false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155347m/252458.jpg 252458 2 Ascensions on high took many forms in Jewish mysticism and they permeated most of its history from its inception until Hasidism. The book surveys the various categories, with an emphasis on the architectural images of the ascent, like the resort to images of pillars, lines, and ladders. After surveying the variety of scholarly approaches to religion, the author also offers what he proposes as an eclectic approach, and a perspectivist one. The latter recommends to examine religious phenomena from a variety of perspectives. The author investigates the specific issue of the pillar in Jewish mysticism by comparing it to the archaic resort to pillars recurring in rural societies. Given the fact that the ascent of the soul and pillars constituted the concerns of two main Romanian scholars of religion, Ioan P. Culianu and Mircea Eliade, Idel resorts to their views, and in the Concluding Remarks analyzes the emergence of Eliade's vision of Judaism on the basis of neglected sources. 244640 30 9 2005 Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism: Pillars, Lines, Ladders (Pasts Incorporated) (Pasts Incorporated) total:2|5:1|4:1| 2 9 3 0 0 0 false false Mon Nov 30 12:52:24 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 30 12:52:24 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Sep 28 16:31:59 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 16:31:59 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 28 16:14:20 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 16:14:20 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=252458