Mysticism at the Dawn of the Modern Age
Mysticism at the Dawn of the Modern Age

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Garber Communications

Published: 1980-06-01

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 9780833407535

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This book originated in lectures Steiner gave to a small circle of theosophists and constitutes the earliest public exposition of his spiritual scientific research. In it Steiner deals with the impact of modern scientific thinking on our spiritual experiences and the conflict between reason and revelation. He looks at how eleven European mystics resolved the dichotomy between their inner spiritual perceptions and the age of invention and discovery then coming to birth.

Mysticism at the Dawn of the Modern Age
Mysticism at the Dawn of the Modern Age

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher:

Published: 1960

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13:

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On Meister Eckhart, Tauler, Suso and Ruysbroeck, Nicholas of Cusa, Agrippa of Nettesheim and Theophrastus Paracelsus, Valentin Weigel and Jacob Boehme, Giordano Bruno and Angelus Silesius. Epilogue.

TechGnosis
TechGnosis

Author: Erik Davis

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Published: 2015-03-17

Total Pages: 457

ISBN-13: 1583949305

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TechGnosis is a cult classic of media studies that straddles the line between academic discourse and popular culture; it appeals to both those secular and spiritual, to fans of cyberpunk and hacker literature and culture as much as new-thought adherents and spiritual seekers How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? In TechGnosis—a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword—Erik Davis argues that while the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online roleplaying games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.

Women Mystics Confront the Modern World
Women Mystics Confront the Modern World

Author: Marie-Florine Bruneau

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 1998-01-29

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 0791497844

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Women Mystics Confront the Modern World situates the female mystical tradition within the context of the epistemological shift which affected religious sentiments and the perception of the self at the dawn of the modern world. Anchored in a comprehensive knowledge of the religious history of seventeenth-century France, this book offers a vivid account of the fascinating lives and work of two exceptional women. Marie de l'Incarnation (1599-1672) and Madame Guyon (1648-1717) continue a literary and spiritual tradition that had begun in the thirteenth century. Yet, because they were at a crucial point in the history of Western mysticism, when this movement was at once at its apogee and in the first stages of decline, their writings show indications of a changing mentality. These transformations shed light on the social significance of female mysticism in the Western tradition. The opportunities the two women seized or shunned highlight their maneuvering for validation and autonomy. But their choices also highlight many contradictions, compromises, and limits imposed upon their self-expression. At the confluence of French and American scholarship on mysticism, this work joins these two schools of thought by introducing gender as a viable category of inquiry into the one and by tempering the overly-optimistic interpretation of female mysticism of the other.

From Symptom to Reality
From Symptom to Reality

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press

Published: 2015-05-11

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1855844141

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In a radical approach to understanding current affairs and history, Rudolf Steiner presents a method of penetrating to the hidden causes and realities that lie behind outer appearances. Contemporary life cannot fully be understood by an analysis that is restricted to external events, he says. Deeper levels of meaning are revealed when one begins to view such events as symptoms. The causes of these symptoms – the reality behind them – are to be discovered on other levels of existence. Steiner demonstrates such a ‘symptomatological’ approach in these lectures, surveying some of the great developments in consciousness that have helped form the world over the last centuries. He examines the role of true socialism, the rise of nationalism, and characterises contrasting approaches to religion by drawing a distinction between ‘the People of the Christ’ in Russia, ‘the People of the Church’ in Central Europe, and ‘the People of the Lodges’ in the West. Amongst the wealth of material covered here, Rudolf Steiner discusses ‘the mystery of evil’ and ‘the mystery of death’, the birth of the consciousness soul, the significance of the scientific mode of thought, the metaphysical element in the study of history, as well as specific events such as the Russian Revolution and the suppression of the Knights Templar. He also reviews the circumstances surrounding the publication of new editions of his books The Philosophy of Freedom and Goethe’s World View. Anyone seeking a more profound understanding of our times will find a firm basis for a meaningful exploration in this course of lectures. 9 lectures, Dornach, Oct.–Nov. 1918, GA 185

The Cambridge Handbook of Western Mysticism and Esotericism
The Cambridge Handbook of Western Mysticism and Esotericism

Author: Glenn Alexander Magee

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016-04-18

Total Pages: 820

ISBN-13: 1316679357

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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.

The New Experience of the Supersensible
The New Experience of the Supersensible

Author: Jesaiah Ben-Aharon

Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9781902636849

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According to Rudolf Steiner's spiritual science, the greatest spiritual event of our time is the renewal and reawakening of our human suprasensory relationship to the higher spiritual worlds. The force that leads to this development--called by various names in different cultural and religious traditions--is called the "Christ impulse" by Anthroposophy, in accordance with Christian terminology. Because of new, naturally endowed suprasensory faculties, human beings are increasingly able to experience and perceive, through an act of grace, the great spiritual force of the Christ impulse. This experience is said to be a naturally given initiation, and today we increasingly hear of such suprasensory experiences. Today, however, a healthy approach to these "natural" phenomena requires us to comprehend suprasensory experiences with full awareness and clear thinking. This book builds an all-important bridge between the naturally given suprasensory experience and its conscious cognition. As a result, empirical suprasensory research "can investigate the different aspects of Christ's etheric becoming and appearance in a way that, both methodically and experientially, fulfils the justified cognitive and scientific requirements of our age." This new paperback edition adds a new introductory chapter.

Magic and Mysticism
Magic and Mysticism

Author: Arthur Versluis

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 9780742558366

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Provides overview, from antiquity onwards, on various Western religious esoteric movements. This book includes topics such as: alchemy, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy and more.

Mystics after Modernism
Mystics after Modernism

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: SteinerBooks

Published: 2000-09

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1621510719

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Steiner immerses the reader in the evolving stream of 11 mystics who appeared in central Europe between the 13th and 17th centuries, who resolved the conflict between their inner perceptions and beginnings of modern science.

Autobiography
Autobiography

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: SteinerBooks

Published: 2006-05

Total Pages: 623

ISBN-13: 0880109017

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4 lectures, Dornach, June 28 - July 18, 1923 (CW 350) "Truth and striving for truth must taste good to you; and lies, once you are conscious of them, must taste bitter and poisonous. You must not only know that human judgments have color, but also that printer's ink nowadays is mostly deadly nightshade juice. You must be able to experience this in all honesty and rectitude, and once you can do so, you will be in a state of spiritual transformation" (Rudolf Steiner). What is the relationship between coming to see the secrets of the universe and one's own view of the world? How far must one go before finding the higher worlds on the path of natural science? Do cosmic forces influence all of humanity? What connection do plants have with the human being and the human body? In answering these questions, Steiner covers a wide range of topics, from the development of independent thinking and the ability to think backward to the uses of what seems boring and the reversal of thinking between the physical and spiritual worlds, and from the "physiology" of dreams to living into nature and the spiritual dimension of various foods we eat. As always in his lectures to the workers, Steiner's style is clear, direct, and accessible. This volume is a translation from German of four lectures from Rhythmen im Kosmos und im Menschenwesen: Wie kommt man zum Schauen der geistigen Welt? (GA 350).