Yet why, over three hundred years after it began, is the Enlightenment so profoundly misunderstood as controversial, the expression of soulless calculation? The answer may be that, to an extraordinary extent, we have accepted the account of the Enlightenment given by its conservative enemies. Ritchie Robertson goes back into the “long eighteenth century,” from approximately 1680 to 1790, to reveal what this much-debated period was really about.Any account of the Enlightenment must be in large part a history of ideas. But Robertson argues that it is not solely a philosophical movement; the Enlightenment saw the publication of the Encyclopédie, which is not only a historical and philosophical compendium, but also an illustrated guide to all sorts of contemporary machinery, handicrafts, and trades aimed to improve people’s lives in immediate and practical ways. Robertson chronicles the campaigns mounted by some Enlightened figures against specific evils such as capital punishment, judicial torture, serfdom and witchcraft trials, featuring the experiences of major figures like Voltaire and Diderot with ordinary people who lived through this extraordinary moment. Robertson gives due attention to philosophical and theological debates, but also looks to literature, music, and the visual arts as prominent means of conveying enlightenment ideas.In seeking to correct one-sided views of the Enlightenment, Robertson ultimately puts forward his own. He does not reduce this transformative period to a formula, but instead makes the claim that indeed the Enlightenment was an attempt to increase human happiness, and to claim that happiness was possible in this world, without needing any compensatory belief in a better one beyond the grave.

    He introduces characters and incidents with his unusual literary style and grace, bringing to the fore those that have "Puritans as Democrats," "The Monarch's Revolution," "The Artist Prophet and Jester" -- show the recurrent role of great themes throughout the eras.The triumphs and defeats of five hundred years form an inspiring saga that modifies the current impression of one long tale of oppression by white European males. Women and their deeds are prominent, and freedom (even in sexual matters) is not an invention of the last decades. And when Barzun rates the present not as a culmination but a decline, he is in no way a prophet of doom. Instead, he shows decadence as the creative novelty that will burst forth -- tomorrow or the next day.Only after a lifetime of separate studies covering a broad territory could a writer create with such ease the synthesis displayed in this magnificent volume.

    Over thirty-five magical models are compared and discussed. Begins with an introduction to magic, including a program of study so you can use any of the ninety-one systems described. Reveals the secrets of alchemy, magical alphabets, the chakras, the Tree of Life, astrology, and much more. It makes the ancient magical systems accessible, understandable and useful to modern magicians.

    For thousands of years humans have fashioned stories about divine beings to explain their most mysterious, terrifying, and exalted experiences. Today the names of many of these deities have fallen into obscurity. The Dictionary of Ancient Deities brings these gods and goddesses back to light. Here, in one superbly written volume, is every known divine being throughout recorded history, from Athena and Brahma to the evil demon king Ngworekara of the African Fan people and the Babylonian dream messenger Zaqar. With over 10,000 entries, The Dictionary of Ancient Deities is the most comprehensive reference of its kind, covering not only gods and goddesses, but also spirits, places, festivals, sacred texts and objects, heroes, monsters, demigods, and the plethora of fantastic mythical beasts that have populated the human imagination from time immemorial. The encyclopedia also includes many deities often missing from standard collections, notably from Inuit, Native American, and African cultures. Alphabetically arranged entries provide the name of each deity (with alternate spellings), followed by the tribe or culture that worshipped the deity. Most importantly, the entries--whether brief descriptions or longer essays--offer lucid and engaging explanations of the origins and functions of the god or goddess. With a comprehensive index and an extensive bibliography, The Dictionary of Ancient Deities is the best choice for anyone intrigued by the rich pantheon of divine beings that have mirrored the human psyche and shaped our earliest civilizations.

    From difficult childhoods to fashion icons, from love matches to divorces, and from unrehearsed coronations to assassination attempts and untimely deaths.Curiosity about Britain’s rulers and their next of kin never seems to wane, and it is this compendium about the lives of the members of the Royal Family that makes this so utterly compelling.

    The author exposes the Vatican's involvement in world politics, intrigues, and the fomenting of wars throughout history. It appears, beyond any doubt, that the Roman Catholic institution is not a Christian church and never was. The poor Roman Catholic people have been betrayed by her and are facing spiritual disaster. Paris shows that Rome is responsible for the two great world wars.

