Customer Reviews

Spirit and Nature: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks (Bollingen Series XXX)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since 1933, the Eranos Conferences have gathered the world's leading scholars of religion and mythology. This set consists of Joseph Campbell's selections of the best papers from that conference. This is Volume 1, "Spirit and Nature". This volume includes the writings of some distinguished scientists as well. The thirteen papers include: Carl Jung, "The Phenomenology of Spirit in Fairy Tales"; Carl Kerényi, "Apollo Epiphanies"; Walter Wili, "The History of Spirit in Antiquity"; Max Pulver, "The Experience of Pneuma in Philo"; Hugo Rahner, "Earth Spirit and Divine Spirit in Patristic Theology"; Fritz Meier, "The Problem of Nature in the Esoteric Monism of Islam"; Paul Masson-Oursel, "The Indian Conception of Psychology" and "Indian Techniques of Salvation"; Ernesto Buonaiuti, "Ecclesia Spiritualis"; Werner Kaegi, "The Transformation of Spirit in the Renaissance"; Friedrich Dessauer, "Galileo and Newton: The Turning Point of Western Thought"; Erwin Schrödinger, "The Spirit of Science"; Adolf Portmann, "Biology and the Pheonomenon of the Spiritual"; and Carl Jung, "The Spirit of Psychology".

Michael P. McGarry has provided the necessary and useful lists of essays on all 6 of the Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks, edited by Joseph Campbell. I only wish to add a few comments on Volume 6 since I finished reading all of the essays in this volume today.
There is a good amount of information by Gilles Quispel in his 37 page essay "Gnostic Man: The Doctrine of Basilides" and in the impressive 68 page essay "The Concept of Redemption in Manichaeism" by Henri-Charles Putch. However, the literary prize in my opinion goes to Erich Neumann for his wonderful 41 page essay "Mystical Man." This is a distinguished piece of essay writing, worthy of an Emerson. It is the only essay that is wholly Jungian in approach, and he does a magnificent job of presenting the concept of mysticism in strictly Jungian terms. He proposes man as "homo mysticus" for whom the mystical experience is not something distant or rare but a part of the normal human experience. "The reality of this encounter is one of the fundamental facts of man's existence . . ." I found Neumann's essay to be very inspiring, which is something one does not often find in academic papers of these kinds. To me, it was worth the price of the entire book.

One of numerous volumes of the Eranos Yearbook Papers, The Mysteries consists of articles written by the likes of Carl G. Jung (Transformation Symbolism in the Mass), Max Pulver (Jesus' Round Dance according to the Apocryphal Acts of St. John), Hans Leisegang (The Mystery of the Serpent),and Walter F. Otto (The Meaning of the Eleusinian Mysteries); and is edited by the godfather of modern mythological interpretation, Joseph Campbell. Any student of the Western Esoteric Traditions will surely enjoy these eye-opening, scholarly, and erudite articles.

Of particular importance is the translation into English of the Acts of St. John, which relates the Mystical Round Dance of Jesus after the last supper, as well as John's vision of the Cross of Light during the crucifixion at Golgotha.

This is volume six of the Eranos Yearbooks (the published papers of the legendary annual Eranos Conferences.)

The included papers are as follows: 1) Two Ways of Redemption: Redemption as a Solution of the Tragic Contradiction by Boris Vysheslawzeff, 2) On the Origin of the Mysteries in the Light of Ethnology and Indology by Wilhelm Koppers, 3) The Indian World Mother by Heinrich Zimmer, 4) Dragon and Mare, Figures of Primordial Chinese Mythology by Erwin Rousselle, 5) Christ and St. Paul; Christology and Ecclesiology in St. Paul; and Symbols and Rites in the Religious Life of Certain Monastic Orders by Ernesto Buonaiuti, 6) Gnostic Man: The doctrine of Basilides by Gilles Quispel, 7) The concept of Redemption in Manichaeism by Henri-Charles Puech, 8) Nature in Islamic Thought; and The Idea of the Spirit in Islam by Louis Massignon, 9) The Experience of the Spirit in Christian Mysticism by Jean de Menasce, 10) The Madonna as a Religious Symbol by Friedrich Heiler, 11) and Mystical Man by Erich Neumann.

The papers were translated from the original French and German by Ralph Manheim. The editor is Joseph Campbell, who also wrote a brief foreword. The papers were published by the Bollingen Foundation (Bollingen was the name of Jung's home on Lake Zurich.)

