Author: Ioan P. Culianu
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226123162
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286
Book Description
It is a widespread prejudice of modern, scientific society that "magic" is merely a ludicrous amalgam of recipes and methods derived from primitive and erroneous notions about nature. Eros and Magic in the Renaissance challenges this view, providing an in-depth scholarly explanation of the workings of magic and showing that magic continues to exist in an altered form even today. Renaissance magic, according to Ioan Couliano, was a scientifically plausible attempt to manipulate individuals and groups based on a knowledge of motivations, particularly erotic motivations. Its key principle was that everyone (and in a sense everything) could be influenced by appeal to sexual desire. In addition, the magician relied on a profound knowledge of the art of memory to manipulate the imaginations of his subjects. In these respects, Couliano suggests, magic is the precursor of the modern psychological and sociological sciences, and the magician is the distant ancestor of the psychoanalyst and the advertising and publicity agent. In the course of his study, Couliano examines in detail the ideas of such writers as Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola and illuminates many aspects of Renaissance culture, including heresy, medicine, astrology, alchemy, courtly love, the influence of classical mythology, and even the role of fashion in clothing. Just as science gives the present age its ruling myth, so magic gave a ruling myth to the Renaissance. Because magic relied upon the use of images, and images were repressed and banned in the Reformation and subsequent history, magic was replaced by exact science and modern technology and eventually forgotten. Couliano's remarkable scholarship helps us to recover much of its original significance and will interest a wide audience in the humanities and social sciences.
Eros, Magic, & the Murder of Professor Culianu
Author: Ted Anton
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 9780810113961
Category : Magic
Languages : en
Pages : 332
Book Description
Anton (writing, DePaul U.) synthesizes the research he has done since the beginning on the still-unsolved May 1991 murder of Chicago Divinity School professor Ioan Culianu, a protege of pioneering mythologist Mircea Eliade. Culianu had been taunting the communist government of his native Romania, and Anton suggests the murder was political. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 9780810113961
Category : Magic
Languages : en
Pages : 332
Book Description
Anton (writing, DePaul U.) synthesizes the research he has done since the beginning on the still-unsolved May 1991 murder of Chicago Divinity School professor Ioan Culianu, a protege of pioneering mythologist Mircea Eliade. Culianu had been taunting the communist government of his native Romania, and Anton suggests the murder was political. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
A Companion to the Worlds of the Renaissance
Author: Guido Ruggiero
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470751614
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 576
Book Description
This volume brings together some of the most exciting renaissance scholars to suggest new ways of thinking about the period and to set a new series of agendas for Renaissance scholarship. Overturns the idea that it was a period of European cultural triumph and highlights the negative as well as the positive. Looks at the Renaissance from a world, as opposed to just European, perspective. Views the Renaissance from perspectives other than just the cultural elite. Gender, sex, violence, and cultural history are integrated into the analysis.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470751614
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 576
Book Description
This volume brings together some of the most exciting renaissance scholars to suggest new ways of thinking about the period and to set a new series of agendas for Renaissance scholarship. Overturns the idea that it was a period of European cultural triumph and highlights the negative as well as the positive. Looks at the Renaissance from a world, as opposed to just European, perspective. Views the Renaissance from perspectives other than just the cultural elite. Gender, sex, violence, and cultural history are integrated into the analysis.
The Boundaries of Eros
Author: Guido Ruggiero
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195056965
Category : Families
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
Using the records of several Venetian courts that dealt with sex crimes, Ruggiero traces the evolution of both licit and illicit sexuality during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, providing insight into Venetian society and, ultimately, the Renaissance itself.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195056965
Category : Families
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
Using the records of several Venetian courts that dealt with sex crimes, Ruggiero traces the evolution of both licit and illicit sexuality during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, providing insight into Venetian society and, ultimately, the Renaissance itself.
Ancient Greek Love Magic
Author: Christopher A. FARAONE
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674036700
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
The ancient Greeks commonly resorted to magic spells to attract and keep lovers. Surveying and analyzing various texts and artifacts, the author reveals that gender is the crucial factor in understanding love spells.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674036700
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
The ancient Greeks commonly resorted to magic spells to attract and keep lovers. Surveying and analyzing various texts and artifacts, the author reveals that gender is the crucial factor in understanding love spells.
Out of this World
Author: Ioan P. Culianu
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Book Description
This book, by the editor of the journal Incognita, takes the reader on a fantastic journey through a wide range of cultures and traditions to examine the phenomenon of ecstatic visionary experiences--from Sumerian Gilgamesh and the Taoist Immortals to the imaginative fiction of Jorge Luis Borges. The author provides a comprehensive tour of otherworldly journeys common from immemorial times among shamans, magicians and witches, and illustrates their connection with such modern phenomena as altered states of consciousness, out-of-body experiences, and near-death experiences.--From publisher description.
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Book Description
This book, by the editor of the journal Incognita, takes the reader on a fantastic journey through a wide range of cultures and traditions to examine the phenomenon of ecstatic visionary experiences--from Sumerian Gilgamesh and the Taoist Immortals to the imaginative fiction of Jorge Luis Borges. The author provides a comprehensive tour of otherworldly journeys common from immemorial times among shamans, magicians and witches, and illustrates their connection with such modern phenomena as altered states of consciousness, out-of-body experiences, and near-death experiences.--From publisher description.
The Cabinet of Eros
Author: Stephen John Campbell
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300117530
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 430
Book Description
The Renaissance studiolo was a space devoted in theory to private reading. The most famous studiolo of all was that of Isabella d'Este, marchioness of Mantua. This work explores the function of the mythological image within a Renaissance culture of collectors.
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300117530
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 430
Book Description
The Renaissance studiolo was a space devoted in theory to private reading. The most famous studiolo of all was that of Isabella d'Este, marchioness of Mantua. This work explores the function of the mythological image within a Renaissance culture of collectors.