Stairway to Heaven is an incredibly broad ranging new study that stretches from ancient Egypt and Babylon to Jewish and Christian Kabbalists; Chinese Daoists; Hindu Tantra and Haitian Vodun and finally to 19th and 20th century European occult societies; uncovering a hitherto unrecognized common myth that has been employed the world over in roughly the same form since the earliest recorded texts. Beginning with the oldest form of Jewish mysticism and extending this search through the dead sea scrolls; Levenda reveals a consistent emphasis on the number seven and its association with heavenly themes; including those of a chariot; a Throne; a Temple and a divine Being. The author then examines the myths and rituals of egypt; sumer and Babylon to locate the origin of this myth and comes up with some surprising results in the ascent rituals of the middle east. Shifting to the far east; Levenda demonstrates how the mystical practices of China and India display important similarities to these rituals; most notably in the practices of the Chinese alchemists who used a map of seven stars as their ladder to heaven. Reinforced by visits to the Buddhist shrine of Borobudur in indonesia; Levenda concludes that there was a myth common to peoples across the ancient world that an ascent to the heavens was possible using a ladder of seven stars; a process running parallel to the alchemical idea of the perfection of metals and the perfectibility of the soul. This concept was enshrined in the rituals of the Western secret societies of the 19th and 20th centuries such as the golden dawn and the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor; and influenced the development of new age occultism. exhaustive in scope and revealing in its scholarship; Stairway to Heaven casts a fascinating new multidisciplinary perspective on the mystical practices of heavenly ascent.
#3112961 in eBooks 2014-10-09 2014-10-09File Name: B00OFI6GNS
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Dawn of the Belle Epoque is the first of two books dealing with Paris in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries iBy C. M MillsVive la France! What a book. This fascinating book deals with life in Paris in its political; social; fine arts and literary worlds from 1870 to the beginning of the new century in 1900. The author is Dr. Mary McAuliffe who holds a doctorate degree from the University of Maryland. Inside this easy to read and endlessly scintillating history work we learn about everyone from Gustave Eiffel and his masterpiece the Eiffel Tower; the Statue of Liberty and such crucial events as the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71; the communard revolt and the infamous Dreyfus Affair. The most interesting sections of the book for this reviewer were the insightful sketches of impressionist artists Monet; Manet; Pissaro; Degas; Pissaro; Degas and Berthe Marisot. Sculptor Rodin is covered as well as such musical masters as Debussy; Ravel; Faure; Satie. Great authors such as Zola; and Victor Hugo also receive many pages of biographical profiles. We see how their lives intersected and how Paris became the intellectual and artistic capital of the world This book would serve well in a course on the Belle Epopue or can be read with pleasure by the solitary reader. Excellent!2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Interesting and enjoyable; but at times a bit annoying.By jjoThis book tells the story an era largely through mini biographies of the many fascinating characters. Its a good way to tell a good story. My only quarrel is that the author jumps from story to story; usually spending a page or two on one person before moving on to the next story; and then returning to each story throughout the book. At times this just got frustrating. They Dreyfus story; for example; is well told; but its told in 2-3 page segments constantly broken up by episodes about the other characters. But the writing is good and the stories are interesting. Eventually I got used to the jumping around and liked the book enough that Im now reading the second volume.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Comprehensive look at a fascinating eraBy JayliaDawn of the Belle Eacute;poque has a cast of hundreds; but because many of them are well known; including Zola; Monet; Marie Curie; Gustave Eiffel; Debussy; and Sarah Bernhardt; its not hard to keep track of them. Details of individual lives are reported; I learned for instance that Degas was petulant; conservative and stubborn; but the book also has a broader scope. Almost every year from 1870 to 1900 has its own chapter; covering the politics; personalities; mood and culture of Paris as it moved toward the new century. While some aspects of the Belle Eacute;poque were not so belle/beautiful; notably the Dreyfus affair; its a fascinating era. A hundred years after the French Revolution; France was still deeply divided. Republican heirs of the revolution clashed with anarchists; and they both brawled; sometimes literally; with citizens who wanted a powerful Catholic Church and a return to rule by the monarchy or an heir of Napoleon. The back of the book has sources notes and a bibliography.