    Until recently historians often dismissed these descriptions as elaborate fictions created by judicial interrogators eager to find evidence of stereotypical pacts with the Devil. Although this paradigm is now routinely questioned, and most historians acknowledge that there was a folkloric component to familiar lore in the period, these beliefs and the experiences reportedly associated with them, remain substantially unexamined. Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits examines the folkloric roots of familiar lore from historical, anthropological and comparative religious perspectives. It argues that beliefs about witches' familiars were rooted in beliefs surrounding the use of fairy familiars by beneficent magical practitioners or 'cunning folk', and corroborates this through a comparative analysis of familiar beliefs found in traditional native American and Siberian shamanism. The author explores the experiential dimension of familiar lore by drawing parallels between early modern familiar encounters and visionary mysticism as it appears in both tribal shamanism and medieval European contemplative traditions. These perspectives challenge the reductionist view of popular magic in early modern British often presented by historians.

     *This is the 2nd edition of the Amazon Best Seller, with a brand new design and completely reformatted interior. **Note: This is a SMALL paperback book that fits in your pocket for easy take along use.

    From fifteenth-century France to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, from Adolf Hitler to Joseph McCarthy, devastating witch-hunts were fed by superstition and have threatened societies with their hysteria.Here is a book that presents the truth behind the frenzy, taking an engaging yet sobering look at prejudice, discrimination, and murder practiced in the name of the betterment of society.

    Cult diva and connoisseur of mongrel video Carol Schwartz and her stellar cast of notable critics and scribbling outpatients, deliver 1,300 irreverent reviews of masterpieces and misfits, many of them rewritten and expanded. More than 250 are new to this edition, like 'Cannibal Holocaust', 'Switchblade Sisters' and Ed Wood's 'I Woke Up Early The Day I Died'. Carol adds anime, underground and Hong Kong flicks to the weird, wild and wonderful mix. This much fun ought to be illegal. Cult fans will appreciate the increased number of cinematographers, writers and cast members in the entries; DVD availability; a Cult Connections resource guide to help further fanatic pursuits; and more, yes more movie taglines and quotes.

    What is little known is the fate of fifteen million German civilians who found themselves on the wrong side of new postwar borders. All over Eastern Europe, the inhabitants of communities that had been established for many centuries were either expelled or killed. Over two million Germans did not survive. Some of these people had supported Hitler, but the great majority were guiltless. In A Terrible Revenge, de Zayas describes this horrible retribution. This new edition includes an updated foreword, epilogue and additional information from recent interviews with the children of the displaced.

    The definitive scholarly account on witchcraft, demonology, diabolic possession and modern spiritualism.

    But we are not referring to just any knowledge. Gnosis is knowledge which produces a great transformation in those who receive it. Knowledge capable of nothing less than waking up man and helping him to escape from the prison in which he finds himself. That is why Gnosis has been so persecuted throughout the course of history, because it is knowledge considered dangerous for the religious and political authorities who govern mankind from the shadows.Every time this religion, absolutely different from the rest, appears before man, the other religions unite to try to destroy or hide it again.Primordial Gnosis is the original Gnosis, true Gnosis, eternal Gnosis, Gnostic knowledge in its pure form. Due to multiple persecutions, Primordial Gnosis has been fragmented, distorted and hidden.By recovering and uniting the scattered fragments, Primordial Gnosis can be reconstructed and brought to the world once again. This book is a complete synthesis of the forbidden theology of Primordial Gnosis.

    Helplessness in the face of disease and human disaster helped to perpetuate this belief in magic and the supernatural. As Keith Thomas shows, England during these years resembled in many ways today's underdeveloped areas. The English population was exceedingly liable to pain, sickness, and premature death; many were illiterate; epidemics such as the bubonic plague plowed through English towns, at times cutting the number of London's inhabitants by a sixth; fire was a constant threat; the food supply was precarious; and for most diseases there was no effective medical remedy. In this fascinating and detailed book, Keith Thomas shows how magic, like the medieval Church, offered an explanation for misfortune and a means of redress in times of adversity. The supernatural thus had its own practical utility in daily life. Some forms of magic were challenged by the Protestant Reformation, but only with the increased search for scientific explanation of the universe did the English people begin to abandon their recourse to the supernatural. Science and technology have made us less vulnerable to some of the hazards which confronted the people of the past. Yet Religion and the Decline of Magic concludes that if magic is defined as the employment of ineffective techniques to allay anxiety when effective ones are not available, then we must recognize that no society will ever be free from it.

    The historical breadth of Boswell's research (from the Greeks to Aquinas) and the variety of sources consulted (legal, literary, theological, artistic, and scientific) make this one of the most extensive treatments of any single aspect of Western social history. The product of ten years of research and analysis of records in a dozen languages, this book opens up a new area of historical inquiry and helps elucidate the origins and operations of intolerance as a social force.