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The Philosopher's Secret Fire: A History of the Imagination
The visionary tradition of spirits, gods, and demons continues to subvert our rational universe, erupting from the shadows in times of intense religious and philosophical transition. In this dazzling history, Patrick Harpur links together fields as far apart as Greek philosophy and depth psychology, Renaissance magic and tribal ritual, Romantic poetry and the ecstasy of th...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
November 4th 2002
by Ivan R. Dee Publisher
(first published January 1st 1999)
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A Hermetic Labyrinth Leading to the Otherworld
This book is a continuation of the ideas explored in the author's previous masterpiece, _Daemonic Reality_. It examines the "Otherworld", the Anima Mundi, or soul of the world. This is the larger Reality that was accepted by all traditional cultures, but which is now rejected, suppressed, and ignored by Western man. Yet, just because it is ignored doesn't mean that it doesn't exist- and doesn't make itself felt in our lives.
While _Daemonic Reality...more
This book is a continuation of the ideas explored in the author's previous masterpiece, _Daemonic Reality_. It examines the "Otherworld", the Anima Mundi, or soul of the world. This is the larger Reality that was accepted by all traditional cultures, but which is now rejected, suppressed, and ignored by Western man. Yet, just because it is ignored doesn't mean that it doesn't exist- and doesn't make itself felt in our lives.
While _Daemonic Reality...more
This book raises the idea that for the last 300 years, westerners have been cut off from the daimons, archetypes and myths, that everyone else in the history of the human race, from tribal shamans to Greek philosophers and Rennaissance mages, has tapped into. We are trapped in a two-dimensional world by the belief that the only reality is 'literal reality'.
Patrick Harpur has packed a lot into this book, but it is split into short sections and it is easy to follow his arguments. I was fascinated...more
Patrick Harpur has packed a lot into this book, but it is split into short sections and it is easy to follow his arguments. I was fascinated...more
A psychology professor of mine once said, "Sometimes you just want to curl up by the fire with some Jungian archetypal comfort food, you know?" This fits that scenario perfectly. A clear elaboration and exploration of the lost daimonic. Brings in some structural anthropology, too. A companionable walk through the "perennial philosophy." Such strolls never get old.
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some people might find this insufficiently "rigorous" or "systematic" - that's their problem, really. :-) magical thinking through of the other world and alchemy. definately not respectable among the post-structuralists.....
This book looks at the history of imagination, mystical experience, and myth. The author draws together seemingly unrelated phenomenon to explain what they tell us about the imagination. The book is well-researched, and included a lot of information with which I was unfamaliar. It was also nice to see a book defending the "non-rational" aspects of life, as authors often tend to ridicule the imaginative side of life. However, I felt the book's structure was somewhat disorganized. The author seeme...more
Another amazing, insightful and utterly inspired and inspiring masterpiece.
I am not sure about this book. Often it was interesting, but mostly I found it's sneering at modern society was really unnecessary. I also felt it lacked a focus, a central thesis. It was too busy showing off all the things the author knows.
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I actually gave up on it - I only marked it as read because there's no category for "too disconnected." The individual chapters are fine, but absolutely nothing ties this book together. If the author is making a point, I never found it. One could pull out a page or two, read that and find information of interest, but not as a whole.
This book was an interesting read but wildly all over the place. It touches on philosophy, the Renaissance period, alchemy, astronomy, history and all points in between.
It started off strong, with lots of discussions about fairies and quarks. I liked that, but missed the fairy land discussion (and the quarks) by the end.
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Patrick Harpur is an acclaimed author, best known for his philosophical works, which include
The Philosophers' Secret Fire: A History Of The Imagination
and
Mercurius: The Marriage Of Heaven and Earth
, the latter of which, after being out of print for several years (and fetching a small fortune on auction sites like eBay) has finally been re-released in a paperback edition.
Other works include D...more
More about Patrick Harpur...
Other works include D...more
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