Esotericism and Narrative: The Occult Fiction of Charles Williams

Esotericism and Narrative: The Occult Fiction of Charles Williams PDF Author: Aren Roukema
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004369112
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
In Esotericism and Narrative: The Occult Fiction of Charles Williams, Aren Roukema looks through the portal of Charles Williams’s fantastic fiction, analyzing the author’s narrative translations of ritual experiences with modern magic, kabbalah and spiritual alchemy.

Esotericism and Narrative: The Occult Fiction of Charles Williams

Esotericism and Narrative: The Occult Fiction of Charles Williams PDF Author: Aren Roukema
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004369112
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
In Esotericism and Narrative: The Occult Fiction of Charles Williams, Aren Roukema looks through the portal of Charles Williams’s fantastic fiction, analyzing the author’s narrative translations of ritual experiences with modern magic, kabbalah and spiritual alchemy.

Witchcraft

Witchcraft PDF Author: Charles Williams
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498294685
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
"These pages must stand for what they are--a brief account of the history in Christian times of that perverted way of the soul which we call magic, or (on a lower level) witchcraft, and with the reaction against it. That they tend to deal more with the lower level than with any nobler dream is inevitable. The nobler idea of virtue mingled with power either worked itself out eventually as experimental science (but the extent to which experimental science was at any time denounced has probably been exaggerated), or it was kept carefully secluded in its own Rites (and to know these one would have had to share them), or it did in fact degenerate into base and disgusting evils (as I have here and there tried to suggest). No-one will derive any knowledge of initiation from this book; if he wishes to meet 'the tall, black man' or to find the proper method of using the Reversed Pentagram, he must rely on his own heart, which will, no doubt, be one way or other sufficient."--From the preface.

Heresy and Borders in the Twentieth Century

Heresy and Borders in the Twentieth Century PDF Author: Karina Jakubowicz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000359166
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
This book explores the shifting and negotiated boundaries of religion, spirituality, and secular thinking in Britain and North America during the twentieth century. It contributes to a growing scholarship that problematises secularization theory, arguing that religion and spirituality increasingly took diverse new forms and identities, rather than simply being replaced by a monolithic secularity. The volume examines the way that thinkers, writers, and artists manipulated and reimagined orthodox belief systems in their work, using the notion of heresy to delineate the borders of what was considered socially and ethically acceptable. It includes topics such as psychospiritual approaches in medicine, countercultures and religious experience, and the function of blasphemy within supposedly secular politics. The book argues that heresy and heretical identities established fluid borderlands. These borderlands not only blur simple demarcations of the religious and secular in the twentieth century, but also infer new forms of heterodoxy through an exchange of ideas. This collection of essays offers a nuanced take on a topic that pervades the study of religion. It will be of great use to scholars of Heresy Studies, Religious Studies and Comparative Religion, Social Anthropology, History, Literature, Philosophy, and Cultural Studies.

Fictional Practice: Magic, Narration, and the Power of Imagination

Fictional Practice: Magic, Narration, and the Power of Imagination PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004466002
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Tying on case studies from late antiquity to the 21st century, this is the first volume that systematically explores the inter-relationship between fictional narratives about magic and the real-world ritual art of practicing magicians.

Many Dimensions

Many Dimensions PDF Author: Charles Williams
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Many Dimensions was the second of the novels of the supernatural by Charles Williams. The original publisher was Victor Gollancz Ltd. in 1931. Following Williams' death it was republished by Faber & Faber in 1947 in the UK and in 1949 by Pellegrini & Cudahy in the US. In 1952 it was issued in the Penguin Books green-covered Mystery & Crime series. The novel describes the occult results following acquisition of a stone from the diadem of King Solomon, exploring the themes of time travel, the nature of the universe, and the moral consequences of selfish motivation. "Nowhere is the intellectual quality of Williams' imagination more apparent than in Many Dimensions", Glen Cavaliero has remarked, but this has contributed to criticism of his performance in this novel. The female characters in his fiction are often unsatisfactorily realised because Williams is more focussed on the ideals they embody than on their personality. They therefore seem, as in the case of Chloe in Many Dimensions, "formulaic and superficial". In other ways too, Aren Roukema has pointed to how far "Williams' tendency to stretch symbolism and allegory to the point of didacticism" disrupts the novel's narrative continuity. In other respects, aspects of Williams' personal history have contributed to the story. Chloe herself is modelled on Phyllis Jones, his younger colleague at Oxford University Press, with whom he had an unconsummated love affair. This he transmutes into Chloe's otherwise inexplicable dependent relationship with Lord Arglay. Again, many of the esoteric ideas treated in Many Dimensions can be traced back to the earlier period, before he began writing his novels of the supernatural, when Williams' interest in the occult associated him with A. E. Waite's Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. In particular the phrase "the end of desire", used of close association with the Stone in the novel, can be traced to the Fellowship's ritual of attaining the higher self within, in which the adept repeats "I am that which I thought and the end of my desire is with me". Roukema comments that the word 'end' is given a deliberately double meaning and is understood differently depending on the spiritual development of the characters in the novel. It may mean cessation of desire, or else, as a goal, the fulfilment of desire. But in terms of the mystic union with the Stone that Chloe attains, its special meaning is also awareness of the primordial oneness of Creator and created, so that there is nothing outside that state to which one can become attached. In this way, by offering herself to the Stone, Chloe makes herself the channel through which the Stone can call back and reintegrate the divided Types whose meanings had been misinterpreted by their temporary possessors. ... The novel's "moral austerity" also derives from the more Eastern understanding in which actions are viewed as flowing from personal disposition, the consequences of which are mitigated neither by a special exercise of Divine Grace nor even Divine judgment. What happens to the characters is the direct and natural result of what their actions have already shown them to be. Cavaliero therefore perceives "the relation between predestination and free will" as being an allied theological theme explored by the book. (wikipedia.org)

