Why does Nostradamus still fascinate today?
Stéphane Gerson. Nostradamus: How an Obscure Renaissance Astrologer Became the Modern Prophet of Doom. Picador (2 Dec 2013)
We all know the name "Nostradamus," but who was he really? Why did his predictions become so influential in Renaissance Europe and then keep resurfacing for nearly five centuries? And what does Nostradamus's endurance in the West say about us and our own world? In Nostradamus: How an Obscure Renaissance Astrologer Became the Modern Prophet of Doom, historian Stephane Gerson takes readers on a journey back in time to explore the life and afterlife of Michel de Nostredame, the astrologer whose 'Prophecies' have been interpreted, adopted by successive media, and eventually transformed into the Gospel of Doom for the modern age.
Whenever we seem to enter a new era, whenever the premises of our worldview are questioned or imperiled, Nostradamus offers certainty and solace. In 1666, guests at posh English dinner parties discussed his quatrain about the Great Fire of London. In 1942, the Jewish writer Irene Nemirovsky latched her hopes for survival to Nostradamus' prediction that the war would soon end. And on September 12, 2001, teenagers proclaimed on the streets of Brooklyn that "this guy, Nostradamus" had seen the 9/11 attacks coming.
Through prodigious research in European and American archives, Gerson shows that Nostradamus -- a creature of the modern West rather than a vestige from some antediluvian era -- tells us more about our past and our present than about our future. In chronicling the life of this mystifying figure and the lasting fascination with his predictions, Gerson's book becomes a historical biography of a belief: the faith that we can know tomorrow and master our anxieties through the powers of an extraordinary but ever more elusive seer.
3.12.13
2.12.13
From Alchemy to Science
Leah Devun. Prophecy, Alchemy and the End of Time: John of Rupecissa in the Late Middle Ages. Columbia University Press (1 Dec 2013)
In the middle of the fourteenth century, the Franciscan friar John of Rupescissa sent a dramatic warning to his followers: the last days were coming; the apocalypse was near. Deemed insane by the Christian church, Rupescissa had spent more than a decade confined to prisons--in one case wrapped in chains and locked under a staircase--yet ill treatment could not silence the friar's apocalyptic message.
Religious figures who preached the end times were hardly rare in the late Middle Ages, but Rupescissa's teachings were unique. He claimed that knowledge of the natural world, and alchemy in particular, could act as a defense against the plagues and wars of the last days. His melding of apocalyptic prophecy and quasi-scientific inquiry gave rise to a new genre of alchemical writing and a novel cosmology of heaven and earth. Most important, the friar's research represented a remarkable convergence between science and religion.
In order to understand scientific knowledge today, Leah DeVun asks that we revisit Rupescissa's life and the critical events of his age--the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, the Avignon Papacy--through his eyes. Rupescissa treated alchemy as medicine (his work was the conceptual forerunner of pharmacology) and represented the emerging technologies and views that sought to combat famine, plague, religious persecution, and war. The advances he pioneered, along with the exciting strides made by his contemporaries, shed critical light on later developments in medicine, pharmacology, and chemistry.
In the middle of the fourteenth century, the Franciscan friar John of Rupescissa sent a dramatic warning to his followers: the last days were coming; the apocalypse was near. Deemed insane by the Christian church, Rupescissa had spent more than a decade confined to prisons--in one case wrapped in chains and locked under a staircase--yet ill treatment could not silence the friar's apocalyptic message.
Religious figures who preached the end times were hardly rare in the late Middle Ages, but Rupescissa's teachings were unique. He claimed that knowledge of the natural world, and alchemy in particular, could act as a defense against the plagues and wars of the last days. His melding of apocalyptic prophecy and quasi-scientific inquiry gave rise to a new genre of alchemical writing and a novel cosmology of heaven and earth. Most important, the friar's research represented a remarkable convergence between science and religion.
In order to understand scientific knowledge today, Leah DeVun asks that we revisit Rupescissa's life and the critical events of his age--the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, the Avignon Papacy--through his eyes. Rupescissa treated alchemy as medicine (his work was the conceptual forerunner of pharmacology) and represented the emerging technologies and views that sought to combat famine, plague, religious persecution, and war. The advances he pioneered, along with the exciting strides made by his contemporaries, shed critical light on later developments in medicine, pharmacology, and chemistry.
1.12.13
Anomalistic Psychology
Chris French, Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London, is head of their Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, and also was a winner of Magonia's prestigious Roger Sandell Memorial Essay Prize.
Christopher C. French and Anna Stone. Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience. Palgrave Macmillan (1 Nov 2013)
The science behind claims of alien encounters and visions of ghosts can be even more fascinating than the sensationalist headlines. What leads some people to believe in the paranormal? Why might someone think they have been abducted by aliens? And is there any room for superstition in the modern world of science?
