The Swiss thinker JJ Bachofen is most often connected with his theory of matriarchy, or 'mother right,'. This book includes an autobiographical essay and selections from "An Essay on Ancient Mortuary Symbolism", "Mother Right", and "The Myth of Tanaquil".
The gods of Olympus died with the advent of Christianity--or so we have been taught to believe. But how are we to account for their tremendous popularity during the Renaissance? This illustrated book, now reprinted in a new, larger paperback format, offers the general reader first a discussion of mythology in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, and then a multifaceted look at the far-reaching role played by mythology in Renaissance intellectual and emotional life.
Abridged from the four-volume The Passion of al-Hallaj, one of the major works of Western orientalism, this book explores the life and teaching of a famous tenth-century Sufi mystic and martyr, and in so doing describes not only his experience but also the whole milieu of early Islamic civilization. Louis Massignon (1883-1962), France's most celebrated Islamic specialist in this century and a leading Catholic intellectual, wrote of a man who was for him a personal inspiration. From reviews of the four-volume translation:
First published in English in 1954, this founding work of the history of religions secured the North American reputation of the Romanian emigre-scholar Mircea Eliade. Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship published in no fewer than half a dozen European languages, The Myth of the Eternal Return illuminates the religious beliefs and rituals of a wide variety of archaic religious cultures. While acknowledging that a return to their practices is impossible, Eliade passionately insists on the value of understanding their views to enrich the contemporary imagination of what it is to be human. This book includes an introduction from Jonathan Z. Smith that provides essential context and encourages readers to engage in an informed way with this classic text.
The crowning cultural achievement of medieval India, Tantric Buddhism is known in the West primarily for the sexual practices of its adherents, who strive to transform erotic passion into spiritual ecstasy. This title argues to the contrary, presenting evidence of the outspoken and independent female founders of the Tantric movement.
Examines the festivals of ancient Greek religion to identify the primitive 'substratum' of ritual and its persistence in the realm of classical religious observance and literature.
One of the three great gods of Hinduism, Siva is a living god. The most sacred and most ancient book of India, "The Rig Veda", evokes his presence in its hymns. This title details the metaphysics, ontology, and myths of Siva from the Vedas and the Puranas. It aims to reveal the paradoxes in Siva's nature and in the nature of consciousness.
An anthology of nearly two hundred "hieroglyphics," or allegorical emblems, said to have been used by the Pharaonic scribes in describing natural and moral aspects of the world. This work tells how various types of natural phenomena, emotions, virtues, philosophical concepts, and human character-types were symbolized.
An anthology which includes the central texts from the acclaimed two-volume compilation "Selected Works of Ramon Llull". This volume contains three prefaces on Llull's life, thought, and reputation. Of Llull's works, it offers "Book of the Gentile and the Three Wise Men"; "The Book of the Lover and the Beloved"; and "Book of the Beasts".
Examines the saga of the Grail. Exploring the legend's Gnostic roots, this book considers how the legend of the Grail related to fertility rites with the lance and the cup serving as sexual symbols. It traces its origins to a Gnostic text that served as a link between ancient vegetation cults and the Celts and Christians who embellished the story.
Dream interpretation was a prominent feature of the intellectual and imaginative world of late antiquity, for martyrs and magicians, philosophers, polytheists and monotheists alike. This book draws on pagan, Jewish, and Christian sources and modern semiotic theory to demonstrate the integral importance of dreams in late-antique thought and life.
No other god of the Greeks is as widely present in the monuments and nature of Greece and Italy, in the tradition of antiquity, as Dionysos. This work presents a historical account of the religion of Dionysos from its beginnings in the Minoan culture to its transition to a cosmic and cosmopolitan religion of late antiquity under the Roman Empire.
The Sanctuary of Eleusis, near Athens, was the center of a religious cult that endured for nearly two thousand years and whose initiates came from all parts of the civilized world. Looking at the tendency to "see visions," C. The author examines the Mysteries of Eleusis from the standpoint not only of Greek myth but also of human nature.
Examines the complex fate of classical Egyptian religion during the centuries from the period when Christianity first made its appearance in Egypt to when it became the region's dominant religion. This book describes how an ancient culture maintained itself while also being transformed through influences such as Hellenism, and Roman government.
