When archaeologists dug up the hill of Cadbury in Somerset, the reputed site of King Arthur's Camelot, thousands of visitors came to watch. They never saw anything resembling the Camelot of romance. Yet they kept coming, year after year.Why does Arthur fascinate? In this book, the secretary of the Cadbury project (himself an authority on the legend) looks for an answer. Drawing on varied researches, and on the insight embodied in William Blake's symbol of the shadowy 'Giant Albion' behind Arthur, he plunges into the psychological depths that underlie the tale of the enchanted King, his city Camelot, his mysterious departure to Avalon, his promised return.The enquiry starts from the solid facts of Cadbury. But it opens vistas on a strange world of gods and mortals and immemorial yearnings. The same universal dream that created the legendary Arthur is shown reappearing through many centuries, inspiring many thinkers: Blake himself; Virgil, Confucius, Rousseau, Gandhi; even such supposed rationalists as Robert Owen and Lenin.All the paths converge on a central problem of the human condition, which, the author suggests, must be solved if mankind is to achieve a workable humanist philosophy. It turns out that Arthur remains startlingly relevant: that the prophecy of his return has a serious meaning.
The author offers convincing proof that King Arthur existed by tracing the legend of King Arthur to its roots in the 12th century chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
This book reveals the true identity of Arthur, and locates his courts and long-forgotten battle sites such as Badon and Camlan. It also uncovers the secret of the mysterious Isle of Avalon and Arthur's resting place in a Breton church. The authors present a convincing and conclusive answer to the puzzle of King Arthur. Glossary of terms in Welsh and English. Bibliography. Index. 78 illustrations.
A definitive, factual, A–Z reference guide offering a global perspective on the role of prophecy in world history, religion, folklore, and literature. From at least 1200 B.C. and probably long before, prophets have attempted to see into the future. Most—from ancient oracles to modern astrologers, from doomsday sects to telephone psychics—have been wrong the majority of the time, says British researcher Geoffrey Ashe. True foreknowledge is rare, but those rare occurrences are impressive. In this fascinating reference work, the first to encompass the entire 3,000 year span of recorded prophecy, Ashe examines the predictions of both good prophets and bad, including seers like Jacques Cazotte, who forecast the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, and Morgan Robertson, who described the Titanic disaster 14 years before it happened. He refutes many of the far-fetched claims of Nostradamus, and highlights those that foreshadow events after his lifetime. He also examines failed prophecies that have been influential, including the many end-of-the-world forecasts, along with the surprisingly accurate visions of some science-fiction authors.
This study constitutes the first to analyse the remarkable surge in popularity of Arthurian literature and art in the modern period from a broad range of instances of cultural production. More novels with Arthurian themes have been published since the war than in any previous period, and Silk and Potatoes provides detailed readings of some of the most famous, including works by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Anthony Burgess, C.J. Cherryh, Guy Gavriel Kay, Mary Stewart, Jack Vance and T.H. White. In addition to examining Arthurian fiction (with chapters on the general novel, Historical fiction and Science Fiction), this study examines the key cinematic examples of Arthuriana (Boorman’s Excalibur, Bresson’s Lancelot du Lac, Rohmer’s Perceval Le Gallois and Monthy Python and the Holy Grail). A further chapter goes on to look at the myriad other forms of cultural production based on Arthurian themes; from Bugs Bunny to Pop Music, from the Camelot of JFK to the British National Lottery. This is a study that touches on many aspects of Arthuriana whilst developing two connected arguments about (on the one hand) the necessary anachronism of any modern Arthurian Literature, and (on the other) the aesthetic-political implications of this literature’s success. The whole, whilst rooted in the scholarly debates on the enduring appeal of King Arthur, is written in an accessible and entertaining style. It will be of interest to students and teachers of Arthurian literature, film and popular culture.
Ron Geaves demonstrates how the convergence of Prem Rawat, formerly known as Guru Maharaj Ji, and Glastonbury Fayre in 1971 was a key event in understanding the jigsaw that came to be known as 'New Age' spirituality. The book charts the discovery of Prem Rawat in India in 1969 by a small number of British and North American 'hippies', and explores how his arrival in Britain in June 1971, as well as his speech from the pyramid stage at the Fayre at just 13 years old, escalated his activities to make him one of the key influencers of 1970s counterculture spirituality. Both Glastonbury and Prem Rawat have gone on to re-emerge in significantly different identities to the ones presented in 1971. The meeting between the two demonstrates how alternative spiritualities were being formed in the 1960s and how some strands went on to develop into the 'New Age' counterculture that eventually permeated mainstream cultures in Britain and the USA.
Previously published as Ancient Science, Secret History contains 150 pages of new material. The Secret History of The World and How To Get Out Alive is the definitive book of the real answers where Truth is more fantastic than fiction. Laura Knight-Jadczyk, wife of internationally known theoretical physicist, Arkadiusz Jadczyk, an expert in hyperdimensional physics, draws on science and mysticism to pierce the veil of reality. With sparkling humour and wisdom, she picks up where Fulcanelli left off, sharing over thirty years of research to reveal, for the first time, The Great Work and the esoteric Science of the Ancients in terms accessible to scholar and layperson alike.Conspiracies have existed since the time of Cain and Abel. Facts of history have been altered to support the illusion. The question today is whether a sufficient number of people will see through the deceptions, thus creating a counter-force for positive change - the gold of humanity - during the upcoming times of Macro-Cosmic Quantum Shift. Laura argues convincingly, based on the revelations of the deepest of esoteric secrets, that the present is a time of potential transition, an extraordinary opportunity for individual and collective renewal: a quantum shift of awareness and perception which could see the birth of true creativity in the fields of science, art and spirituality. The Secret History of the World allows us to redefine our interpretation of the universe, history, and culture and to thereby navigate a path through this darkness. In this way, Laura Knight-Jadczyk shows us how we may extend the possibilities for all our different futures in literal terms.With over 800 pages of fascinating reading, The Secret History of The World and How to Get Out Alive is rapidly being acknowledged as a classic with profound implications for the destiny of the human race. With painstakingly researched facts and figures, the author overturns long-held conventional ideas on religion, philosophy, Grail legends, science, and alchemy, presenting a cohesive narrative pointing to the existence of an ancient techno-spirituality of the Golden Age which included a mastery of space and time: the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone, the True Process of Ascension. Laura provides the evidence for the advanced level of scientific and metaphysical wisdom possessed by the greatest of lost ancient civilizations - a culture so advanced that none of the trappings of civilization as we know it were needed, explaining why there is no 'evidence' of civilization as we know it left to testify to its existence. The author's consummate synthesis reveals the Message in a Bottle reserved for humanity, including the Cosmology and Mysticism of mankind Before the Fall when, as the ancient texts tell us, man walked and talked with the gods. Laura shows us that the upcoming shift is that point in the vast cosmological cycle when mankind - or at least a portion of mankind - has the opportunity to regain his standing as The Child of the King in the Golden Age.If ever there was a book that can answer the questions of those who are seeking Truth in the spiritual wilderness of this world, then surely The Secret History of the World and How to Get Out Alive is it.
