A look at the metaphysical experiences that shaped the lives and work of 24 great men and women from the Renaissance to modern times
• Chronicles the changing relationship with God, nature, and spirituality from the 16th century to the 20th century
• Includes encounters with the paranormal of Ben Johnson, Isaac Newton, Mary Shelley, Leo Tolstoy, Doris Lessing, and Winston Churchill
What role did the esoteric thought of Swedenborg play in the creative output of Honoré de Balzac? Did a supernatural encounter prompt Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley to focus her work on the theme of immortality? Building on his earlier research on communications with the spirit world that Victor Hugo, author of Les Misérables, experienced while in exile on the isle of Jersey, John Chambers now looks at the role occult knowledge and supernatural experiences played in the lives of 24 geniuses. His investigation spans the life and work of William Blake, Helena Blavatsky, and W. B. Yeats, whose esoteric interests are well known, as well as those little suspected of such encounters with worlds beyond ours, including Doris Lessing, Leo Tolstoy, Norman Mailer, Yukio Mishima, and Winston Churchill.
Chambers presents more than a collection of anecdotes and newly revealed secrets. His research provides insightful historical context of the decisive turning point that took place with the collapse of Prague, the occult capital of Europe, in 1620, which resulted in the victory of Cartesian reality and Newton's scientific paradigm over the esoteric traditions that flourished until that time. The magical and occult world shown in the lives of these 24 great men and women offers us a glimpse of what could still be ours--a world that though it is now overshadowed by modern scientific and technological principles is yet still visible on the horizon through the visions and paranormal experiences of these geniuses.
Autorentext
John Chambers (1939-2017) had a Master of Arts in English degree from the University of Toronto and spent three years at the University of Paris. He was the author of Victor Hugo's Conversations with the Spirit World, The Secret Life of Genius, and The Metaphysical World of Isaac Newton. He published numerous articles on subjects ranging from ocean shipping to mall sprawl to alien abduction and contributed essays to Forbidden Religion: Suppressed Heresies of the West.
Inhalt
Introduction
Prague's Other Universe
1 Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571)
The Goldsmith and the Guardian Angel
2 Michel de Nostradamus (1503-1566)
The Art of Astral Medicine
3 Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
The Occult as Confidence Game
4 Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
In Search of the Historical Noah
5 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
The Battle Over Light
6 William Blake (1757-1827)
The Horse's Mouth
7 Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869)
The Fall of an Angel
8 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851)
The Last Man
9 Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850)
Triumph and Tragedy of the Inner Self
10 Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
What the Shadow's Mouth Says
11 Jules Verne (1828-1905)
The Prophet as Peter Pan
12 Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
The Fruits of Enlightenment
13 Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891)
Mistress of Hidden Wisdom
14 William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
Metaphors for Poetry
15 H. G. Wells (1866-1946)
Did the Father of Science Fiction Have a Near-Death Experience?
16 Thomas Mann (1871-1950)
"It Was Not Possible--But It Happened"
17 Harry Houdini (1874-1926)
Ultimate Escape
18 Winston S. Churchill (1874-1965)
Encounter in the Transvaal
19 Carl G. Jung (1875-1961)
Speaker for the Dead
20 Sri Yashoda Ma (1882?1944)
A Guest in the House of Krishna
21 Doris Lessing (1919-)
Canopus in Argos: Archives
22 Norman Mailer (1923-2007)
Boxing with the Devil
23 Yukio Mishima (1925-1970)
Martyr-Genius of Japan
24 James Merrill (1926-1995)
I and Mine Hold It Back Brothers
Notes
Bibliography