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Mircea Eliade

    March 9, 1907 – April 22, 1986
    Mircea Eliade
    The quest
    Patterns in Comparative Religion
    Yoga. Immortality and Freedom
    Eros and Magic in the Renaissance
    A History of Religious Ideas
    History of Religious Ideas 2
    • History of Religious Ideas 2

      • 580 pages
      • 21 hours of reading
      4.5(699)Add rating

      In volume 2 of this monumental work, Mircea Eliade continues his magisterial progress through the history of religious ideas. The religions of ancient China, Brahmanism and Hinduism, Buddha and his contemporaries, Roman religion, Celtic and German religions, Judaism, the Hellenistic period, the Iranian syntheses, and the birth of Christianity—all are encompassed in this volume.

      History of Religious Ideas 2
    • "No one has done so much as Mr. Eliade to inform literature students in the West about 'primitive' and Oriental religions...Everyone who cares about the human adventure will find new information and new angles of vision."--Martin E. Marty, "New York Times Book Review"

      A History of Religious Ideas
    • It is a widespread prejudice of modern, scientific society that "magic" is merely a ludicrous amalgam of recipes and methods derived from primitive and erroneous notions about nature. Eros and Magic in the Renaissance challenges this view, providing an in-depth scholarly explanation of the workings of magic and showing that magic continues to exist in an altered form even today.Renaissance magic, according to Ioan Couliano, was a scientifically plausible attempt to manipulate individuals and groups based on a knowledge of motivations, particularly erotic motivations. Its key principle was that everyone (and in a sense everything) could be influenced by appeal to sexual desire. In addition, the magician relied on a profound knowledge of the art of memory to manipulate the imaginations of his subjects. In these respects, Couliano suggests, magic is the precursor of the modern psychological and sociological sciences, and the magician is the distant ancestor of the psychoanalyst and the advertising and publicity agent.In the course of his study, Couliano examines in detail the ideas of such writers as Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola and illuminates many aspects of Renaissance culture, including heresy, medicine, astrology, alchemy, courtly love, the influence of classical mythology, and even the role of fashion in clothing.Just as science gives the present age its ruling myth, so magic gave a ruling myth to the Renaissance. Because magic relied upon the use of images, and images were repressed and banned in the Reformation and subsequent history, magic was replaced by exact science and modern technology and eventually forgotten.Couliano's remarkable scholarship helps us to recover much of its original significance and will interest a wide audience in the humanities and social sciences.

      Eros and Magic in the Renaissance
    • Yoga. Immortality and Freedom

      • 536 pages
      • 19 hours of reading
      4.4(28)Add rating

      First published in English in 1958, the author lays the groundwork for a Western understanding of Yoga, providing a comprehensive survey of Yoga in theory and practice from its earliest antecedents in the Vedas through the twentieth century.

      Yoga. Immortality and Freedom
    • Demonstrates universal religious experience and shows how humanity's effort to live within a sacred sphere has manifested itself in myriad cultures from ancient to modern times; and, how certain beliefs, rituals, symbols, and myths have, with interesting variations, persisted.

      Patterns in Comparative Religion
    • The quest

      • 180 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      In The Quest Mircea Eliade stresses the cultural function that a study of the history of religions can play in a secularized society. He writes for the intelligent general reader in the hope that what he calls a new humanism "will be engendered by a confrontation of modern Western man with unknown or less familiar worlds of meaning." "Each of these essays contains insights which will be fruitful and challenging for professional students of religion, but at the same time they all retain the kind of cultural relevance and clarity of style which makes them accessible to anyone seriously concerned with man and his religious possibilities."—Joseph M. Kitagawa, Religious Education

      The quest
    • From Primitives to Zen

      • 644 pages
      • 23 hours of reading

      Originally published under the title FROM PRIMITIVES TO ZEN, this comprehensive anthology contains writings vital to all the major non-Western religious traditions, arranged thematically. Here are colorful descriptions of deities, creation myths, depictions of death and the afterlife, teachings on the relationship between humanity and the sacred, religious rituals and practices, prayer and hymns.

      From Primitives to Zen
    • Gaudeamus

      • 180 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      Set in late 1920s Bucharest, the narrative captures the vibrant university life of a young man driven by a desire to fully experience life. He immerses himself in academic pursuits, engages in philosophical discussions with professors and peers, and plays a pivotal role in establishing the Student's Union. The protagonist transforms his attic, once a sanctuary of solitude, into a lively hub for political debate and romantic encounters, reflecting the exuberance and complexities of youth during a transformative era.

      Gaudeamus