Since 1933, the Eranos Conferences have gathered the world's leading scholars of religion and mythology. This set consists of Joseph Campbell's selections of the best papers from that conference. This is Volume 2, "The Mysteries". The fourteen papers include: Paul Masson-Oursel, "The Indian Theories of Redemption in the Frame of the Religions of Salvation" and "The Doctrine of Grace in the Religious Thought of India"; Walter F. Otto, "The Meaning of the Eleusinian Mysteries"; Carl Kerényi, "The Mysteries of the Kabeiroi"; Walter Wili, "The Orphic Mysteries and the Greek Spirit"; Paul Schmitt, "The Ancient Mysteries in the Society of Their Time, Their Transformation and Most Recent Echoes"; Georges Nagel, "The `Mysteries' of Osiris in Ancient Egypt"; Jean de Manasce, "The Mysteries and the Religion of Iran"; Fritz Meier, "The Mystery of the Ka'ba: Symbol and Reality in Islamic Mysticism"; Max Pulver, "Jesus' Round Dance and Crucifixion According to the Acts of St. John"; Hans Leisegang, "The Mystery of the Serpent"; Julius Baum, "Symbolic Representations of the Eucharist"; Carl Jung, "Transformation Symbolism in the Mass"; and Hugo Rahner, "The Christian Mystery and the Pagan Mysteries."

Since 1933, the Eranos Conferences have gathered the world's leading scholars of religion and mythology. This set consists of Joseph Campbell's selections of the best papers from that conference. This is Volume 4, "Spiritual Disciplines". The twelve papers include: Heinrich Zimmer, "On the Significance of the Indian Tantric Yoga"; Erwin Rouselle, "Spiritual Guidance in Contemporary Taoism"; Theodor-Wilhelm Danzel, "The Psychology of Ancient Mexican Symbolism"; John Laynard, "The Malekulan Journey of the Dead"; Carl Kerényi, "Man and Mask"; Martin Buber, "Symbolic and Sacramental Existence in Judaism"; Friedrich Heiler, "Contemplation in Christian Mysticism"; Maw Pulver, "The Experience of Light in the Gospel of St. John, in the `Corpus hermeticum', in Gnosticism, and the Eastern Church"; Fritz Meier, "The Spiritual Man in the Persian Poet Attar"; Rudolf Bernoulli, "Spiritual Development as Reflected in Alchemy and Related Disciplines"; Carl Jung, "Dream Symbols of the Individual Process"; and M. C. Cammerloher, "The Position of Art in the Psychology of Our Time".

Since 1933, the Eranos Conferences have gathered the world's leading scholars of religion and mythology. This set consists of Joseph Campbell's selections of the best papers from that conference. This is Volume 6, "The Mystic Vision". The fourteen papers include: Boris Vysheslawzeff, "Two Ways of Redemption: Redemption as the Solution of the Tragic Condition"; Wilhelm Koppers, "On the Origin of the Mysteries in the Light and Ethonology and Indology"; Heinrich Zimmer, "The Indian World Mother"; Erwin Rouselle, "Dragon and Mare, Figures of Primordial Chinese Mythology"; Ernesto Buonaiuti, "Christ and St. Paul", "Christology and Ecclesiology in St. Paul", and "Symbols and Rites in the Religious Life of Certain Monastic Orders"; Gilles Quispel, "Gnostic Man: The Doctrine of Basilides"; Henri-Charles Puech, "The Concept of Redemption in Manichaeism"; Louis Massignon, "Nature in Islamic Thought" and "The Idea of the Spirit in Islam"; Jean de Manasce, "The Experience of the Spirit in Christian Mysticism"; Friedrich Heiler, "The Madonna as Religious Symbol"; and Erich Neumann, "Mystical Man".

Since 1933, the Eranos Conferences have gathered the world's leading scholars of religion and mythology. This set consists of Joseph Campbell's selections of the best papers from that conference. This is Volume 5, "Man and Transformation". The eleven papers include: Mircea Eliade, "Mystery and Spiritual Regeneration in Extra-European Religions"; Fritz Meier, "The Transformation of Man in Mystical Islam"; Henry Corbin, "Divine Epiphany and Spiritual Birth in Ismailian Gnosis"; Paul Tillich, "The Importance of New Being for Christian Theology"; Daisetz T. Suzuki, "The Awakening of a New Consciousness in Zen"; Ernst Benz, "Theogony and the Transformation of Man in Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schilling"; Lancelot Law Whyte, "The Growth of Ideas"; Jean Daniélou, "The Dove and the Darkness in Ancient Byzantine Mysticism"; Adolf Portmanm "Metamorphosis in Animals: The Transformations of the Individual and the Type"; Heinrich Zimmer, "Death and Rebirth in the Light of India"; and G. van der Leeuw, "Immortality."

Since 1933, the Eranos Conferences have gathered the world's leading scholars of religion and mythology. This set consists of Joseph Campbell's selections of the best papers from that conference. This is Volume 3, "Man and Time". The twelve papers include: Erich Neumann, "Art and Time"; Henri-Charles Puech, "Gnosis and Time"; Gilles Quispel, "Time and History in Patristic Christianity"; Louis Massignon, "Time in Islamic Thought"; Henry Corbin, "Cyclical Time in Mazdaism and Ismailism"; Mircea Eliade, "Time and Eternity in Indian Thought"; Carl Jung, "On Synchronicity"; Hellmut Wilhelm, "The Concept of Time in the Book of Changes"; Helmuth Plessner, "On the Relation of Time to Death"; Max Knoll, "Transformations of Science in Our Age"; Adolf Portmann, "Time in the Life of the Organism"; and G. van der Leeuw, "Primordial Time and Final Time."