Behind the Crystal Ball: Magic, Science, and the Occult from Antiquity through the New Age - Hardcover

Aveni, Anthony F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0812924150 ISBN 13: 9780812924152

Publisher: Times Books, 1997

Synopsis

In this fascinating exploration of occult practice, Anthony Aveni takes the reader on a whirlwind tour through time and space, traveling from the ancient Tigris-Euphrates river valley to the streets of our modern-day cities. On the way, he catalogs the many ways people have used magic over the millennia in hopes of improving their lives. Consider a page from your ancestors' book of spells: For a headache, pour vinegar on your door hinges. For warts, wait until the twentieth day after a new moon, rub dirt on the warts while you lie in the road, and gaze up at the moon. Or, if you prefer more modern superstitions and want to be a good pitcher, be like Texas Ranger Mike Griffin and always eat bacon the day before you take to the mound.
Professor Aveni argues persuasively that we cannot separate a culture's perception of reality from its times. The ancient priests of Egypt saw the dung beetle, or scarab, as a sign of life not because they were ignorant primitives, but because they were using the available clues in the world around them to map out a greater truth. When Kabbalists sought to discover meaning through the letters in a name or an historical date, they were seeking to satisfy a very deeply held urge. The ancients sought the same goals we now obtain from science and religion - a clearer picture of humanity's place in the cosmos. How and why has Western thought and scientific inquiry diverged from magic?
At a time when crystals, channeling, faith healing, earth worship, and transcendental meditation are enjoying a renaissance, the lines between science, magic, and the occult are beginning to blur once again. Comparing Harry Houdini and scientific provocateur Richard Feynman, Professor Aveni asks, "Is magic in the eye of the beholder?"

About this title

About the Author

Anthony Aveni, Ph.D., is the Russell B. Colgate Professor of Astronomy and Anthropology at Colgate University.

From the Back Cover

times to the present, magic and science have always been intertwined. In this fascinating book, astronomer/anthropologist Anthony Aveni conducts a whirlwind tour of occult practices--from astrology, alchemy, and phrenology to psychokinesis, crystals, and channeling--and finds that many of magic's ancient rites have been revived and reexamined in the New Age.

Edition details

• Publisher: Times Books
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0812924150
• ISBN 13: 9780812924152
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 406