The Сlassic Сollection of Charles Williams. Illustrated

The Сlassic Сollection of Charles Williams. Illustrated PDF Author: Charles Williams
Publisher: Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1552

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Book Description
This anthology comprises a selection of works from the acclaimed author Charles Williams, showcasing his unique blend of metaphysical fiction and spiritual exploration. The collection features six captivating novels that delve into themes of war, mysticism, cosmic dimensions, and the interplay between good and evil. From the mystical battles depicted in "War in Heaven" to the metaphysical journeys of "Many Dimensions," and the symbolic power struggles in "The Place of the Lion," Williams weaves intricate narratives that challenge conventional perceptions of reality. "The Greater Trumps" offers a glimpse into the esoteric world of tarot cards, while "Shadows of Ecstasy" delves into the seductive allure of forbidden knowledge. Lastly, "Descent into Hell" delves into the depths of human consciousness and the consequences of selfish desires. Through prose that is both imaginative and thought-provoking, this collection presents a thoughtfully curated array of Charles Williams' timeless literary explorations into the enigmas of the human soul and the metaphysical universe. War in Heaven Many Dimensions The Place of the Lion The Greater Trumps Shadows of Ecstasy Descent into Hell

Victorian Automata

Victorian Automata PDF Author: Suzy Anger
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009100270
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Bringing together a multidisciplinary group of scholars, this collection examines the Victorians' profound fascination with automata.

Hermes Explains

Hermes Explains PDF Author: Peter Forshaw
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
ISBN: 9048542855
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Few fields of academic research are surrounded by so many misunderstandings and misconceptions as the study of Western esotericism. For twenty years now, the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (University of Amsterdam) has been at the forefront of international scholarship in this domain. This anniversary volume seeks to make the modern study of Western esotericism more widely known beyond specialist circles, while addressing a range of misconceptions, biases, and prejudices that still tend to surround it. Thirty major scholars in the field respond to questions about a wide range of unfamiliar ideas, traditions, practices, problems, and personalities that are central to the field. By challenging many taken-for-granted assumptions about religion, science, philosophy, and the arts, this volume demonstrates why the modern study of esotericism leads us to reconsider much that we thought we knew about the story of Western culture.

Initiating the Millennium

Initiating the Millennium PDF Author: Robert Collis
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190903376
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
In Initiating the Millennium, Robert Collis and Natalie Bayer fill a substantial lacuna in the study of an initiatic society--known variously as the Illumin�s d'Avignon, the Avignon Society, the New Israel Society, and the Union--that flourished across Europe between 1779 and 1807. Based on hitherto neglected archival material, this study provides a wealth of fresh insights into a group that included members of various Christian confessions from countries spanning the length and breadth of the Continent. The founding members of this society forged a unique group that incorporated distinct strands of Western esotericism (particularly alchemy and arithmancy) within an all-pervading millenarian worldview. Collis and Bayer demonstrate that the doctrine of premillennialism--belief in the imminent advent of Christ's reign on Earth--soon came to constitute the raison d'�tre of the society. Using a chronological approach, the authors chart the machinations of the leading figures of the society (most notably the Polish gentleman Tadeusz Grabianka). They also examine the way in which the group reacted to and was impacted by the tumultuous events that rocked Europe during its twenty-eight years of existence. The result is a new understanding of the vital role played by the so-called Union within the wider millenarian and illuministic milieu at the close of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth century.

Charles Williams

Charles Williams PDF Author: CHARLES. WILLIAMS
Publisher: Benediction Classics
ISBN: 9781789432237
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 788

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Book Description
"The Novels of Charles Williams" is a collection of five gripping novels. They have inspired C. S. Lewis and numerous other writers of fantasy.