The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt

The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt PDF Author: Jack Lindsay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description

The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt

The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt PDF Author: Jack Lindsay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description


The Alchemy Reader

The Alchemy Reader PDF Author: Stanton J. Linden
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521796620
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Table of contents

The Cambridge Intellectual History of Byzantium

The Cambridge Intellectual History of Byzantium PDF Author: Anthony Kaldellis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110821021X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1438

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Book Description
This volume brings into being the field of Byzantine intellectual history. Shifting focus from the cultural, social, and economic study of Byzantium to the life and evolution of ideas in their context, it provides an authoritative history of intellectual endeavors from Late Antiquity to the fifteenth century. At its heart lie the transmission, transformation, and shifts of Hellenic, Christian, and Byzantine ideas and concepts as exemplified in diverse aspects of intellectual life, from philosophy, theology, and rhetoric to astrology, astronomy, and politics. Case studies introduce the major players in Byzantine intellectual life, and particular emphasis is placed on the reception of ancient thought and its significance for secular as well as religious modes of thinking and acting. New insights are offered regarding controversial, understudied, or promising topics of research, such as philosophy and medical thought in Byzantium, and intellectual exchanges with the Arab world.

Hathor's Alchemy

Hathor's Alchemy PDF Author: Alison M. Roberts
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780952423331
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Ever since alchemy first emerged in Graeco-Roman Egypt, alchemists have said their wisdom came from the pharaonic temples. Yet though the West has had unprecedented access to this hidden knowledge since the decipherment of hieroglyphs, ancient Egypt's connection with alchemy still remains obscure, doubted even by many. Focussing on the beautiful temples at Abu Simbel and Dendara, dedicated to the fiery serpent-eye goddess Hathor, this groundbreaking book explores for the first time the legacy left to alchemists by the pharaohs. It also goes deep into Ramesses VI's extraordinary tomb at Thebes to discover the secrets of growth and renewal guarded by Osiris and vivified by Hathor's copper love. Both metallurgical and mystical, these sacred secrets laid the foundations for the Hermetic art. The transmission initially came through Graeco-Egyptian and Jewish alchemists, then Islamic adepts, many of whom were Sufis belonging to an Akhmim alchemical lineage, until eventually Hathor's alchemy reached medieval Europe to inspire the 'rising dawn' tradition. And with a spiritual vision grounded in nature, it still has vital relevance for our world today.

A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt

A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt PDF Author: Katelijn Vandorpe
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118428404
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 911

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Book Description
An authoritative and multidisciplinary Companion to Egypt during the Greco‐Roman and Late Antique period With contributions from noted authorities in the field, A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt offers a comprehensive resource that covers almost 1000 years of Egyptian history, starting with the liberation of Egypt from Persian rule by Alexander the Great in 332 BC and ending in AD 642, when Arab rule started in the Nile country. The Companion takes a largely sociological perspective and includes a section on life portraits at the end of each part. The theme of identity in a multicultural environment and a chapter on the quality of life of Egypt's inhabitants clearly illustrate this objective. The authors put the emphasis on the changes that occurred in the Greco-Roman and Late Antique periods, as illustrated by such topics as: Traditional religious life challenged; Governing a country with a past: between tradition and innovation; and Creative minds in theory and praxis. This important resource: Discusses how Egypt became part of a globalizing world in Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine times Explores notable innovations by the Ptolemies and Romans Puts the focus on the longue durée development Offers a thematic and multidisciplinary approach to the subject, bringing together scholars of different disciplines Contains life portraits in which various aspects and themes of people’s daily life in Egypt are discussed Written for academics and students of the Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt period, this Companion offers a guide that is useful for students in the areas of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and New Testament studies.

Jung and the Alchemical Imagination

Jung and the Alchemical Imagination PDF Author: Jeffrey Raff
Publisher: Nicolas-Hays, Inc.
ISBN: 0892545674
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
Jung and the Alchemical Imagination illustrates the spiritual nature of Jungian psychology and the debt it owes to the tradition of esoteric religion. Unlike other books on Jung and alchemy which contain a psychological interpretation of alchemical material, this work uses alchemy to understand the three cornerstones of Jungian spirituality--the self, the transcendent function, and active imagination. Through the interpretation of alchemical imagery, Raff explains the nature of these three concepts and illustrates how together they form a new model of contemporary Western spirituality. This book is also unique in selecting alchemical texts for analysis that are relatively unknown and which, for the most part, have never been interpreted. In addition, he presents two new concepts--the ally and the psychoid realm. Through the addition of these ideas, and the new understanding that they offer, it is possible to apply alchemical imagery to transpsychic experience/ that is, to a world of spirits which may not be reduced to psychological concepts. By including this realm in the study of alchemy and Jungian thought, it is possible to gain insights into the nature of visionary and ecstatic experiences that form part of the path of individuation--the road to completion.