Anomalistic Psychology provides a lively and thought-provoking introduction to the psychology underlying paranormal belief and experience; covers the latest psychological theories and experiments, and examines the science at the heart of the subject; uses a unique approach to apply different psychological perspectives – including clinical, developmental and cognitive approaches – to shed new light on the key debates,
Whether you are a psychology student or simply curious about the paranormal, Anomalistic Psychology is the essential introduction to this contested and controversial field. Belief in the paranormal has been reported in every known society since the dawn of time – find out why.
Christopher C. French and Anna Stone. Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience. Palgrave Macmillan (1 Nov 2013)
The science behind claims of alien encounters and visions of ghosts can be even more fascinating than the sensationalist headlines. What leads some people to believe in the paranormal? Why might someone think they have been abducted by aliens? And is there any room for superstition in the modern world of science?
Anomalistic Psychology provides a lively and thought-provoking introduction to the psychology underlying paranormal belief and experience; covers the latest psychological theories and experiments, and examines the science at the heart of the subject; uses a unique approach to apply different psychological perspectives – including clinical, developmental and cognitive approaches – to shed new light on the key debates,
Whether you are a psychology student or simply curious about the paranormal, Anomalistic Psychology is the essential introduction to this contested and controversial field. Belief in the paranormal has been reported in every known society since the dawn of time – find out why.
26.11.13
Magic and Superstition
Stuart A. Vyse. Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition - Updated Edition. OUP USA; Updated edition (Nov 2013)
While we live in a technologically and scientifically advanced age, superstition is as widespread as ever. Not limited to just athletes and actors, superstitious beliefs are common among people of all occupations, educational backgrounds, and income levels. In this fully updated edition of Believing in Magic, renowned superstition expert Stuart Vyse investigates our tendency towards these irrational beliefs. Superstitions, he writes, are the natural result of several psychological processes, including our human sensitivity to coincidence, a penchant for developing rituals to fill time (to battle nerves, impatience, or both), our efforts to cope with uncertainty, the need for control, and more.
In a new Introduction, Vyse discusses important developments and the latest research on jinxes, paranormal beliefs, and luck. He also distinguishes superstition from paranormal and religious beliefs and identifies the potential benefits of superstition for believers. He examines the research to demonstrate how we can better understand complex human behavior. Although superstition is a normal part of our culture, Vyse argues that we must provide alternative methods of coping with life's uncertainties by teaching decision analysis, promoting science education, and challenging ourselves to critically evaluate the sources of our beliefs.
While we live in a technologically and scientifically advanced age, superstition is as widespread as ever. Not limited to just athletes and actors, superstitious beliefs are common among people of all occupations, educational backgrounds, and income levels. In this fully updated edition of Believing in Magic, renowned superstition expert Stuart Vyse investigates our tendency towards these irrational beliefs. Superstitions, he writes, are the natural result of several psychological processes, including our human sensitivity to coincidence, a penchant for developing rituals to fill time (to battle nerves, impatience, or both), our efforts to cope with uncertainty, the need for control, and more.
In a new Introduction, Vyse discusses important developments and the latest research on jinxes, paranormal beliefs, and luck. He also distinguishes superstition from paranormal and religious beliefs and identifies the potential benefits of superstition for believers. He examines the research to demonstrate how we can better understand complex human behavior. Although superstition is a normal part of our culture, Vyse argues that we must provide alternative methods of coping with life's uncertainties by teaching decision analysis, promoting science education, and challenging ourselves to critically evaluate the sources of our beliefs.
12.11.13
What the devil ...
Alain Boureau. Satan the Heretic: The Birth of Demonology in the Medieval West. University of Chicago Press (22 Nov 2013)
Before the end of the thirteenth century, theologians had little interest in demons, but with Thomas Aquinas and his formidable "Treatise on Evil" in 1272, everything changed. In Satan the Heretic, Alain Boureau trains his skeptical eye not on Satan or Satanism, but on the birth of demonology and the sudden belief in the power of demons, setting out to understand not why people believed in demons, but why theologians - especially Pope John XXII - became so interested in the subject.
Depicting this new demonology, Satan the Heretic considers the period between the mid-thirteenth and mid-fourteenth centuries when demons, in the eyes of Church authorities, suddenly burst forth, more real and more terrifying than ever before in the history of Christianity. Boureau argues that the rise in this obsession with demons occurs at the crossroads of the rise of sovereignties and of the individual, a rise that, tellingly, also coincides with the emergence of the modern legal system in the European West. Teeming with insights and lively anecdotes, Satan the Heretic is a significant contribution to the history of Christian demonology from one of the most original minds in field of medieval studies today.
