Synopses & Reviews
Includes bibliographical references (p. 333-346) and index.
Review
"[Mr. Aveni]'s not out to debunk . . . occult practices. Just the opposite: he argues that magic has had a bum rap through history . . . that 'deep down science and magic are perhaps more alike than we might care to admit.'"
—The New York Times B
Synopsis
In this fascinating exploration of occult practice, Anthony Aveni takes the reader on a whirlwind tour through time and space to unveil the many ways people have used magic over the millennia in hopes of improving their lives. As Aveni persuasively argues, the ancients sought what we now search for through science and religion - a clearer picture of humanity's place in the cosmos.
About the Author
Anthony Aveni is the Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of Astronomy, Anthropolgy, and Native Amerifan Studies at Colgate University. He has researched and written about Maya Astronomy for more than four decades. He was named a U.S. National Professor of the year and has been awarded the H.B. Nicholson Medal for Excellence in Research in Mesoamerican Studies by Harvard's Peabody Museum.
Table of Contents
Middle East exotica -- The ancient art of hepatoscopy -- The Greek paradox -- Magic in the Roman Empire -- The new outcasts -- Knowledge through number and the Word -- Pathways to knowledge -- Resurrection of the Kabbalah -- Music of the spheres -- Two sides of the coin of Alchemy -- Rise of the Clear Seer -- Medieval astrology -- The devil and the proliferation of good and evil -- It's witchcraft -- Summary: who turned on the lights? -- Rochester rap -- Before Hydesville -- Mr. Sludge -- DDH to HPB -- After the foxes -- My body, my map -- Summary: a light that failed? -- Who's a magician? -- Magic in the twentieth century -- Different time, same channel -- PK wars -- The personalized magic of healing -- You are what you eat -- Come fly with me -- Life after life -- Crystals -- Geomancy -- Summary: on shifting ground -- Is magic a religion? -- Magic and science -- Anthropologists encounter the occult -- Summary: crossing curves in an age of interconnectedness.