Title Page : 12. THE CAMBRIDGE PLATONISTS THERE is an opinion, unfortunately very common, that religious mysticism is a product of the emotional temperament, and is diametrically opposed to the spirit of rationalism. No doubt this opinion is not without some element of justification, and one could quote...
Next. 10. The Phallic Element In Alchemical : 10. THE PHALLIC ELEMENT IN ALCHEMICAL DOCTRINE THE problem of alchemy presents many aspects to our view, but, to my mind, the most fundamental of these is psychological, or, perhaps I should say, epistemological. It has been said that the proper study of mankind is man; and to study man we must...
Next. 4. Superstitions Concerning Birds : 4 SUPERSTITIONS CONCERNING BIRDS AMONGST the most remarkable of natural occurrences must be included many of the phenomena connected with the behaviour of birds. Undoubtedly numerous species of birds are susceptible to atmospheric changes (of an electrical and barometric nature) too slight to be...
Next. 6. The Belief In Talismans : 6 THE BELIEF IN TALISMANS THE word "talisman" is derived from the Arabic "tilsam, a magical image," through the plural form "tilsamen." This Arabic word is itself probably derived from the Greek in its late meaning of "a religious mystery" or "consecrated object". The term is often employed...
Next. 1. Some Characteristics Of Mediaeval Thought : 1 SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF MEDIAEVAL THOUGHT IN the earliest days of his upward evolution man was satisfied with a very crude explanation of natural phenomena--that to which the name "animism" has been given. In this stage of mental development all the various forces of Nature are personified:...
Next. Preface : PREFACE THESE Excursions in the Byways of Thought were undertaken at different times and on different occasions; consequently, the reader may be able to detect in them inequalities of treatment. He may feel that I have lingered too long in some byways and hurried too rapidly through others, taking...
Next. 7. Ceremonial Magic In Theory And Practice : 7 CEREMONIAL MAGIC IN THEORY AND PRACTICE THE word "magic," if one may be permitted to say so, is itself almost magical-- magical in its power to conjure up visions in the human mind. For some these are of bloody rites, pacts with the powers of darkness, and the lascivious orgies of the Saturnali...
Next. 3. Medicine And Magic : 3 MEDICINE AND MAGIC THERE are few tasks at once so instructive and so fascinating as the tracing of the development of the human mind as manifested in the evolution of scientific and philosophical theories. And this is, perhaps, especially true when, as in the case of medicine, this evolution h...
Next. 9. The Quest Of The Philosopher's Stone : 9. THE QUEST OF THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE THE need of unity is a primary need of human thought. Behind the varied multiplicity of the world of phenomena, primitive man, as I have indicated on a preceding excursion, begins to seek, more or less consciously, for that Unity which alone is Real. And this...
Next. 2. Pythagoras And His Philosophy : 2. PYTHAGORAS AND HIS PHILOSOPHY IT is a matter for enduring regret that so little is known to us concerning PYTHAGORAS. What little we do know serves but to enhance for us the interest of the man and his philosophy, to make him, in many ways, the most attractive of Greek thinkers; and, basing our...
Next. 8. Architectural Symbolism : 8. ARCHITECTURAL SYMBOLISM I WAS once rash enough to suggest in an essay "On Symbolism in Art" that "a true work of art is at once realistic, imaginative, and symbolical," and that its aim is to make manifest the spiritual significance of the natural objects dealt with. I trust that those artists...
Untitled : BYGONE BELIEFS: BEING A SERIES OF EXCURSIONS IN THE BYWAYS OF THOUGHT BY HERBERT STANLEY REDGROVE [1920] Title Page Preface 1. Some Characteristics of Mediaeval Thought 2. Pythagoras and His Philosophy 3. Medicine and Magic 4. Superstitions Concerning Birds 5. The Powder of Sympathy: A Curious...
Title Page. Part 1 : BYGONE BELIEFS: BEING A SERIES OF EXCURSIONS IN THE BYWAYS OF THOUGHT BY HERBERT STANLEY REDGROVE B.Sc. (Lond.) F.C.S. LONDON WILLIAM RIDER & SON, LTD 8 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 4 [1920] Scanned By Eliza Fegley At Sacred-spiral.com, May 2003. Additional Formatting By John B. Hare , May 2003. This Text...
Next. 5. The Powder Of Sympathy. A Curious : 5 THE POWDER OF SYMPATHY: A CURIOUS MEDICAL SUPERSTITION OUT of the superstitions of the past the science of the present has gradually evolved. In the Middle Ages, what by courtesy we may term medical science was, as we have seen, little better than a heterogeneous collection of superstitions...
Next. 11. Roger Bacon. An Appreciation : 11. ROGER BACON: AN APPRECIATION IT has been said that "a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country." Thereto might be added, "and in his own time"; for, whilst there is continuity in time, there is also evolution, and England of to-day, for instance, is not the same country as Engl...
