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Restoring Paradise , livre ebook

State University of New York Press - Arthur Versluis

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197 pages

English

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Focusing on how spiritual initiation takes place in Western esoteric religious, literary, and artistic traditions from antiquity to the present, Restoring Paradise provides an introduction to Western esotericism, including early modern esoteric movements like alchemy, Christian theosophy, and Rosicrucianism. The author argues that European and American literature and art often entail a written transmission of spiritual knowledge in which writing itself works to transmute consciousness, to generate, provoke, or convey spiritual awakening. He focuses on several important figures whose work has not received the attention it deserves, including American writer and Imagist poet H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) and British painter Cecil Collins, among others. While Arthur Versluis presents a new way of understanding Western esotericism in a contemporary light, above all he has crafted a book about knowing, and about how we come to know, and what "knowing" by way of literature and language actually means.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Initiatory Transmission and the Imagination

What is Esoteric?
Initiatory Transmission and Western Esotericism
The Esoteric Imagination

1. Origins

Alchemy of the Word
The Field of the Imagination
The Red Thread of Gnosis
Conclusions

2. Historical Currents

Divine Service: Chivalry and the Troubadours
Books within Books: Jewish Kabbalism
The Transfiguration of Earth: Alchemical Literature
The Divine Science: Theosophic, Pansophic, Rosicrucian, and Masonic Literature

3. Modern Implications

Prospero's Wand: Modern Esoteric Literature
The Western Esoteric Traditions and Consciousness
Literature, Art, and Consciousness

Notes

Index

Sujets

Película fotográfica

Visual culture

Film

Informations

Publié par	State University of New York Press
Date de parution	01 février 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780791484852
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,4750€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

RESTORING Paradise

Western Esotericism, Literature, Art, and Consciousness

A r t h u r V e r s l u i s

R e s t o r i n g P a r a d i s e

SUNY series in

Western Esoteric Traditions

David Appelbaum,editor

R e s t o r i n g

Western Esotericism, Literature, Art, and Consciousness

Arthur Versluis

S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Yo r k P r e s s

Published by STATEUNIVERSITY OFNEWYORKPRESS, ALBANY

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Versluis, Authur, 1959– Restoring paradise : western esotericism, literature, art, and consciousness / Arthur Versluis. p. cm.—(SUNY series in Western esoteric traditions) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-6139-4 (alk. paper) 1. Occultism—History. 2. Occultism in literature. 3. Occultism in art. I. Title. II. Series.

BF1411.V47 135—dc22

2004

2004045292

In memory of

poet and scholar

Kathleen Raine

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Preface

Acknowledgments

C o n t e n t s

Introduction: Initiatory Transmission and the Imagination What is Esoteric? Initiatory Transmission and Western Esotericism The Esoteric Imagination

Origins Alchemy of the Word The Field of the Imagination The Red Thread of Gnosis Conclusions

Historical Currents

Divine Service: Chivalry and the Troubadours Books within Books: Jewish Kabbalism The Transfiguration of Earth: Alchemical Literature The Divine Science: Theosophic, Pansophic, Rosicrucian, and Masonic Literature

viii

C O N T E N T S

Modern Implications

Prospero’s Wand: Modern Esoteric Literature The Western Esoteric Traditions and Consciousness Literature, Art, and Consciousness

Notes

Index

159

169

P re f a c e

Restoring Paradisebegan as an introduction to the literary and religious history of Western esotericism and was meant for a general audience, but as the book took shape, so did an unexpected thesis about initiation, literature, art, and con-sciousness itself. Soon it became clear thatRestoring Paradisewas to be a gen-uinely interdisciplinary argument whose subjects range across Western religious and literary history, all the way from the early Christian era to twenti-eth-century poets and artists. At the suggestion of an early reader, I also in-cluded references to Japanese Zen Buddhism and to the great Japanese philosopher Keiji Nishitani, but the work’s focus remains Western. In writing this book, I drew on a variety of both primary and secondary sources, but in keeping with my original impetus, wrote for a general audience across a range of fields rather than for specialists in one or more of the many periods, tradi-tions, figures, and locales that play a role in supporting and amplifying the larger argument. At the very least, I hope thatRestoring Paradisewill serve to introduce many readers to the richness of our common inheritance, found where literature and religion meet in the works of such extraordinary figures as Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis, O. V. Milosz, H. D., and Cecil Collins. This is the first extensive discussion of these authors together, and I hope that it will open the way to a new appreciation for each of them in this larger context. Hence, I include a short annotated bibliography to suggest further study for those interested in the fields that I here introduce in the course of making my case about literature and art as means of esoteric transmission in the West.

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