Mystical Astrology According to Ibn 'Arabi (The Fons Vitae Titus Burckhardt series) [Paperback]

Titus Burckhardt (Author), Bulent Rauf (Translator), Keith Critchlow (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: The Fons Vitae Titus Burckhardt series | Publication Date: January 1, 2001

A unique work, providing the underlying spiritual principles lacking in most modern books of astrology. It is accompanied by 12 color plates of a 16th-century Persian manuscript.

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About the Author

Eminent Swiss metaphysician and scholar Dr. Titus Burckhardt was devoted to studies in art, art history, and oriental languages, and embarked upon journeys through North Africa and the Near East. In addition to writing books in German, he translated many important works from their original Arabic.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Fons Vitae (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887752439
• ISBN-13: 978-1887752435
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

TITUS BURCKHARDT, a German Swiss, was born in Florence in 1908 and died in Lausanne in 1984. An eminent member of the perennialist school, he is perhaps best known to the general public as an art historian. He won much acclaim for producing and publishing the first successful full-scale facsimiles of the Book of Kells, a copy of which he presented to Pope Pius XII at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. He later acted as a specialist advisor to UNESCO, with particular reference to the preservation of the unique architectural heritage of Fez. Besides his studies in Islamic art, mysticism, and culture, such as Introduction to Sufi Doctrine, Fez: City of Islam, and Moorish Culture in Spain, his best known works are: Sacred Art in East and West, Siena: City of the Virgin, Chartres and the Birth of the Cathedral, and Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul. Two notable compendiums of his work have also been published: Mirror of the Intellect: Essays on Traditional Science and Sacred Art and The Essential Titus Burckhardt: Reflections on Sacred Art, Faiths, and Civilizations, both translated and edited by William Stoddart.

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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic work on sacred science, July 28, 2004

By 

Jonathan Armstrong "enantidromian" (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mystical Astrology According to Ibn 'Arabi (The Fons Vitae Titus Burckhardt series) (Paperback)

Titus Burckhardt's 'Mystical Astrology According to Ibn'Arabi' is a seminal work on 'sacred science' - which, in sharp contrast to modern 'profane' science, ties knowledge to a higher reality. The subject matter is the astrological doctrine of Sufi master Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi.

Be warned that despite its brevity, this slim volume is a dense and difficult work. Before attempting to tackle it, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the traditional worldview that Burckhardt takes as a given. Given the crass nature of contemporary astrology, people tend to conceive astrology as saying that this-or-that star or planet 'causes' events 'down here.' Since it is difficult for most of us to honestly believe that the planet Mars is affecting our moods, most of us naturally regard astrology as superstitious nonsense. However, those who have not yet grasped the significance of the difference between the modern worldview and the traditional worldview of antiquity (especially the ideas of cyclical time) will be at a loss when attempting to grasp the significance that astrology had to ancient peoples.

Burckhardt wrote in his essay 'Traditional Cosmology and the Modern World' (found in _Mirror of the Intellect_) that 'the man of antiquity, who pictured the earth as an island surrounded by the primordial ocean and covered by the dome of heaven, and the medieval man, who saw the heavens as concentric spheres extending from the earth to the limitless sphere of the Divine Spirit, were no doubt mistaken regarding the true disposition and proportions of the sensible universe. On the other hand, they were fully conscious of the fact - infinitely more important - that this corporeal world is not the whole of reality, and that it is as if surrounded and pervaded by a reality, both greater and more subtle, that in its turn is contained in the Spirit, and they knew, indirectly or directly, that the world in all its extension disappears in the face of the Infinite.'

Traditional man was concerned with a higher spiritual reality, which gives meaning to the notion that the Earth is the center of the universe. '...given that the human being occupies a central position in the cosmic atmosphere which surrounds him, and that he has a right to consider this position, since he is obliged to make of it as a starting point for his spiritual realization, as he is situated on the axis itself which unites the poles of the universe, passing from the lowest centre of 'material' gravity up to the supreme centre of 'First Intellect'. (p. 43)

To traditional man, the universe was not just a collection of molecules, but rather material evidence of the divine. To ancient seers, man possessed all of the faculties necessary in his five senses in order to correctly perceive the nature of cosmos and his role in it; modern astronomy has not made a bit of difference in man's ability to make sense of his place in the world despite all of the knowledge it has gleaned. Burckhardt states that the 'celestial space in which the planets describe their revolutions represents in some ways the extreme limits of the sensible world, and these limits are inversely analogous to the centre which is man himself...' (p. 28). In this context, to give but one example, the relationship between Sun and Moon are indicative of divine aspects of man, which embody themselves in the differences between the sexes: 'The relation between the Sun and the Moon is analogous to that which holds between the Pure Intellect and reflection in the human form.' (p. 30) When the true significance of the earth as the 'centre' is grasped, the meaning of the precession of the equinoxes also takes on a different significance; Burckhardt does not discuss this particular subject explicitly in this book, but anyone interested in the notions of cyclical time will find a lot of food for thought in these passages.

In close, 'Mystical Astrology According to Ibn'Arabi' is highly recommended for serious students of esoterica and traditional cosmology, and it is difficult to recommend too highly (although the same can be said for all of Burckhardt's works.)