Before the end of the thirteenth century, theologians had little interest in demons, but with Thomas Aquinas and his formidable "Treatise on Evil" in 1272, everything changed. In Satan the Heretic, Alain Boureau trains his skeptical eye not on Satan or Satanism, but on the birth of demonology and the sudden belief in the power of demons, setting out to understand not why people believed in demons, but why theologians - especially Pope John XXII - became so interested in the subject.
Depicting this new demonology, Satan the Heretic considers the period between the mid-thirteenth and mid-fourteenth centuries when demons, in the eyes of Church authorities, suddenly burst forth, more real and more terrifying than ever before in the history of Christianity. Boureau argues that the rise in this obsession with demons occurs at the crossroads of the rise of sovereignties and of the individual, a rise that, tellingly, also coincides with the emergence of the modern legal system in the European West. Teeming with insights and lively anecdotes, Satan the Heretic is a significant contribution to the history of Christian demonology from one of the most original minds in field of medieval studies today.
31.10.13
Raising Spirits
A historical examination of the sociology of supernatural beliefs.
Professor Jonathan Barry. Raising Spirits: How a Conjuror's Tale Was Transmitted across the Enlightenment (Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic) Palgrave Pivot (1 Nov 2013)
Despite Enlightenment scepticism about the supernatural, stories about spirits were regularly printed and shared throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This case-study in the transmission of a single story (of a young gunsmith near Bristol conjuring spirits, leading to his early death) reveals both how and why successive generations found meaning in such accounts. It shows the workings of an expanding national print culture, but also the continued importance of locality, oral culture and manuscript copying, especially among the newly educated. It offers an insight into the culture of Anglican clergy, spiritual autodidacts, evangelical preachers, pioneering astrologers, mesmerists and spiritualists, revealing the on-going appeal of Bible-based providentialism. Initially told as a warning-lesson against meddling with the demonic, the story also appealed to those keen to uphold the existence of spirits, and to various groups who themselves wished to communicate with spirits, while its portrayal of a doomed youth attracted sympathy.
Professor Jonathan Barry. Raising Spirits: How a Conjuror's Tale Was Transmitted across the Enlightenment (Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic) Palgrave Pivot (1 Nov 2013)
Despite Enlightenment scepticism about the supernatural, stories about spirits were regularly printed and shared throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This case-study in the transmission of a single story (of a young gunsmith near Bristol conjuring spirits, leading to his early death) reveals both how and why successive generations found meaning in such accounts. It shows the workings of an expanding national print culture, but also the continued importance of locality, oral culture and manuscript copying, especially among the newly educated. It offers an insight into the culture of Anglican clergy, spiritual autodidacts, evangelical preachers, pioneering astrologers, mesmerists and spiritualists, revealing the on-going appeal of Bible-based providentialism. Initially told as a warning-lesson against meddling with the demonic, the story also appealed to those keen to uphold the existence of spirits, and to various groups who themselves wished to communicate with spirits, while its portrayal of a doomed youth attracted sympathy.
26.10.13
Scottish Witches
Julian Goodare (Editor). Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters (Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic) Palgrave Macmillan (30 Oct 2013)
This book brings together twelve studies that collectively provide an overview of the main issues of live interest in Scottish witchcraft. Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters considers how people came to be considered 'witches', with new insights into the familiar topic of neighbourhood quarrels and misfortune. It also delves more deeply into folk belief and practice than ever before, with nightmarish studies of nocturnal attacks and flying. The book is also about 'witch-hunters' in various senses. One chapter explores the 'urban geography' of witch-hunting; another traces Scotland's international connections. A chapter on a witch-hunter of 1591, and the countess who was his intended victim, reveals a new dimension to the much-studied North Berwick witchcraft panic. A reconstruction of how witches were ceremonially strangled and burned is a gruesome but compelling reminder of the importance of the subject
This book brings together twelve studies that collectively provide an overview of the main issues of live interest in Scottish witchcraft. Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters considers how people came to be considered 'witches', with new insights into the familiar topic of neighbourhood quarrels and misfortune. It also delves more deeply into folk belief and practice than ever before, with nightmarish studies of nocturnal attacks and flying. The book is also about 'witch-hunters' in various senses. One chapter explores the 'urban geography' of witch-hunting; another traces Scotland's international connections. A chapter on a witch-hunter of 1591, and the countess who was his intended victim, reveals a new dimension to the much-studied North Berwick witchcraft panic. A reconstruction of how witches were ceremonially strangled and burned is a gruesome but compelling reminder of the importance of the subject
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)