This volume presents the most important portions of Erwin Goodenough's classic thirteen-volume work, a magisterial attempt to encompass human spiritual history in general through the study of Jewish symbols in particular. Revealing that the Jewish religion of the period was much more varied and complex than the extant Talmudic literature would lead us to believe, Goodenough offered evidence for the existence of a Hellenistic-Jewish mystic mythology far closer to the Qabbalah than to rabbinical Judaism.Originally published in 1989.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
In this in-depth exploration of the symbols found in Navaho legend and ritual, Gladys Reichard discusses the attitude of the tribe members toward their place in the universe, their obligation toward humankind and their gods, and their conception of the supernatural, as well as how the Navaho achieve a harmony within their world through symbolic ceremonial practice.Originally published in 1963.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
The tales told of Orpheus are legion. He is said to have been an Argonaut - and to have saved Jason's life. Did Orpheus, in fact, exist? His influence on Greek thought is undeniable, but his disciples left little of substance behind them. This work attempts to uncover and define Orphism by following its circuitous path through ancient history.
A collection of magical texts from ancient Egypt. It shows the exotic rituals, esoteric healing practices, and incantatory and supernatural dimensions that flowered in early Christianity. It explores the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the early Christian experience.
Zohar, or 'brilliant light,' is the central text of Kabbalah. In Jewish mystical tradition, it is the meeting of midrash (storytelling that expands on events in the Bible) and myth. This selection offers translations of eight of the well developed narratives in the Zohar along with notes and detailed commentary.
The Holy Grail and its quest is a legend that has had a powerful impact on our civilization. The Grail is an ancient Celtic symbol of plenty, and a Christian symbol of redemption and eternal life, the chalice that caught the blood of the crucified Christ. This book presents this legend as a living myth that is profoundly relevant to modern life.
A landmark work that demystifies the rich tradition of Indian art, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization analyzes key motifs found in legend, myth, and folklore taken directly from the Sanskrit. It provides a comprehensive introduction to visual thinking and picture reading in Indian art and thought. Ultimately, the book shows that profound Hindu and Buddhist intuitions on the riddles of life and death are universally recognizable.
Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) was a wide-ranging thinker whose ideas affected almost every branch of the social sciences. And nowhere is this impact more evident or more persistent than on the study of myth, ritual, and religion. He articulated as never before or since a program of seeing myths as part of the functional, pragmatic, or performed
Includes a poem that tells how Hades, lord of the underworld, abducted the goddess Persephone and how her grieving mother, Demeter, the goddess of grain, forced the gods to allow Persephone to return to her for part of each year.
Translation of: Chamanisme et les techniques archa'iques de l'extase.
A contribution to Shi'ite Sufism. It brings us to the core of this movement with an analysis of Ibn 'Arabi's life and doctrines. It begins with a spiritual topography of the twelfth century, emphasizing the differences between exoteric and esoteric forms of Islam. It also relates Islamic mysticism to mystical thought in the West.
This landmark book explores the Great Mother as a primordial image of the human psyche. Here the renowned analytical psychologist Erich Neumann draws on ritual, mythology, art, and records of dreams and fantasies to examine how this archetype has been outwardly expressed in many cultures and periods since prehistory. He shows how the feminine has been represented as goddess, monster, gate, pillar, tree, moon, sun, vessel, and every animal from snakes to birds. Neumann discerns a universal experience of the maternal as both nurturing and fearsome, an experience rooted in the dialectical relation of growing consciousness, symbolized by the child, to the unconscious and the unknown, symbolized by the Great Mother.Featuring a new foreword by Martin Liebscher, this Princeton Classics edition of The Great Mother introduces a new generation of readers to this profound and enduring work.
In this work a distinguished scholar of Islamic religion examines the mysticism and psychological thought of the great eleventh-century Persian philosopher and physician Avicenna (Ibn Sina), author of over a hundred works on theology, logic, medicine, and mathematics. Henry Corbin's discovery in an Istanbul library of the manuscript of a Persian translation of and commentary on Avicenna's Hayy ibn Yaqzan, written in Arabic, led him to an analysis of three of Avicenna's mystical "e;recitals."e; These form an initiatory cycle leading the adept along the path of spiritual progress. In Part I Corbin summarizes the great themes that show the philosophical situation of Avicennan man in the cosmos and presents translations of these three great Avicennan recitals. Part II is a complete translation, with notes, of the Persian commentary.Originally published in 1960.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Describes the author's conception of Zen and its historical evolution. This title connects Zen to the philosophy of the samurai, and portrays the relationship between Zen and swordsmanship, haiku, tea ceremonies, and the Japanese love of nature. It is suitable for those wishing to understand the concept of Zen in the context of Japanese life.
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