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Christian Mysticism & Gnosticism
Origins of Early Christian Ireland by Harold Mytum
£35.00
Second hand / Antiquarian
Published: Routledge, London 1992 (first edition)
Condition: Fine, almost as new. Dust jacket unclipped in protective cellophane wrapper. Pages clean and unmarked.
"The Origins of Early Christian Ireland explains changes in the period up to AD 800 in Ireland. External stimuli, most notably from Irish settlers in western Britain acted as catalysts which transformed a relatively moribund Iron Age culture into one of extraordinary vigour. All aspects of the culture changed radically, and changes in each had knock-on effects on others. Beliefs were revolutionised by Christianity; society was transformed by the church as an institution and the rise of the individual; agriculture was expanded by more advanced technology and the entrepreneurial flair of individual decision-making; craft production became more widespread and offered a vehicle for the display of personal wealth and status. Long-distance trade and ecclesiastical contacts integrated Ireland with the rest of Europe more effectively than ever before.
The book has two distinctive features, which means that it relates to two forms of academic market, each of which can be defined. Firstly, it deals with a particular culture-historical period, that of Early Christian Ireland, and presents an explanation of its origins and development to AD 800. This appeals to archaeologists and historians of Ireland, Britain and, indeed, Europe. Secondly, it takes a specific theoretical position and develops it using primarily archaeological but also extensive historical information. This is the most detailed application of processualist theory yet undertaken for a historic period in Europe. This appeals to archaeologists and anthropologists in Britain, and also North America where the processualist approach is the most popular theoretical position."
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The Search for Truth by John Temple
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The Search for Truth is a unique investigation in twelve chapters of the occult secrets in the Bible, its Mystery Language, and their origin in the Wisdom Teachings of ancient Egypt. Throughout the book, occult writer and theologian John Temple discusses some of the mystery keys without which it is impossible to unlock the hidden meaning concealed within the many biblical stories, symbols and sacred teachings, some of which pre-date Christianity by many millenia.
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IAO: Ophite Iconography by José Gabriel Alegría Sabogal
£49.99
2024 paperback edition
IAO is an iconographic proposal, an attempt to illustrate the Gnostic worldview and its myths as understood by the Ophites, a sect of which little is known. It is, perhaps, an exercise of imagination, of what Christian iconography could have resembled if the Ophites had survived. Visually, it follows the sequences of the Speculum Humanae Salvationis and the Biblia Pauperum, reordering their contents according to this heterodox initiative.
“Gnosticism lacks images in a remarkable way, the abstraction of its texts is only equated by the visual silence of its few and discrete remains. And yet the texts are filled with images!
“These images are, in fact, visions, allegories, and myths of a yet unexplored richness. And the ambitious proposal here is to consolidate an iconographic programme…”
Central to this initiative is the reconstruction of the Ophite diagram described by Origen of Alexandria in Contra Celsum – a complex system in which their whole cosmic vision was integrated.
“The three axis, which the images will revolve around, are three distinctive topics of the gnostic worldview: The demiurge (and his relation to the manifested world), the myth of Sophia (and the female aspects of the divine), and the ophite Christology, or the saviour as a serpent.”
IAO rejects the commonly held notion of Gnosticism as a mere form of dualism within Christianity, and explores its relationship with other religions – if only by conceptual coincidence, following Edward Conze’s comparison between Buddhism and Gnosis.
Moreover, the Ophites, by declaring Christ to be an incarnation of the Serpent of Genesis, stood outside the moral spectrum of what is now understood as Christianity. Instead, notions of non-duality can be found in the doctrines of Basilides and the idea of the Pleroma, which are explored within, both conceptually and visually.
Semesilam: The Eternal Sun by José Gabriel Alegría Sabogal
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In the new prologue to Semesilam, Sabogal offers personal insight into the diverse circumstances that played a role in producing this corpus, including the motifs, symbols, and ideas behind them, and further interpretations of various images and themes – Gnostic Symbolism, Angelic Iconography, and Symbols of the Unconscious among others – which have been crucial to his artistic process.
Within this myriad of symbology and meaning, the Sun is at the forefront, a recurring symbol and inspiration for the book’s title, Semesilam – here identified as an inscription often found on the so-called Abrasax Gnostic gemstones, pointing to the everlasting nature of the solar orb.
The material from Handbook of Sacred Anatomy constitutes a Mutus Liber that explores mystical interpretations of human remains, while A Second Nature was significantly inspired by Jungian analyses, delving also into the mysterious Akephalos, the headless figure – symbolically suggestive of both the dragon and contemplation of death – used by surrealist author Georges Bataille, who, in an uncompromising non-rational way, sought to create its own visual associative language.
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Semesilam features a new and carefully designed layout by artist and typographer Joseph Uccello, which enhances the presentation of this collection, thereby making it available as a fine edition, showcasing material that has been otherwise out of print for a considerable while. Certainly, a worthy addition for those who are interested in José Gabriel’s body of work.
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