much more. This Handbook serves as both a capstone of contemporary scholarship and a cornerstone of future research.

Download or read book Western Mysticism written by Cuthbert Butler and published by . This book was released on 1927 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Western Mysticism written by Butler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-10-12 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A renewed interest in the spiritual, with an increasing number of people today wishing to incorporate the contemplative in their active lives, prompts the reissue of this classic work, a doctrine that is at once elevated and practical. The writings are meant to be studied from three distinct points of view: religious philosophy, material for the study of those states between mind and body such as ecstasy and trance, and for the sake of their mysticism. Drawn from the writings and teachings of Saint Augustine, Saint Gregory and Saint Bernard, the writings form a coordinated body of doctrine with what three great teachers of mystical theology in the Western Church have written concerning their own religious experience and the theories they based on it. In addition, the book discusses such important topics as speculative contemplation, what mysticism is, the characteristics of Western mysticism, the practical, and the contrasts between the contemplative and active lives. No student of mysticism can possibly afford to neglect a volume so full of valuable suggestions and real insight into spiritual conditions.

Download or read book Western Mysticism written by Cuthbert Butler and published by . This book was released on 1923 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Secret History of Western Sexual Mysticism written by Arthur Versluis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book to reveal the history of Western sexual mysticism • Reveals the secret sexual practices that have been used since ancient Greece to achieve mystical union with God • Details the sects and individuals who transmitted the radical sexual practices that orthodox Christianity never completely silenced • Distinguishes between sexual magic and sexual mysticism Beginning with the ancient Greek Mystery traditions, Gnosticism, and the practices in early Christianity, Arthur Versluis uncovers the secret line of Western sexual mysticism that, like the Tantra of the East, seeks transcendence or union with God through sexual practices. Throughout antiquity, and right into the present day, sexuality has played an important, if largely hidden, role in religious traditions and practices. This includes not only Christian but also kabbalistic and hermetic alchemical currents of sexual mysticism, many discussed together here for the first time. In the Mystery tradition of hieros gamos (sacred marriage) and the Gnostic tradition of spiritual marriage, we see the possibility of divine union in which sexual union is the principal sign or symbol. Key to these practices is the inner or archetypal union of above and below, the intermingling of the revelatory divine world with the mundane earthly one. Versluis shows that these secret currents of sexual mysticism helped fuel the rise of the troubadours and their erotic doctrine, the esoteric teachings of Jacob Böhme in the late 16th century, the 19th-century utopian communities of John Humphrey Noyes and Thomas Lake Harris, the free love movement of the 20th century, and the modern writings of Denis de Rougemont and Alan Watts.

Download or read book Western Mysticism written by Dom Cuthbert Butler and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-04-19 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extracts from the writings of three of Western Christianity's most revered teachers of mystical theology express what they themselves wrote and thought about their mysticism.