Becoming Gold

Becoming Gold PDF Author: Shannon Grimes
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780473407759
Category : Alchemy
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
FOREMOST among the alchemists of the Hellenized world, the "divine" Zosimos practiced a sacred art in which metaphysical and metallurgical realities were fundamentally intertwined. Rather than being an exclusive product of Alexandrian syncretism, however, the dual spiritual and material emphasis of this alchemy reveals much deeper roots than expected: roots which extend deep into the religious cultures of the Ancient Near East. Through the methods of "cultural biography" and "thick description," Becoming Gold guides the reader deep into the temple culture of Roman Egypt, where the role of scribal priest intersects explicitly with the metallurgical craft traditions. Going beyond generalizations, Grimes explores the metal-coloring techniques developed in Egyptian polychromic statuary, as well as the rituals of statue animation performed by the priests of the House of Life. In this light, Zosimos is increasingly revealed as a scribal priest responsible for preserving and translating ancient Egyptian metallurgical recipes; a high-ranking goldsmith who oversaw temple statue makers. Against the wider backdrop of late antique religion and philosophy, Grimes also details the fascinating connections between alchemy, theurgy, and gnosticism. Here, Zosimos's spiritual attitudes are explored through the daimonic versus astrological influences upon alchemical operations; meditative practices using mirrors of electrum to attain divine gnosis; and the overarching imperative to transform the bonds of embodiment into vehicles for divinity. Zosimos reveals an alchemy in which spiritual and material realities are ultimately nondual; in which metals becomes living bodies for divine spirits; and in which the immortal soul--luminous and golden--radiates through its material forms.

A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt

A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt PDF Author: Katelijn Vandorpe
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118428471
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 789

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Book Description
An authoritative and multidisciplinary Companion to Egypt during the Greco‐Roman and Late Antique period With contributions from noted authorities in the field, A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt offers a comprehensive resource that covers almost 1000 years of Egyptian history, starting with the liberation of Egypt from Persian rule by Alexander the Great in 332 BC and ending in AD 642, when Arab rule started in the Nile country. The Companion takes a largely sociological perspective and includes a section on life portraits at the end of each part. The theme of identity in a multicultural environment and a chapter on the quality of life of Egypt's inhabitants clearly illustrate this objective. The authors put the emphasis on the changes that occurred in the Greco-Roman and Late Antique periods, as illustrated by such topics as: Traditional religious life challenged; Governing a country with a past: between tradition and innovation; and Creative minds in theory and praxis. This important resource: Discusses how Egypt became part of a globalizing world in Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine times Explores notable innovations by the Ptolemies and Romans Puts the focus on the longue durée development Offers a thematic and multidisciplinary approach to the subject, bringing together scholars of different disciplines Contains life portraits in which various aspects and themes of people’s daily life in Egypt are discussed Written for academics and students of the Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt period, this Companion offers a guide that is useful for students in the areas of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and New Testament studies.

The Greco-Egyptian Magical Formularies

The Greco-Egyptian Magical Formularies PDF Author: Christopher Faraone
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472220780
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 563

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Book Description
In Greco-Roman Egypt, recipes for magical undertaking, called magical formularies, commonly existed for love potions, curses, attempts to best business rivals—many of the same challenges that modern people might face. In The Greco-Egyptian Magical Formularies: Libraries, Books, and Individual Recipes, volume editors Christopher Faraone and Sofia Torallas Tovar present a series of essays by scholars involved in a multiyear project to reedit and translate the various magical handbooks that were inscribed in the Roman period in the Greek or Egyptian languages. For the first time, the material remains of these papyrus rolls and codices are closely examined, revealing important information about the production of books in Egypt, the scribal culture in which they were produced, and the traffic in single recipes copied from them. Especially important for historians of the book and the Christian Bible are new insights in the historical shift from roll to codex, complicated methods of inscribing the bilingual papyri (in which the Greek script is written left to right and the demotic script right to left), and the new realization that several of the longest extant handbooks are clearly compilations of two or more shorter handbooks, which may have come from different places. The essays also reexamine and rethink the idea that these handbooks came from the personal libraries of practicing magicians or temple scriptoria, in one case going so far as to suggest that two of the handbooks had literary pretensions of a sort and were designed to be read for pleasure rather than for quotidian use in making magical recipes.

The Hermetic Link

The Hermetic Link PDF Author: Jacob Slavenburg
Publisher: Nicolas-Hays, Inc.
ISBN: 0892545763
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
Hermes is the Greek god of the Word, of thought and magic, the swift-moving messenger of the Divine and guardian of souls in the Afterlife. In Ancient Egypt he was the majestic god Thoth, the Recorder, the lord of measurement and science, the brother/husband of Isis. In Rome, he was of course Mercury, flying through the Empyrean at the speed of idea by the aid of his winged helmet and boots. In this broad survey of the Hermetic arts, author Jacob Slavenburg brings an unparalleled depth of insight to the subject. He examines the historical Hermetic literature and details its relevance to modern occultism, from the symbolism of architecture and art to the mysteries of Freemasonry. The heavenly mysteries of astrology are explored as are the healing arts which derive from the spirit of scientific inquiry embodied by Thoth/Hermes. Slavenburg examines the magical writings of the Greek papyri and their development into the contemporary magical practices of modern adepts. He sheds light on the workings of alchemy and the esoteric philosophy to the world of modern chemistry and physics. He explores the origin of evil and the realm of the afterlife, and the Hermetic doctrines of reincarnation and karma. In addition, the author provides a wealth of biographical data on the magi of Hermeticsm, from Ficino to Agrippa, John Dee to Giordano Bruno.